So im in a theater group (i mostly do film) and a member said they wanted to do a table for a screenplay they wrote. film isnt financed but she said she has some cinematographer attached. i volunteered cause i love table reads as a way to just act without much pressure. Ive done them before and its normally get the script, read it once maybe twice, then show up and do the read. In my experience, its a way for writers to hear thier work- not about the actors. For this one, she wanted to do a zoom read for two characters cause she didnt know which one to cast me as. I get on the zoom and she starts recording it, has me do multiple takes with feedback and direction (by that she the old "be bigger") At the end of the call she says "honestly im not really feeling you for this...sorry!" ive been told close to 70 times this year "No" by CDs, but im really pissed off right now. If I am told I am auditioning, I will prep the f out for the audition. Dont tell be its a table read if youre really auditioning me. I feel mad at myself now for not showing my best craft.
It seems many do. Is it that many naturally gravitate towards it or more the industry wants it?
Hey community! I was requested to audition but I’m not NYC based I’m in the DMV area. I have to confirm my location in the self-tape. Should I say “willing to work as a Local” or not audition at all? This is my first experience auditioning for NYC market. It’s a small part, shoots one day but the pay is reasonable for me to take a trip.
The other day I made I post to this subreddit. TLDR I went to an anime con and a voice actor liked my performance in a panel so much that I was offered an audition for a game that he was casting. Well today at work I received an email that I got the part. My manager had me go on break because I couldn’t stop crying. Admittedly the visual novel isn’t as big as I expected. Just something from itch.io but I don’t care. It’s who was casting it that I care about. I remember submitting my audition unsure of whether my performance was good enough and now someone who I look up to and respect a lot thinks I’m good enough for one of his projects and that means everything to me. I’m being live directed by him on Thursday and I have never been this excited and scared in my life haha. I’m freaking out.
Just curious, can they see my cmails that I receive directly from casting? I was chatting with a casting director I’m friends with through there who just cast me in a little indie feature right before I signed, I wasn’t talking as professional as normal because we’re friends but then remembered I have an agent now lol can they see that? Also do they see self submissions?
I only had time this morning to submit my audition scenes. It was so close to the deadline I could only send 1 (out of 2) scenes. I checked back later and it said the deadline is extended another full week. -- But I can't edit or re-upload my submission to add the 2nd scene. Has this happened to anyone else before? I really would love this role. Would it be wrong to pay for another account (monthly not full year) and apply properly with both scenes?
I am a 36 year old deep in a job search in my field with too much time on my hands, reflecting on how acting brings me more joy than...pretty much anything else. I am only 5 years into community theater and want to learn more and go deeper. Given the painstaking slowness of my job search, I'm thinking about signing up for an acting intensive: there are a TON out there though and I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed. There are none anywhere near my remote and rural town and I have some savings so pretty much any US location is on the table. To narrow my options, are there some schools that cater more to the >30 years old actor? If I'm not concerned about making it in the industry, should I consider the LA and NY ones due to caliber or might I actually find a better fit for me in a different city? Are these worth the thousands of dollars? Anyone similar to me do this? Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Any tips on how i can make sure i’m presentable? i wear makeup and want to make sure it looks good on camera! ive never been on camera and i’m doing this role as an extra because i’ve started doing theatre and the theatre program runner is a well known and well connected writer here in Sydney and she’s making her own film so she wanted us to be a part of it this is the second milestone of my acting career so far (first was getting into the theatre program) and i realised i wanted to become an actor only a few months ago :) i’m proud of how things are going so far!! next milestone is to get a proper acting credit or sign with an agency :)
if the filmmakers are say just film students or graduated film students for instance who obv have no production company and such? because it’s already hard to get a visitor visa, i’m just wondering how hard it’ll be for an actor overseas to come here to work a couple days for ‘not’ a production company
Hello Reddit! Could someone help me figure something out. I've been receiving amazing opportunities for roles that I felt I nailed, and sure I get how it could come down to a very small detail in why they chose someone else, but I also can't help wonder if being Non-Union has also hurt me. So work is tight right now for everyone which means preference will be given to union members. At least I think. I'm thinking for these previous auditions, they passed on me because I wasn't union. Like if there's a tie in casting choices, they'll certainly go with the union actor, right? I also don't know if my reel is up to par with other union actors. If anyone would be willing to take a look and give me some insight that would be great. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-dmN\_qFicY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-dmN_qFicY) Thank you, Max
Early 20s actor who started a few year as ago, finally getting some roles. Would love any advice at all! Thank you :)
Hii everyone! I have a question. I’m starting as a voice over artist after doing some small jobs that people really like, but I’m searching for a good voice over portfolio site where I can build mine with. Are there sites build voor voice over artist of actors? Any other tips for starting people like me how to show myself to the world? Thanks for reading!
