HOLLYWOOD ACTOR PREP by Dana Kaminski

It’s A Great Time For Actors. The Internet Allows Actors To Act, Publicly.

I have even recommended that you make your own product, at times.

I have also, always admonished that you must make sure, before you put your own product out into the world, that it is very top professional level…As far as the production value. Most crucially, make sure that your acting is ready to go out into the world. Your abilities.

The Acting That Goes On Digital Replays On Digital. Again, Again, Again…

Make sure that you have fine, high standards for yourself. Please think twice and then again, before you impulsively put yourself out into the world as an actor. Because digital content is not like a play. In a play, an actor can work through stuff, try out new skills, get experience. When a play is over, it’s gone.

When a film is finished shooting, it’s on the film forever. Digital is even more serious. Once your acting is on the internet, it is there forever.

I know how excited and ready every actor feels to be a performer. To be ‘doing it’ and getting people to see you doing it. (Acting, that is!)

Remember when you were in high school, and it seemed like adulthood would never happen?

Professional Acting Careers Do Happen.

When you have your professional acting reputation as your identity, you will want only that level of acting to be visible to your audience.

If you plan on being a professional actor, if you aren’t one already; make sure your acting ability is at peak professional level, before you put something out that could embarrass you later. Or worse. That could cost you a job later, a job that would have been a stepping stone in your career.

If you do a production that appears amateurish, you may be shooting your career in the foot.

If you are in a production that is amateurish, it is very hard to appear professional as an actor, with professional level chops.

If you really don’t have the professional level chops, as an actor; then it might be something to consider before showing the world, and your future employers, what you can’t do. Putting your limitations on the screen of the public, for all the world to see, and to replay again and again.

Take this advice with a grain of salt. Or don’t.
I know it’s a brand new world of artistic freedom, and it’s very exciting to be able to make your own product. Just as it is as accessible as can be, to make your own product, finding and watching product has become quite easily accessible too. That means that in the future, all past digital product will be at the touch of a button. That means that your resume won’t be on paper soon, so much as all your work will be viewable, instead. By searching.

And, yes, I know what it’s like to be an actor, with no credits yet, and how difficult it can be to break through and really get to act on something at a professional level. How hard it is to wait, to be able to start to act.

But, what I am sure of, because I have seen the actors who do become professionals, and very successful; and I have also seen many who don’t.

Foresight, planning, artistic development, and using professional wisdom, long before you get hired as a professional actor, is the best way of all.

Do you regard yourself as a professional actor? All I am saying is, making decisions based on impulse, impatience, and even desparation; can turn out very different, than making decisions with the inner security and prudence of someone who treats their profession as a career. Long-term career.

Best,

Dana

Please share, thanks…Even if you are mad because I just stuck a pin in your bubble.

(Professional acting ability, and using professional-level wisdom, isn’t easily poppable, like a bubble. By the way. It’s rock solid, like gold.)

Act like a professional, in your regard and in respect to your career, with respect to your highest self. Learn to act like a professional actor. (That’s why it’s called that.) And when you are ready to put something out for the public, and for your future employers to see, make sure it is only at the level that your future employers will want to employ you from…and employ you over all the other actors. Skilled professional actors.

You may be mad at me now. I am guessing that you won’t be so mad later, a few more years down the road…

I Recorded Richard Lewis, With His Permission       …Of Course

This was at a special benefit organized by daughters of well-known comedians, to benefit a home for women in recovery, called “The Lenny Bruce Home”. Most of the audience were people who came to see the strong line-up of performers; which were Bobby Slayton, Dom Irrera, Paul Mooney, and of course, Richard Lewis. There were groups of friends of the comics in the audience as well.

I am posting this video today, for a few reasons. One, it’s Friday, and I like to put something funny up on Fridays, when I can. The second reason is that I am planning to write some posts about comedy acting, since the networks have a lot of comedy shows in development, ready to produce.  Comedy is not easy, as you must know. It’s a whole added-on layer, when you act. To say the very, very least.  Most acting teachers don’t know how to be funny, and act.  Almost none of them can be funny at all. If they are, they may not know how to translate that into teaching students; or they may be teaching a load of horse stink, if they do.

There’s some very wonderfully developed, dramatic acting techniques out there; and I urge every actor to choose one, and learn it well. There’s a reason that Stanislavsky and others after, developed such serious techniques. That’s great, because for any young actor,  it’s easy to find ways to be a better dramatic actor.  It does take commitment, but it is do-able.

Not so, for comedy.

There’s reasons for that too, that it hasn’t been developed.  One of those reasons is what I told you about acting teachers already.  The others could fill up at least a whole other article… I mention it only because I urge all students to be careful, when they hear a teacher claim to be able to teach comedy.  Or when a dramatic acting teacher does so, when a student brings into class,  a funny scene. It’s very easy to be taught some very wrong stuff, about comedy acting. That’s all I want to say: beware. It’s much better to have an acting teacher who knows their dramatic craft and how to teach it, very well; and doesn’t know comedy at all. Than one who claims to know both and is really not a master of either, as a teacher; or worse, teaches you some bad skills. You really do need to first, be a good actor, period.  That is, to later be great, at comedy acting.

Not for stand-up, however. To do stand-up, you need to be born funny.

And then you need lots and lots of experience onstage, for which you need serious chutzpah to be able to endure.  That is how stand-up acts are developed, and even stand-up ‘brands’; as well as good solid comic writing skills, comedy performing skills, and simple but-not-so-simple comic timing.

