HOLLYWOOD ACTOR PREP by Dana Kaminski

SAG Indie Was Created So That SAG Actors Can Work In Low-Budget Movies

And…So Independent Films Can Use Professional Actors.

Remember Melissa Leo’s acting nomination, at last year’s Oscars?  Frozen River was a SAG Indie film.  I’ve seen her in at least 3 indies, this year.  Big acting roles, and smaller ones.

Here’s a video with Tom Bower, an actor who has been active in SAG for years. I filmed him at the end of an event at AFI. Tom helped create SAG Indie, at SAG; and shares all about it.

Indie Filmmakers Can Download The SAG Contracts From SAG Indie’s Website

SAG tailored SAG Indie, specifically, to the needs and ease-of-utilization; for low-budget, novice, or smaller films.

SAG even has incentives for low-budget films that use SAG Indie contracts. They also have incentives when for casting diversified talent.

Here’s the website address to the SAG Indie site. http://www.sagindie.com.  Here is a direct link to their PDF contracts page which includes contracts for short films, ultra low-budget, modified low-budget,  low-budget, theatrical and film agreement, and the SAG Basic Agreement. There are monthly informational meetings, as well, to teach filmmakers, and actors, how to utilize the contracts.

It seems like a great thing.  If anyone has experiential information, or an opinion on SAG Indie, I welcome it.  Let me know…

Best,

;~Dana

This may be a useful post for actors and filmmakers that you know. Please remember that the “fee” is to pay this forward…That is, to share .Thank you very much.

Have you heard about the movie: “Frozen River”? It was released this past summer, and is still being buzzed about.  Not just because it is a stirring film, and it’s different…

Thematically… it’s a bit more real, than the average Hollywood film. It’s a story about a woman whose husband gambles away all the money that they’ve saved for a suitable trailer home, for the family. Their “dream savings”. Now, he’s gone. She’s got a family, and poverty.

She’s not young; and all glammed-up.  Sexily clad. No.

Melissa Leo’s character “Eddy”, doesn’t have a high end manicure. No little things, like hair tangles, ruins her evening… She’s a grown woman, with the kind of real-life-authentic-drama, that all human beings deal with. Female humans, too.

Yes, female, and Eddy is a mother, and if you are one, then you know… motherhood is just about the most profoundly dramatic experience… (Oddly, it’s a drama that is rarely, theatrically, expressed.) 

In “Frozen River”, Leo is the type of mother who will do anything for the good of her children. 

And, this woman’s life is on the precipice of complete ruination, without many options. 

How does she handle an overwhelming challenge? She pairs up with a Mohawk woman [Misty Upham], smuggling people across a border.  In Alaska, in the freezing cold.   

You may remember Melissa Leo from television, she was detective Kay Howard, on “Homicide”. Her performances are always so seamless; she slips so deeply into the characters she plays, that, paradoxically, it almost renders her unnoticeable

…Remember “21 Grams”?

This time around, it’ll be a surprise if Melissa Leo doesn’t get nominated for a “Best Actress” Academy Award. If the Academy votes fairly, she may even win.  

Recently, at the 18th annual Gotham Independent Film Awards, in New York, “Frozen River” won best feature film, and Melissa Leo won best breakthrough actor…the two best awards.

Here are selected portions of an interview with Leo, by  Thelma Adams…

MELISSA LEO SHARES: FOUR YEARS TO FEATURE FILM

At the after-party, a wide-eyed blond-haired gal came up to me and said ‘I have a short, will you read it?’ And I said, ’sure.’ I read a script called Frozen River about two characters: the blond and the native; they didn’t even have names.

About four years ago, [writer-director] Courtney Hunt, [co-star] Misty Upham and I went up to Massena, NY and shot the short. After, I saw that short and was very impressed by what she had done, Courtney said, ‘wanna do the feature?’ And I said, ‘oh, I didn’t know you had one,’ and ’sure, let’s do the feature.”

So every six, eight months I would call Courtney and say, “Are we going to make that movie?” And she would say, “oh, yeah, no, I’ll get right back to you,” so I would kick-start her again to go look for the financing.

 

ON ACTING A CHARACTER, USING “SELF”

It’s difficult for me to know how much of myself I end up bringing.

Comments from people after the fact like my mom’s friend who just can’t get over the fact that I really knew how to look for that change in that couch [laughs]. She’s known my history. She’s known me my whole life. I’m not quite sure what parts of the character are parts of my self.

