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The Internet is Your Friend

If you are on this site, you are already playing the techno-game and learning where you can go on the Information Super Highway to promote yourself and enhance your career experience.  You should be congratulated.  In addition to fabulous instruction and educational sites, you probably already know about checking in to your union sites and other industry related informational places to find ways to participate in activities, workshops, live forums, etc. that can help you move ahead with your contacts and information gathering.

Here are a few places you might want to visit:

http://www.sag.org/
http://www.aftra.com
http://www.imdb.com/
http://www.emmys.com/
http://www.playersdirectory.com/

Let’s start there…you can find information about union memberships, programs for placement, training, and education, even scholarships if you qualify sponsored by other industry professionals. 

Don’t be shy, don’t stop there, find out what you need to know in search engines and links at other websites.  A proactive actor is the one who is likely to work!!  Good Luck.

Best,
Beth

Hello Actors!! 
As we start our blog as a new feature of our Auditioning website, and add information and tutorials on State-of-the-Industry news and expectations for the actor, I am wrapping my mind around the “chatty” nature of blogging.
I have a small design business that involves computerized machine embroidery.  I visit many sites for education and supplies and many sewers/designers blogs, but have never actually set up a blog for myself or my own website. Read the rest of this entry »

When you are new to Los Angeles it will seem a daunting, huge city with no center.  It is important to establish a life and normalcy and find a way to get information about the business.  One of the greatest information sources you will have will the acting/scene study class you take.  Get into one as quickly as possible and through those contacts you will discover a lot about what you need to know about Los Angeles and your niche in the business.  There will be people who have gone through what you are and will be happy to help you in your career.  A lot of the time they will be your friends and career-support the rest of your life.  It is important to know that you are NOT in competition with anyone.  Share your leads and knowledge with your friends – help them get a career, and they will help you. Read the rest of this entry »

What do you Love about Acting?

Every once in awhile, I get so frustrated with the hiring process and with the callous nature of many of the people I meet with for jobs.  I get disillusioned, disappointed, and I start to take things personally.  Acting…show business…is a really brutal field.  And actors are generally more sensitive than, say a bank teller, in keeping our emotions near the surface.  It is necessary for what we do to be able to have expression nearby.

When I feel too discouraged, I try to take a minute and remember why I love acting, and why I decided to do this in the first place.  I try to review for myself (in the form of a sort of mental pep talk) what I get from the actual experience that feeds me.

When I was growing up, it was an enormous treat to go to the movies.  We a were middle class family who had fought our way up from very modest beginnings, both my parents worked, and great sacrifices had been made moving across the country away from our close core family to get better jobs for my parents.  So movies were a real splurge.

I could sit in a dark theater…with air conditioning or heat…where no one could see you laugh or cry, and where it was perfectly acceptable to do both of those things and not be judged inappropriate.  I remember thinking how powerful that experience was, and how amazing it would be if I could grow up to make people FEEL like that.  What a gift to be able to help people forget their worries for two hours at a time (or an hour on tv, ha!) make them laugh, make them cry…THAT’S what I wanted to do!!

So when I get a little too disenchanted or beaten down, I go to the movies.  I sit in a dark theater and “experience” all the things I have put over 30 years into as a career.  I always leave feeling better.

Find your encouragement where you can…you’ll need it from time to time, but if you really want to be an actor, you can make it happen.

Best,
Beth

It is essential to have an agent in Los Angeles in order to get in to casting appointments for most major projects in television and film.  Without an agent, it is nearly impossible to get a meeting or casting call unless you have a relationship with the casting director or the director or producer of the project. Read the rest of this entry »

Acting is acting.  That is the general rule, but there are subtle differences that cannot be ignored.  It’s therefore interesting that there are many different styles of acting, and different styles of auditions to go with them.  But they’re all fairly subtle by the type of medium or the kind of project.

In each case, the kind of project you are auditioning for should be carefully investigated and you should prepare accordingly, in dress, in attitude, and in acting style. Read the rest of this entry »

When an actor is new in town, and just starting out, it’s hard to know where to turn for marketing materials (headshots, photos, demo reels, etc.) and acting class.  Where there are beginners with money to spend, there are scam artists hatching ways to take that money from the unsuspecting.  Please start all inquiries by checking on the acting school, photographer, videographer, coach, or manager as completely as possible.  Ask around. Get referrals from actor friends for these services when possible.  Look companies or individuals up on the Internet.  Call the offices or headquarters and ask questions about refund policies, dissatisfaction policies and what exact services are provided for what fees.  Call the Better Business Bureau if possible, call the unions if this applies (in the case of agents that are not franchised by Screen Actors Guild or AFTRA), take whatever reasonable precautions you can.  Be proactive in the choices you make about your money, your career, and your future. Read the rest of this entry »

When I moved to Los Angeles from Arizona almost 30 years ago, I was not connected in show business, I had very little money, I had no job and no relatives here, and it was pretty much on a wing and a prayer.  I would not recommend it.  I waited tables, worked as a receptionist, did plays at night, sang in nightclubs, and wore my feet to a nub chasing my dreams.

The best thing I ever did was take a temporary job in a casting office.  I learned quickly what matters.  I learned the basics of contracts, what people (casting people) expect from an actor at a casting call, how things unfold with the wardrobe and production departments once you are hired.  I learned the technical things, but that is not what matters. Read the rest of this entry »

Most actors coming to Los Angeles do not have Union affiliation.  The unions that hold jurisdiction over all of Television and Film production are Screen Actors Guild (SAG) or The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA).  If you want a job on a show that is signed with one of those Unions you MUST be a member to work on it.  Almost all films and scripted television falls under union jurisdiction (reality programs do not).  Some low budget independent and most student films are non-union and if you do not have a union card, those are the easiest projects to attach yourself to.  
Some links for more information:
Aftra: http://www.aftra.org/benefits/join.htm
SAG: http://www.sag.org/content/guild-information
Those sites will give you the exact requirements for membership but the bottom line is this: If you get an audition for a Union job and book it – you can join the union.  They encourage it – they want to initiation fee and dues.  

Most actors coming to Hollywood do not work as actors in their first year.  I’ll repeat that so you can absorb this.  Most new actors coming to Hollywood do not work as actors in the first year they arrive.
Again, there are always exceptions to any rule, but if you are a new actor, or bring no Broadway, Chicago or Regional Theatre experience with you, chances are you will spend your first year getting situated, finding classes and agents and managers and trying to figure out how to fit in. Read the rest of this entry »