I can teach comedy; but I only do so with those who already have a great solid, acting technique in place, already.  I also regard my ability to teach comedy acting too valuable to simply give it away, online. Sorry. But, I do have lots of basics to share about comedy acting that isn’t master class level or refined skills, but can be very beneficial.

Another reason that I posted this is:  this video is Richard Lewis, onstage, in process.  It’s not a memorized act, line-by-line, topic-by-topic with usual segues (seg-ways: it’s  how a comedian bridges one topic to another). You can hear how he specifically chose material for this particular audience; he’s forgetting stuff, he’s adding to earlier stuff topics, later on… Especially, I want to point out how loose he is. Onstage, he’s at home. He’s been doing this for years, and it shows. He’s also amongst peers, and that may be contributing.

The obvious is, that Richard Lewis has an ease that you wouldn’t see in a younger, fresher comic.  The stage is familiar turf to him. As is writing his material, and performing it. He’s got a long history of results, positive ones. He’s used to getting laughs, used to being a professional comedian. Used to performing, used to being the funny guy, and being in the spotlight.

It’s an interesting juxtaposition, Richard Lewis’s ease onstage, alongside his comic ‘brand’. (You know how I dislike that word, when actors are taught to sell their artistry as if it’s a kind of soap, but in Richard Lewis’s case,  in the world of comedy, it’s a valid term.) His ‘brand’ is neurotic, worried, obsessive, keyed-up. And, for 30 years, his brand has been ‘funny’.

I’d love to hear your feedback after watching this.  Comments are open, just click down at the bottom of this post, where the smaller words, called ‘tags’, are.

In the next post I’ll tell you about Richard Lewis’s special, and brand-suited, acting preparation before he jumps onto the stage.

Enjoy,

;~Dana

[This video should probably not be recommended to kids. ]

Please pay the Hollywood Actor Prep fee, which is to share with at least one other person. Thanks for supporting actors, and for spreading funny around.

“Matt Damon Is A Journeyman [Actor].”

That’s what Morgan Freeman said, in the NY Times article that I quoted yesterday. One professional actor, commenting on the work of another. Dennis Lim, the author of the piece, considered what Freeman said about Damon, a compliment. Why, do you think, Lim recognized it as such?

–Click to  read referenced Hollywood Actor Prep post.–

Then, Morgan Freeman said, “He always gets the job done. There’s no strain in his work.”

For me, that’s huge. This simple sentence describes, in very few words, a very high level of quality, of acting. One of the rarest and finest attributes an actor can be able to pull off. Oddly, it’s one of those acting traits, that is assumed, expected; but that you rarely see, in performance. Not often noted, by critics, yet it doesn’t require an eye of a connoisseur. It sounds so simple, even the description is as simple as can be; yet, it is something that not only is not found often, and is very hard to do (!), but many actors don’t seem to be aware of this higher standard. Often, it doesn’t appear to be attempted.

Most actors, and I do mean, most; are very busy “acting”. Performing. With very visible “acting” and “performing”. The “acting-without-strain” that Freeman mentions, is a rarely talked-about, written-about discernment, but it’s profoundly different, in terms of acting artistry. In terms of quality of acting, complexity, and ability. It’s a subtle difference, perhaps, but very different.

There are two important effects that occur when there is “no strain”.  (I usually use another word: “seamless”.  Another term is un-self-conscious acting.)

It allows more room for the story. The script then becomes the central focus, rather than the acting, or the actor.  In order to get there, the actor has to honor the writer, the script and the story, the whole project, more than his or her own ego. (I could describe this with more finesse, I just don’t have time!  See prior post …)

I’d guess, that the audience is more involved, then, as well. Audience participation may be silent; but it is their active participation in the story, that is the goal of every production, any kind.

What do you think about Morgan Freeman’s statement? Comment here, tell me on Twitter…I’ll probably set up a forum soon, so we can get into this. I’ll write more throughout this week, too.

Best,

;~Dana

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SAG President Alan Rosenberg Emails Actor Members

Not an April Fools joke…

Alan Rosenberg, SAG President

April 1, 2009

Dear Screen Actors Guild Members,

As you read in a SAG email sent to you this morning, the Joint SAG/AFTRA Commercial Contracts Negotiating Committee reached a tentative agreement with advertisers early this morning in New York City.  I would like to thank and congratulate the hard-working staff member team for their unity and collaboration over the past months starting with the W & W meetings, and especially during the long 6 weeks of negotiations.  They who worked tirelessly on behalf of SAG members and I know each of them sacrificed time with their families, and work opportunities.

The advertising industry displayed a willingness to have labor peace, and to make compromises even during these challenging economic times, to keep actors working,

It is clear that when SAG members work together, unified and focused on common goals to benefit actors, we really can accomplish many things.

I’m gratified that we were able to reach an agreement with AFTRA and conducted these negotiations together. More details of the tentative agreement will be released once the Joint SAG/AFTRA Board has met. Please watch the SAG website at sag.org for updates and email your comments and questions to Contract2009@sag.org.

Again, congratulations to the professional women and men who gave their time and expertise to these critical negotiations.

In unity,

Alan Rosenberg
National President

Best, 

:Dana

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My Twitter name is __dana__. If you click on that, a new window will open at my twitter page. You can sign up for  Twitter by clicking on this.

Actor thinks, while onstage: “How am I doing?”

The Answer: Badly.