What I do know is first of all in the writing of Ray Eddy, she was a whole, complex character with flaws that Courtney wrote, and Courtney even was, as many writers are when they write, her character. And very, very generously gave me the character when it came my turn to play Ray Eddy and Courtney, then, took a backseat. So there were things in her writing that are primary to who Ray Eddy is, and there’s what I then brought to it, which is innate in me. I’m not sure how to describe what that is.

And, then, there’s also the direction that Courtney gave me. With another director at the helm, and me in that part, it wouldn’t have been the same thing because Courtney made me make Ray more likeable, that even though she might be doing things people might question, that you would still care for her. That’s very much Courtney’s hand in the direction.

Courtney had a very keen eye that that was important and, now, in viewing the film, which is very different from reading or performing the film, I understand and see the importance of that. So Courtney’s direction of me was a big, big part of it.

 

ON ACTING WITH A FIRST-TIME DIRECTOR

There were some bumps to get through in the first handful of days of shooting. Courtney’s never really been on a set before. There’s a way things work that everybody else there knows because the gaffer and the grips and the electric, they’ve all been on lots of sets…

There was a really scary day about three days in. We were shooting late in the film, not when we’re out and Mark Boone Jr. is being mean to those poor Chinese girls and then he shoots me in the ear, but right after I get in the car. So we’re starting the scene. We haven’t shot the other stuff with Mark Boone and the girls, where Ray gets shot in the ear, but we’re shooting right after when I get in the car. So we’re in the car, it’s pouring out with snow, with me driving to the start mark. Courtney’s in the back seat with what they call a clamshell, which is a monitor so she can see what the camera’s seeing. And I turn to look over my shoulder, quick as I’m driving to the start mark. ‘Courtney, do you think that we’ve been driving a little while and now we start the dialog or have I just got in the car, and we’re starting the dialog,’ Does that question make sense?

…Didn’t make sense to Courtney! [Laughter] So then, I’m now about to act like a woman who’s just got shot in the ear, I’m getting a little amped up because I know my face is going to be about this close to the camera in about three seconds, because they’re going to call rolling and I ask Courtney one more time [voice rising] ‘just be very clear with me if this is a little while down the road or if I’ve just gotten in the car?” and she says [softly, whispery] ‘don’t talk to me like that.”

…I remembered that I was working with a first-time director. We were going to have to work this out after we got the shot. They rolled the camera. We did the take. We got there. I got out of the car. I looked for a producer and I said, [loudly] “talk to her!” And they did. And it never happened again. That’s the amazing thing about Courtney. Is that she could learn even as we were doing it. And when we got through that third day, and that particular bump, and we came back the next day, something had changed. I knew we were going to be OK.

 

ACTING OPPORTUNITY OF A LIFETIME

This was very different for me in so many ways because here I was being given that opportunity that I have waited a lifetime for, the opportunity to carry the film. So everything mattered that much more to me. I was that much more involved in all of it. There’s all kind of utter nonsense that goes on on-set but, somehow, you get the darn thing in the can anyway….

 

Best,

:Dana
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Lots and lots of buzz abounds, about the film “Frozen River”…and the acting of Melissa Leo.  Especially with Oscar season approaching…

I love this thing that Variety’s doing:

Actors talk about great performances of fellow actors…

(I ran one of these before: Natalie Portman “champions” Sean Penn, for his acting performance in “Milk”–[click for trailer].)

Here’s Dustin Hoffman talking about (probable Oscar nominee) Melissa Leo:

“It’s funny. When you’re in the business, you can tell something in the first minutes of watching, particularly in terms of the actors. Just at the start of “Frozen River,” the first thing I saw I went, “Oh! oh!” I don’t even know the director (Courtney Hunt), but there was such a documentary feel to that performance by Melissa Leo. I don’t know Melissa Leo, but that’s an extraordinary piece of work. There’s not a false moment. I felt she knew it and lived that life.”

 

To watch the a large size movie trailer,  for “Frozen River”, click here.

To download the “Frozen River” Press kit in PDF, click here.

 

I’ll be posting, some more, about Melissa Leo, over the next week…

Best,

;Dana

What Movies…How, and Why

Let’s start with “Indies”.  

There’s a lot of them, this year.  

Lots of good ones, too.  Many more…than ever before…may be nominated for Oscars.

