PROMOTING (MARKETING) YOURSELF AS AN ACTOR

PROMOTING (MARKETING) YOURSELF AS AN ACTOR

1. Acting Classes

Take acting classes. Develop your talent. Develop your confidence. Get references and recommendations from your instructors. Most of the instructors for your classes will likely have some success on stage and film, so they would be a viable source for information in this regard Even if you have no actual stage or film experience, acting classes are useful on your resume.

2. Plays

Audition for as many plays as you can. There are community and high school theatre productions which you can audition for. Get as much experience as you can playing in front of audiences. Even the worst actor will improve by being in front of audiences. When Jim Carey was 15, he was booed off the stage at Yuk Yuk's in Toronto. That taught him he had to be better.

3. Film

Strange as it sounds, when you're starting out, film is much easier to get into than theatre. Many independent film makers do not have theatre backgrounds so they don't know any actors. Most good film actors come from live performance backgrounds, whether it be music, theatre or stand-up comedy. We are contacted at least once per week by indie producers looking for 'qualified' talent for their production. These are rarely SAG/AFTRA projects because they don't have the budget required.

We are working on a film right now that falls quite nicely into this category, and virtually every single actor in the film came from our office. Mostly all principal (speaking) roles.

Don't start your fledgling career by screwing up right off the bat, by thinking your ready when you have actually done very little to prepare yourself.

wr

GOOD ADVICE

QUESTION - WHO IS MORE LIKELY TO GIVE YOU GOOD ADVICE ON:

The law....A Doctor, a Lawyer, or a Criminal?

Medicine.....An Attorney, another Patient or a Doctor?

Building a bridge....A Carpenter, a Lawyer, an Actor or an Engineer?

On acting......A movie extra, another Actor, a Screenwriter, Your family,  or a Film Director?

(be careful on this one)

If you were going to try to get into the Olympics in Track and Field competition, say the 100 meters, would you run only 100 meters a few times or push yourself WAY beyond what was required in the actual competition? You are going to go WAY beyond just the 100 meters. You can bet your next paycheck that you are NOT going to be the only super athlete there that wants YOUR spot. Same thing on auditions. Auditions are just that, 'auditions' or 'rehearsals'. To find out who can do the job. Way too many actors take this less than seriously. Just kinda 'show up', go through the motions but never get involved with the character they are attempting to portray.  Part of being an actor is NOT being yourself, unless the movie is a documentary on 'your' life. Say playing a 'homeless person', a 'serial killer' a bigot or racist person' from an earlier era. These roles may make 'you' feel uncomfortable. That is exactly why they call it 'ACTING" and someone out there IS going to get the role. Some roles you may have some real life experience in, having something that at least you have touched on in your real life.  Others not so much, and

will require research.

You can't just play an athlete overnight, you have to be one, know the pain of becoming one.  Or just show up in a courtroom playing an attorney. You will have to learn, through your own personal research just what actually goes on in a courtroom. The mannerisms of each of those involved. And you certainly do not accomplish this with one or two visits to an actual courtroom.

DID YOU KNOW that it takes, on average, about 13 weeks to film a feature film? But there is also 13 weeks of pre-production. The getting prepared to shoot, to film, for the actors to prepare, re-writes on the script etc. And then there are about 13 weeks of post-production, the editing of the 13 weeks of filming scenes over and over and over again to get it just right. All the while the producers are spending millions and millions and even more millions of dollars.  All of this for a two-hour movie.

AND YOU....THE ACTOR....IS WHAT THE AUDIENCE SEES. NOT ALL OF THE OTHER WORK PUT IN BY SOMETIMES A HUNDRED PROFESSIONALS.

SO YEAH, YOU THE ACTOR MUST BE PREPARED TO THE FULLEST'.

GET THAT STRAIGHT FROM THE GET GO, NOW.

Filmmaker Tony Clomax's brief comment on rejection and criticisms

Filmmaker Tony Clomax's brief comment on rejection and criticisms:

"This business is all about rejection & criticisms. If you can't handle that, then this is definitely not the business for you. No one owes it to you to be super kind and make you feel good. You have one goal: Book the job. Save all that other stuff for your therapist. Harsh? Maybe, but you need thick skin in any profession where your creativity is being picked at with a fine tooth comb."

INTERESTING,BUT SOOOO TRUE.

WR

Choosing and Researching a Project

Choosing and Researching a Project 

                                                       

Ideally, actors will commit to a good script they can believe in, and they'll go about the job of helping bring it to life. On the television program Inside the Actors Studio, host James Lipton asked Actor Kevin Spacey (The Usual Suspects, American Beauty) how much he relies on instinct and spontaneity when choosing (and acting out) a role.