Word. The real job of an actor is to be the character that he is playing. I call it the “Acting Principle of Reflection”™.

It is an even exchange, I mean: an actor finds the elements within himself that work for the character, the parts of himself that
make that character truly starts being real. He connects to the work, in the moment, on an emotional level. Thus, he becomes alive.

So, then, does the audience. When a character starts to come alive like that, the audience connects with the character.

There’s not much “pretending” in great acting.

“Make pretend” is what goes on in a pre-school playground. Authentic acting is when things are alive.

I have an old friend, character actor, Irving Metzman, who always
said, “As soon as the audience notices your acting, you’re cooked.”
Meaning, if-or-when they notice the acting, the actor has just failed.

Acting shouldn’t be seen.

He also said, that an audience should never leave the theatre talking about the acting. Not even, how great the acting was. Nor “isn’t that actor so handsome…” And not this one:”Wasn’t so-and-so’s acting so good??” Instead, you want an emotional, visceral, audience reaction.

If they were able to think and observe, with an outsiders eye, then
they were outside. You only want them ‘inside’. Inside your life, as
that character you are playing; feeling and going through whatever
that character is going through.

If the audience leaves the theater, at the end, saying things like, “Oh I really
wish they wound up together.” or ” I just couldn’t watch when Mickey
Rourke took his final leap off the ropes” or “That guy changed his
world!” or “I was crying at that part, and I am still so sad”. These
are expressions of their visceral involvement. Emotional involvement.
Attachment. Connection. Identifying.

Surprise: That’s when they’ll say your acting was great.

That’s the kind of experience that makes them recommend the film to
friends, to spread the word. It makes them care about the movie. Care
about the actor. It also makes actors get Oscars.

When the audience experiences your character’s experiences, as their own. they identify with the character, emotionally… In-the-moment, as the story unfolds.

It’s just not possible to do that with “acting”. Not that kind of connecting. Because somehow, the audience will sense that you aren’t “real”.
Isn’t the purpose of an actor to make the character real? And, to further
the story of the play or movie, his part in the script is to complete
the story, as a whole.

Actors’ employment is called ‘getting an acting part‘.

That’s why it’s called a “part”. That’s also why you were hired.

Do you think the writer slaved over that script, bit by bit, so that the audience could be watching how real or fake your accent is? Or that you are careful how your hair
falls over your eyes? (Etc.)

As soon as you detach, the audience instinctively, reflectively, will detach too.

And then, the thinking begins…you, and then your audience, and then…your acting will be judged.

You don’t want them to be sitting there, judging your acting. Even if
they are judging it highly. (Which they probably won’t, because if they are out of the story, they won’t think it’s ‘good’ or that you’re good! Most likely.)

Simply, if you are being judged, at all; by the audience, then you are not working at the level that you are obligated to; it means that you are
not acting at the highest level you can. It means that you are not
at, or above, the necessary “set point” of making it real, making
the story come alive.

Thus, you are not “on purpose”.
The audience is never buying a ticket, because they wanted to pay to
be an acting judge, or to be a film critic. (Film critics don’t have
to pay for tickets.) They buy tickets because they want to get lost in
the story. Involved.

Unless the actor is, the audience won’t be.

Best,

;Dana

©® (Really.)

Got a Facebook, or MySpace Page?

Please share this, but don’t worry. If you think that you are spreading golden lessons to your competition, um, you are .(*Wink*)

But, we are just getting started on this, and theory is all this is. Next few posts, you’ll realize that knowing this, and then being able to do it, are worlds apart. Sorry, but true. That’s why it’s called “great acting“.

FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER, my name there is __dana__

(To be continued…)

But. I do specifically remember telling you all a few important things; at least I felt they were important enough to share:

It’s the first time in history that actors can make their own product, and post it up for all the world to see.

What makes that doubly great, for actors, is that: no longer is whether you work or not dependent upon you sitting for years by the phone until you get an invitation/approval from the outside, to do your thing (that you love to do).  Or even get a break.

BUT, too, it’s that you don’t have to spend years and years wishing and hoping that you will stumble into just the right cookie-cutter audition which is for a part that is absolutely ideal in showing off your talent and special-ness of abilities, and, relying on prayer alone, to help you actually book the job, and then if ya do, that people will come to see it (or somehow watch it)…Especially those in the business…specifically: those who can either represent you  and are willing to…or are producers/casting directors/directors, etc. that can see you have something that they would want to hire for their next project.

It’s not only odds, that I am talking about, it’s sense + wisdom, it’s taking action + responsibility for your own career.

It’s the ability, and the getting-off-your-butt too…to start your own momentum of your career.

Did I tell you that when I was breaking my own humps to get, even, a foot-in-the-door-in-this-business, that we:

Didn’t have anything like this?  (That’s right, this is the “walked 5 miles to school everyday, even in the snow” talk, and the “very little good  cable TV shows to keep us busy” speech…)

Ha-a-ad to try and stay by the phone and would not allow ourselves to leave , which meant inside a teeny apartment, because there weren’t cell phones to take with us, outside, OKAY??

(I feel just like an I-told-you-so-type-of-mother, right now…because the veins are sticking out on my neck, which for our purposes, buddy, is a very emphatic way of typing…)

No.

We would never have imagined that there would be a way for us, actors, to someday overcome one of the hardest hurdles of all, that most actors never break through…that is,  to be able to show what you do and market  it out there.

Not only to be able to act in something, to make it, and to create it however you want, to show your acting abilities in the best light possible (as well as your other attributes…damn, c’mon!)