Better Independent Films, then, influence the standard of American movies, altogether.  

If American movie quality improves, then, tastes rise. That means higher quality films will be continued to be made. 

The “bar” will be raised, significantly, which will effect on Hollywood Studio decisions, and blockbuster fare.

It’s not only good for right now, but this will have an effect on what will be made in the future.

Michelle Williams, "Wendy And Lucy"

As far as acting goes…That’s wonderful news.  

Because it means more creative roles, more types of roles.

When you are an actor who is truly passionate about the art of acting, the roles in “indies” are the better ones to play.  The fulfilling kinds of roles.

Various parts to be able to play; more depth, more complexity in each.  More authentic acting.

That’s right: more roles.  Variation for each actor.  (Because what actor really wants to play the same thing again and again?)

It also means there will be more parts for variable types.  

Film: Frozen River

The actors that have a tough time finding auditions, because of their “inherent type”, should not be as limited, when movies become more creative.  The truly dramatic, instead of melodramatic, widens the field.  

Independent movies have always been different than studio fare, simply because they enable artistic vision. They are fueled by someone’s creative vision.  Often, they are more unique, more literate.  Resulting in a deeper experience for the audience.

Independent movies are aptly named: they have less decision-makers, from above, telling them “no”. It’s a different tact, different mindset, different goal, when something is made to please the masses, or, mainly, for ticket sales. Art and depth have a hard time surviving, when made by committee.

Could mean a real evolution.

Benecio Del Toro

A solid one. 

This great movie trend can’t just go poof-in-the-night.

If you were worried, here’s your virtual valium…there’s something in the mix, that is here to stay.  

Because there is a basis for all this, that isn’t going away. 

No matter what happens in the economy.  No matter what, period.

It’s our lovely internet.  

And our internet, is us.

Before now, so much of a film success depended on it’s marketing.  In spades.  Both for major studio product, and for Independents.

Until now, movies were “pushed”.  Success was hoisted onto the public, by advertising.

The current economy has ended all that spending, for movie marketing. At the same time, the internet expanded, wildly, especially with sharing/spreading opinion, by the audience.  In other words, the old way was radically diminished, as the new way was expanding. 

The people,  on the internet, now, have more voice and more influence, on determining what will be a success, as far as movies go.

The internet has become a major “influencer”, a determinant; substantiating public opinion into a position of being a more “major player”.  A power-position, that isn’t going anywhere. 

Ticket sales.

Also been affected by the economy.  In a bad economy, “ticket sales” carry more weight, as messengers.

When people cut back on their entertainment spending, they cut back on how many movies they see.  The ones that they do see, are chosen, specifically. The preferred choice.  Aligned with taste level.

Buying tickets really makes a point, in times like this.  

Quoting “New Indies Make Splash?”, from Variety  (Dade Hayes):

“The general economic climate is becoming refreshing,” says Oscilloscope’s Fenkel. “Buying a nomination is going to be harder. A company like ours has the resources to be patient and cultivate grassroots support for films that really deserve attention.”

Yari agrees, citing the discernment of the adult audience as a parallel shift that plays to these newer campaigners’ advantage.

The ultimate year of reckoning for the American indie and specialty sector has turned into a rare kudos opportunity for the survivors….”People are being more disciplined in their spending,” notes David Fenkel, a ThinkFilm vet who heads marketing at Oscilloscope, which is pushing “Wendy and Lucy.” “The quality of films in the race has risen as a result.”

Focus, Miramax, Fox Searchlight and Sony Pictures Classics — are “taking a lesson from ‘No Country for Old Men’ and ‘There Will Be Blood,’ ” argues Bob Yari, whose shingle has “Nothing but the Truth” and “What Doesn’t Kill You.” Last year’s campaigns for those pics “were successful, but they used up a lot of resources. What you’re seeing is a big pullback by studios and that’s left a lot of room for the independents.”

Overture, IFC, Samuel Goldwyn, Yari Releasing, Oscilloscope, Summit and Bleiberg Entertainment have a cluster of pics aiming to compete in major categories. Win or lose, they are bringing a sense of freshness to a process that had become machinelike in its predictability.

“We hold back a little bit,” Yari says of the indie hopefuls. “If the buzz organically starts building, then you have a validation. We don’t have the luxury of saying, ‘We love it, and we’re going to force it through.’ “

Best,

:Dana