Okay guys, so this is the last of The Business of Show Business Series. Please forgive the lateness, between the Halloween event and the Open House it has been a long weekend for us at FSTS. This last BoSB post is Five Truths about Professional Acting. Acting is constantly glamorized by magazines and TZM specials. We see the success stories, the rich and the famous. This post is five things you should know if you want to make acting a career, or even if you are a young actor who wants to take the next step and head down into the city and try your hand at professional auditions. Now of course there are exceptions to every rule, but you should be prepared for these things as a professional actor.
1. You will hear "No"... A lot.
Here's the thing, you will go on a lot of auditions and you will not get cast in a large number of them. This DOES NOT make you a bad actor. See in the city they have a ridiculous number of actors to choose from. The actor who gets the role doesn't have to be any better than you, they just might fit the part better. Professional actors are "Typed" and that means based on your look you will be considered for a specific selection of roles and most of the time not considered for others. Knowing your type is a huge advantage for a professional actor, because it allows you to choose your audition material in a way that will highlight your type and therefor make it easier for casting directors to imagine you in a role. One of my teachers at New Paltz, Paul Kassel, said it best, "You might be the best Orange they have ever seen, but if they are looking for an Apple you are not going to get the part." But you still give it your all, because next time around they might be looking for Oranges... Which leads me to my next point...
2. You never know who you are talking to/performing for.
I once did a Commercial Acting class at Weiss-Baron down in NYC. An outside observer came in to watch our final presentation. Turns out said outside observer was a casting agent. About a year later I got a phone call out of the blue from my agent, "Michael, a casting agency called and they would like you to be an extra in a movie." The casting agent, we discovered, was the observer from Weiss-Baron who happened to be looking for kids to be extras and remembered me from the Commercial Class an entire year previous. The flip side of this is something I have seen happen before as well. I went to an audition where another boy was complaining to one of the receptionists who happened to be walking by about how he had been waiting too long for his audition. When I went into the audition room a few minutes later, guess who was not only running the audition, but also the casting director... If you guessed the man the other boy thought was just a receptionist, you would be right. The moral of this story is always be on your best behavior when in the city, you never know who might be connected.
3. Sometimes people know your competition.
So you arrive at your audition, you are all excited, the receptionist says "Hi" and directs you to the waiting room. The kid behind you comes in and the receptionist leaps up, "Hey Johnny! How have you been? How's your mother doing?" It is clear that "Johnny" has worked here before, and probably has a leg up on people they don't know. Don't let it shake you, just do your best.
4. Lots of times, you will be acting your part of a two person scene across from someone who sounds like a robot.
Okay, that is a weird sounding intro, but let me explain. You go into your audition, you get into character and speak your first line with all the acting and gravitas it deserves. Then the Reader who they hired to be your "scene partner" (I use the term as loosely as humanly possible) looks down at his script and reads the response in a disinterested monotone. It is one of the hardest things in the world to act against, a scene partner who gives you absolutely zero, and it doesn't happen every time, but unfortunately more often than not. See, Readers are paid to read the scene partner lines so that the people behind the table can focus on the actor auditioning. They literally read the same lines over and over again, for sometimes hundred of actors, over a couple of days. I don't know if they just can't work up the enthusiasm for it anymore or if they are instructed to read it that way as to not influence your performance... Either way it is really annoying... As has been the theme, don't let it get to you, just do your best.
5. You have to LOVE auditioning, possibly even more than performing on stage.
Most of us think of auditions as scary things, we are going somewhere to get judged on something that means a lot to us, that is scary. Most of the time we are not 100% and we have to go do our best anyway. But as I said before, most of the time you are not going to get the role. That may sound harsh but it isn't, it is simply the nature of the business. That is why you have to make yourself love auditioning. You love to perform right? Don't look at auditions as a test to see if you are allowed to perform somewhere else, think of every single audition as a chance to do what you love, perform! Those people at the table are not judging you, they are your audience, and believe it or not, they want you to be amazing! Because then their search is over, they have found the one. If you subscribe to this philosophy two things will happen, first you will handle the "No"s better, and second you will give consistent, strong auditions without the nerves getting in your way.
Professional acting isn't easy. But you should always strive to make your dreams come true. I hope this series has given you enough information to make some educated decisions about acting as a career and the necessary information to put your best foot forward if you decide to pursue it. As always feel free to comment either here or on Facebook with any questions.
Monday, October 28, 2013
Sunday, October 20, 2013
The Business of Show Business: Part 3 or Resume? Isn't that French? I don't speak French...
