HOLLYWOOD ACTOR PREP by Dana Kaminski

Let’s Start With My ProActor Workshop, May I?

Simply…

I realized that most people that offer actors classes, workshops, etc are really fakirs, posing as experts. Their information that they offer is often not correct.  Or not comprehensive.

(Too blunt? Well, look carefully. It’s just true.  You will see this a lot more clearly, after you become a professional.)

Or they are very creative with their imaginations, and great at social sites, marketing. They really don’t offer, nor can they, information that will educate any actor on how to become a professional actor.

I also realized (especially now that I am talking to so many actors online) just how much mystery and misconception is out there, at every acting level, about the acting profession. Most actors spend most of their career, some spend all of their career; on the wrong path, that will never lead them into The Industry. They never knew the way, but they thought they did.

I am talking about actors who get good training somewhere, maybe even college or grad school, or have a good coach! Still they don’t have a clue about what it specifically takes, to become a professional actor.  Sometimes, they are led astray by a self-designated expert.

Well, as you may know if you follow me on Twitter, or on this blog; especially if you have come to one of my weekly events:

• Streaming Sunday Brunch With Dana

..You may have had a glimpse into my encyclopedia of a brain, or my racer-rapid assessment skills.

Have I said that it will be live, interactive, streaming, and personal? In other words, I will look at your “look”, we will type your type,  your photos, your reel (if you have one. If not, you will learn how to get a great one, and it will be tailored to your strengths…) We will get everything and all that is essential, to professional level.

You will learn about getting an agent in the real world of acting, and about the different kinds, and different levels. You will be setting your sites on specific ones, the kind that can get you the real auditions.

I will tell you what personal and professional traits real successful working actors all have, and we will, together, work on those same skills and traits, for you to have.

I will tell you how to build your resume with the right kind of acting work, so that you will have a resume of professional level, and–sorry, but we will remove stuff too–the kind of items that I know are actually hindrances.  Red flags, that spell “amateur” to the real agents and the real casting directors.

We are going to “lay tracks” and define the path, that is a real working actor path. We are going to talk about time, and effort, and get very succinct, because time is precious. And it sometimes takes a lot of time to get to the goal, so if an actor wastes time on the wrong thing, or the wrong skills, or the wrong people; it can just wind up being too late, sometimes…Most of the time.

I will tell you how every aspect of the business works. For real. And you will leave this workshop savvy, and smart. Focused, and knowledgable.

We will work on your skills, your focus, your mindset, your individual plan. And much more,which I will not post publicly, for every other site to copy. (Once again.)

For the first time, I am offering my experiences,  my personal hard-knocks, observations, and assessment; from all my years on the inside, when I was a very successful working actress, and voiceover.  My experience as an acting teacher, and as an acting coach.

I didn’t have a relative in the business, I didn’t have any easy breaks. I made it. All within the same system that exists now, and with all the same kinds of hurdles. I know them well. I know how to surmount them.

WHY, NOWHERE ELSE, IS THERE A COMPREHENSIVE PROFESSIONAL ACTING WORKSHOP?

Why??

Because no one else has been a professional actor, and then came out the other side, and shared the information.

It’s that simple.

Here I am.

But I may not want to do this again, so catch it now.  And do I mean that.

There is so much info and you will be doing work, changing, morphing. It will change your life, and after this, you may be able to take on anything. Because acting careers are not easily made, not usually.

And, there are systems, methods, and secrets. Yes, there really are.

(And I learned them well, right at the Hollywood School Of Hard Knocks. It took years to earn my ‘diploma’…)

I will take only small groups, and try to group according to professional level and experience.

It will be supportive, it will be rigorous, it will be personal.  In other words, I will share my personal information, from all that I learned on the inside, and how to get there! And I will take each person, personally, and will get them up to snuff.

Are  you ready?

Sign up on the contact form, if you wish to be on the list for this workshop that starts in January. Eight weeks.

Get your funds ready, because…

As generous as I am…

It ain’t like this blog.

It’s extremely valuable information…Rare, unique, intense, exceptional, and very, very, valuable.

It’s not free.

♣

The One-On-One Acting Coaching With Dana, On The Internet …

Is also interactive, by way of Skype.

You can contact me by the clicking CONTACT –at the top of this page.

I can coach you on your career, check out your photos, prep you for an audition, critique a scene, even work on your technique.

For the one-on-one acting coaching, you pay for amount of my time-usage…So the choice is yours.

I am so happy to be starting the New Year getting some of you in full gear, for a real career. I am so psyched!

It’s the real deal, so you had better get yourself ready…

Best, As Ever,

;~Dana

Los Angeles actor, Garret Dillahunt, plays quite an evil guy in ‘The Last House On The Left’.  In this interview, he makes a great point about “acting craft”.  

The interviewer asks him if he changes, as a person (inside) when he plays such a character; one who rapes, and easily carries out some very awful violence.  

From the Los Angeles Times:

Are you one of those people who has fundamental changes in yourself based on your work?

You mean like roles affecting you outside of the job? You know, I don’t think I am! There wouldn’t be much craft in it if you actually become those people. I like feeling like I have some skill.

I feel like you are going to have to defend “The Last House on the Left.”

