Ben Cogan has worked with my Three Year and Two Year Acting Course Students at LAMDA on a number of occasions holding individual mock casting meetings. He has always been extremely friendly, enthusiastic and very nurturing of the students. It is clear that Ben thrives on being in a learning environment bringing his skills as a casting director into an academic arena and passing on the knowledge. Ben is also very supportive of the work we produce at LAMDA often attending screenings and showings.
During my time as manager of Actors Platform Ben came & ran several workshops for us over the years. His workshops were always extremely popular with the actors who participated, and they would walk out the door energised & proud. That's because Ben cares about actors, he is generous & giving, positive and energetic not to mention articulate & witty. His advice was concise, helpful and honest. In such a precarious profession it's a joy to see someone like Ben work with actors - he clearly loves being a casting director & and admires & respects actors.
Ben has been leading workshop at The Actors' Guild since March 2013. Such is the nature of Ben's insight, energy and attention to detail, his workshops have always been very popular with the professional actors who form our membership and, given the chance, we always invite Ben back as he is such a popular part of our programme.
Ben is the type of casting director that clearly loves what he does. His enthusiasm for actors is just infectious. By far one of the best in the business.
Ben Cogan has run workshops for The Actors Company LA for over 2 years, he is always a breath of fresh air because his genuine passion for actors and their achievement is instantly apparent. He takes time and effort in planning workshops and giving constructive feedback.
Ben was one on the top of our list when inviting casting directors to lead our Workshops for actors. He was always friendly and always prepared and the actors very much enjoyed his sessions. Plus, they learnt a lot. He transmitted his enthusiasm for the industry and his desire to help actors with enormous amounts of energy. Always a pleasure!
We have recently had the pleasure of having Ben hold an end of term Showcase Workshop for our pre-teen and teen groups at The Young Actors Studio. Ben was fantastic! He gave so much of his time, the actors absolutely loved him and gained so much valuable and useful information from his advice and feedback. Ben explored scene work, character, audition technique and how to approach and work with the camera. He is patient, warm and friendly - he doesn't hold back from giving you practical tips and insights into how the business of casting works and I wouldn't hesitate to invite him back to our Studio to meet our students again in the future. In fact, I very much hope we can - and that he does!
Ben has been responsible for starting so many of the stars under our management here at IAG. Many who have gone on to break into Hollywood. His eye for talent is something special and his unique and detailed casting process is something that he is renowned for in the industry. It's not everyday you get a casting director who can also act, which fundamentally makes for an effective reading environment for the actor. A unique casting director offering what I consider to be a unique service.
We were lucky enough to have Ben on a Q&A panel that we hosted. The event was for actors looking to get ahead in their screen careers and Ben had non-stop nuggets of gold for them all. Some casting directors can be a little intimidating but Ben was down to earth and honest, and everyone loved him. We’ll definitely be working with Ben in the future.
Ben Cogan is a casting director with an encyclopaedic knowledge, kindness of heart and a commitment to inclusion and developing the best talent in the country. Ben has come in to work with the graduating students at LAMDA over the past three years and he has always been detailed in his approach, compassionate and importantly for us a supportive first step into the industry.
