The application process is now open for UCSB’s annual Talent Trade workshop. The student-run conference brings casting directors, talent agents and managers to the UCSB campus to lead a series of workshops and lectures around the business of acting.

The annual conference was first established last year by former film and media studies professor Jackie Apodaca, also an alumna of the UCSB Bachelor of Fine Arts program.

“[Professor Apodaca] really wanted there to be a space for actors to learn about the business of marketing yourself and getting an agent,” returning Talent Trade organizer, Paulina Cassimus said.

While the event is aimed at aspiring actors, managers, agents and casting directors, Cassimus believes that the event is beneficial for anyone interested in the industry.

“Talent Trade allows its participants to learn more about other jobs [in the industry] that they maybe didn’t know existed,” Cassimus explained.

For its second year, the event is expanding its scope.

“This year we have working actors coming to speak,” Cassimus said. “It will be good to hear about the business from both sides: the actors and the management.”

“The film department here is great, but there aren’t any classes that really teach you how to navigate the business side of the industry,” third-year film and media studies major Celeste Wong, who participated in the event last year, said. “Talent Trade was extremely valuable because we learned how to do that.”

“It was a unique opportunity to get access to the type of insider information we don’t have access to at UCSB,” third-year film and media studies major Amanda Driggs said, recalling her own experience at last year’s Talent Trade. “It made me a little less nervous for the future.”

Each year, 30 participants are selected from the received applications. This year’s Talent Trade will run from May 18 to 20. For more information, as well as a copy of the application, please visit: http://www.filmandmedia.ucsb.edu/academics/undergraduate/talent/