You mean to you? I’m real proud of it, which is an odd thing to be proud of. I’m proud of this rape-and-pillage movie. There are reasons that I consciously did the thing — but there’s something about that basic story that is speaking to people, and I think did to me when I read the script. And I think it’s because the job situation is getting weird, people feel so powerless right now. People feel like they’ve been raped by — fill in the blank, the economy, 9/11. Wes Craven last night called 9/11 the ultimate home invasion. Not meaning to be glib — but that feeling of violation we all had. People are really responding to the film in a visceral way — and I think it gives them some release. I kind of feel like it will defend itself. Wow, I got so deep there.

OK. I will see this movie.

It’s an art-house horror film. I saw it with a couple friends and, man, it’s so relentless and believable. I felt mugged. Sort of happily mugged? Is that possible?

I do hate reading a synopsis with the word “disembowel” in it.

I don’t think we disembowel! Sara Paxton, who plays Mari Collingwood, the victim of the assault, I’ve worked with her before. I was happy about that at first. Then I thought maybe it’s a bad thing — you don’t do this to friends! But she was so game and tired of playing mermaids and Snow White kind of characters. So she really went for it.

You’re at that age now where you feel like she’s really young, right?

I’m kind of in between. You’re like, oh, she’s of age now. And then you’re like, oh, pervert!

But you’ve been married forever, right?

I’ve only been married for a couple of years. We’ve been together for a long time. We don’t have to write about any of that!

Do you get “Terminator” blow-back from fans? 

I get recognized more — it’s one of the first characters I played that looks like me. There’s a lot of “Terminator” fans out there, which belies the ratings!

The “John From Cincinnati” set — I got the sensation that this was a very weird time and experience for people.

It seemed very similar to the “Deadwood” experience for me. I love writers! I get nervous around writers, because I’m a frustrated writer myself. I’m a terrible writer. I have a degree in journalism, and I thought that was what I was going to do. And I drifted through college and found acting kind of late. [David] Milch was so good to me, and it really changed me — I don’t mean professionally, it changed things for me, in the way I view material. . . . Working that inspirationally must be expensive, which you have to be realistic about if you’re a network or a money guy. What made “Deadwood” special killed it, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. For anything! And I owe a lot to that experience. Spiritually. Praise the Lord! I do that too. I get embarrassed about waxing on and I cut myself off at the knees. That’s a nice little trait there, FYI.

Why did you think you bombed out as a writer?

I might be a little hard on myself. I was a fine writer! I worked for my little hometown newspaper. I thought I was going to write fiction.

And how do you do when you have to do TV?

A lot of shuffling of feet and blushing. But I’ve tried to minimize the stuttering. I try to look happier. I think I just have one of those faces. I can be having the greatest day and strangers will pass me and say, “Smile!” And I’ll say, “What’s my face doing — and . . . you!”

 

Actor Garret Dillahunt

Besides “The Last House On The Left”, Garret Dillahunt is a series regular on television, in ”Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles”. His other movie roles include “No Country for Old Men”, “John From Cincinnati”, and “Deadwood.”  

 

Directors, Producers, Actors, All The Crew Members…All The Professionals Know “The Rules of Movie Sets”…

In case you need catching up, see these past Hollywood Actor Prep Posts about film set ettiquette, and why it’s important, especially for actors.

• Hollywood Actor Prep Blog Post: The Best Way An Actor Can Act Around A Film Director
• Hollywood Actor Prep Blog Post: Professional Actor Christian Bale Film Set Meltdown, Why, With Dance Remix (; })
• Hollywood Actor Prep Blog Post: Movie-Set Meltdown–Audio Apology From Christian Bale

 

“It is a sacred time between action and cut.”–Darren Aranofsky

Over time, I will continue to talk about “the actor’s process“, and “directors-and-actors“; so this will come up again. 

I’ll just reprint this part of an article, from UPI, London…(Does it seem like I am saying: ‘I told you so!’??)

 

 

 

 

 

Speaking at Wednesday night’s London Film Critics’ Circle Awards, Aronofsky, who has never worked with Bale before, defended Bale in the wake of his well-publicized outburst.

“I think he was right. I don’t think he was out of line,” the BBC quoted Aronofsky as saying. “It is a sacred time between action and cut. If it was the first time it was excusable, but a second time, that ruins it.”

Aronofsky, whose movie “The Wrestler” was named film of the year at the Critics’ Circle Awards, added that he didn’t think the language Bale used had been “abusive beyond call,” noting he has seen worse behavior on film sets.

“Sets are very, very high-powered places where things go awry all the time and emotions are high. People are out there working really hard and exposing themselves, especially actors, and they need to be protected,” Aronofsky explained. “Although it’s never good to lose your temper that bad for obvious reasons, we don’t know what scene he was doing. He could have been doing a deeply, deeply intense emotional scene.”

 

Please share with your friends, especially those interested in acting, directing, producing…And post on your Facebook or MySpace.

Thanks for sharing, and please keep-on-keeping-on…tell everyone you know.  That would be great. The little widget that makes it easy is below, it says “SHARE/SAVE”.     That creates the energy that keeps me doing this…

 

And…

Keep Faith In Your Ability,

;-Dana

You want it? Take action, then.

Kevin Spacey wanted to act in a play, in New York. He wasn’t, yet, a “known” actor; he couldn’t get an audition.

He did have agents, and they couldn’t get him an audition. He had a manager, and, she neither.

Eventually, Kevin Spacey did get the role in the play. How?

Accept limitations, and don’t work.

Don’t accept limitations, and do.

‘Nuff said.

Best,

;Dana

Please share on Facebook and other social sites. Thank you.

Follow me on Twitter. User name is __dana__ .