And yet I’ve somehow managed to bag myself a crazy opportunity at being in a film. It’s literally just been given to me two days ago and it begins tomorrow. I’m to be “tried out”. The role isn’t exactly small either, I do have a lot of lines and scenes. I’ve always loved acting, always dreamed of being an actress but that was not the career path I pursued, so I have ZERO experience. That being said, and I’m not sure if this is just some naive wannabe thing and I don’t want to sound like a total idiot, but I feel like I could probably just wing it? I feel like I’m naturally good at it? I know it takes a lot of effort and practice to really make it as an actor, but is it at ALL possible that I could somehow pull this out the bag? With some crazy stroke of luck? It’s just not an opportunity you can turn down! Any tips for someone who has never acted, but is about to be thrown in front of a camera tomorrow? Or am I just being stupid in thinking I could even attempt to do this?
I had a conversation with someone who held the belief that porn/sex work/onlyfans and the sex workers who partake in this type of work are comparable to acting and the actors who partake in playing out explicit scenes. They held the belief that at the end of the day it's just business. They were surprised when I said I would absolutely not let my daughter do sex work but would let my daughter be an actor. They didn't a difference and that the levels of depravity are the same. I ultimately said that these two groups are not at all comparable because porn is more morally corrupt, less dignified, less disciplined, more short term gratification, less less less....respectable to put in a nut shell. Was a very triggering conversation. What does everybody else think?
My previous acting class just found out i was taking medicine that was a benzo I should keep taking my medication, even tho my i said my doctor doesn’t even like that i take em honestly. He told me im going to be assigned a different classand thell send an email soon. Never heard back one year later
It’s a small speaking roll but I’m so happy to see my IMDb page and the words actress right underneath it. I’ve never acted so I just got lucky to get offered the role my very first time auditioning. I know I may sound lame but from someone so crippled by anxiety, this was a huge step for me. It gives me a little more confidence trying for other roles. Im happy for that reason alone!
I auditioned for a new tv show pilot through Actors Access and a few days later I checked the casting breakdown page and it was updated and it had “SELECTS” right next to my name. Does anyone know what that means?
Last week, I posted about how I got to audition for my first role in a feature. I was offered a role yesterday. It's not the part I read for, but it's a role with dialog and name credit. Plus some cool CGI moments. It took me 10 years to get here, but it's finally happening. Thanks for all your well wishes in my previous post.
I have worked with professional actors as well as non actors in several short films and music videos as a director, and this is the first time I am making a feature. I’m also going to be casting actors, and I have not been a part of many auditions prior to this. I have mainly come in contact with the people I wanted to work with for the short films. And I have only been to a few auditions myself as an actor. I wanted to ask you guys how I should to the audition? - I know all actors are different and prefer different things. So what should I think about when hosting auditions? Should there be physical, self-tape or the option to choose? How long should the script for the audition be? Should there be different auditions for all the different characters? Some productions have audition where there is mainly a improv that is the same for all people auditioning, just to see who they want to go further with. I hope I am making myself clear. Auditions may be second nature for some of you, but maybe you have some do and don’ts tips for a first time casting director, which is also the director :)
I’m looking for a few 10 minute scenes from contemporary plays (post 2000) that would be interesting to work on for 2-3 actors. Gender doesn’t matter and we are all about 20 years old but could play up to mid 30s and nothing younger than 14/15.