Simply,  to have something to show.

We had nothing to show. Nothing. And no ability to make something. Not really. Nothing like now.

And, may I say, if you don’t have something that showcases you, in some easily view-able way, that  you get right down to doing that.  (And a good one, at that.) Because if  you are waiting for the perfect part to smack into you, as you sit on  your couch…

I know. There is a lot to do.  I do know that.

There’s a lot of stuff to do to prepare for a professional career in acting, and to get yourself ready.

Look, I don’t even say: “Do everything all at once.” No, I don’t.  

It’s a building  up, of one step at a time.

But… if you are going around doing measly auditions that aren’t really going to highlight you and that no one is going to come to, or uccch, not even hire you for;  or you’re spending all your time doing extra work, or worse: paying dues at the  unions and barely making rent and not getting any decent auditions…Don’t.

Prioritize, to maximize, the priorities, first.

(Sort-by-leverage.)

And, today…

Get started on getting some projects made.  Take “initiative” and begin the process. Gather a team, if you need to…a writer friend, a camera-holding friend etc.

Look, I’m not your mother, and aren’t we both glad??  

So, let’s get a moment of grounding here, shall we?

And…(*legal* caveat) this is all just an opinion and should never be assumed as any guarantee or even a promise of success…I mean, what do I know? 

OK, I’ll tell ya what I know…I know that every actor I started out with, probably,  would have killed to be born 10, 15, 20 years later, if they knew that actors would be able to make their own stuff, and broadcast it to the  world.

…And, that there would’ve been some kind of anyone-can-put-it-up-thing, called YouTube…

And, I’ll tell ya one more thing, bud, and this is the last thing I am going to say–

Let this be the last time that you let the kids from up the block, who don’t even have a smidgeon of the talent or passion that you were born with, show us up, again.  Understand??

Have a glimpse of this to see what I’m talking about:

My Advice To Actors Hasn’t Changed, Nor Has Any News About A Strike Authorization:

When you see “SAG news” in the press, ignore it.

It’s not news.

At SAG, they must be so busy, just trying to combat all the false reporting.

The good part of this is, for me, is that I felt the press was representing SAG, and it’s actors, as overly-dramatic and off-center. And that’s not all…

And, I thought that they were doing that, not only out of ignorance to a culturally-accepted bias; but because they needed to make some drama, in order to have material to publish.

They pulled us down, but not only do they look overly-dramatic and off-center, too…

But they look absolutely unprofessional, amateurish, and incompetent.

Really, how much can they continue to make up?

This Is How Real This False News Appears On Google, As It Does In The Papers It Is Published

It ISN’T!

On Google::Non-SAG-News

Here’s SAG’s Press Release Regarding This Latest, Just-In, False News

SAG Statement Correcting an Erroneous Wire Service Report

Screen Actors Guild has taken no action to suspend the national board of directors’ October 19 resolution regarding the strike authorization referendum.

National Executive Director Doug Allen has proposed to the national board that the strike authorization referendum be suspended and that management’s offer be put to the membership in a ratification vote after meeting with the AMPTP to determine to what extent, if any, they are willing to improve their last offer, to maximize its chances for ratification.

The National Board has not yet acted on NED Allen’s proposal.

SAG’s national board of directors has not suspended the strike authorization referendum and the board’s October 19 resolution is the last national board decision on this matter.

How Casting Directors Cast Actors

Watch this audition-on-tape.   It’s Ellen Page and Michael Cera auditioning for “Juno”.

If you ask a casting director, they’ll tell you that actors get awarded roles when they ARE the character.

Now, that may mean:

#1. The actor is so clearly the specific type they are looking for, and so ‘right on the mark’ on how they (casting people + producers + director) envision the character from the script…  that the person in the auditioning room is really just like the person in the script, in real life.

Everyday, every minute, the actor really ‘IS THAT CHARACTER’.

#2. Or it could mean that the actor is  close in ‘type’…but is such a ‘good actor’, that the casting person believes that the actor, during the audition, ‘IS THAT CHARACTER’.

Even if in the car, on the way home, the actor is not the same, at all.  Or, is similar in some ways, in “real life” (as Matt Dillon used to say…)

I prefer #2, myself.

Often, if the actor that is auditioning, really IS that person in life, they may not be able ‘to act’.  Which means that the movie or play will suck.  Why? Well, the simplified answer is that he or she won’t be able to deliver all the different emotions or facets that may be called for, in the script, or scenes.

The longer answer is that, in the finished production, there won’t be any art to the acting.  Nor in the movie, nor in the play, at all. There won’t be anything worth watching.

 (Unless we are talking “documentary”, of course.)

All Actors Use Pieces Of Themselves In Creating Characters.  

There is far too much competition in the acting profession, to try to play something that is so far away from your actual type…It’s just too easy for casting people to find, and cast  an actor who fits what is described in the script, and on the “casting breakdowns”….to play the part.  

#3. It is nearly impossible, without a tremendous amount of acting talent, acting skill, and acting craft, for an actor to “play himself or herself”.

Whaaa??

Yep.

That’s why I blow-a-gasket when people ask me why acting class is necessary.

It’s foolish to assume that “anyone can act”.  Yes, talent is something that is innate.  Using that talent, and having control over the talent…control enough to carry out what is required in a script, takes development. Takes dedication.

Great acting is a blend of the two: talent and developed acting craft.  