Better news for all actors: Now a win-win-win situation?

New SAG Plan: instead of putting out a “strike authorization”, for the professional actors, of SAG to vote on…they are sending out something different…an AMPTP contract authorization. Directly, to the SAG members, to see it for themselves, and to vote on whether to accept it or not.

What IS the AMPTP CONTRACT, actually?? Well, it states the “bottom line” level, (the lowest pay scale) that they are proposing: to pay for acting…now and in the future.

(….What they are ‘offering’ is “bupkus”…)

It’s not much different, now, it’s just a direct choice for actors, instead of the representative leadership.

(This is according to Nikki Finke’s column: ‘Deadline Hollywood’ and if you really want the skinny on the underhanded moves of the AMPTP during this, and during the prior Writer’s Strike (WGA), she’s the one with the real goods, and the guts…)

The SAG Strike would’ve been about whether or not to accept the same contract.

If the SAG strike is what is causing such terror and public uproar, then…

My own vote, on this changed-SAG-vote, is that it’s brilliant!

So much wasted energy, and actor leverage/actor-power has been spent on internal arguing and blaming. Blaming the people that are available and safe to be blamed. (Can’t bite the hand that feeds, right?)

Ridiculous, I have always thought…for actors to blame the Alan/Allen leaders of SAG.

(BTW…SAG Leadership didn’t compose the AMPTP CONTRACT ! That was created by the hands that won’t feed you, Actors. Those that think you will do anything for a job, and actually…besides not paying you for your work, the AMPTP contract —the new “final” contract, according to the Producers/Movie Studios side—literally takes away meal breaks. While working. So, under the new terms, not only will you not be able to afford food, to eat at home…you won’t even get a food break on a 10 hour day, on the job. Is it okay, with you, not to eat? Dieting, aside, I do mean.

It’s called “French Hours” by the way, having no set meal-breaks. You just nibble when you can, if there’s time. Apparently, they film that way in France…Fine, I’d agree to it, here, if they’d start serving fine French food on movie sets.

You know what would really win me over?? If the AMPTP started to give actors a teeny tiny bit of the honor that France gives to their actors, and artists of all kinds. Or how about just a bit of respect. (Even a false showing, that would be better than anything I’ve seen yet. )

Oh, and if they create a national, official government office called “Ministry Of The Arts”–Just as they have in France…

Ahhh, oui, I digress. I rannnntttt.)

I do think that SAG’s new tact is a great turn of events. Let all the actors read over exactly what they won’t have. Let them see who the real boogeyman is. Let all see the real numbers..I mean, the real money offered. And who is not willing to spread it around, to those who they even call: “the Talent”.

…Some actors may not ‘get’ how this all applies to them, at all…

And I urge you, all, to-think-as-successful-working-actors. And if you are not one, now, then think “as-if”.

(Because I know that part of this conflict has to do with all different economic levels of actors, all trying to agree on the same contractual items, and they all mean different things to different actors

Example: For an actor who has never worked, the $28 dollars that the AMPTP is offering for per-show (with no residuals for any re-play)…well, that may seem great to a young actor who has never had a paying job. Or who has spent a year, breaking their back, suffering indignities, and maybe doing “background”/extra work, so as to get their “3 jobs” so they could qualify for eligibility for a SAG card…)

To them, a real job, any job, feels like reward enough.**

It’s not.

I’ve been on both ends of the acting career spectrum.

And all in-between….Trust my words: time keeps moving. And so does your acting career, with the right amount of determination. You can get acting work, with the right amount of skill, determination, and intelligent focus. Yes, you can, and you will, then.

And…if and when you make that happen… you will want to earn a living, and even live well…you will want payment, adequate, just payment…for your work. For your talent. As an actor.

It’s hard work.

Almost certainly, you will still love it.

And…because you will be eating, too; you will be glad you did.

Best,

:Dana

Here’s recent excepts from SAG’s website:

Subject: Message from Doug Allen, SAG National Executive Director

January 14, 2009

Dear SAG National Board Members and Alternates,

Because the executive session of our recent extraordinary National Board meeting occurred without my presence in the room, I want to directly communicate several points to all board members and alternates.

I began and ended my report to the National Board on January 12 by stating that I have followed and always will follow the directives of the National Board expressed by a unanimous or majority vote. Under my leadership all SAG staff has complied and will comply with those directives as well. I also said that I am by SAG constitution and by employment contract accountable to the board for my performance.

I welcome your review of that performance and respectfully request only that, in the interest of fairness, such review include the opportunity for me to discuss with the board any comments, questions or issues you wish to raise, not in lieu of executive session discussion, but prior to such discussion.

It is unfortunate that the important matters contained in the National Board meeting ag enda were not accomplished at the meeting January 12 and 13. I know that opinions vary sharply on why that happened. From my perspective, to the extent AMPTP positions or actions are the problem, the solution cannot be determined by how intensely you fight among yourselves.

Regarding the TV/Theatrical negotiations, and the sharply divided opinions on the board about how to proceed, I offered the following suggestion to a cross section of Guild leaders during the period of the executive session. I asked that they discuss the suggestion with other board members in attendance. I proposed that the strike authorization referendum be suspended and that management’s offer be put to the membership in a ratification vote. I also proposed that, before that membership ratification vote, we meet immediately with the AMPTP to determine to what extent, if any, they are willing to improve their last offer, to maximize its chances for ratification. I further proposed that the offer then be sent to the members with Pro and Con statements from National Board members and that otherwise the Guild would remain neutral during any member debate regarding ratification. This process will give Screen Actors Guild members the opportunity to formally express themselves on the bargaining issues.