We’ve all must’ve seen by now, the videos of AI recreating voices with tremendous efficiency, from Obama and Trump playing video games together, to Kanye singing Bieber’s songs. My question is, as this technology is relatively new yet still showcases amazing potential, do you think that within 10 years time, studios will opt out to rather buy one of these AI’s who can replicate any voice they want them to, rather than buy the services of voice actors?
If you’ve uploaded “clips” to AA vs. your entire reel, what have you found is the best number of clips to include with your submissions to roles? I really struggle with figuring this out. Pros of sending fewer: you can be more targeted in which ones you send (if possible) and, therefore, they are more likely to see the most relevant ones Cons of sending fewer: could seem like you lack good experience Pros of sending more: shows you have more experience, generally Cons of sending more: less likely they will see the relevant ones, since you can’t reorder the videos to put different ones first based on the role Has anyone figured out what seems to be the Goldilocks strategy here?
I saw a casting director say on instagram that they liked the idea of listing the commercial directors that you've worked with on an acting resume rather than just putting "conflicts available upon request". This really intrigued me because I have a lot of commercial acting experience and virtually no theatrical experience (literally have 1 credit on my IMDB from when I was a child). I'm currently trying to branch out to TV/Film so would love to be able to put SOMEthing down on my actors access resume. Has anyone done this personally? Anyone have any ideas as to how to actually list these credits without revealing the project? Thanks for your input!
Are they able to just forward one, or if I submit two will they be stuck sending both to casting? I did it in two very different ways and one could either be really good or terrible lol
I’m pivoting from 10+ years of full-time YouTubing to wanting to become an actor. With YouTube you can pretty much do it from anywhere, so I decided to stay in a smaller cheaper city. But now I’m looking for local in-person acting classes and not finding any. Are there any I can take online? Or YouTube channels I can learn from? Or do I just need to start planning a move to one of the major cities for acting?
hello there everyone im new to this group im a voice actor who mainly works in redubs i have 2 years of experience from voice acting and my microphone is Samson Q2U and i record using Audacity
I’m very interested in getting into voice acting, I’ve already read Dee Bradley Baker’s “I want to be a voice actor”, and now I’m considering my next move in terms of education. From what I’ve looked into, Joe Zieja’s voice acting academy seems to be the perfect place, the only problem being the price. It’s pretty expensive and I want to be sure it’d be my money’s worth. Taking a community college class on acting is a cheaper alternative, but I know I won’t learn as much, and I’m in the dark of it’s quality as well. That said, I wanted to see if I could get any additional thoughts here.
He had almost no credits before GTA V but then became a pretty successful character actor after it was released. Is he the first one to do this?
Hello I am a 15 year old actor based out in central Illinois. I’ve been able to get my headshot but not my demo reel. So I’ve been looking on Backstage and I can’t find any. Please give any advice you can. Thank you.
Any Colorado Actors on this sub? I’m newish to the Denver area and I’m looking for acting classes, I’m hearing different things though. What are some of the best in person classes here? Coming from Atlanta they just don’t seem the same so I’m wondering if I’m better off doing online. I really want to network with other actors here though. Any help is much is appreciated.
I can’t give too many details but I need to tell someone about this. I just don’t know what to do with all of the overwhelming happiness and fulfillment that I’m feeling right now so I thought I’d write about it. Last weekend I went to an anime convention. At this convention an industry guest, who I can’t name obviously, held a mock audition panel. Just pick a character and read for everyone and then get some critique. I went up and did my thing and he said that he really liked my voice. After the panel, I went over his booth and we had a conversation about voice over. ‘How long have you been doing this, what’s your set up like, have you gotten any work, etc’. After a little while, I asked if he wouldn’t mind listening to my demo reel since he didn’t have a line. He listened and gave me more critique. Afterward, he said that he was casting a visual novel and asked if he could send me an audition. When I tell you. I. Was. STUNNED. He sent me the audition yesterday and I recorded and sent it in tonight. I don’t know if I’ll get it. Considering how competitive this industry is and my little knowledge as an audio engineer I probably won’t but that’s not the point. I got my first professional audition from a pro voice actor who saw potential in me. He didn’t need to do that. He didn’t owe me anything. He didn’t even need to listen to my demo reel but he saw a kid who wanted to do this and helped them. If I ever manage to go pro, that’s exactly who I want to be to young actors. Thanks for reading. I’m just so happy.
