Category Archives: Business & Careers

What Recession? How Biomedical Device Companies Thrived in a Bad Economy

Posted on by

New Study Reveals the Secrets to this Industry’s Success during an Economic Downturn

The biomedical devices industry grew, invested, and prospered from 2007 to 2009, flouting an overwhelming trend that saw many of the world’s largest companies collapse during the worst economic climate since the Great Depression. How did they do it? A new analysis of this industry from WTP Advisors, the global tax and business advisory firm, reveals three key traits that helped recession-proof the top independent biomedical device makers around the world, and determines whether or not their success is sustainable over the long-term.

The study is published in the current online edition of the biomedical industry journal MD+DI.

“In short, our study shows that the best of biomedical device makers succeed by making very little, very well, for sale at very high prices,” says lead author, Yair Holtzman, director at WTP Advisors and Global Life Sciences practice leader.

The authors looked at 25 of the top independent biomedical device makers worldwide[1] and analyzed their business strategies, financial results, marketing investment, product portfolios, and research and development to better understand what drove growth and profitability in a time of worldwide downturn.  They found three common characteristics shared by the most successful of the 25 firms that appeared to contribute to their growth during the recession, and are still a factor today, including:

  • High Value-Added Manufacturing: Building advanced technology products in developed markets while adding a very high level of value to base costs has and will continue to do well for this sector.  For highly differentiated products sold as customized solutions, the U.S. and Europe have been great places to establish and grow businesses.
  • Increased Marketing Efforts: These companies continued to increase spend on marketing efforts during the Great Recession of the last couple of years (2008-2010).
  • Investment in Research & Development and New Products: The most successful biomedical device companies developed a robust pipeline of new products and R&D capabilities, which allowed them to navigate challenging times successfully. Even during the great recession they were increasing their R&D spend.

However, Holtzman warns, “Despite the unparalleled success of the biomedical device industry from a 10,000 foot view, our close study reveals operational fissures that, if left unchecked could threaten future growth.”

For instance, some firms, having grown through acquisition of start-ups and by purchasing of piece parts of organizations now have too many plants and too many labs to be efficient.

Holtzman believes that consolidation will be a key driver facilitating growth over the coming years and that companies should sweep up the collections of purchased parts and turn these businesses into coherent and focused companies in order to achieve maximum efficiency.

In the future, the industry review reveals that the big opportunity for the biomedical device business – one already being grasped by the best in the industry – will be to move beyond the sometimes bumpy revenue stream from selling things, and migrate to a business model focused on selling systems that provide a point of control and differentiation (through software) or that yield sustained revenues from related consumable products used in caring for patients.

“This is the kind of strategy that worked for King Gillette when his business first adopted the razor and blades model, and one that has also worked for IBM as it has migrated from a hardware business to one driven by sustained revenue streams from software and services,” Holtzman says.

Going forward, Holtzman concludes, biomedical device companies will need to demonstrate that a particular intervention improves a specific patient outcome and is more cost effective than existing alternative treatments available on the market.

WTP Advisors is a leader in tax and business advisory services for a global marketplace. Our highly skilled professionals equipped with years of industry experience, coupled with our cutting-edge technologies, make substantive and long-term differences to an organization’s profitability. WTP Advisors is headquartered in White Plains, N.Y., with offices across the Americas, Asia and Europe.

[1] The organizations that were examined in this analysis include:  Abbott Labs, Alcon, B. Braun, Baxter, Beckman Coulter, Becton, Dickinson, Biomet, Inc., Boston Scientific, C R Bard, Inc., CareFusion, Covidien, Danaher, Fresenius Medical Care, Getinge AB-B, Hospira, Medtronic, Smith & Nephew, Inc., St. Jude Medical, Stryker, Synthes, Terumo, Tornier, Varian Medical, Wright Medical, Technology, and Zimmer Holdings.

 

SOURCE WTP Advisors

Seven Tips For Getting an Internship

Posted on by

It’s a jungle out there, with people finding it hard to even get an internship. Here are seven tips to up your game.

