Hey, thanks for checking out today's post. This blog is intended for the aspiring or working model and actor. Click here to subscribe for our e-mail updates!
05/28/2012
NEED AN INCENTIVE?
Tennesseans have worked hard these past few years to get the capitol’s attention in an effort to bring more film and television work to the state. It continues to be a concerted effort, but every little pay off is worth the struggle. Recently, Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris has given us something to hope for.
Jan Austin, from the Association for the Future of Film & Television Tennessee says, “As the Legislature prepared for adjournment, Senator Mark Norris (Memphis) was able to secure $2 million per year RECURRING funds to go to the present film fund, Additionally, the fund will raise the percentage of rebate for qualifying projects from 17% to 25%. As a result of this appropriation, the HQTS incentive overseen by the Dept of Revenue was repealed. Any further changes in qualifying criteria will be made by the film commission and ECD.”
Take a moment to write Senator Norris a thank you note for supporting the film community and encourage more positive efforts from our state legislature!
05/25/2012
05/23/2012
05/21/2012
THE VALUE OF RELATIONSHIP
New York Casting Director, Scott Powers, shares his insider's view of the client's perspective after the audition.
An interesting and unavoidable pastime in this business is observing actors commit career suicide.
Rushing headlong into the buzz saw, with not a clue or a care of what they're doing, not heeding warnings. Happens everyday. It's a given that an actor's plight is to always be looking for a job. In doing so, you never know who can help you get a job or influence a "we'll pass." The hiring process can involve a number of people; if one has a slight negative comment about a select, that often is enough to stop the consideration in its tracks. This we have witnessed more times than we want to. It can be made by a network executive vice president in charge of Primetime Programming or the summer intern. To see an actor lose a big role because of an offhand casual remark is a chilling experience.
Moral of the story: Don't make enemies. And its close cousin: be nice. Don't badmouth anyone. Tough to do in this business. Zip the lip. We all wear many hats in this business. The assistant being trashed today by an actor could be the agent two years from now who decides to take a pass on representing that actor. Or one day the actor walks in an audition room and there is the casting director the actor treated badly as an intern. Memories are long in this business. More people know you than you know them . It's very incestuous how agents, managers, casting directors, directors, producers, etc. all mix and mingle with each other. What's a common topic of conversation? You guessed it. The unfortunate part of our business is that once bridges are burned, it's permanent. Time does not heal all wounds here. There is no kiss-and-make-up as in other industries. Somebody wronged ten years ago still lies in wait, waiting for that opportunity to settle the score. If something bad is said about someone it is almost guaranteed that that person will hear about it, including the source. This can be why phone calls can start to fall off or a career never proceeds past doing background work for paid work. One photographer we work with a lot made an astute observation: "We don't have to eliminate actors, they eliminate themselves." Sometimes newcomers just have to find out for themselves and by that time, it's too late. Time for that Plan B.
Sherry Lansing, former head of 20th Century Fox and earlier in her career, a model and actor, famously said about the people who gave her shabby treatment on her way up to becoming one of the most powerful people in our business: "I remember them. And they remember me." Way to turn a phrase.
As casting directors, we have to work with clients, some are nice and some not so much. We are equally professional to all. They are the beginning of the food chain. Agents may have to work with clients, managers and casting directors they may not be in love with, but professionally are civil to all. This does not always extend to actors. To quote a big commercial agent, "We're very fortunate, we only work with the actors we want to." It doesn't take much to give someone a reason not to hire or represent an individual actor. And there are quite a few actors to go around in a buyer's market.
Stories abound about the casualties. Two new ones are especially poignant:
One actor recently mouthed off to an important film director. In front of several other people. The director never flinched and no one else did. The director just never hired that actor, and never will. Nor will anyone else who witnessed the display of self-importance. It came as no surprise that actor is never considered for anything substantial . The only paying work he gets is background work. Principal work? Yes, in student films for free. But he can't progress beyond that. Has a glass ceiling and his resumé confirms it. He became his own worst enemy and his career paid the price for it. Is he willing to change? No. He's convinced himself he's right and everybody else is wrong. Whatever the case is, he will not get the work he thinks he entitled to. Next!
One young actor was doing background work on a TV show that hires a lot of background. She made a snarky comment about an agent. An actor behind her heard it and it was about her agent, and she tweeted the agent word for word. The targeted agent made a casual call to the background casting director about the offending actor. The offending actor was not invited back to the show the next day. Or ever. And calls from the background casting director dried up. In a twist of irony, two weeks later the offending actor attended a meet-and-greet and guess who was one of the agents? Yep. When it came time for the actor to meet the agent, she was reminded word for word what she said about that agent. Imagine the shock on the actor's face! By the end of the evening, all the other agents and casting directors at the meet-and-greet knew what happened. A very efficient career crash and burn. And the unfortunate actor probably never connected the dots as to what caused this calamity.
Actors who have managed to stay in this business for a number of years have learned a number of survival skills. A big one is the accumulation of connections and good will for the care and feeding of their career. And a big way of building that group is being nice to everybody. Never a negative word. They've been around long enough to know even Godzilla may come in handy some day. And for the nod for that big series regular role.
To end on a positive note, the industry wants you to succeed, to get the job, to make everybody glad they made the decision to hire you or represent you. Everyone is plugging for you. Just give them a reason to do so.