I saw on a different thread that many agents have agent only profiles and that when some actors let their personal profiles expire because they already had excellent pics and reels set up, it was still fine because their agents just submitted them through their agent profile. Is that possible only with Casting Networks or does that also hold true for Actors Access and Casting Frontier?
**Friday, April 07 - Thursday, April 13** ###Interesting | score | comments | title & link | |--|--|--| | 114 | [7 comments](/r/VoiceActing/comments/12jntjm/threevoice_acting_legends_talk_about_the/) | `[interesting Link
Hey everyone! I LOVE Sailor Venus! She has been my favorite straight from the beginning! And I am SOO sad that Codename: Sailor V, never got an anime. So I am starting work, on a comic dub, and I need voice actors! And all kind of crap! If you are interested, let me know! Or share the link around! https://discord.gg/TCScwujk
I recently discovered some information about actor representation and management in the United States and Canada. Established actors in the United States typically have both an agent, who secures auditions for them and charges a 10% commission, and a manager, who is in charge of managing their overall career who charge 10-15% commission. However, I've heard that in Canada, actors do not typically have managers as part of their professional development. Can anyone confirm the veracity of this statement, and if so, explain the differences in the acting industries in these two countries? If Canadian actors have managers, what commission rates do they charge? Any information or personal experiences are greatly appreciated.
For example think of films directed by Luca Guadagnino, Wes Anderson, Robert Eggers, Christopher Nolan, Greta Gerwig... Does it have to be done through an agent? Or is there a way for the actor to get an audition by themselves?
How do you guys manage your personal life what with traveling/being away from people for extended periods of time?
Hello! First time poster here. I just recently went down to visit Atlanta to check out the city and the acting scene. I really can see myself there, but I wanted to see what other thought about this. Are there projects/auditions in Atlanta for queer/gay/non-binary actors? I would be moving down to expand my opportunities, but would the Atlanta market be able to offer that for me? I know that New York and LA generally have more LGBT centered projects, but the cost of living and competition is too much for me to consider right now. I'm currently in the Cincinnati market and don't see myself being able to gain much traction here. Let me know your thoughts or if there are any other markets that I should be considering. Thanks!
It was recently announced that Glenn Powell will lead the new Twister film. I know a few people who auditioned for the role and spent a lot of time and money on their self-tapes. I know how Hollywood works and there is no way this casting wasn't already planned for a while with how studios package clients and I doubt casting even watched the auditions for this role. They completely wasted the time of these actors and gave them false hope. I know a few other roles like this and it convinces me that a lot of these castings are fake. There is no way casting can watch all these tapes or do. I know they don't because I've had friends work for offices... I'm just so disillusioned by the business and how it really works.
Hey everyone, I used to work at a call center job where just about everyone would come up to me and tell me I should be a voice actor. I didn't really think much of it - just sort of took the compliment and moved on - but now that I'm in college and dirt poor, I feel like I should at least try to put my talent to good use. As mentioned before, my call center job involved me working for hours on end with thousands of customers in tough financial situations with nothing but my voice over the phone to help show them the way forward. Routinely, I was one of the best at the company I worked for, thanks in no small part to my voice. How can I make the most of this talent I have? I have a good computer, a quiet room in my apartment all to myself, and I know I'll obviously have to purchase a solid microphone. Beyond that, I don't exactly know where to go. I don't have lots of experience with audio editing, which I feel might be my Achilles heel here. What software is good for beginners? What exactly goes into editing something like an audiobook? Would you recommend I start doing auidobooks for free? What is the going rate for beginners who do start charging? I definitely have other questions but I can't exactly think of all of them as I type this. Is this something I can really do part-time? I'm in college and am on an airline pilot career path that has nothing to do with voice acting (well except maybe for telling passengers to look out their window at the Grand Canyon), but that does currently take up a good chunk of my time. Thanks for all your help!