1) Who do you know? Ask around. The best way to get an internship is through people who are already in your circle. Ask friends, family friends and acquaintances. Put a request out on Facebook and Twitter. Think about the six degrees of separation.
2) Brush up on your activities; A pro-active, community spirited person is more likely to be hired than someone who has nothing to say and wastes their time. Make yourself sound as interesting as possible.
3) Lose the sense of entitlement; No-one likes someone who thinks the world owes them a living, you are no more special then anyone else. Arrogance is off-putting, but confidence is key.
4) Work Harder than anyone else. Employers love people who help themselves.
5) Think about what is stopping people giving you an internship, and then remove it. Take the feedback that you are getting from other people. If you are trying to get into finance do you keep getting told you need another qualification? Get it and remove the obstacles.
6) Account for gaps on your CV; Think about what you could say when asked about these. Bad things to say are; sitting around the house or watching TV. Say that you were learning French or something as interesting.
7) Be likeable; It’s obvious but people like working with nice people. Try to smile even if you don’t feel like it, say please and thank you. People will remember you as a good, polite person.

Jeremy Drysdale on Film, Writing and Saving The Cat.

Posted on by

Jeremy Drysdale is an incredibly talented scriptwriter. I first came across his work after watching Grand Theft Parsons, I then badgered him until he gave me an interview. It has lots of great advice for wannabe scriptwriters.

Did you always want to be a writer?

I did, yes. I started out in advertising in my late teens and quickly became a copywriter. I enjoyed writing advertising and I learned the importance of words, because for the most part one had to throw away anything extraneous and concentrate on getting the message across in the most efficient way. I became a creative director – first of a small agency and then, eventually, a big communications consultancy. After a few years, I decided that I would like a bigger challenge and looked for ways to move into longer-form writing. All I knew is that I didn’t want to write novels, because they required too many words and I’m quite lazy.

How did you get into script writing?

I was the co-Creative Director of a company called Visage when I read a report in the Hollywood Reporter, or perhaps Variety, which mentioned that an American production company called Rhino Films – part of the Warner Bros empire – had optioned the book ‘No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs’; the autobiography of John Lydon (AKA Johnny Rotten.) I was cheeky – you have to be, I think – and found out who was producing for Rhino. Then I contacted him and told him that the project had to be written by an Brit, because punk was a British phenomenon (although in hindsight, I think the Stooges might actually be the first punk band – and they were American) and that I was an expert on the genre. Which was not strictly true.

I got lucky, because the producer was a lovely guy called Stephen Nemeth and he gave me an ‘in’; I could compete for the job against American writers, as long as I sent in an acceptable sample and came out to LA to pitch directly to Lydon. Well, I did have a sample, which I immediately rewrote over 48 hours to make it edgier and then I flew out to LA to meet everyone. Obviously, I was paying my own way and so I flew out on a shoestring and booked the cheapest hotel in town and I met with everyone at a lovely table at a fantastic place called Shutters on the Beach in Santa Monica. I pitched my take on the story to seven or eight people: the studio guys, the finance people and Lydon and his manager and I wasn’t going to lose. Luckily, my determination and the huge amount of work I had put into the pitch worked and I was offered the job. Although I later discovered that I nearly didn’t get the gig because they thought I was an alcoholic as I had drunk four bottles of beer over the three hours we sat at the table! Then I caught flu and poor Stephen Nemeth had do leave cartons of soup outside my hotel door every day for a week, which is probably another story.

The film never actually got made, but the script was good enough to get me an agent and was a perfectly usable writing sample. I also got paid, which was nice.

What is your proudest achievement?

In writing? I suppose it would be Grand Theft Parsons, as it was the first of my projects to get made. Although Battlefield 2: Modern Warfare made much more money.

What is your writing process?

I spend a very long time working on a step-outline in order to check that the structure is correct and my story will be properly told at the end of the process. So every single scene is written down in a programme called Final Draft and then I check it against a list I nicked from a terrific book called Save the Cat, which is the only instruction book that new screenwriters will need, to make sure that everything is correct structurally. And then I just have to put in the dialogue.

To give you an idea of time spent, I work for a couple of weeks on character outlines – so I know exactly who my people are and how they’ll behave in any given situation. I know how they speak, how they dress, how they look and what their sexuality is. I could tell you what music they listen to, how they would vote and what sports they like. You have to know and love your characters, even if they are utterly loathsome to everyone else.

The step-outline itself will take about six weeks and then the dialogue will take another four. I wait two weeks before reading the thing, so by the time I am ready for the rewrite I have already spent three and a half months on the project. The rewrite will probably take another three weeks and then I’ll wait a week and do another two-week draft. At that stage, hopefully, the script will be ready to show to my agent and a couple of close industry friends. I will absorb their notes and spend another couple of weeks on the next draft. Then, assuming everything has held together, I’ll have a draft which is ready to send out to studios and producers. That’s nearly six months on each project and if you assume that only one in seven will get made (and bring in decent money) you can see why screenwriters need to be well-paid for the projects that do progress. Which is not really happening these days.