Spacey replied, "A lot. And then the trick is to make it look like you didn't ever think of it before. I always want an audience to have the very same experience that I had when I first read it. The moment I read it, the nickel drops and I say my god I have to do this. And so it's a process of tearing it apart, of figuring it out, of understanding every aspect of it as much as you can. Not to the point where you kill instinct or where you over rehearse it, but to try to get it back to that feeling so that an audience experiences that incredible realization, that wonderful moment of laughter or joy or tears or whatever it is that I experience when I first read it. I trust that first read."

For Spacey and many other actors the choice of a project is governed first and for-most by the story. He, unlike many other actors however, generally doesn't want to know any other elements; who's directing, who's in it or what the pay is; he finds this distracting. "If I don't respond to the story, if I don't think it's a story I should do no matter how good the part is then I try not to go near it because I probably shouldn't do it."

Unfortunately, through the process of filmmaking, scripts are often edited and revised to fit time constraints, budgets, etc. Often this means that the original script the actor committed to is no longer as good as it could have been. The actor finds him or herself depending on the script for a decent performance, no longer able to create a multi-dimensional, authentic character.

This is just one example of what an actor must deal with on a day to day basis during the filming process. "I advise actors to take their part out of the script," states actress/director Nina Foch. "Take the actual pages out and put the rest in a drawer. Then read the pages at least once a day. You need to know what's required of each scene and how to help it be better."

For many actors, part of making characters and scenes most effective is by doing research.

ACTORS MUST GET INVOLVED IN THE ROLE. COMPLETELY.

WR

Acting 101

YOU GOTTA MOVE THE BAR 'UPWARD' AND NOT 'SIDEWAYS'.

You 'may' have some ability and perhaps a pretty good 'look'.

BUT it must be applied properly and in the proper direction, or

you have not moved the bar 'upward' one inch. You are basically

right where you began.

ACTING: DEAL WITH PROBLEMS AND REJECTION

ACTING: DEAL WITH PROBLEMS AND REJECTION

Deal with your fear. Everyone’s afraid in this business, actors and everyone else. Nothing is certain, no one has the answers, and very few people are willing to put themselves out there enough to truly be seen. No one wants to deal with the profound heartbreak of being told by a casting director, a network executive, or all of America that the art they created was crap. But that’s what it takes to make it. You have to push past the fear. And that starts with taking a fierce inventory of what your fear is and where it guides you. Sometimes it’s laziness, sometimes it’s working too hard on the wrong thing. Either way, you have to know where your fear is sabotaging you, and chances are it may be really hard to see. Where you’ll find it is in the patterns of behavior you’re currently following that keep leading you to the same place. What you want to do—making it big in this business—is going to require a serious disruption to your current patterns of behavior. To find yourself in a profoundly different place than you are now, you’re going to have to change profoundly. You’ll have to learn to deal with your fear. Feel the fear and do it anyways!

I like this myself. I think I write/post some of these more often. What do you think?

wr

DO'S AND DON'Ts ON AUDITIONS - PART 2

DO'S AND DON'Ts ON AUDITIONS

PART 2

4. "Is there something everyone else is doing wrong that I should know about, so I won't do it?"

>>>>>Really? Are you kidding us? Just do your own reading, okay?<<<<<

5.."So, I'll just do it once and then you can tell me what you are looking for"

>>>>>Really, is that what how you would like for us to remember you? That you have no real opinion.

You need some help?<<<<<

6. "If I just suck tell me and I'll do it again."

>>>>> So now we should just expect you to suck, right?<<<<<

7. "Well I'm sure glad I got that first one out of the way, Now we can do it again for real."

>>>>> No thanks! Once was quite enough, we will let you know. Okay?<<<<<

It sure looks amusing when someone else does it. Right? We've all done some stupid things on

auditions, and some can cost you the role. Just shut up and read.

wr

DO's and DON'T on auditions!

NEVER SAY OR DO THIS ON AN AUDITION.

part one of several to come.

1. "I just got this script last night"

Really? So did everyone else and someone is going to make it work.

>>>>Just do the best you can with the time you have<<<<<

2. "Should I sit or stand?"

You are the actor, do what you think you should do.

>>>>You make that decision unless told otherwise. Show a little confidence.<<<<

3. "Where are the Producers" >>>>>I really love this one.

Not here! We're here! We deal with the producers. They will view your work today.