You don’t want to be just an adequate actor, do you?  Even to be able to give what is required, in a script, is extremely difficult.  To make it come-to-life, is rare.  It is very high-level acting.

To make acting seamless, well, that’s what wins awards.  (That is, if the judges are smart enough to know that it really is acting.)

Great acting fools experts.  It should.

It fools the viewer, too; unconsciously. How?  When they get wrapped up in the story/the movie/the play….when they stop looking at the effects, the acting, the whatever….when they go from being on “the outside”, to experiencing from within:  within the story, within themselves.

It’s what I call “the great acting paradox”.

Great Acting Is When The Audience Doesn’t See The Acting

Really good, strong, advanced acting is hard to tell if the actor is “playing him/herself” or “acting”.

Excellent acting is imperceptible.

Now, you know. And, you know something now, about acting, that most people will never know.  It is a rare jewel. Keep it sacred, because it is.  And use it well.

***************************************************************************************************************

If you do get value from these posts, I ask that you make a contribution of $10.00, for some of the running costs, and to give value back. With enough donation, I will some fulltime staff people, and do so much more.  I thank you. It’s secure, by Paypal.

And please sign in with me, Dana…(on the sidebar). You only put your email, and it’s private. I will use it only if there is something special that you may want to know about…

And, I ask that you spread the word about Hollywood Actor Prep. That will make our ’cause’ stronger, we can mobilize all actors that way. We can really make things better for actors, together…

Open Call Audition Verification, From A Studio Executive 

I got an email from Doug Neil, SVP at Universal Pictures.

“

Dear Doug Neil

I wonder if you could kindly verify the legitimacy of the 

“Open Call For the next McLovin’ or Michael Cera” Auditions? I am writing about it, and would appreciate some verification.

And if it is “for real”, that’s pretty great and a nice opportunity for many actors who may not otherwise get one…

That’s cool, really.

Please reply.

Thanks–

Dana Kaminski * (at one time, a Universal ABC contracted-actor, herself!) 

”

______________________________________________________________________________

“

Jan.9, 2009

Dana,

This is a legitimate casting opportunity for an upcoming Universal Pictures release. We are holding the open call via email (video submissions) and in person calls in New York, Toronto and Chicago. It’s a good part for an up and coming actor.

Doug

”

_______________________________________________________________________________

“

Doug…

I thank you very kindly for the info.  I will put this on my blog; put it out a few times  on Twitter already.  

Thanks again.

Sincerely,

Dana Kaminski

Happy New Year.                   

”

So, there it is.  Audition.  Go.

And if you aren’t really right, and I mean far-and-away really-NOT-right, then please, tell as many young male actors that you can think of.  They might have a shot.  You will get karma back, and a swelled heart, knowing that you did a good thing for one of “your own”.

“Break A Leg”,

; Dana

PS  …Here’s  a little funny syncronicity:  When I got my SAG card, originally, it was on a Nancy Meyers movie.  This is reportedly a, yep, a Nancy Meyers movie.  

Now, go forward and prosper! You wonderful Hollywood Actor Preps!

–AND–

New add to this post: Just got word  that there is an IMBD page for this project.

 (Thanks … twitter-friend…and H.A.P. alumna: Jamie Fishback)

I did mention in my original post , here at Hollywood Actor Prep; about the Facebook Group, and there’s also MySpace page that I discovered.  On the Facebook page, and on the casting director’s site, there is a really good video on how to do a video audition.  It’s worth a viewing.  All the protocol on how an standard, on-camera audition is conducted…

That Pesky Interview Portion Of The Audition

There are 6 Parts to an audition:

Prior Preparation
The Interview, Once Inside
The Audition Itself
The Good Goodbye
The Torture You Put Yourself Through Afterward
The Waiting ‘Til You Know If You Aced The Part

On this Hollywood Actor Prep Post, I’ll handle the part that involves the interview, and the time inside the casting office.

The Interview, and The “Reading”

In every casting audition, there is a part that is just talking, ‘breaking the ice’. It’s known as the ”interview”, and it comes first.

Then, there is the actual “try-out” part. (Which is never called a “try-out”, btw. Not in professional acting, anyway.) This is when the actor is playing the character, and reads from the script…

When I was auditioning, especially in the beginning, I found the initial part of the time in ‘the auditioning room’, slightly disconcerting.*

(Whether it was stage, casting director office, producer office, network conference room…even filmed auditions.)

It took a young actor, just starting out, to remind me of…

It was just this past Thanksgiving. Graciously, I was invited to have Thanksgiving with a ’show-business family’. The father is an accomplished actor, stand-up comedian, and even produces shows now. He and his wife have a lovely marriage, that has lasted 25 years. And, still, is going strong.

They have three children; one who is a teacher, one in college, and one in high school. The son is also an actor; recently, he’s been auditioning, a lot.

Over the turkey, the conversation turned to proper and best ways to audition. They posed the question to me, which has been bandied about as long as I can remember, and probably before that!

Should an actor walk into an audition, in the character that he/she is auditioning for, the one in the script?

Should he or she maintain this character throughout, until he,or she,leaves the office?

Specifically, this younger actor, of this family had a recent experience with an audition, where he maintained the character, throughout. And, he DIDN’T get the part, maybe, because of it.

The character he was auditioning for was scared and nervous, in the acting scene. (…. “sides”: accepted term for the parts of the scene that the audition is comprised of.)
So,this actor met the casting director, and did the introductions and small talk that starts it all off, everytime, with this emotional life alive and, in full force, before he started the official reading-of-the-sides-tryout-portion-of-the-process.