This suggestion was communicated to some, but not all board members in attendance, and apparently was rejected by some who heard it, at least in part, because they believe I could not be “trusted” to implement it. Since I am the one proposing it and since I have never acted contrary to the directives of the National Board, that is not a reasonable objection. In any case, if it is the decision of the National Board to proceed as I have proposed, I assure you that the staff and I will carry out your decision faithfully and diligently.

I will convene an Officers’ call this week to discuss this suggestion and how it might be considered and implemented. I encourage all board members to discuss these issues with the Guild officers or with me in advance of the call.

There are no more important issues before us than the conclusion of the TV/Theatrical Contract negotiations and the initiation of the Commercial Contract negotiations. Super-heated rhetoric through the press will not contribute to our success on behalf of the members. Working together to resolve your differences will.

Doug Allen

Two days before, Alan Rosenberg sent out this to the SAG board members:

Los Angeles, (January 13, 2009) — SAG National President Alan Rosenberg sent the following message to Screen Actors Guild national board members and alternates today:

“At the end of the National Board plenary meeting this afternoon, a group of board members submitted a document to the Guild that purports to deal with the employment of the National Executive Director and the continuing approach to negotiations. After analyzing the document, Screen Actors Guild’s in-house and outside counsel have concluded that the document does not constitute a valid written assent, for several reasons, including a lack of sufficient signatures and the absence of any language on the document demonstrating the intent of the signers to grant their assent to the proposal. Guild National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator Doug Allen and the National Television and Theatrical Contract Negotiating Committee remain committed to advancing the cause of actors and our crucial contract negotiations.”

No substantive actions were taken by the Guild’s national board, which met at SAG’s national headquarters January 12 and 13 for almost 30 hours straight.

No mailing date has been set for the previously approved TV/Theatrical strike authorization referendum.

We have no further comment.

ABOUT SAG, FROM THEIR WEBSITE;
Screen Actors Guild is the nation’s largest labor union representing working actors. Established in 1933, SAG has a rich history in the American labor movement, from standing up to studios to break long-term engagement contracts in the 1940s to fighting for artists’ rights amid the digital revolution sweeping the entertainment industry in the 21st century. With 20 branches nationwide, SAG represents over 120,000 actors who work in film and digital television, industrials, commercials, video games, music videos and all other new media formats. The Guild exists to enhance actors’ working conditions, compensation and benefits and to be a powerful, unified voice on behalf of artists’ rights. SAG is a proud affiliate of the AFL-CIO. Headquartered in Los Angeles, you can visit SAG online at www.sag.org.

Please continue to share on Facebook, and MySpace, and with all your friends. Especially, to actors. It’s important to get the messages out, it really is! Thanks very much!

And, follow me on Twitter for updates, and info- (link below)

http://twitter.com/__dana__

Did Hollywood Industry Rags Really Report False Stories? Knowingly?

SAG negotiator Doug Allen was the subject of some false reporting, yesterday, in these three journals, apparently:

1. Backstage Magazine (link to false SAG article, dated today, which is day after!…Means they published something that was known not to be true, publicly, by that time-of-publish!)
2. The Hollywood Reporter (link to false SAG article-note same authors!)
3. Variety (link to false SAG story)

All three of these reported “Late Breaking News”.

Problem was, their “news flash” was not true. Not when they reported it, anyway. (I can’t know what is happening today, which is the second day of the Screen Actor Guild National Board Meeting.)

They said that Doug Allen was fired, by SAG’s national board. Their articles continued to detail the history of internal strife at SAG.

Please don’t pay attention to the Hollywood Press.

…How crazy is that, that I am forced to advise that!

“Don’t be naive, Dana, these rags never are accurate for news.”

That’s what some people have responded, to my shock about their journalistic fabrication.

(If it is, as is reported by Nikki Finke, in her ongoing column called “Deadline Hollywood Daily”...)

I say this, I don’t like lying anywhere. I especially don’t appreciate, being a member of the public, and assuming that journalism is adhering to a certain set of standards. Of truth. The public goes to these journals for facts. Factual, truthful, information. Journals are supposed to be the source of such.

Now, if it’s accepted in Hollywood that “entertainment news” can be trumped up and falsely reported, well, that’s up to them.

But, when it becomes socially persuasive, or influences people to one side or another; or is disseminated for some kind of personal gain, and in exchange, could cause others harm…I find it unconscionable.

What harm can come to actors from this?

Well:

It affirms what has been going on since this began: a portrayal, overall, of actors as dumb, silly, out of touch, out of control. In other words, furthering a tangential view of the actors’ stance as something obscure and abstract. Allowing this actor-bias to control the public attention, and veering the public away from the real issues. Issues that are concrete and very logical. Substantial.

In other words, a bashing smokescreen.

AMPTP Is Only Offering A Low or No Money Deal To Actors

This whole AMPTP/SAG issue has become far off-the-mark of what it truly is about. (Uh, paying actors for work.)

Instead it has been about so much that isn’t related, and the public has no way to decipher what the heck it is about.

It all looks like something the actors are doing to themselves, and doing to others; or rather if SAG does choose to strike, then they are out to destroy the world, the country, the economy, you-the-common-man.

That is absolutely nuts.

And, in this era of acceptable false reporting: it is simple propaganda.