Well actually yes that word is French, well it goes all the way back to Latin but the French picked it up first. Not that it is really important to this post, but I just took 15 minutes to look up the etymology of the word "Resume" so like it or not you are going to read about it...
So what is a Resume anyway? Other then a French word I mean?
So a Resume, for those who don't know, is effectively a list of your prior work as an actor. Just like a job resume, but instead of listing your time spent washing dishes at Panera Bread, you list the shows you have been in and the parts you have played. Now as a lot of you are young actors just starting out you are not going to have a ton of credits to list, that is okay, just make sure you make it neat and professional and you will be fine. Other good things to mention are basic stats, height, weight, primary voice type if you sing and have a comfortable understanding of your voice. You also want to list any special skills you might have, this might be physical talents like juggling, or gymnastics, accents you can do, literally anything that may make you stand out from the crowd. Just make sure you actually have whatever talent you say you do, I once knew an actress who padded her resume by listing surfing as a special skill because it sounded fun and out there. She was hired at a commercial audition and when she got to the set, she found out that the main reason she got hired was because of the surfing skills mentioned on her resume, she was expected to surf for the commercial... she had never surfed a day in her life, as you can imagine it was a very embarrassing shoot for her...
Okay a list of my past shows... How do I put it all together?
Resumes are hard to explain, the best way is to show you one. I originally started looking for resumes online to show you, but I figured it would be more fun if I showed you my own. A couple points I want to make before I get to that:
1. The "Theatre" section of my resume does not list all my acting credits, last time I tried counting I figured I had been in over 70 productions in my career, when you start to get enough credits, and trust me, you will, resume writing becomes a process of deciding what NOT to include, choose the stuff that makes you look the best. If at all possible keep it to one page, this serves a couple purposes, first one page just looks cleaner than a stapled packet. If you absolutely have to you can print one double sided page, but this prevents you from being able to print your resume directly on the back of your Headshot after you get them done professionally, which looks great and makes sure that neither piece gets lost in the shuffle. The other side of that is, if you don't have a ton of credits don't be afraid to list all of them no matter how small, if you were spear carrier number 7, put it on there, there is nothing wrong with a small role.
2. I put my Theatre credits first on my resume because I primarily consider myself a theatre performer and that is the work I am most interested in doing, if Film and TV are your first love, then list those credits first instead.
3. Just like Headshots you should always keep your Resume updated, and being that it doesn't cost anything other then your time it really is a no brainer. Anytime you do something new that would improve your resume, make sure you get it down before your next audition. Maybe that one credit was all the casting director needed to see to be convinced you can do something that your other credits didn't...
4. Lastly I need to apologize in advance, when I converted my resume to a pdf so it could be easily read online it somehow messed up some of the spacing, so the items on the right side of the page do not line up correctly, everything is supposed to line up by the first letter on the right side, but this should still give you a solid idea of what a resume looks like.
Mike's Resume
So that's all for this week, I think our "probably 3 part" series just became a 4 part series, but as usual feel free to ask any questions or Facebook, email, or smoke signal us with a topic you would be interest in reading about. Thanks!
So what is a Resume anyway? Other then a French word I mean?
So a Resume, for those who don't know, is effectively a list of your prior work as an actor. Just like a job resume, but instead of listing your time spent washing dishes at Panera Bread, you list the shows you have been in and the parts you have played. Now as a lot of you are young actors just starting out you are not going to have a ton of credits to list, that is okay, just make sure you make it neat and professional and you will be fine. Other good things to mention are basic stats, height, weight, primary voice type if you sing and have a comfortable understanding of your voice. You also want to list any special skills you might have, this might be physical talents like juggling, or gymnastics, accents you can do, literally anything that may make you stand out from the crowd. Just make sure you actually have whatever talent you say you do, I once knew an actress who padded her resume by listing surfing as a special skill because it sounded fun and out there. She was hired at a commercial audition and when she got to the set, she found out that the main reason she got hired was because of the surfing skills mentioned on her resume, she was expected to surf for the commercial... she had never surfed a day in her life, as you can imagine it was a very embarrassing shoot for her...
Okay a list of my past shows... How do I put it all together?
Resumes are hard to explain, the best way is to show you one. I originally started looking for resumes online to show you, but I figured it would be more fun if I showed you my own. A couple points I want to make before I get to that:
1. The "Theatre" section of my resume does not list all my acting credits, last time I tried counting I figured I had been in over 70 productions in my career, when you start to get enough credits, and trust me, you will, resume writing becomes a process of deciding what NOT to include, choose the stuff that makes you look the best. If at all possible keep it to one page, this serves a couple purposes, first one page just looks cleaner than a stapled packet. If you absolutely have to you can print one double sided page, but this prevents you from being able to print your resume directly on the back of your Headshot after you get them done professionally, which looks great and makes sure that neither piece gets lost in the shuffle. The other side of that is, if you don't have a ton of credits don't be afraid to list all of them no matter how small, if you were spear carrier number 7, put it on there, there is nothing wrong with a small role.