He didn’t get the part.

Agents often get feedback, after an actor auditions, from the casting director, about how the audition went. This actor was told that the casting director found him “nervous”, by his agent.

How do you think he did?

I know what I said, and what I thought.

I know what his Dad said, based on all the years of his professional experience.

Please think about it, and in the next post, I’ll let you know what conclusions we all divulged, at that dinner….

[lang_en]

Throughout Your Acting Career, Remember…Enjoy Your Life…

If you are an actor, and you work really hard on an audition, only to be interrupted…and to hear “NEXT”…

If you are a writer, and perhaps playwright, and something happened like what I witnessed the other night–where this particular actor/author/producer recruited me (at a Starbucks!) to come and watch her play because some agents were supposed to come and she was terrified that no audience seats would be filled, two free tickets if I would…

If you are like me, and are very affected, by the SAG strike, and how the industry regards the “talent”…in this case (and in the case of the Writers too!  See Hollywood Actor Prep Posts by clicking here, and here, and also here) …and you simply are befuddled and frustrated, and even sad, that the ones who are the artistic ones, are getting shafted…even in this age of supposed fairness, and “Hope” and “Change”…

I remind you to stop, and laugh.  

Especially when you don’t feel like it.

S**t Happens, All Along The Way

Look at the Melissa-Leo-Interview-Post…It took four years, from the time that they made the short-film version of “Frozen River”…to the time that the feature length was made….

And, by the way, Melissa Leo is great in everything.  Everything.  She should’ve been nominated for an Oscar for “21 Grams”…

Did she get an Emmy for “Homicide”?  No, but should’ve…

And…I happen to have mutual friends of hers and this is on the skinny:  She is utterly thrilled and shocked and that all of this is finally happening, because, like most actors, she had a very slow period. For quite awhile…

And all women actresses know that the “disappearing age” is usually late 30’s or before, and many people can be upset at that…

So whether you are an actor or not; no matter what upsets you…

(…And, don’t explode in anger at me because I’m the one reminding you to…)

No Matter What…

Always take some time to laugh.

To live your life well and fully,

Every day… remember to laugh.

It’ll even help you on your professional acting journey, you’ll find.

***

I forgot the other day, until I got a “message” , from Twitter, no less.

This tweet came across my screen, along with the hundreds of others.

I do think it’s a mistake, but that makes it better, doesn’t it???

;}

Best,

;}) …. :Dana

PS FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER, IF YOU DON’T ALREADY…!  MY NAME IS __dana__ THERE. I ANNOUNCE NEW POSTS THERE…AND IF YOU ARE ON TWITTER,  WOULD YA TWEET MY POSTS PU-LEASE…?

PPS  I’d love to know those guys…you know…”Mank” and “Ind”….

…Do ya think they are the offspring, of…perhaps…“Mork and Mind–y”???[/lang_en]

I have an experience, to relate, about Tom Hanks.  From the movie, “Big”.

I acted, in a scene, with Tom Hanks.

Um, hm.

And, Tom and I shared a dressing room.

Um, hm.

At the same time.

Um hm.  

(Exceptionally unusual, BTW, in “the business”.)

And, no, we did not.

Um, em.

(If that’s what you are wondering…watch those assumptions, Bud.)

“Our” little acting scene was shot on location, in  NYC… An “interior” in an office setting; they used an authentic large-scale office space in a full-staffed, multi-room with multi cubicles, advertising agency… in a midtown Manhattan skyscraper. 

In the middle of a New York, work-week.  

For the “Big” film set– a not-so-big-area was sectioned off.

 …With temporary cardboard walls, tall grey ones held together by gaffer’s tape.

Even though it looked like a reception area, it wasn’t the authentic one. That one was in operation,  on the other side of the building, and the halls really went as far as you could see.

As a matter of fact, the “real”  business day was going on all around us; actively,  using most of their regular work space.

Which put a whopping limit on the normal acreage that a film crew normally uses, and needs to shoot.

What for?… Props, and sound, and camera equipment, and electrical stuff, and of course,  ‘hair + makeup’ trailers/rooms, wardrobe storage, and…

…Dressing rooms.

‘Hair + makeup’ was planted, literally, in the hall.  It was a makeshift set-up, just outside the reception-area-set…

There was a chair, for the actor to sit in, and an area where the makeup person had all their large toolboxes that open into mini-stairs of all the colors, brushes, sponges. And there was a mirror with the lights around it.  As I remember, it was smack in the middle of a hallway, and there were employees of the real agency, coming-and-going, around us.

 

Overall, the production had one big multi-purpose room.  

That is, aside from the actual shooting set.

In real life, I think it was a small conference room. 

I remember the long table, with chairs around it. 

All the other actors hung out there; actors from other scenes in “Big” were there, as well… as each scene wrapped, another one would begin. So, it was a ‘talent’ holding area.  

I had a two or three day hold, there, altogether. Lots of waiting, but much better pay…

There were racks of clothing was in there, it was also ‘the “Big” wardrobe room’.

And, it was also the only dressing room, on set…

Tom and I were the only ones, in our particular acting scene, that even had “wardrobe”.  

The other people in the scene, except for the younger actor,  (friend-of-”Josh Baskin”) were “extras”, professionally called “background”.  

Usually, even those with “special bits” arrive and work in their own clothes. 