If you work on a project that’s “SAG American Film Institute Short-Form Film Agreement” does that make the actor SAG Eligible after?
Hello! Im a new(ish) voice actress and have just finished renovating my studio, new equipment will be here in about a week or two, depends on when I place the order. Im very worried about my voice being sampled and used in AI. How do I deter people from stealing my voice for their AI’s? Can I put something at the end of my demo or on my website? What legal ways can I protect my voice and my work? Thank you!
I noticed a lot of open calls that don't have sides and just require the actor to speak about their past experiences, sometimes going as far as asking the actor to recount trauma. I fail to see how asking these questions helps casting offices choose their actor? I get that they want non-actors to feel they can approach the open call, but it promotes a misguided idea of what acting is......
3 years ago at the beginning of the pandemic I was freaking out like most of us about how I was going to live and came on here to get some advice and ask about coaching. The only thing I knew at the time was what I learned in my 11 years of struggling to be an actor, so that’s what taught. Everything I’d learned. I did it every week for almost 2 months for free with a number of actors from here and had no idea it would eventually lead to me starting a business, [The Working Actor](https://www.theworkingactor.xyz). So just wanted to say thanks [r/acting](https://www.reddit.com/r/acting/) and all the actors I've been coaching over the last few years that played a huge part in coming up with this. It took far longer than I thought to release it (in part because these past few years have been pretty amazing acting wise) but I'm launching the site today! Feel free to check it out and Let me know if you have any questions and if anyone is interested in coaching and you came from this post DM me for a discounted price on privates. Thanks again and good luck on your acting journey! Hans Also feel free to ask me anything below! I'll do my best to answer any questions you might have! here's the site! =) [www.theworkingactor.xyz](https://www.theworkingactor.xyz/) ​ https://preview.redd.it/2ipsi480pxta1.png?width=1280&format=png&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=45dc65f1d8026d033adcf87c5e74426d6e950cb3
Hi all (new Reddit-er here) Let me start this post by saying that I am incredibly hesitant to share this existential crisis with a community of strangers who do not know me personally, but I am too scared to talk in-depth about this with anyone I know, so here I am! Ever since I was a child, I had dreams of being an actress. I thought acting was the coolest thing in the world, and the most fun. I was CONVINCED that was my life goal. I loved playing make believe, building worlds with my imagination, etc. I continued this dream through middle school and acted in plays, wrote video skits with my friends, and began writing songs, stories, poems... anything where I could storytell. Improv was especially my favorite thing to do in middle school drama class. A shift in my personality happened when I went to high school... anxiety became dehabiliting for me. I was anxious as a child, but hitting puberty really set something off within me. I also switched from private school to public school, and became way more quiet and reserved; in middle school, my school was small and I was openly a jokester and performer. My anxiety and the massive size of my high school made me more fearful to behave in such a way. As high school went on, I still kept my dream of being an actress, but kept it a secret; I was on a sports team, and hung out with athletes only. I had taken theater by freshmen year, but the theater kids were not very accepting of me for whatever reason, and I gravitated more towards my friends on my sports team. However, being around the sports kids 24/7, I was afraid to make any mention of acting desires. I was afraid to mention it to anybody because I was the only one, as far as I knew, who found acting/theater/film interesting. Looking back, I regret not being myself around my friends, but being an immature teenager, I felt more at peace "fitting in" than expressing myself. However, I secretly still wrote many stories and song wrote consistently. My battle with anxiety really got bad my senior year. My life pretty much revolved around doing the safe thing and being as comfortable as I could. I started therapy but I didn't really have any