That’s heinous, for those reporters to do that. According to Nikki Finke, the Variety reporter was asked, by SAG, to state a retraction. He did not.

What’s the gain for them, you may ask…I am not sure. Read Nikki Finke’s take on it.

Maybe, like many journalists, he has been working on a screenplay, or even has one on the studio desks, right now? I have no clue.

It’s a hell-of-a-lot more dramatic to report all this drama, I guess…then the truth of how difficult it is to survive as an actor. What the life really is.

‘Hollywood’ is a one-factory town. ‘ With Powerful Bosses Running It.

As I’ve written before, this is a small town, as far as the business goes. The bosses are clearly the bosses, and the workers are in the bread lines.

The bosses have the better parties with the celebrities, and can invite you over for a tennis match on their backyard court.

While the actors are leaving town, not able to survive.

…I’ll investigate all of this, and post more with more factual information…

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

Update #1

Newer News On False SAG News!!

Within an hour after publishing this blog post, I am back!

And…Guess what? Now Variety has published a new and different article, on SAG and the results of the 2 day National Board Meeting, and just within the last few minutes!

The Variety reporter, of this current SAG article, is “staff”.

A-hem.

It’s a totally different story.

No retraction on the false one. No comment from them either.

Hey! That’s a solution! Just print another story, um…

…With a whole different ’story’????

Here’s the title, from the new Variety-on-SAG-reportage…click on it to read ‘full SAG story’, this one, I mean!

“SAG status quo proceeds (main title)

Allen keeps job after two-day session (smaller print, subtitle…)

In the last two days, SAG has been full of sound and fury, signifying … the status quo.”

I am reprinting the first line, here, as one example…illustrating what I mean, about “actor bias” and not only from Variety, but in much of the reportage on the AMPTP conflict with SAG.

Look how they portray SAG by ridiculing them, instead of admitting their own mistake.

Actor-bashing as sport, and able to? Due to lower “status” in factory-town??

Have you seen my post where I reprint my comments to the L.A. Times writer?

As well as the article, to illustrate futher, about how this postential actor strike, and the disputed issues, are either twisted, or not listed at all? http://www.hollywoodactorprep.com/blog/2008/11/latimes-blog-on-actors-and-sag-strike-isbiased-incorrect/

Whereas Backstage Magazine (which is supposed to be FOR ACTORS!)

and
The Hollywood Reporter still have this as only title going, on the whole two-day meeting at the Screen Actors Guild, which was supposedly about whether or not to call a SAG strike:

SAG ousting chief negotiator Doug Allen

Move decreases likelihood of a strike

By Andrew Salomon and Jay A. Fernandez

Best and keep the faith; please remember to stay informed…

Dana

And please share this article with your friends, and on Facebook, and other social sites. Actors, and all artists, can only become able to speak for themselves, with knowledge and solidarity.

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

Update #2

Oh dear.

Another change!!!

Now, The Hollywood Reporter has a new article on the SAG Board (a link ) meeting and it appears to be an article with the goal of, mainly, making a defense of it’s false, prior article.

This one doesn’t have a retraction either, and no admitting of any mistake.

This one also makes actors look bad. It makes it seem as if the heads of SAG are “oh so sneaky”…Is that why their article wound up not to be true. Are they trying to say, if not for these sneaky actors, then Doug Allen would have been out and the writers wouldn’t have looked like liars. Or bad reporters, writing inaccuracies before fact-checking. This article seems to have, as its main goal, making sure that the reporters aren’t to blame for publishing false article.

Sorry. They still are.

Oddly, this Hollywood Reporter article is a reprint from a Backstage** article.

Is Backstage regarded as a source for factual news and integrity? Except that they published the original article a full-day-after-the-other-journals did, and long after it was publicly known that it just was not true! And never was nor would be!

If you look at this article, also, it makes the Screen Actors Guild leadership look awful, and the membership as well. And the board.

I ask again, isn’t Backstage an actors’ newspaper? Ostensibly. How come this reporting is so annhiliating, about us, then?

I think; calling the actors and SAG misguided, and out of control, and narcissistic; is more accurate about the mudslingers, themselves.

The proof is in the reporting.

Starting. An. Acting. Career. Is. Not. Easy.

Getting a talent agent to represent you, may be the hardest part of your professional career.

Yesterday, I was on TWITTER. 

Someone “tweeted”, the following : 

“Am really getting sick of school, am ready to work, anyone know of any good agents?”

–Um–.

I took a deep breath, waited, and then took another one.  I always knew that this moment was soon, I just didn’t want it to be so soon, and not just before a weekend… I knew that “bad news” time had come; and I knew that it was my responsibility to bring it.

I waited until late Friday afternoon, procrastinating…Okay, here’s my post on talent agents, and it’s for those actors who haven’t yet tried to get one.  (If you have, you can read along, and weep with recognition…)

So allow me to really prepare those actors that need to know…

 

Here’s some sorry, but necessary, actor truth:

When you all get into the business, you will come up against a big wall, and HARD. Especially, if you think like my twitter-friend.

There is a whole different world that actors encounter, when they attempt to become professional and working.

One of the worst of acting-career-wall-slams has to do with the subject of agents.

Do I know any good agents out there?  Depends what the tweeter meant by “good”.

There are a zillion good agents out here…

…And they all work with names you recognize.

None of them are interested in you.

NONE.

I am sorry.  