Favourite film?

What a hard question! I suppose I’ll be a bit dull and say Godfather 2, which is the film I have watched the most. I love the scope and the wonderful, vibrant, full characters. And the music. And the… everything. I love everything.

Favourite script?

Se7en. It’s as close to being perfect as any script I’ve ever read. The characters are great, their motivations are absolutely clean and the story – oh, what a story. And what a twist! When John Doe turned himself in, I remember thinking ‘what the fuck?’ and being very disappointed, because I was used to the standard ‘detective chases killer’ story. And then this wonderful script turned that convention onto its head. Glorious!

You wrote Grand Theft Parsons, a film I love, how did the film come about?

I had vaguely heard the story about a guy stealing his best friend’s body in order to fulfil his last wishes and burn it in the desert, and so I did some research and discovered that it was actually Gram Parsons’ body and Phil Kaufman – the burner – was still alive. I managed to get a phone number for Phil and he refused to speak to me on the phone, saying he only discussed the project face-to-face. So, I flew out to Nashville, where he was living at the time, and knocked on his door. I discovered that he always asked people to come to him, because most people wouldn’t bother, and that he had been approached a couple of hundred times over the decades from people who wanted the film rights to the story. So my fantastic plan about him being delighted to see this pale Englishman turn up and offer him film immortality didn’t really work out. In the end, I just wore him down and he just said ‘yes’ to get rid of me, as I had booked my return flight for five days later and he couldn’t face it.

Then I found a good producer and a good director and brought them on board. The rest was easy. (Not really, actually.) We were lucky with cast (Johnny Knoxville, Christina Applegate and the extraordinary Michael Shannon) and we had a first-rate crew. I’m still very proud of that we shot in twenty-two days on a tiny budget. I think it cost around one point two million dollars, which is really not much, considering.

Where do you get your inspiration?

Well, I need the money, which is pretty inspiring. I just start with a ‘what if…?’ and go from there, I suppose. That probably isn’t very helpful, is it?

What’s next?

I am co- writing a comedy drama and am halfway through a thriller. I have a comedy which is very close to being financed and a horror film which isn’t quite so close. And I have co-written a novel for Young Adults with a very good novelist called Joseph D’Lacey which is attracting a lot of interest. That came from a film idea I had last year, which actually worked so well as a novel that we went that way with it. You have to find an edge with everything, I think.

Any advice for people who might want to break into screenwriting?

Well, don’t. I know that sounds flippant, but these days it is exceptionally difficult to get paid. Although the industry is doing well and film isn’t really affected by recession, the money somehow seems to have disappeared. Previously, if you took the risk and wrote a spec script then you would earn more because you had gambled six months on the thing being made. You earned less if a producer paid you development money to write it, because they shared the risk. Now there isn’t really any development money around, in England at least, and yet screenwriters are being offered the lower figures for spec scripts over here. So my advice is to avoid the industry in Britain, and to be careful in the US. Although if screenwriters were logical thinkers, they wouldn’t be screenwriters, so I don’t expect anyone to take any notice of anything I say. And nor should they, of course…

Follow Jeremy on Twitter.

WIE Symposium UK Bringing Together Most Powerful Women

Posted on by

TICKETS NOW ON SALE FOR THE FIRST WIE SYMPOSIUM UK BRINGING TOGETHER THE MOST POWERFUL MINDS TO INSPIRE AND EXCITE WOMEN AROUND THE WORLD

A host of prominent women from the worlds of business, fashion and film will congregate at the Women Inspiration and Enterprise (WIE) Symposium to lead a series of seminars after successfully launching in America with the support of Donna Karen, Queen Rania of Jordan and Christie Turlington. The event will happen on International Women’s Day, March 8th 2012 and will feature discussions from luminaries including Jo Malone, Kathy Lette and Lynn de Rothschild.

The WIE Symposium will offer a full day of thought-provoking panels, inspirational master
classes and powerful keynote speakers. Tickets will be on sale from 23rd January, available at
www.wienetwork.org at £150.00 per person.