2. I put my Theatre credits first on my resume because I primarily consider myself a theatre performer and that is the work I am most interested in doing, if Film and TV are your first love, then list those credits first instead.
3. Just like Headshots you should always keep your Resume updated, and being that it doesn't cost anything other then your time it really is a no brainer. Anytime you do something new that would improve your resume, make sure you get it down before your next audition. Maybe that one credit was all the casting director needed to see to be convinced you can do something that your other credits didn't...
4. Lastly I need to apologize in advance, when I converted my resume to a pdf so it could be easily read online it somehow messed up some of the spacing, so the items on the right side of the page do not line up correctly, everything is supposed to line up by the first letter on the right side, but this should still give you a solid idea of what a resume looks like.
Mike's Resume
So that's all for this week, I think our "probably 3 part" series just became a 4 part series, but as usual feel free to ask any questions or Facebook, email, or smoke signal us with a topic you would be interest in reading about. Thanks!
Monday, October 14, 2013
The Business of Show Business: Part 2 or Headshot, Isn't that how I keep losing in Halo?
Well... yes it could be, but unfortunately this is not a Video Game blog so I really can't help you with that...
Anyway, this next blog, part 2 in our probably 3 part incredibly cleverly named series, "The Business of Show Business (TM)" is about the all important Headshot. In Part 1 we talked about Agents and how you are pretty much required to get one if you want to make a serious go at this whole acting professionally thing. We also said that to get one you need a Headshot... "Okay," you ask, "Could you be a little bit more specific about what that entails?" Why yes, inquisitive theatre student, yes I can...
Headshots... Aren't those like... really expensive?
For professional Headshots yeah, they are pretty darn expensive. Here is the good news though, you do not need professional Headshots as a young actor looking to get an agent. What you need is a decent photo of yourself focusing on around the shoulders and up. A little bit lower is fine, but just the top half, full body photos will look amateur. This photo should be in color, no instagram filters :-) But here is the most important thing about a Headshot, be it professional or otherwise, it needs to show the actor's personality. Are you the bubbly, comedic type? Your Headshot should say that without anyone ever having to meet you. Are you a more simple, sweet person? I should be able to tell that by looking at your Headshot. The trick here is not to pose. The agent or casting director wants to see you, not your, "I'm taking a picture face." Whoever is taking the pictures, take LOTS of pictures, 99% of them will probably be useless, but you will find those 1 or 2 photos that just feel like you, those are your Headshots.
But what if I am confident in my abilities, I know this is what I want, and I or my parents have some extra cash, how do I get good professional Headshots?
I personally don't recommend making the leap to professional Headshots until you have secured an agent (you will pretty much have to get them at that point but at least then you know you will be using them for professional jobs). That being said, if you just can't get a picture you are happy with, or have been sending stuff our for a while and feel like your Headshot is holding you back, or you have money to burn and want to dive right in, well there are some tips for finding a Headshot photographer. First, the best ones around here all work in the city, seems kinda obvious, but if you are going to take the plunge and pay for Headshots, then you might as well get high quality ones worth what you paid for them. Backstage.com is a great resource for actors, not just for Headshot photographers, but pretty much for everything. I could probably do a whole blog post where I just type "Backstage.com is awesome!" over and over and over again. If you go to their resource section one of the options is Headshot photographers, you can sort them by most popular, see examples of their work, get links to their websites. It really is fantastic. Just make sure you take a look at where the photographer is located while you look at all the pretty pictures, if you are near NYC you don't want to schedule a photo session with a photographer in LA. Finally, your best resource for finding a good photographer is your agent, and that is one of the reasons I suggest waiting till you got one to get Headshots. Most agents have a photographer or 2 that their clients work with and like, they can make recommendations and you can bet their clients tell them when they do or don't like working with someone.
Wait! One more thing about Headshots...
