Happy MLK Day!
I wanted to let everyone know about a video I watched online this weekend. It was originally a live broadcast of a free event hosted by the SAG Foundation, I caught it a couple of days after its original airing. It is a panel discussion between a couple of Talent Agents, two Casting Directors and Gary Marsh, the representative from Breakdown Express/Actors Access. The original purpose of the discussion was to focus on how actors in regions outside of L.A. can participate in the Los Angeles pilot season. They covered that, but lots more.
in particular, I really think they did a great job of discussing some of the things we have really tried to hammer home here in our practices, workshops, etc...
The discussion is about two hours long and is really worth taking a few sittings and checking it out. Even if you've heard lots of it before, I think hearing just how important these things really are to actors all over the country- not just here - is worth hearing again.
For example...
*It was very interesting to hear a Casting Director from Hollywood mention a film she casted in New Orleans. She mentions how when she is going to have to cast in an outside market, she immediately gets on Breakdown Services and starts looking at Actors Access profiles in that particular market. She stresses the fact that if your info isn't up to date, you can miss your one opportunity where they are actually shopping in your market for talent!
* It was also discussed how one of the actors in True Grit got his role. They were looking for talent in the South, and he was from the south originally but lived in L.A. So he taped himself, submitted the tape and ended up getting the job.
It reinforced one of the things we always talk about - the internet is making the world of film/tv auditioning smaller and smaller.
For actors in Louisiana like ourselves, this can be a very good thing or a very bad thing. On one hand, talent that doesn't even live down here can send in a tape and grab roles right out from under us. On the other hand, we have the opportunity to jump into this tech-fueled wave and ride it just like they do.
I truly believe that there will come a time in the very near future when callbacks will be almost the only remaining part of the audition process that is live. A Casting Director needs to see as many talent as possible to know they are presenting the directors and producers with the right talent for the job . The internet and taped auditions allows them to do this more efficiently. Plane and simple. Yes, auditions in person may never die off since the personal interaction is still a must for so many CDs and Directors. But the number of talent getting a chance to get in for those face to face auditions will certainly stay the same or go down - while the number of CDs who start off by viewing a first round of taped auditions is growing more every day!!!
So check out the video when you can- the link is at the bottom of this blog. It's long (about two hours) but you don't have to watch it all in one sitting. Watch a little and pause it, then come back later for a little more. That's what I did.
Then, after you watch it, sit down and make a list of what you will be doing in 2011 to better arm yourself with the tools to compete in this industry! Whether you are already getting auditions and booking roles or whether you have just taken your first steps into this wild world of auditioning for film and TV... it doesn't matter. ALL of us can do more and learn more in order to achieve more.
So......
If you haven't checked your Actors Access profile in a while....
If you aren't using the internet to actively seek out parts/projects that even your agent doesn't get access to (student films, indy stuff, etc)....
If you aren't trying your best to get footage from past projects and get them edited and posted online....
If you aren't thinking of yourself as a 'package', that agents and CDs can market and sell to producers....
Most importantly, if you haven't learned to put yourself on tape for an audition....
It's 2011, and there's no better time than right now.
Remember: if you won't do it, someone else will.
:)
WATCH THE VIDEO HERE:
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