Issues to be addressed at The Hospital Club, London range from the future of girls’ education
to getting women off the sidelines in business and public life and the ‘green revolution’.
Additionally the Symposium will launch the WIE Mentorship Scheme – an initiative designed to
coach and aid young female entrepreneurs through a year of advice and counsel from leading
business women.

Starting the day, WIE is thrilled to announce the inaugural Power Breakfast – an annual event
that will honour 50 of the top female business trailblazers at the iconic London Stock Exchange.
The WIE Symposium is the brainchild of television presenter June Sarpong and former film
executive Dee Poku, who conquered New York with a plan to help women from all walks of
life achieve their full potential.

June Sarpong said; “We are incredibly excited about launching WIE in the UK. The UK is filled
with incredible female thought leaders who are already doing their bit to empower the next
generation. Our goal is to harness the legendary creativity and innovation of London to
empower women and girls across the country and help them reach their full potential.”
PRESS RELEASE 23rd January 2012

Female leaders already signed up to take part in the event include Celia Walden, Julie Woods
Moss (BT), Baroness Scotland and Lynne Franks who join the likes Sarah Brown, Arianna
Huffington, Diane von Furstenberg and Iman from previous events.

International Women’s Day:
Annually on 8 March, thousands of events are held throughout the world to inspire women and
celebrate achievements. A global web of rich and diverse local activity connects women from
all around the world ranging from political rallies, business conferences, government activities
and networking events through to local women’s craft markets, theatric performances, fashion
parades and more.

The Hospital Club:
Sue Walter, CEO of the Hospital Club says, “The Hospital Club is privileged to be hosting
London’s inaugural WIE Symposium. We share many of the same values around inspiration,
enterprise and nurturing emerging talent and we’re very excited to be joining forces to bring
British women this unique opportunity to learn from each other and be inspired by what the
future holds.”

WIE Founders:
Dee Poku is a social entrepreneur, marketing consultant and philanthropic strategist. Poku is also the owner of Right Angle, a branding and marketing consultancy that develops and
implements innovative campaigns for a cross section of high profile films, non-profits and
consumer brands. Her background includes senior marketing roles at Paramount Pictures and
Focus Features where she oversaw the movie release campaigns for the likes of Al Gore’s ‘An
Inconvenient Truth’; the Coen brothers’ ‘No Country For Old Men’; Sofia Coppola’s ‘Lost in
Translation’ and Ang Lee’s ‘Brokeback Mountain’. She is a member of the British Academy
(BAFTA) and Women in Film.

June Sarpong has become one of the most recognisable faces of British television – as the
female face of Channel 4’s successful Sunday morning strand T4 for the first eight years, June
has become part of TV history. Her groundbreaking Tony Blair Channel 4 special, ‘When Tony
Met June’ saw her being granted unprecedented access to the British PM. She has also
interviewed and introduced some of the world’s biggest names including: Nelson Mandela,
HRH Prince of Wales, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Bono, George Clooney and 50 Cent. June is an
ambassador for the Prince’s Trust and also campaigns for the Make Poverty History movement –
she was awarded an MBE on the Queens 2007 new years honours list for services to broadcasting and charity.

London Fashion Week Casting

Posted on by

Fashion Models of ALL Nationalities Needed for London Fashion Week Show

Fashions Finest Season 3 official off schedule London Fashion Week show will be taking place on the 18 & 19 February. FF LFW are looking for high fashion catwalk/runway models to participate during these special Olympic year shows.

Show Requirements:

· MUST be able to model for BOTH days (18 & 19 February) and will be required for two full days

· This is an UNPAID role, models will be fed, provided with pictures (by email), participate in a London Fashion Week show for international designers

· Women – minimum height is 5.8 and for men minimum height is 5.11

CASTING INFORMATION:

· Casting Date: Friday 20 January

· Casting Time: is at 7 pm sharp

· Casting Address: Sewing Room, Rag Factory, 16 Heneage Street London E1 5LJ

· Models (male & female): must wear blue or black jeans and a tight fitting white T shirt or shirt

· Female models must wear or bring high BLACK stiletto heels (no boots or wedges

· Must bring a picture that they will leave behind (it will not be returned) and they will be required to complete a form which means you must know your accurate statistics

To confirm your attendance please like our Fashions Finest Facebook page

Further Information:
Learn all about the fashion world with the Guide to Online Schools.