The last reason to not get professional Headshots until you have an agent is your Headshot NEEDS to stay current. Now if you are an adult, you you can probably get away with getting new Headshots every ten years or so, if you start looking significantly different it is time to get new Headshots. As a young actor you are still growing, which means you look significantly different every couple of years. This means you could get professional Headshots to get an agent and by the time you finally get one you look different enough that you need new Headshots! "But why?" you ask. Well Headshots are the first thing casting directors are going to see of you, it's how they will decide if you are right for a particular role. So if you look different from your Headshot you might get called in for a role you no longer fit, or worse yet, not get called in for a role you would be perfect for, because your outdated Headshot doesn't show it. I went in for an open call for a production of Seussical, at the time I was the perfect build for Horton. My 3 year old Headshot didn't show that, I was typed out, that means I didn't get to audition because my Headshot didn't look like any of the parts they were trying to fill... it didn't look like me anymore either. To make matters worse I was called in at a later date, again based on an old Headshot, for a part I was not right for, I went in and auditioned, but I was wasting both my time and the casting director's, all because of an old Headshot.
Phew... So that is all for this week. I apologize for the tardiness, but I hope it was worth the wait!
Sunday, October 6, 2013
The Business of Show Business: Part 1 or Agents and Managers... What are they and do I need them?
Hi all, Mike again. So we are going to bounce off of the Commercial post from last week and do the first in a probably 3 part series I call, "The Business of Show Business". (Did you see what I did there? Okay good. I just wanted to make sure you realized how clever I was. See, because Show Business has Business in the title and this this going to be about Business and how Business is part of Show Business and...)
Sorry... So anyway, this first part is going to talk about two things that tend to come up whenever someone starts talking about professional acting. (The other two that pop up are Headshots and Resumes but they are cool enough to get a whole post to themselves.) The two things we are going to talk about in this post are Agents and Managers. We want to go over what they are, what they do, and if you, the young professional actor, actually need one.
Agents - Like Secret Agents, Like James Bond? Mike, does James Bond help actors?
Unfortunately no, 007 will not help you land your next paid acting gig, but your agent will. An agent's job is to schedule auditions for you to go on. Casting Directors send out notices to agents with roles they need filled, or actor types they are looking for and then the agent submits actors that he thinks might fit the criteria. Once the casting director okays the submission the agent sets up the appointment time and sends the actor any sides (a cut of a script used for an audition) that he will need to prepare. The actor shows up at his appointed time, auditions, and, hopefully, gets the part!
Okay that sounds cool, maybe not James Bond cool, but cool, but do I really need one?
The short answer to that question is yes. Now maybe you could get lucky and nab a big part at an open call but to really be able to work you have to have an agent. Most casting directors won't even see someone who is not represented. Getting a good agent can make all the difference in an actor's career.
Right, so I need an agent... How do I get one of those again?
Getting an agent as a young actor starting out isn't easy, it requires perseverance and a bit of luck. Basically you get together a Headshot and Resume (We will talk about those in Part 2) and start mailing them out to all the agencies that interest you. A quick Google search can give you the names and address of the top agents in the city, and Backstage Magazine publishes a list of names and mailing address for various theatre professionals, including agents, quarterly. If they like your look and resume they will give you a call to set up an agent audition, you will come in and perform and if they like what they see you will get signed on.
Well that sounds rough...
It kinda is, but here is the thing. NO LEGITIMATE AGENT WILL EVER CHARGE YOU HOURLY, OR MONTHLY, OR YEARLY. Sorry I wanted to make that very clear, agents get paid when the actor gets paid, the standard is 10% but it can go as high as 15%. This is why they are so picky, if you don't get work, they don't get paid. So they want you to get cast just as much as you do. But don't feel like they are the only ones who can be picky, feel free to ask for references and feel free to call them and see how their experience with the agency has been. If an agent refuses to give you references, think twice before signing up with them, it is a fairly common practice in New York and most agents should not have any problem with it.
Okay, so what about a Manager?
Managers do just that, they manage an actor's career. They handle paperwork, set up interviews, work with an agent to get their clients name out there and regularly have less clients than an agent. Managers are there to keep your life in order so that you can focus on acting. Like agents, managers DO NOT charge hourly for their services, they take a commission out of the actor's earnings, usually 15 - 20%.
Yeah, but do I need one?
Honestly, no. Managers are very important when an actor makes it big and they require more than one person to keep track of their various obligations. As a young actor just starting out you or your parents can handle the stuff a manager would do, without having to give up a fifth of your paycheck.