05/18/2012
05/16/2012
KATIE GROSHONG WITH SEAN YOUNG
The Avenue Agency's Katie Groshong was cast in the new independent film Jug Face along side celebrity Sean Young. Jug Face is currently being shot in Nashville, TN, and is directed by Chad Crawford Kinkle.
Keep on eye on it in the months to come!
05/14/2012
THE ROYAL FAMILY
"Nashville's" Connie Britton in her most recent series, Friday Night LIghts.
In the past few months, the television pilot "Nashville" has been under close watch, after casting and shooting it's initial series in the self-named Tennessee city. The Hollywood Reporter released this description of the cast: "Nashville": This family soap is set in Nashville and chronicles an aging country music star (Connie Britton) battling against (and forced to collaborate with) an up-and-coming sensation (Hayden Panettiere). Eric Close has been cast as Britton's husband and Powers Boothe ("Deadwood," "Tombstone") is her disapproving father.
This powerhouse episodic has been picked up officially as ABC's first official 2012-2013 season addition. The charm and mystery of the country music industry doesn't stop at our own back door, though. Reba McEntire's new series, Malibu Country, has also been picked up by ABC for this season. Malibu Country, which also did casting in Nashville, will call Hawaii home during production.
Local talent who have been traveling for episodic and film work now have a small share of it in their own back yard. And with all the buzz and romance of the country music industry lighting up the screen, there is bound to be more opportunities around the corner. Now is the time to get those acting chops sharpened and to stay focused on your craft for when Nashville starts casting day players!
Will you be on Nashville?
05/11/2012
STEADY BETTY
Constant and steady may or may not be the plight of Mad Men's leading ladies, but these girls know how to stay in the spotlight! As talent, you hear the good advice constantly to "market yourself" and "treat it like a your own small business" . . . and the advice is good. But following through is challenging. And sometimes knowing where to start can leave the creative mind dumbfounded.
Jodie Bentley and Kevin Urban of The Savvy Actor, a company that empowers actors to think like small business owners by creating and implementing an effective business plan has this to say: "In order to market yourself effectively, you must know what you’re selling. BRANDING is the foundation of all our marketing . Once you’ve defined your brand, you have to market it with consistency. Consistency is the key to successful marketing. Consistency is the #1 rule of marketing that most actors either lose faith in or forget. We want to be all things to all people. We want to show them we can do it all. Being focused and consistent will build trust in your brand - your product. Everything you do to promote yourself and your brand falls under marketing. You need specific marketing strategies to achieve each of your career goals. It’s about having strategies and systems in place to take the emotion out of marketing."
Taking emotion out of anything after focusing your well-being and success on emoting so much of the time feels counter-intutive. But learning to follow the plan -- or hire someone who can do it for you -- is healthy, calming, and smart. It won't be long before you start reporting results from your efforts!
05/09/2012
WHO NEEDS MORE THAN A GOOD FIRST IMPRESSION?
First impressions don't get a second chance, it's true! After making a good first impression, though, it's not over. Developing a relationship is imperative as the next step to success, as Casting Director Terry Berland shares through the eyes of some of her associates!
Lia Fischer says: “I always tell actors that it's about forming relationships, not impressions. What does this mean? I'm an Associate at EMH Productions, an educational Casting Director Workshop company. I've seen many actors take one workshop and get discouraged. What I've found, is that the actors (including myself!) get called in after seeing a CD twice or more. For example, I had nine theatrical auditions last year solely based on the CD calling me in. For these nine auditions, which included co-stars, guest stars, and one big fat feature film lead role audition. I saw each CD twice or more per year, kept in contact with each one of them regarding the webisodes I was in and the commercial I starred in, Facebook friended them successfully; and all in all, remained friendly and in touch. When I went into to audition at 90210, the CD gave me a hug (which is becoming pretty normal for me nowadays), and said, ‘Lia! I love hearing about all your success in your commercial and webisode! I saw your commercial on TV the other day and you were hysterical!’ It's not about seeing a CD once in their office or at a workshop and expecting magic to happen. It's about building relationships with CDs to brand yourself.”
And since you are building a business, branding is a large part of what makes you recognizable and sought after! What does your brand look like?
05/07/2012
"HI! I'M WORKING!"
Does everyone in the industry know you on a first name basis? Perhaps not since there are so many professionals around the world. But Barbara offers the talent some advice on how to get results and use your efforts effectively!
Barbara Kerford who works for The Actor’s Key says “I always thought I was doing what I needed to be doing, taking the occasional workshop, getting new headshots, doing the occasional mailing, but until my marketing became consistent I didn't have any results. It wasn't until I started doing monthly postcards-- that I started to really see results. Now I audition weekly. For a while it was just to people I knew, but now I am also auditioning with people I've never met. Marketing is a key part of this industry. I was talking to another actor and she was asking how I was going out on so many auditions. She complained that she had just booked two guest star roles and did not see an increase in her audition activity. I asked how she was telling people about it and she told me she was leaving it up to her manager--that is one way of doing it, but it is up to the individual actor to be out there hustling for themselves.
A postcard, no matter what it says, tells the industry that you are working. Find something to brag about or to congratulate a CD about. Take any business course and they will tell you lack of marketing is why so many businesses fail.”