Often those clothes are approved in advance, by the costumer.  Sometimes background-players are advised what type of outfit to bring, and are asked to bring a optional changes,  the morning of the shoot.

It’s unusual for an actor ‘with a speaking part’, to wear his/her own clothes, when acting professionally. 

Jared Rushton, who played that friend, in “Big”, did.  I remember that a wardrobe person told me that they felt that  Jared looked great in his own choices; and that they couldn’t have dressed him better, than he did on his own.. in his real life…  : }   

        (And, his acting was as natural as his clothes, wasn’t it?)

So, Jared didn’t need a dressing room.  

That left only two people in that entire Manhattan high rise, on that day, in need of two changing rooms…in a crowded office building in the busiest section of a city that doesn’t have a definition for private space…

1. Tom Hanks, an actor who had recently become a household name across America
2. Dana Kaminski, an aspiring actor who very few had heard of, but luckily had worked with the director’s brother, Garry Marshall, prior… 

(Secretly, our unknown actress was, a tinch sullen, but no one could tell….perhaps, that is a story for another time.)

Here’s ‘Our’ Acting Scene, In The Movie, “Big”

I don’t think anyone that worked on that movie could have predicted that it would become as popular as it did, and has remained.  

                                     **********************************************************

…This post a teaser, an intro,  for two topical posts; that I have on deck, for the blog.

The upcoming posts don’t have much to do with me, except, I’m the writer….

They do, have everything to do, with Tom Hanks.

Um hm.

Best,

;Dana

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A SAG CONFLICT MEANS IT IS BETWEEN THE ACTORS AND THE PEOPLE WHO PAY THEM

The conflict is between the **ACTORS** and the **PRODUCERS/MOVIE STUDIOS**

Actors union: is called **SAG**  (or the Screen Actors Guild)

Producers union is:  known as **AMPTP**  (Yes, the movie studio bosses and producers have a union, also).

It’s called the “Actors Strike” and “SAG Negotiations” because it is about a “contract” renegotiation between the actors and the producers/studios.  It is an, overall, “general contract”, which contains all agreed upon working conditions, as negotiated and agreed upon, between the two unions.  All actors, in SAG, are covered by the terms.

The AMPTP, in real terms, are the bosses.  They are the bosses of the industry, the bosses of Hollywood.  

(**AMPTP** stands for Alliance-of-Motion-Picture-and-Television-Producers)

The“Workers” , in this case,  are the Actors. 

It’s still the same as any other worker-boss struggle…big guys vs little guys…

Why do actors need a union?  

Basically, a union’s job is to make sure the worker gets a fair and just payment for the work that the union member does, and that the work conditions are safe and decent.

Almost everything in entertainment, in Hollywood; and on location, even; is most likely “union”. Nearly all the workers, from the crew, the camerapeople, the sound, the directors, writers, and actors, have a union.

When any actor is hired, no matter  what, if they are in the union, and it is a union job…then they will be paid.  And they will be paid, at least, what the “current contract” scale base pay deems.

“What about those actors that get those high salaries?” Well,  if an actor has an agent that believes the actor can earn more, and that the actors work has a value of a higher amount, that agent can negotiate for a higher pay for that day.  Or the amount of time the actor is working for.  Even though those salaries are the ones that make the news, the overwhelming majority of professional actors never, ever earn anything like that.  Far, far, from it…

Why Is SAG Suddenly In The News Again?  

“Haven’t they been without a contract for months?”

1. SAG has been working “without a contract”, lately, because there has not been any agreement made. SAG kept trying, anyway, to get the AMPTP to meet their demands some.  The negotiations continued on, (long past the original strike deadline) –and even a moderator came and attempted to forge an agreement; but on November 22, 2008 all talks stopped.  
2. When the Writers Strike was going on, the Writers were striking against the same bosses, and the “deal-breaker” was over one of SAG’s same issues: the one concerning payment in “New Media”.  It was this particular contractual item, and the lack of agreement,  that, broke down all talks, just recently; between SAG and the AMPTP.

Part of what recently ”broke the camel’s back”, and stirred this whole new chapter up– was the current realization and announcement from the Writers Guild:

According to the Writers Guild, the AMPTP is not upholding the terms that they agreed to, the ones that settled the Writers Strike!  They aren’t paying, what they promised, for work in New Media.

…So, when you read or hear some Actor-bashing hogwash, like SAG is just trying to take away everyone’s Academy Awards…by doing all this now…please let them know about the Writers Guild’s current discovery, and announcement.

“THE CONTRACT” = Working Conditions That Productions Must Provide On Every Set

There are general rules that govern all movie sets.  All television shows. 

They are often referred to as “Union Rules” or “SAG Rules”, on a set.

You can see these rules in action, always, on union sets.  Anything of quality, whether film or TV, is shot on a union set.  Most likely.  

Once in place in “the contract”, the rules aren’t variable.  They are written, with the understanding, by both sides, that they will be rigidly followed.

Why are these rules always followed?  

 

• Both unions know that at one point they had discussed and agreed upon them
• The rules were written into a contract, and signed by both sides
• They are, generally, based on a logic of what is considered humane; they are agreed-upon, decent, and fair, working conditions
• There are penalties for NOT adhering to the rules, and they usually involve paying money.  However, with too many violations, the penalties get harsher.  
• No one wants to jeopardize their union status. 

Examples of these SAG rules, in the “general” contract, are:

Allowing an actor to go home and go to sleep after a very long shooting day, instead of continuing to do more scenes.