success managing the debilitating physical symptoms of anxiety. My dream was to go to New York and attend NYU while also taking improv classes at comedy clubs in New York. However... I didn't get any scholarships to New York, so I couldn't afford to do any of that without an incredible amount of student loans, and also, the idea of moving to New York without anyone I knew made my anxiety even worse. This led to me deciding to attend college in my hometown, playing for the soccer team there to pay for my school. I fell into the same self-conforming patterns in college, probably even more extreme than I did in high school. My anxiety got worse as well, to the point where I was missing school and physically ill most of the time. The entire time, I wished I had gone to New York and could be an actress. But my anxiety was so bad, I told myself that I wasn't "built for it". In my mind, there was no way I could do all the things I would need to do in order to live my dreams, because I was too anxious of a person and unable to get it under control. This was devastating, but I blocked out that feeling by telling myself I would do what most every girl from my hometown did: become a wife and a mom (no shade, that was just my thought process at the time). I was also around a lot of religious people and that was what everyone around me was doing, that it felt like it was what I SHOULD do. So, I graduated college. Got a full-time job. Did the normal thing. The entire time having so much resentment, guilt, and self-hatred towards myself because I had this huge dream, always, and wasn't good enough for it. I continued to write stories, even writing two books (still unpublished), and had this little voice in my head that I could still be an actress, but I fought that idea. Fast forward to age 24. The pandemic hits and I get laid off. I get out of a relationship around the same time. With truly nothing to lose, and nothing to look forward too, I had a wake-up call moment. I decided to take improv classes online through a very reputable improv institution in New York... and I thrived. I met so many people like me. For the first time in my life, I wasn't embarrassed to talk to people about my dreams, and my interests... talking about film, poetry, writing, comedy and more with a group of like-minded people truly saved me at times. This was the happiest period of my life thus far. I truly felt like my dream of being an actress was possible. I decided that I wanted to do the thing...but, I had no money. I had no one who needed a roommate in New York or Los Angeles. I was in student debt and credit card debt from being unemployed with no income. I didn't know what to do. So, I took the first job I could get where I was, because I needed money in order to survive. It's been two years, and I'm still stuck in the same place. I couldn't afford to keep taking improv classes and travel to see my improv friends. I am stuck working the same 9-5 job and hating it. I've gotten so depressed and told myself that my dreams are clearly not meant to be. I make "OK" money, enough to be comfortable, but I still have debt. The idea of moving to LA with no savings makes me incredibly anxious and feels like I would be setting myself up for failure. The few people I've told my dream to have told me that "everyone has big dreams as a kid but they aren't realistic" or "maybe it's time for a new dream" and I'm convincing myself it's true. But the idea of grieving that dream... accepting that I will never be an actress... makes me feel so sad that I can't begin to describe. It truly is devastating. I think about it constantly, and fear resenting myself forever if I don't at least try... and also fear feeling like a failure if I do try, and it doesn't happen. This is where I'm confused. Do I need to accept that I'm just a phony? If I was really meant to be an actress, wouldn't I have dropped everything, moved to NYC or LA with no money, and made it happen? The fact that I have chosen to be comfortable instead of risk it all tells me that I don't have what it takes, right? Maybe I'm not meant for it. Also... I'm 26. Seems pretty late to start a new career in the entertainment industry. I feel like I have two choices: either decide that my dream is unrealistic, not meant for me, and find a way to accept being where I am now and a different dream, OR I need to f\*cking make the move to LA and NYC and go for it, because if I don't, I will live with resentment my whole life. So Reddit, I want to know... what do I do?