>>>>Guys, take advantage of this time with the Casting Director or the associate, don't start off

by questioning their position.<<<<

Watch for a couple more of these.

wr

Reel or Not

ACTORS - GET A VIDEO SHOWING YOUR ACTING SKILLS;

Our agency gets asked for these type of marketing videos quite frequently. Many of these videos produce the higher paying jobs. However, way too many professional talent do not have a 'quality' reel (video) put together for marketing. So, even if they DO get a chance at all, they will have to do it quickly, without much or any notice at all. So they end up with 'exactly' what it sounds like, "a second rate production", usually done at home with no real direction, video taped by an amateur with 'probably' a cell phone. If that is what you have done, or going to do when pressed, you are done before you really began. So check into getting a quality production video with good material.

You will be glad you did. Believe me.

wr

SAG/AFTRA Questions?

ANSWERS TO A COUPLE OF 'SAG/AFTRA  QUESTIONS,

WHICH WE ARE ASKED QUITE FREQUENTLY.

Will I be required to accept only union work once I join SAG-AFTRA?

Yes. You must be ready and willing to follow SAG-AFTRA’s rules and regulations and to accept ONLY union employment once you become a member of SAG-AFTRA.

First and foremost of all the SAG-AFTRA rules is Global Rule One. It is the foundation of SAG-AFTRA's strength in protecting and representing its members. Global Rule One states:

"No SAG-AFTRA member shall work as an actor or make an agreement to work as an actor for any producer who has not executed a basic minimum agreement with the union which is in full force and effect. This provision applies worldwide."

Does this mean that once I become a SAG-AFTRA member I may not accept ANY non-union performing work to supplement my income?

Yes it does! Again YEP!!!!!

• SAG-AFTRA members cannot accept an acting role in any studio, independent, low-budget, pilot, experimental, non-profit, interactive, educational, student, or ANY production, unless that producer has signed a Contract or Letter of Agreement with SAG-AFTRA.
• In addition, by joining SAG-AFTRA, members also agree to abide by Rule 9, which states that members of one of the Four A performers' unions (SAG-AFTRA, Equity, AGVA, AGMA) will not accept non-union work in another union's jurisdiction.

You will not have to worry about this AT ALL until you become SAG/AFTRA qualified.

PERIOD

wr

It's all Part of the Game!

PILOT SEASON IS OVER!  IT'S NOW 'DROP SEASON' IN HOLLYWOOD, NY AND THE ATL.

Now agents can taper off just a little. Pilots have now been cast. Negotiations are just about over.

It is now time to cut a few non-doers from your roster and make room for a few fresh faces, with

promise. The herd must be trimmed. Blood will run in the streets of H'wood, NY and Atlanta. Agents

will drop talent,  or maybe trade talent (like the NFL) with another agent or agency. "I'll give you Melody,

if you will give me Louisa". Others (new) will come into your office, some prepared and ready. Others

not so much. These are mostly dreamers that think it's easy. Many will fall flat on their face. Some

will be granted a few necessary concessions and be given an opportunity. ALL will find out just where

they fit in. If at all.

It's all part of the game. It's show business.

wr

Talent is Subjective!

What determines whether an actor is cast in a part in Hollywood?

I see talented actors in small parts & then someone will come out of nowhere & get cast in a star making part. Talent doesn't seem like a very important criteria or maybe it's because acting is an art & open to subjective judgment.

• Relevant skills/ability
• Executive sponsorship
• Recognized success                                                                                                                                                  *Talent, experience, relationships, directors, awards, and financial risk reduction"

Talent is subjective. (after all I've been accused by some of having very little) but you have to have some level of showmanship. That being said some of the best actors I know have a hard time finding work.

Experience is key.  Back ground in theater, improv troops, formal training is very helpful.  The director and studio want to know you you have a history of showing up and being good.

Relationships- Film making is a collaboration and we all enjoy working with people we know and like.  Catching a break is often times built on some one that knows you and believes in you giving you a shot. 

Take that break and run with it, and don't look back. Don't be your own worse enemy.

wr

Taylor Swift!!!

NEWS/ 

A Roundup of Taylor Swift and Calvin Harris' Lovefest at the 2016 iHeartRadio Music Award

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The 2016 iHeartRadio Music Awards show may have been in full swingSunday night, but let's face it—all eyes were on Taylor Swift and Calvin Harris. 

When the 26-year-old songstress was spotted on the red carpet sans her boyfriend, it seemed like we wouldn't be seeing much of the stars together during the three-hour telecast. Boy, were we wrong—the couple's interactions turned out to be the highlights of the night.

JUST GOSSIP I SUPPOSE,

WR

The truly gifted will always have a stage

While the tools and the process may change,

the basics will remain the same. Talent is talent.

And the truly gifted will always have a stage.