Ten top tips for personal statement success

Posted on by

Ten top tips for personal statement success, ahead of the 15 January UCAS deadline

With the January 15 deadline fast approaching, UCAS has released these ten top personal statement tips for anyone applying to university or college.

Christmas is a great time to put the finishing touches to the statement, which could be the only piece of written work admissions professionals see before making a decision.
The writing should show applicants at their very best and following these ground rules will get you (or your son or daughter) off to a great start.

1.Express interest in the subject and show real passion
UCAS adviser Ross Sanger said: “My major tip is to really show your ambitions and desires for wanting to do the course. In other words, putting across your passion in as much detail as possible. At the end of the day, you need to be doing something that you really like.”
Beverley Woodhams, Head of Central Recruitment at the University of Greenwich, said: “If you completed an extended project, briefly summarise its focus and what you learned.”
You can show how you have acted on your interest in particular subjects by attending extra-curricular activities or events. Talks at the Royal Society or local university are good examples of where someone has taken their passion beyond the school gates.

2.Go for a strong opening line to grab the reader’s attention
Mr Sanger said: “A punchy opening line will call attention to your application straight away.”
3.Relate outside interests to the course

Karen Martin, Marketing Communications Manager for Admissions and Student Recruitment at the University of Dundee, said: “For example, playing a musical instrument shows sustained commitment and/or the ability to manage your time effectively between juggling school study and music study.”

Ross Sanger adds: “There is an employment section on the application where you can put paid employment down so they can get an idea of whether you have been doing anything towards the course. The statement allows you to elaborate on what you have learnt and particularly why you want to do the course.”

4.Think beyond university
“For courses with a high placement element and a specific career at the end applicants must show a strong knowledge of the role of a professional in that career,” said Ms Martin.

5.Get the basics right
Ms Martin added: “Check your spelling and grammar before submitting the application. Admissions selectors are assessing your ability to write an essay to university standard. Think about your paragraph and sentence structure.”

6.Don’t try to sound too clever
It’s important to use language you are comfortable with so as not to lose the focus of your writing. Ms Martin said: “Try not to go too far and use words you wouldn’t normally choose, to try and sound more ‘academic’. For example, an ‘incomparable orator’ is more naturally described as ‘having an aptitude or interest in public speaking’.”

7.Take time and make it your best work
Applicants’ personal statements help institutions identify suitable candidates, especially in the most competitive courses. Rushing will mean mistakes and not provide you with enough time to get it checked over by your parents or teachers.

8.Don’t leave it until the last minute – remember the 15 January deadline!
The deadline for most courses starting next year is 15 January 2012. While that may still seem like a long way off, it is never too early to start drafting your personal statement.

9.Get a second opinion

“If you want your personal statement to sell your abilities to a university, it is quite nice to get feedback from parents or family members on how they see you and the right words to describe yourself,” said Ross Sanger.

10.Honesty is the best policy
Every personal statement is checked against a library of those previously submitted to UCAS, sample statements, and other sources. Any statement showing a level of similarity of ten per cent or more is reviewed by members of the UCAS Similarity Detection Service Team.

Beverley Woodhams said: “Be honest and enthusiastic. Don’t make exaggerated claims as you could be questioned in some detail at the interview on the things you claim.”

The Art of Making Friends by Carole Stone, Founder TheStoneClub

Posted on by

I was desperately shy when I was starting out in the world but I’ve grown to love networking, and I now know how important it is in both your professional and social life. I think the secret of success in both cases is taking a real interest in other people, listening to what they say about themselves and what they do, and not just talking about yourself. I call it ‘good networking’, making the most of the people you meet to your mutual advantage.

We all feel a bit apprehensive when we walk into a room full of people we don’t know. This is equally true of a business conference or a social gathering. My advice is to make up your mind beforehand that you are going to ‘seize the moment’ and not leave before you have met at least one or two new people.

When you meet someone interesting you feel you want to see again make sure you get their contact details. Never leave it so that someone you want to see again takes your card and says they will contact you. You should be the one to come back with an email or call to make sure they remember you.

What if you approach someone who responds by snubbing you? Don’t worry: it happens to all of us at one time or another, and it’s only your pride that will take a temporary knock. You’ll soon get over it – and it is much better than missing the chance to talk to someone you really want to meet.

If you are at a professional gathering, try to find out who the other guests are and, if there are any speakers you want to meet afterwards, listen to them so that you have something sensible to say about the subject. If there is a chance to put questions to a speaker from the floor take the opportunity. State your name and the company, charity or organisation you are involved with and make your point briefly and clearly.