First, Im not an actor..my day job is director/cinematographer. But i thought id check out this room to bring this up.. I just discovered the fake reality show "jury duty" and i find the acting incredible.. im sure some parts are scripted, especially the scenes where the non actor dude isnt in the scene.. but i dunno... it feels real and the characters they came up with are funny. I love james marsdens character he plays (which is suppose to be himself, but its clearly a character that he probably developed off some other actors he knows) Anyways, Just wanted to write a blog because the blue dream just kicked in hard Z
Hi everyone! I’m an aspiring actor and this sub has really been helping me navigate so if anyone has any advice I’d love to hear it. I’m a young female (based in nyc, over 18 with a 15-25 age range.) I’ve been acting theatrically since I was maybe 5 but only started seriously pursuing screen acting in 2021. Considering that I started after covid started, I know the industry has been a bit different pre and post covid, but I wanted to share my progress and see if anyone has any ideas how I can perhaps further my progress. In my two years, I have been auditioning for many roles via actors access/casting networks (and even gotten callbacks for a couple cool things), have taken quite a few acting classes, and have submitted to agents. Until this past November, I had not gotten a speaking role in anything, but since November I’ve had 6 leads and 1 supporting in student films (yay!!!). Now that I am starting to have enough to build a reel and my craft is definitely improving, I’m wondering what else I can do at this point that I have control in and would possibly progress me into non-student film roles, and what would make me seem like a considerable client to an agent/manager. Managers and agents have shown interest in me, but when we spoke I hadn’t had a single speaking role so I didn’t really have enough experience at that point. Any ideas? (Sidenote: I’m a british citizen as well so I’m able to work in the uk)
I've been in Atlanta for over ten years now, and I'm from Georgia originally. I've been in three SAG productions as a principal and was an extra in a SAG industrial for which production provided a Taft Hartley. I checked the website recently and I'm now eligible to join SAG-AFTRA. Georgia is a "Right to Work" state and you can do as many SAG projects as you want without having to join, since workers here can't be compelled to join a Union. But at this point I can't think of any reason why I *shouldn't* join. I've always had career ambitions for acting, having majored in it in college. I'm in my mid-30s now and I'd like to go ahead and start working on and putting money toward benefits and a pension plan for retirement. I understand that in order to access those benefits you have to log so many hours in a year on set. I joined a new agency last year and the overwhelming majority of the auditions I've received have been for SAG productions. So far I've only booked one, but it was a recurring so I got a good amount of hours. We're often told in the Southeast to put off Union membership as long as possible in order to be able to audition for non-Union commercials. In the ten years I've been here I've booked four, none of them paid much (the biggest one was $2000, but it's been as low as $500), and there are no residuals. It hardly seems worth it, and I can't imagine my agency is thrilled with one time payments of $50-$200 checks. I don't think I'd be cutting out much if I stopped doing them altogether. I already stopped doing student films and there isn't much of an indie scene in Atlanta. Nor am I really interested in non-Union tv, which is usually low paid true crime shows. Been there, done that. On the other hand, commercials have made up the lion's share of my auditions this spring since theatrical stuff has been down, due to the impending writers strike. But film and tv are starting to cast again, and I can only assume my numbers will be back up in the fall once negotiations are done. Which has me again leaning more towards joining. Is there something I'm missing? It'd be fewer opportunities, technically, but it'd also be BETTER opportunities. I currently average 1-3 auditions a week, but I've done that many in a month with my old agent, so it's something I could handle. Plus eventually I'd like to seek out representation in other markets, and I know already being a Union member can help in that endeavor. I'm a character actor and I'm beginning to find out my casting skews toward middle age, so my best years are ahead of me as I age into that. Joining SAG seems like the path beyond costars to eventually playing guest stars and series regulars in my 40s as I expand to other markets. If you've worked mainly in the Southeast and joined SAG-AFTRA, has it been worth it? Has it led to better opportunities? Have you worked enough to reap the benefits?
All of our fantastic performers that are coming out to our in-person meetup here in LA tonight, be sure to check out today's great blog by Stage 32's founder and CEO, Richard "RB" Botto, sharing great advice on networking for introverts! www.stage32.com/blog/advice-on-networking-for-introverts-3332
Use this thread to post your headshots for feedback, get info on your age range/type, find good headshot photographers, ask any questions you may have about headshots. If you are posting a DIY headshot for feedback, and not just a snapshot in order to get feedback on your age range/type/etc, it is advised that you do at least some basic research on what actor headshots look like--composition, framing, lighting. You will find a Google Image search for "actor headshots" to be very helpful for this. Non-professional shots are fine for age/typecasting; please keep in mind that one picture is a difficult way to go about this. Video of you moving and speaking would be ideal, but understandably more difficult to post. ​ For what it's worth, the branding workshop at SAG-AFTRA recommends a five-year age range. That's inclusive, so for example 19-23, 25-29, 34-38, etc.
Weeee, you found me!
I'm your buddy Bottie, I was hiding behind the scenes, but now that you've found me I'd be happy to tell you what I'm doing.
I just wrote a few fun facts about Web For Actors
Would you like to take a look?
Click here to check them out. I hope it will cause involuntary audible response.