A Quick Word of Caution
When searching around for resources you will see a lot of groups claiming to be "Talent Managers", they are on the web, in the city, even in malls... A lot of these so called "Talent Managers" are scams to prey on young actors and their parents. They call themselves "Talent Managers" because Agents are required to be franchised by the SAG-AFTRA actor's union, while Managers do not have that same restriction. They tend to promise fame and work to the young actor, especially in print work (Print Agents are not required to be franchised either...) and there is usually a sign-up fee of some sort, or an event somewhere that the young actor would be "perfect" for that they require payment for to set up airfare... You get the idea... Then there is another thing that needs payment, and another... Remember what I said before, No Legitimate Agent or Manager Will Ask For Payment Up Front! The allure of these "Talent Managers" can be enticing, especially after trying so hard to find a real agent. When you have doubts ask for references or ask one of us at FSTS, we are always happy to help you out and answer any questions you might have.
So that is all for part one, as usual, let us know if you have any topics you would like me to cover in future posts and feel free to ask any questions about this or previous posts!
Sorry... So anyway, this first part is going to talk about two things that tend to come up whenever someone starts talking about professional acting. (The other two that pop up are Headshots and Resumes but they are cool enough to get a whole post to themselves.) The two things we are going to talk about in this post are Agents and Managers. We want to go over what they are, what they do, and if you, the young professional actor, actually need one.
Agents - Like Secret Agents, Like James Bond? Mike, does James Bond help actors?
Unfortunately no, 007 will not help you land your next paid acting gig, but your agent will. An agent's job is to schedule auditions for you to go on. Casting Directors send out notices to agents with roles they need filled, or actor types they are looking for and then the agent submits actors that he thinks might fit the criteria. Once the casting director okays the submission the agent sets up the appointment time and sends the actor any sides (a cut of a script used for an audition) that he will need to prepare. The actor shows up at his appointed time, auditions, and, hopefully, gets the part!
Okay that sounds cool, maybe not James Bond cool, but cool, but do I really need one?
The short answer to that question is yes. Now maybe you could get lucky and nab a big part at an open call but to really be able to work you have to have an agent. Most casting directors won't even see someone who is not represented. Getting a good agent can make all the difference in an actor's career.
Right, so I need an agent... How do I get one of those again?
Getting an agent as a young actor starting out isn't easy, it requires perseverance and a bit of luck. Basically you get together a Headshot and Resume (We will talk about those in Part 2) and start mailing them out to all the agencies that interest you. A quick Google search can give you the names and address of the top agents in the city, and Backstage Magazine publishes a list of names and mailing address for various theatre professionals, including agents, quarterly. If they like your look and resume they will give you a call to set up an agent audition, you will come in and perform and if they like what they see you will get signed on.
Well that sounds rough...
It kinda is, but here is the thing. NO LEGITIMATE AGENT WILL EVER CHARGE YOU HOURLY, OR MONTHLY, OR YEARLY. Sorry I wanted to make that very clear, agents get paid when the actor gets paid, the standard is 10% but it can go as high as 15%. This is why they are so picky, if you don't get work, they don't get paid. So they want you to get cast just as much as you do. But don't feel like they are the only ones who can be picky, feel free to ask for references and feel free to call them and see how their experience with the agency has been. If an agent refuses to give you references, think twice before signing up with them, it is a fairly common practice in New York and most agents should not have any problem with it.
Okay, so what about a Manager?
Managers do just that, they manage an actor's career. They handle paperwork, set up interviews, work with an agent to get their clients name out there and regularly have less clients than an agent. Managers are there to keep your life in order so that you can focus on acting. Like agents, managers DO NOT charge hourly for their services, they take a commission out of the actor's earnings, usually 15 - 20%.
Yeah, but do I need one?
Honestly, no. Managers are very important when an actor makes it big and they require more than one person to keep track of their various obligations. As a young actor just starting out you or your parents can handle the stuff a manager would do, without having to give up a fifth of your paycheck.
A Quick Word of Caution
When searching around for resources you will see a lot of groups claiming to be "Talent Managers", they are on the web, in the city, even in malls... A lot of these so called "Talent Managers" are scams to prey on young actors and their parents. They call themselves "Talent Managers" because Agents are required to be franchised by the SAG-AFTRA actor's union, while Managers do not have that same restriction. They tend to promise fame and work to the young actor, especially in print work (Print Agents are not required to be franchised either...) and there is usually a sign-up fee of some sort, or an event somewhere that the young actor would be "perfect" for that they require payment for to set up airfare... You get the idea... Then there is another thing that needs payment, and another... Remember what I said before, No Legitimate Agent or Manager Will Ask For Payment Up Front! The allure of these "Talent Managers" can be enticing, especially after trying so hard to find a real agent. When you have doubts ask for references or ask one of us at FSTS, we are always happy to help you out and answer any questions you might have.
So that is all for part one, as usual, let us know if you have any topics you would like me to cover in future posts and feel free to ask any questions about this or previous posts!
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