The children’s drama academy, Here For the Drama Academy, is set to open a new site in Bethnal Green this November.
Here For the Drama Academy is a children’s performing academy helping students aged 3-18 grow in confidence and develop their acting skills.
The new location will open on 4 November 2025, creating another opportunity for children with acting dreams to go and build their own personal characters.
Josh Ely, the co-director at HFTD, told the Londoners: “We’ve been getting so many inquiries about launching a site in east London since we’ve started, so that’s why we did it.”
Ely is an actor himself who moved to London at 18-years-old and went on to train at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts.
HFTD has been running for the past three years and was initially set up by Milly Zero who had the idea after leaving the TV series Eastenders.
Ely said: “I quickly got on board with her and we hit the ground running, together we are a unit.”
The academy was born in south London, and the co-directors opened several locations in multiple boroughs around the south.
HFTD offers audition support for children in groups and 1-2-1 support both in person and online, in addition to stage combat workshops and special guest speakers coming into the academies.
Ely said: “We do find that all the kids that come to us all want to be actors and we are very industry focussed.
“We get a lot of them agents and help them with getting auditions.”
The class groups are called Here for the Minis (3-6), Here for the Juniors (7-11) and their eldest age group, Here for the Pros (12-18).
Although the Here for the Minis group, teaching 3-6 year olds, will not be introduced straight away in the Bethnal Green location, the staff strive to create a supportive atmosphere for young children to step into drama.
Ely said: “It is young but it is so good for them — we only focus on acting and confidence building and public speaking with them.
“It’s all about bringing them out of their shell and them finding their character.”
Ely shared that even with timid children, it takes them only a matter of weeks to come out of their shell and make new friends.
Ely told the Londoners: “Our team are professionals, so we pick up on it really quickly, especially when they are trialing we make sure we help them.
“We employ people who are acting in the industry at the moment because then they can relay that to the children.”
The confidence is built through fun activities fused with in front of the camera experience from a young age.
This has created some success stories such as children starring in shows on the West End and in popular films.
HFTD extends support beyond the children which reaches the parents, as Ely said: “A lot of the parents come to us and are impressed with the level of support we give.
“We are very communicative with the parents, we are always talking to them — if they want to check in about auditions and self tapes we are always there.”
The academy put on a Christmas Sharing, when parents watch their children perform festive plays or original written works on stage.
In the Summer term, relatives are invited to the ‘Here For The Drama Oscars’, when the kids star in their own short films, shot by professional camera crews.
Ely said: “We get together and watch them at the cinema with a red carpet and everyone is dressed up, we love it.”
This is a showcase opportunity where parents can see the hard work that goes on behind the scenes at HFTD academy come to life on stage.
Featured image: HFTD Showcase. Credit Josh Ely
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