Val Blackburn Email & Phone Number

London, England, United Kingdom

I have written a children's picture book called 'Jasper the Firefighting Dragon' which is the first book in the Jasper Dragon Series.Synopsis:Jasper the dragon cannot breathe fire like the other dragons of Huffenpuffen Valley. Instead he breathes water and whenever he tries to help people by lighting camp fires or putting on firework displays it ends in disaster. However Jasper discovers that he can put his powers to good use when he puts out a house fire. He joins the fire brigade and becomes a firefighting dragon. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jasper-Firefighting-Dragon/dp/1527212378?SubscriptionId=1M4XNQF4QBFNN388H3R2&tag=youcouldgetme-21&linkCode=sp1&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=1527212378

London

In addition to researching, writing and providing tours, I am also responsible for hiring and training guides as well as quality control of the tours.I have written an App for the company and have been quoted in the book 'Sherlock Holmes for the 21st Century' by Lynnette Porter.I often act as the face of the company when Brit Movie Tours is filmed for television (TF1; France 2; CNN; TV2 Denmark & BBC China) or if we’re interviewed for articles (Daily Mail; The Sun; Metro; for the travel information website Johnny Jet; an in-flight Spanish magazine with the article ‘Blog del Viajero’ and an American magazine called ‘Popmatters.’) Or I appear as a guest speaker at industry events, normally to do with film tourism (BAFTA, Bond in Motion, Euro Screen Toruism etc)In order to be able to provide specialist tours I have to have an in depth knowledge of the subject matters, such as Harry Potter; Sherlock Holmes; Downton Abbey; Bridget Jones; the DaVinci Code; Nottinghill, Paddington Bear, Peaky Blinders, Poldark etc. In addition to this I have a fairly good knowledge of London and films in general.

I was a self employed and work as an actress, regularly hired by the touring theatre companies A.I.M Productions, Soren Bennick Productions and Hurricane Productions.I performed on stage in large regional theatres (Theatre Royal Plymouth) as well as smaller venues in London.In addition to stage work I have experience working in radio; as a voice over artist; in independent films; in physical theatre and corporate training.

During the summer months I work as a tour guide on the "yellow" bus route. The role involves learning all about the history of London, the buildings in the area and other stories and anacdotes that might be of interest to tourists. Improvisation is a key part to this role, especially when the bus becomes stuck in London traffic and you suddenly have to produce ten to fifteen minutes of commentory without a change of scenery!2009 was my second year acting as a tour guide during the summer months. It has the advantage of providing interesting work that can fit around my other acting commitments.

Ba Hons, European Threatre Arts

Education record