There’s always a nurse on set, in case someone gets injured.  

Lunch is always a certain number of hours from the “call time”, or start of a work/shooting day.

All kinds of things are in the ” union actors’ contract”; like dressing rooms, kids and their hours allowed and tutors on the set if they are missing schooling, little babies can only work a little bit of time and are allowed their mother nearby, per diem pay for those on location and not having their own kitchen and food, transportation to the set when working on location..and so on.

 

Are The Actors Creating All This Now?  Or, Are They Reacting?? 

The news media, in calling this an “actor’s issue” makes it appear as if actors are the only ones involved.

I find that most people don’t even know what is being negotiated, even actors, have no clear idea of what this is all about.

Worse, the whole thing has been presented by the press (and the AMPTP) as either unnecessary, greedy, or worse, intentionally harmful to the rest of the industry.

 ”Actors out to harm the economy!!!”  (Whaa?)

Other words have been freely slimed: “stupid”, “mad” (as in crazy),  ”crazy” (as in, yes, kee-raa-zzy), and other free-flinging ugliness.

Just like bullies, in a schoolyard.  Some of the press joined the charge.  

(Whatever happened to the journalistic code of fair reporting? Presenting both sides?)

Some of that “PR” has been even been presented to the media, by the most outspoken members of the AMPTP.  And published on the AMPTP site….(see fake-movie-review-poster, below…)

Just today, they took out a full page ad in the Los Angeles Times. 

This isn’t a conflict that has been over-dramatized.

Neither histrionic, nor illogical; this conflict is similar to most conflicts that take place in a worker setting, between boss and employees… when a situation becomes untenable, and a strike becomes imperative.

The bosses, who are represented by the AMPTP, will not budge on a few very critical points, on the new contracts for the actors, and how they will treat the actors in their future employ.  How, or how they won’t, pay the actors.

Actually, they say that they don’t want to pay the actors, or devise any pay strategy, until they see how the internet revenue will come.

…Anyone see any commercials or advertising yet, on the internet?  Isn’t that the same way they get money on television?

There Is One Main Industry, In This Very Big City

This is a “one-factory” town.  The bosses, are the big bosses.  You don’t hear a lot of outspoken opinions from celebrities and famous actors, even.  Not even low level activist types. Why?  Because the Producers are the ones who pay. AND hire.  It’s hard enough to work in this town, but no one wants to blacklist themselves, by simply asking for their rights. Or rather, for what is right.

Actors make art, businessmen plan, and make money.

All of the major studios, the heaviest players at the top, in this town, have made some very large investments on the future of the “New Media”.  For their very powerful and business-like bosses, who didn’t come from the movie business.  They came from well, business–worldwide, big business.

If you do keep up with business, then, you know that the internet is evolving, at the speed of lightning.  Just a few weeks ago, the Los Angeles Times ran an article that stated that the economy is affecting people so, that they are cutting back their budgets, dramatically. They are even getting rid of cable.  But not internet.  That is correct, we are in a “new day”.  (Link to LA Times article.)

The big businesspeople of this country don’t read business journals first, and then follow.  They are the ones that are making the news in these papers.

All the film studios have invested in securing their futures, on the internet.  Some ACTUALLY assured their stockholders that the economy won’t affect their business, and the future is securely theirs, because they have a solid stake on the internet.

You can look this up, easily, on Google.

How many millions of dollars, do you think they have invested?  So far?  Billions? Maybe a reporter could do some homework, and find out…

Unabashedly, these businessmen, who are making the plans,  are set on not paying the actors. They strategized everything, except that?

Variety published an article today, presenting both sides.  (Link to the Variety on SAG here.)

AMPTP:   ”We are standing firm behind our offer because it represents a pattern of hard-fought agreements over the past year, and its construct is vital to the future of our industry,” the CEOs said. “No single guild or union should be allowed to undermine the hard-won consensus over how our industry can experiment and then prosper in the speedily changing new-media marketplace.”

 

Why Is This Setting A Precedent For All Actors…And For All Talent In The New Media?

SAG is especially concerned about setting the precedent, for how actors,  and all talent will be paid, on the internet.  They feel that if they don’t establish the right way, now, it will never be righted.  

When they mention cable, and homevideo (video and DVD’s)…they are referring to the bad deal that was made with the same notion, way back when. No one expected VCR’s, DVD’s, or cable, to become what they did, eventually.  

SAG didn’t either, and so did not negotiate a proper payment “schedule” for what was known as the new and future media, then. It was never recouped.  Or corrected.

Once in place, it wasn’t able to be changed.  And, the profits, from VHS, DVD, Cable reruns and even made-for-cable productions, didn’t provide actors with a decent pay.  Certainly not compatible with network pay, or residuals payment.  That also means that the studios got to keep all the profits, from those areas, mentioned above.  

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In summary, I just find it hard to understand, that in this current time, when we just elected a President because we all voted that it be a time of “Change” and “Hope”… that, still,  business is tromping on the little guy, the artist…Which in this case, are the actors. 

There’s an elephant in the middle of this room.  And… he’s not the caterer.

For more and better details: Please go to the website of the Screen Actors Guild. 

I do welcome comments, and especially from those that have something to say, “from the other side”!  I invite to enlighten, please…!!

So please click on this link, because temporarily, all comments need to be posted on Facebook, on Hollywood Actor Prep Group page…You don’t even need to be a member!

Best,
Dana

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This was posted on the SAG website today.