One of the things I hate about doing this is that since I have had a reasonably successful history in this business, and I am doing this as a labor of love  (you all don’t hear any coins ca-ching  from this, do you, and you encounter no credit card requests), I feel this crazy need to provide the truth, and not the hogwash you can glimpse at any time from the plentiful actor-hoax sites that abound on the net.  (If you are mad at me for this blog post, and it’s contents today, and you want bull then just put “actor”, or “acting”, as a Google search word… you’ll  find pages and pages of total fairy-tale-crap sites.  Go there, then, because this stuff, today,  is hard to deliver, and it’s not fun…)

 

 

The Only Agents That Represent Novice-Actors Are Mythical   

 

It’s a myth that there are agents in tiny one-room offices, bald and chompin’ on a cigar, just a-waiting for you to arrive off the train.

Absolutely false.

(Don’t say: “That’s okay, Dana…I’m arriving on a plane”  …

…Because I won’t laugh, and I will tell you, that there haven’t been any one-room agencies, like that, since before they invented the plane.

…There haven’t been any bald agents since before they put minoxydil out on the market.

…Because the agents got it sooner, like all cosmetic inventions,

…‘Cause this is Hollywood…

…And BECAUSE AGENTS ARE WEALTHY.

Why are agents wealthy?  Because, their “calling” was not the arts, it was “business”.  Because they are businessmen, and businessmen are in the business of making money.

That’s why those specific people are on “that side” of “the industry”.

 

Talent Agencies Are Big Corporations, Mostly

Any agency worth it’s name, is a “corporation”.  

Any agent that drives a Mercedes, Lexus, or BMW, works for a corporation. Uh, once you get here, you’ll see that all the agents drive those cars.  Brand new ones, too. Immaculate and shiny.  Leased.  

They pay for the lease, or their company does, by the massive amounts of money they make from the actors, under contract, to their talent agency.

They don’t sign people to contracts who don’t bring in big money.  They really don’t ever consider signing someone for their “artistic talent” or “acting ability”.

They don’t look for artistic talent.

No.

They look for money.

CAA, one of the heaviest hitter of agencies, ever since it started, just moved it’s headquarters.  It used to be in Beverly Hills.  Now it is in Century City, right nearby.

When they were planning that original Beverly Hills office, they used an architect that is one of the most famous, ever.  I.M.Pei.  (He is the same guy that designed the pyramid portion of the Louvre, in Paris. )

And they had an extremely famous painter, paint a mural, in the lobby.  Lichtenstein.  No, they didn’t buy a Lichtenstein painting, nor did they commission him to paint a giant canvas in his studio and then install it in the lobby.  This extremely famous painter actually painted the mural in the lobby.  

 

 

 

Now, CAA has moved to a larger building.  Whatever did they do with the Lichtenstein on the wall???

(Will somebody look that up on Google for me, and let me know? I am too busy…Oh, and while you are at it… If you don’t know who I.M.Pei is, or Lichtenstein, or about the Louvre, please look that up too.  Anytime you don’t know something, don’t stay  ignorant about it, it will help you as an actor.  Especially, when you work on a script, know everything and anything about that script, the culture that it deals with…)

My point is this.  CAA will not be interested in you.

CAA has never been interested in ME.  

I went there, once, for an interview with an agent, who was very nice.  (Many of them are.  Even so, they don’t want to know you, and they don’t want you to waste their time, having to explain that.)

I saw Kevin Huvane, once referred to as a “Young Turk” agent, and I was already somewhat established.  But, CAA is for the very top of the heap. Celebrities, stars.

He told me, as many agents had over the years, to “Come back and see us when you’ve got a lead in a film”.

It’s that simple.

They work for the big bucks, and their job is to make deals for the big bucks, and it’s a simple equation…They agent talent that already has an established salary of “Very Big Bucks”.

Aren’t they looking for new talent?

No.  Never. Not new acting talent.

 

Agents Are Called “Ten-Percenters”

They get 10% commission of whatever salary they negotiate for their client.

Let’s say Bruce Willis takes a new movie role, and his pay is 20 million dollars.  What’s ten-percent of twenty-mill?

Same with Tom Hanks, and many other actors…

Would an agent choose to spend their limited work time on making two mill commission; and let’s not forget that the 2 million from a client like Tom Hanks is way more dependable, than a ten percent of maybe 200 to 500 dollars (ten-percent of 500 is fifty-dollars) for a newcomer.  And that newcomer has a way-smaller chance of getting a job.

They don’t make money, they don’t get reputation, they don’t get bupkus.

Not for representing new people.

 

 

 

When You Make Acting Money That Brings In A Hefty Commission…

That’s when all the agents will talk about your “acting abilities”.  It simply translates into numbers, here.  

They make no bones about it.  

Agents are notorious for doing an about-face and heaping attention on those actors who suddenly start working.  

That’s just the business.  

I’m telling you so you won’t be surprised.

They won’t pay you any attention, at all, until you start to work.  

Then you will be able to get an agent.

Crazy?

Welcome to Hollywood.  That’s the way it works. 

 

 

 

At Least You Are Now A Prepared-And-Aware Actor

Ever hear that saying?  ”The truth shall set you free”?  I think it’s from the Bible…(Could somebody fact-check that on Google for me, please, I am getting sick of doing all this work for nothing!)

The truth in our work makes acting into beauty.

The truth about the business can crush us; or it can make us stronger; as people, as actors, as professionals.

Here’s a big secret.  It was always this way.  Always.  

