Sarah Tyler Shaw and Ian Breeds are professional actors who relocated to Sitges in 2014. In 2015, they founded Creation Drama Studio, which has grown into a successful business teaching young people the tricks of the trade and giving them all important life skills. Nine years, one wedding, and over 700 students later, they are successful entrepreneurs as well as continuing to work as actors and filmmakers. We caught up with them to hear more about their story.
How did you meet & how long have you been working together?
We met back in 2008 when we were both at drama school in London. We have been working together since we graduated 3 years later. The partnership seems to work: in 2018, we were married at Sitges’ iconic Santa Tecla church, with some of our students attending the ceremony!
What is your acting and directing background?
After graduating from drama school we set up a theatre company called Quint-Essential Creations. We then spent several years touring London fringe theatres with our own productions, written and directed by Ian. In 2012, Sarah took part in an independent feature film located in Sitges, which was followed by further film projects in the area for both Sarah and Ian, who also signed with a Barcelona based agent. A couple of years later, Ian was awarded a part scholarship to study at Afilm International Film Workshops in Sitges
Why Sitges?
Following Sarah’s film work in Sitges in 2012, we visited for work and pleasure several times, enticed by the energy of the town and its people, and the beautiful surroundings. Once Ian got his place to carry out postgraduate study here in 2014, the move became inevitable!
What prompted you to set up Creation Drama Studio?
Whilst pursuing our own acting and film making projects, we noticed a comparative lack of after school activities in English, despite the strong international contingent living in the area and the interest in English amongst Spanish/Catalan residents. In addition to our work in drama, we had both worked for a mobile creche in the UK, and loved working with young people. We decided to combine our passion for acting and our experience and knowledge in childcare to create something special!
What was it like for two relative newcomers to set up a business here?
To be honest we didn’t really know what we were doing on the business side when we first set it up. We went in very blindly, but we followed our passion for what we love to do.
What advice would you give to other foreigners who would like to set up a business here?
Be patient; Spain’s bureaucracy can seem complex and slow-moving. Be persistent, and make sure you have all the necessary paperwork in order, don’t try to cut any corners. Get a good reputable accountant/gestor who really knows what they are doing! This sounds obvious enough, but you’d be surprised with how many bad ones there are out there. Also, taking time to understand the culture will help you integrate better and build trust with partners and clients. The other advice I’d give to anyone thinking of setting up a business is never lose sight of why you started, your purpose and your mission, always come back to that and allow it to guide you forward.
How is the business side going? Very well. We started in 2015 with one Saturday morning drama workshop in Sitges, in a classroom at BSB. Just in the first year, we expanded to 7 workshops per week in Sitges and Castelldefels. We now run 20 workshops in our own 300m2 school in Sitges, and in Castelldefels, and also in Barcelona. We also have a team of actors that have joined us and we teach around 200 students from age 6-18. So far we have taught more than 700 students, many of whom have secured places at top drama schools in the UK and been cast in professional projects such as short films, feature films, music videos and voice over projects.
How did the lockdowns affect your business? We were affected like many other businesses. However, with the support of our students and their parents we were able to continue operating successfully online. The reduced travel time also gave us an opportunity to think about how to expand the business. We subsequently developed new programmes in screen acting and film making.
What are the benefits of your programmes? Our students are taught professional acting, film making and performance skills. But most importantly, we instill and build self confidence as well as other life skills (such as teamwork and communication) which are essential for young people to go on to become successful adults.
What programmes do you currently offer?
We have the following:
Theatre Academy
These workshops are for 6-18 year olds and take place in Sitges (Saturday mornings), Castelldefels (Thursday and Friday evenings) and Barcelona (Wednesday evenings). They culminate in two performances for parents and friends per year (Christmas and June) which take place in Castelldefels
Screen Acting Academy
These workshops are for 8-18 year olds and take place in Sitges (Tuesday and Wednesday evenings), Castelldefels (Thursday evenings) and Barcelona (Saturday mornings)
Acting Academy: Stage vs Screen
These workshops are for 6-16 year old and take place in Sitges on Thursday evenings. They’re designed for young actors interested in mastering both stage and screen acting, and focus on the skills required for each, plus the similarities and differences between the two disciplines.
Summer intensive workshops
Each summer we offer a range of exciting intensive courses including Stagecraft, Film Acting, Filmmaking, our Showreel Bootcamp, our Young Actors’ Spectacular, and our Screen Stars workshop
What developments are in the pipeline?
Coming soon, we’ll also bring our filmmaking intensives to the academic year, and October will see the return of our Acting workshops for adults (18+). Ian is currently editing his first ever feature film which is due for release in 2025. We are also at the planning stage to set up our own production company, which will provide a launchpad for many great opportunities for our students! And finally, we will soon be announcing a very exciting collaboration with an acting agency in Barcelona which will offer our students even more professional opportunities!
How can people enroll or find out more?
You can book a free class to check it out for yourself, via our website here
To find out more about our workshops, visit our site at www.creationdramastudio.com or contact us via info@creationdramastudio.com or by phone/whatsapp at +34691364200
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