If it’s a gathering of friends for drinks or a party, and you are feeling really lost, just go up to someone like yourself who looks a bit lonely, and ask how they know the host, or whether they’ve been to the house before. Say you’re on your own and don’t know many of the guests there. Most people will be only too pleased to respond.

It is always a bonus to have somewhere to invite new people you meet and want to see again. A way of building a circle of friends that I have found very helpful indeed is what I call my ‘salon’. For a few weeks, set aside one day of the week – it must the same day and time each week and say that for one and a half hours (no longer) you will be in a certain place, a room in your office, your home, a corner of a coffee shop, and that you will be happy for your new contact to join you there – and perhaps bring a friend too. You’ll be amazed how many new and interesting people you will meet – and it needn’t be expensive. I ran my ‘salon’ at my office for many years and made dozens of new contacts.

Last year I established TheStoneClub, where members come together to meet each other – often together with experts in their field – to discuss business and social issues of the day. If you’re interested to know more about the Club do contact us.

Finally, before you go to bed, make a note of the people you’ve met during the day, with their contact details, in your electronic database. That’s the way to build a network that will make you the envy of all.

To find out more about Carole and join her network, go to her website.

Has Hollywood Gone Potty for Limeys? How the Brits Conquered Hollywood.

Posted on by

A few weeks ago I attended a fantastic industry networking event in Manchester. Among the exhibitors was Industry Hollywood, a company whose sole aim is to help British actors to grow their exposure across the pond. They told me that UK talent is in real demand over in the “Land of the Free”.

So this got me thinking; is this actually true and, if so, why?

Take a gander at the casts of some of the most popular shows on American network TV and you’re sure to come across a fair few Brits. Archie Panjabi in The Good Wife, Linus Richie in Law and Order, Louise Lombard in CSI – this is just a small selection of Brits to “crack” the US drama scene.

The same can be said of many Hollywood movies, with the re-jigged Batman franchise, the upcoming Man of Steel, The Amazing Spider-Man and recent Oscar contenders such as The Social Network all featuring British performers taking roles that could easily be played by Americans.

So, on the surface at least, Hollywood has indeed gone potty for the “Limeys”. But why?

Could it be a cultural thing? In the UK, we have a long and noble theatre tradition, with actors cutting their teeth on stages across the nation before making the move to TV and onto film. In the US this tradition is often reversed. Might this create a different “style” of performance that is now “in vogue”?

In a 2007 interview for the Radio Times, Stephen Fry talked about the difference between American and British actors; “[Take] the supreme relaxed authenticity of a James Stewart or a George Clooney compared with the brittle contrivances of a Laurence Olivier or a Kenneth Branagh, marvellous as they are”

I would certainly agree that you can, at times, see a distinct difference in style when a British actor is dropped into an American TV drama. Take Christopher Eccleston’s short stint in Heroes – he sticks out like a sore thumb. There’s nothing wrong with his performance but it’s certainly different to those around him; he’s performing a role (brilliantly) while those around him are “inhabiting” their characters in a far more comfortable fashion. I’d say the same about the wonderful Hugh Laurie in House.

Now I’m a firm believer that good acting is good acting and I’m wary of the notion that we Brits are in any way “better” than our American cousins. But does our different tradition and altered style make us more attractive to US casting executives? Is there a fashion for “Brit style” acting at the moment?

Maybe not.

In an interview for the Caledonian Mercury, Scottish TV producer Andrea Calderwood, who now works in the US TV Industry, gives another theory; Cost.

“,… Producers are always on the look out for new talent which won’t break the budget. Enter stage right all those eager and ambitious British actors hungry for that Hollywood breakthrough.”

Are we really just “White Mexicans”, a phrase that is apparently doing the rounds in LA?

Toby Hemmingway, a British actor making huge strides in his career over in America, might have a few words to say about that. In a recent interview for the Guardian, he claimed that British actors benefitted from being more resilient.

“It’s the natural pessimism. Being a good loser. Americans think 15 minutes of fame and it’s all over or it’ll make you. Brits are more dogged and realistic”

It’s an interesting idea; that Brits are more tenacious in their attempts to find work. But is it true?

And, indeed, should we be complaining if we’re simply “cheaper” as long as it get us the work?

Let me know what you think in the comments below0.

This article was originally published at www.tim-austin.co.uk