Hello there danegg
I wholeheartedly recommend getting one or more of the following books.
Simon Dunmore: " An Actor's Guilde to Getting Work"
"Actors' Year Book" (it comes out every year
- you can get cheap second hand copies from Amazon marketplace - full of great advice and lots of contacts)
"Make Acting Work" - Chrys Salt
" So you want to tread the boards?" - Jennifer Reischel
"Contacts" - published by Spotlight
"How to get work" is a really big question (with no definitive answers) and these books will really help you to learn about how the profession works and they explain who does what. It will help you to develop a plan and above all it will help you to avoid costly pitfalls and mistakes. There are SO many people out to make money out of people's desire to perform. Steering round the scams and determining what's worth pursuing and what it's best to avoid is very difficult if you have no experience and no-one with professional experience to guide you.
It's good to hear from alicewonderinc of her success in getting an agent but this is relatively unusual. aliceinwonderinc must have had something that caught the agent's eye for them to have called her (?) in to audition ( of course, so might you!). However, you are in a really crowded bit of the market place - are you male or female? You're likely to find it
slightly easier (but still not easy) if you are male. Agents are inundated with requests for representation and you need to know how and when to approach them to give yourself the best chance of success. (otherwise you are likely to spend time and money needlessly). Unless you happen to have something about you that agents feel they just can't do without, I also think it is unlikely that an agent will take you on while you are still in education. Occasionally agents take on drama students in their second year at drama school, but it is far more usual for them to wait until the third year. I also believe that the rules for Spotlight entry are different for adult actors, so Spotlight entry may not be automatic just because you get an agent. As far as I'm aware, you need to have had accredited training OR "suitable professional experience" to get Spotlight entry as an adult.
Also, of course, getting represented by an agent does not automatically lead to work! Paid work is so hard to come by. Getting on to an agent's books and getting in to Spotlight is a good start, but without contacts, experience, networking and a pro-active approach to finding work, this could be as far as you ever get!
Don't EVER pay money up front to join an acting agency. That's one of the few things I can say categorically!
It will also be worth checking out
http://www.ncdt.co.uk and giving some consideration to training at drama school. This does not guarantee you success/representation/work either, but in my opinion (and from what I have seen and experienced) you are more likely to be taken seriously if you have undergone accredited training. There are some accredited postgraduate courses for which you can get funding, even if you have already had funding for a degree.
I would also suggest that agents and casting directors are
very unlikely to come and see amateur shows when they are looking for adult talent. Very, very unlikely. I know of dozens of actors who have been in several shows in good Fringe theatres in London and have not managed to attract a single agent or casting director to come and see them. I'm sorry if that sounds negative, but I think it's worth sounding a note of caution!
One thing you could do, as you're in the area, is to get in touch with the Metropolitan Film School and let them know that you would be interested in being in students' films.
If you have any questions, ask away, I'll do my best to answer them.
btw I'm a professional actor/director with two adult children - one working as an actor and one hoping to work as a singer.
) I can recommend talking to the tutors in the Drama Corridor or emailing them (as you have been there a year you will know that they are all very supportive and have extensive professional experience of working in the industry)