I do think it has gotten ever harder, I think the doors have gotten heavier, more locked; and there are security guards at the gates, even.  (None of that slipping your photo with resume on the back, under the door, like I used to do at the very start of my career, in New York!) (…And that didn’t get me representation, by the way.)

My first agent, in New York, was at ICM.  A gigantic agency, a gi-normous corporation.  Lucky me, I thought.  Aren’t you thinking the same?

I did luck out, in that a friend of mine, became an agent there.  Actually, two friends. One was a manager at the New York Improv, and the other was the assistant manager.  I worked in the coatroom.  Really.

ICM was starting a new comedy division, and took the guy who was the Improv manager to be an agent, since he knew all about the comedians.  The guy who was the manager took the Improv assistant manager with him, and soonafter, the assistant-manager-signed-who-was-now-hoity-ICM-assistant-agent signed me, coatroom-girl-aspiring-actor as his very first client.   

Sounds great, doesn’t it? In feeling, it was.  I am actually smiling right now, with the memory of it.  These guys were my friends, and it was so much fun…up, up, up, I would go in that Manhattan high-rise elevator, past the smooth woody receptionists desks, and my 8-by-10’s had a folder in a file cabinet…the cabinet’s size must have trumped the size of Trump’s.

The promise of it, sensational.  

The truth of it…not much.  Why?  Well, I got to go up in that elevator more than actors generally do, because these guys were my friends and it was New York City, and I was in that area, a lot, for voiceover work. (Different category, different agency.)  

I got to hear a lot about people like RIck Moranis, and such; because that’s who they were handling and getting auditions for.  In a place like ICM, there isn’t a system in place, to “break in” newcomers.  Agents at those places don’t have enough time in their schedules to do all that they need to do, for the bigger guys, a lot of the time. (Just go to any industry place at 7:30 AM and you’ll see all the bigger agents having what is known as a “power breakfast”.  That is a breakfast meeting, where they are jamming in business before they have their 9 AM agency-wide meeting, every morning.)

I got lots of insider information about what it was like to be a big-agency-agent, and got to see what all kinds of stuff was like: “Variety” out on the coffee table waiting room, the lunches ordered upstairs, the “Breakdown Services” with lists and lists of projects and auditions…

However, only one  audition, did I get, maybe, in a year.  

How I went from ICM to a middle-size “boutique” talent agency, that was the agency that I stayed with, forever-after… is another story for another day.

Yes, there are boutique agencies around, and no, they are not interested, either.  I’m sorry, but it’s a cruel business that way. The smaller agencies are also only interested in actors that are sure-shots.

In other words, they aren’t gamblers either.  

Don’t expect them to want to be fisherman, either…to throw a lot of bait into the waters to see if anyone bites.  Nope, they don’t.  They, too, want the hottest thing, and they try to get it, at the mid-range level. Even though they are smaller than the bigger guys, they still don’t want anyone who isn’t a proven professional.

That means, in actor terms, someone who doesn’t already have a career.  Someone who doesn’t have a “quote”. (That means a certain amount of money that you got paid, so far, that they can negotiate to get to be a higher amount of payment, on your next job.)

Can they get the biggest stars? No, but they get people that haven’t worked in a while, and they handle all the other people that you see populating your TV and movie screens, that aren’t stars.  

Those actors make good money for those jobs.  Decent money.  Their salaries pay commission to the agents.  That’s how the agencies pay their rent in Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, even in the Valley.

Agents work when they think there is going to be payment.  Thus, they keep clients that continue to get commissionable work, and when they have room, agents will only sign on those actors that have some kind of track-record of earning.

No one is going to make it easy. I would say that trying to get an agent without any credits, is impossible.

If you don’t want to believe me, then good for you, because you have a strong overriding spirit that can help you.

You will need to do the impossible.

You need to know that.

This Is Even Hard On Me

I’m quitting for the day.  It’s Friday night, as I write this, it’s dark already.  David Tochterman and I were supposed to meet for a drink, as his post was up this week on Hollywood Actor Prep, and we haven’t seen each other in  years.  (L.A. is a large city, area-wise.)  

And I want to get down to the beach area, because I haven’t been out, for fun, in that area, in a long time.

So I will edit, and add, to this post tomorrow.

I’ll also try to find some funny stuff, because this post is rough-stuff. 

(Or maybe it is, just for me.  I also broke a front tooth, this week, so I’m not the happiest camper…)

Keep on keeping on, with a smile…because good things are coming very soon…

Stay with Hollywood Actor Prep, and please spread the word, so that I know that people are really benefitting from the information I post…

Best,

Dana

©   ®

 

PS My Twitter name is  __dana__  (that’s with 2 lower slashes on either side of my first name)

I announce, on Twitter, whenever I publish a new post on this blog.

 

—-a-and, 

If you like this blog, and it gives you value, then please pay it forward by sharing it– with your friends!
Share on Facebook
 

You can also show your appreciation by treating me to a latte, if you can…

The SAG announcements, today, will state the results of their new board members.  I don’t ever remember a SAG board election as wildly and publicly anticipated.  

(And, I am a SAG “vested”…  Vested, in SAG union terms: means that I have been around long enough that I earned a pension which I will receive when I am old and bitter-er.)

Why are the SAG Board Announcements so exciting? 

Right now, in Hollywood, there is far more drama within the actor ranks, than in any theater. 

There’s practically a SAG Civil War, amongst Professional Actors. Within the SAG membership group of the real, authentic, working, actors.  And, actors from the two opposing sides of this war, are competing for Board of Director seats.

