What I Did During the Pandemic

As we all know, there’s a surprising amount of nonsense on t’internet, so I thought it might be worth clarifying what I’ve been up to on both the acting and photography fronts since the start of the pandemic:

ACTING

Bill has been fortunate to have worked continually as an actor since the start of the pandemic:

• Bill was part of a major UK tour of The Glee Club, a beautiful piece by the acclaimed theatre company Out of Joint (now Stockroom), when the pandemic hit.  They were 2 weeks into a 6 month tour when they were shut down within an hour of the end of the government press conference of March 16^th, and their show was forcibly closed at the end of March 2020.
  
  
• Between August 2020 and January 2021, Bill filmed the 6 part C4 Scandi Noir Series “Before We Die”, playing opposite Lesley Sharp.  The series aired in UK in May 21, and is currently being streamed all over the world.
  
  
• In November 2020, Bill voiced a 4 part documentary series on the Natural History Museum  for Channel 5, which was broadcast January 2021.
  
  
• In March 2021, he filmed a leading role in an episode of Casualty playing opposite Leslie Ash, which was broadcast in June 2021.
  
  
• In April 2021, he filmed a leading role in the UK independent feature film “To a Cinder”, which is currently in post production, due for release late 2022.
  
  
• Between April and June 2021, Bill filmed a leading role in his native Northumberland for the ITV series Vera, broadcast January 2022.
  
  
• In June 2021, he took part in a promotional film for Women’s Aid  (for whom he is an Ambassador), directed by Loveday Ingram.
  
  
• Between Sept 21 and April 22 Bill starred in and toured the UK in a major Theatre Tour of a brand new production of  “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”
  
  
• In April-May 22, Bill filmed a leading role in “The Hunt for Raoul Moat” a brand new 3 part drama for ITV, due to air late 22/early 23.
  
  
• He is currently appearing in the beautiful brand new British Musical “Are You As Nervous As I Am” at the Greenwich Theatre, London.

• Bill also continued to work as a drama tutor and director for a number of Drama/Film/Theatre schools since the start of the pandemic, including the film school “The Reel Scene”, running a successful series of masterclasses, acting classes, directing scenes, and offering advice on all aspects of the business, including self taping.

• For a full list of Bill’s acting awards, visit this link

PHOTOGRAPHY

• The other half of Bill’s professional life, as you’ll know if you’re here,  is as a professional landscape photographer.  He has been an Ambassador for Pentax Cameras since 2014.
  
  

  Since the start of the pandemic, he is delighted to have won a number of major national photography awards:

  • Best Seascape at Scottish Landscape Photographer of the Year 2020
  • Runner Up in the Creative Photography category (“Your Vision”) at Scottish Landscape Photographer of the Year 2021
  • Highly Commended at Scottish Landscape Photographer of the Year 2022
  • Commended at UK Landscape Photographer of the Year 2020
  • Shortlisted at 2021 Close Up Photographer of the Year
  • Judges Choice (South West) in the Historic England Lockdown Collection 2020

• Bill is also delighted and honoured to be a judge for UK Landscape Photographer of the Year 2022. He also runs his own landscape photography workshops, and is proud to be a Tour Leader for the premier Photography Tour Company in the UK, Light and Land. 

• For a full list of Photography Awards, go to billwardphotography.co.uk/about-me

• In December 2020, Bill raised thousands of pounds for the Theatres Trust with his photography book  #TheatresInDanger.  The book helped to raise awareness of the plight of the Theatre industry in the UK during the pandemic. Bill takes photographs of every theatre he works in, and his book contains a retrospective of 10 years of his theatre photographs, and (along with a companion print collection) is still available for purchase (special offer price £10) via his website: billwardphotography.co.uk/theatresindanger.  All proceeds go direct to the Theatres Trust, the charity which has done such a brilliant job helping theatres all over the country navigate their way through the pandemic.

• Bill is a regular writer and contributor to the worldwide “ICM Photography Magazine” (published quarterly), the worldwide magazine specialising in Intentional Camera Movement (ICM).  His work has also been published in numerous photography magazines including Pro Photo, and Amateur Photographer.  He continues to sell and supply his photography to galleries and exhibitions all over the country, particularly in his native North East.
  
  
• Bill is very much in demand as a speaker on landscape and creative photography, and gives talks both in person and via Zoom to photographic festivals, shows, podcasts, societies and clubs all over the UK, Europe and North America.

• Like many theatre professionals, Bill also put in a shift as a keyworker at the very start of the pandemic, working part time as a delivery driver (for Tesco) for a few months – he really enjoyed it. He was one of the many thousands of theatre workers, and millions elsewhere round the country, who found themselves with their workplace shut down, a family to feed, and not covered by any kind of government support (no furlough, SEISS or UC).