What this war concerns, at the heart, is what actors feel is critical to their career.  And, to the future of what is commonly known as an ” professional acting career”.

 At issue, is the concept of the Working Actor; and the decisions and actions of the SAG leaders, for the union.  The decisions that are on the table, right now.  

 

Plainly:

that group, which has been traditionally known as the Working Actor, the Professional Actor, and in the theatre, called the Journeyman Actor –

…unfortunately, that profession is headed for extinction. Here in Los Angeles.

 

Truly.  The middle-class actor is almost a no-more thing. Even was reported in the LA Times.

 

But, you might say, you just read that that that  Dr. House ‘s new-season-salary broke records…and that is true.

 

Stars do make a lot; AND they are a very small minority, compared to the rest of the group.  The group of professional working actors out here. 

 Two ends of the actor spectrum, actually, can both earn a living and benefits: stars and extras.  

(Extras weren’t always in SAG, but now they are; and there are some that work quite consistently, and do make a very good, regular income and even qualify for SAG benefits that include an exceptional health insurance plan.)  

 

A lot of  the heat of the drama within the SAG membership of real authentic working actors, has to do with the suddenly almost-defunct professional actor middle class. 

Obviously, always, throughout history, actors have scrambled for work.  The numbers of available actors compared to the amount of work that was available, has always been so extreme, it’s like a silly joke.  It’s always been an almost ludicrous career choice, by “normie” standards.  By regular working joes. An acting career has never been regarded, by outsiders, as a CAREER.

 

But, inside Hollywood :

 (that term, of course, I use “tongue in cheek’—I mean in “the industry”)

what was once regarded as a career, an acting career,

has radically changed. You probably “know”  all of these people, if you aren’t in the business.  They are the actors you recognize while you are watching a show, and you know you’ve seen them before, in a different show. From things that they’ve been in before.  And, when you visit here, and you see one of them, sometimes  you ask them if they were in your high school because they look “familiar”…They can be, also, sometimes, people you remember who had a great role in something and it knocked you out, with how wonderful they were.  Then you didn’t see them again for a while; then maybe you saw them later, in something else, completely different.

 

When they say from “career” to “hobby”, they aren’t kidding.

 

It really used to be like this: a professional actor went from job-to-job.  Even with months in between, it was possible to make enough to live decently, middle class.

Yeah, right, I know: there were never great guarantees in the acting business; and right again, there could be a big period of “nothing” where no auditions were won and the actor went broke for a while.  Bank account to zeee-ro, I know.

 

But there also was the flip-side, a professional actor could get one plum role or a steady stream of solid middle credit-list roles, and do very well.  Or do a steady trajectory upward, and garner juicy raises in payscale along the way.

 

(I really DO know, I’ve lived through both parts, again, and then again…)

 

For as long as I can remember, guest starring on a television show was a nice delicious job. Chunk-a-money job.

 

But this isn’t true anymore, it’s disappearing. That type of actor life, the real solid career actor.

 Enter the “hobby”.

And a “hobby” actor, instead, isn’t even a viable idea.  I don’t think it is. 

At any time, the nature of the art is this, as well as the nature of business:

To be a professional actor,

to begin a career as an actor,

to maintain a career as an actor,

takes far more effort, time, and sheer investment of self,

than any hobby.

There’s just no way to be a professional of such commitment, in a field that requires such commitment, “on the side”.

 

In jokes, actors are classically, self-absorbed.  I’m not advocating narcissism, but I do know that a strong sense of focus and intent, is part of what it takes, darn it.  Really. 

 

There is just no way that… the results are even going to be even decent fare, not a chance. With most of the actors, hobby-ists.

It’s going to negatively affect every production in the industry.  The level of performance that we all take for granted will go down with it.  It has to …

The great ones, the committed ones who may not be stars but are the solid backbone of reliable cast of every show—they will take their talent where it can flourish, and where they can survive.  Where they can earn a living. 

Acting, for the first time, will suddenly not appear easy to do.  It will appear not-so-expendable.

 

Hobbyists are not people who commit their lives, with their lives:  to their craft, which many professional actors truly do.

 

Actors do it, as corny as it sounds, for love.  With a overriding passion and commitment. Yet, they need to be able to make a living. Many career actors believe that this extinction is salvageable, if handled correctly by SAG leadership. 

 

This is at the heart of the strife that you may be hearing about.  Between-the-actors. The competition for work has always made us crazy.  You can imagine what this pressure of the AFTRA mutiny; and the loss of the middle class actor has done to our group, as a whole. 

(If you live in Hollywood, you may want to dig a trench. That’s right, there’s two wars; one is between the producers and actors, and the other is between actors: two factions of professional actors at war, splitting their “group” in-two.)

 

So… that is why the SAG news announcements coming today…is so extremely major.  SAG will announce  who won the votes to be the new SAG Board Members.  Huge drama, lots of emotion, even lots of celebs…

 

There are two warring sides, and the announcement will reveal which side will hold the majority weight—and sit, and make decisions, on the SAG board.

 

Please go to the next few blogs, if you are interested,  I post information from these two warring sides, from their own releases.

 

Peace,

Dana

 

Here’s a link for  an article from the Los Angeles Times,

on the disappearing-middle-class-actor:

 http://articles.latimes.com/2008/may/28/business/fi-sag28

I write from Hollywood, California. 

Read the rest of this entry »