Am I a fraud Hi so I had an audition back in January went real received a callback, callback went great as I’m being moved up in a small window of actors for a lead roll in a feature film. The problem I’m struggling with is 1. I’m nonunion, 2. My acting experience is only about a year and a half, and 3. I have no representation currently and my credits are slim. Am I overthinking this? Do I need to get an agent to get this role ASAP? What should I do any help?
I’m trying to put together a list of things that can be unexpected or shocking once you start working. If you don’t have experience but want to contribute a question you have about how something is done, that is also helpful!! I’m putting some examples below. Anything about the industry, audition process, or behind the scenes bits also appreciated! Any cool tricks or practical effects also welcome, no matter how small or silly. ... Film: -Shot lists. I never knew how out of order things were shot or how short some takes are. Did not know how different it would feel doing tiny bits and pieces out of order. -Salem the cat from Sabrina the Teenage Witch was a puppet with a remote control and was operated by 3 different people. -Studios, backlots, film ranches, or sound stages and thought if a scene took place in a house, the scene was shot in a house. -ADR (how much you may need to do and how challenging even though it’s your own face) -1st and 2nd units, body doubles. -How little the director works with the actors by comparison to theater directors. -Alternative materials for realistic looking props. -Anything green screen related. -I always assumed all animated stuff was completed first and voices were added and had to sync with the drawings. Oh and cels/different artists working in one image. -so much of Harry Potter was not CGI!! Theater: -I didn’t know about how loud cap guns could be til I used one on stage and had to do the whole scene with earplugs. -How quick quick changes really were. Also how you need to change in front of other cast members. -Lights and sounds are not programmed or pre-recorded and are done live. - You physically need to put colored filters over lights and they don’t just have every color option already up there. -responsibilities of an understudy. Industry: -Just learned about Fi-Core -What producers actually do -How movies/tv networks make money and how TV shows are funded. -what constitutes a Broadway production -how much crew any production has -much of the time casting directors just report best candidates to the director, who makes the finally casting call, rather than the casting director making final call. -also do you know how many actors have insane backstories??? -golden age Hollywood feuds crack me up. I know some are sad but sometimes pretty funny how petty people could be. Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra? So funny. -obsessed with scottpropandroll on Instagram and tiktok. Insider on YouTube has great stuff too. ❤️
I found this book while browsing on my kindle and it's amazing. It makes so more sense on an intuitive level than anything I've read or been taught up to this point. Has anyone else read it or found it helpful?
**NOTE: Link to download the app from the Google Play Store is in the comments!** If you're an actor you are probably familiar with the idea of *verbs and intentions*, in other words **how you are going to get what you want** from your scene partner(s). This app serves as a reference to help you make stronger choices for your verbs and should be used as a complement to your scene analysis. The app features 300+ verbs and all are categorized by their general intent (loving, manipulative, etc). There are books which serve the same general purpose (e.g. *Actions The Actors' Thesaurus*), but the best part about this app is that it's totally **free**! There is a small ad at the bottom but it is non-intrusive. Let me know what you all think, I welcome all feedback!
I recently have gotten into voice acting and one of the professors at my university knows a childrens book author who needed a voice actor for a commercial on one of his new childrens books he is releasing, and my professor told him about me, and he is interested in letting me audition for it, this is a HUGE thing for me, and I want to know what I should do so I don't screw this up. (Sorry about my poor grammar, english IS my first language, I'm just dumb lol)
I think I've seen it mentioned in the comments here before, but I just want to reemphasize that **Jenna Fischer's book "The Actor's Life: A Survival Guide"** is absolute must-read material. I'd venture to guess it answers 95% of the questions I see posted in this sub (though of course there are always additional insights you can gain from posting here). I'm listening to the audiobook now and it's super enlightening and encouraging. Being from St. Louis and not knowing anyone in LA, she took a similar path to what many in this sub would need to follow for success. That includes patience, hard work, fearlessness, and a little bit of luck. To top it off, I literally saw this clip posted on FB at the same time that I was listening to her chapter about auditioning (and she gives details about her audition for The Office too). Note the strong, decisive choices the actors are making. They know who their characters are already. It's fascinating to hear Jenna describe her approach to the audition and then see her put those choices into action. [https://youtu.be/sItKwZdGkTM](https://youtu.be/sItKwZdGkTM)
Tim Russ sat down and discussed Fallout 4 and other topics on the podcast Movie Reviews from an Alternate Earth. [https://alternatemovies.buzzsprout.com/1391980/8190218-tim-russ-interview](https://alternatemovies.buzzsprout.com/1391980/8190218-tim-russ-interview) Tim also talks about the experiences he's had doing voiceovers for World of Warcraft, The Last of Us 2, the Elder Scrolls, and others; and he, of course, talks about his long history as an actor on TV and Film.
Acting has actually been my childhood dream since I was a teenager. I'm 30 now and still have not started my career yet. I'm actually not deterred by that because there are people who started professionally acting in their 30s, 40s, shit even their 50s I heard. Anyway, due to lack of resources I could never seem to get my career off the ground. Also, around I wanna say 2009... ish... I became less interested in acting and more in filmmaking. I still love the art of TV and film production. It's fascinating to me to see movies being made and filmed on location. I did take one acting class when I was in community college taking classes. I was a backup dancer in two high school plays and I had one of my teachers keep recommending i audition for one of the plays at this theater playhouse thing a couple towns away from me. Never did... yet. My interest in acting resumed in like 2010-2015 or so as I decided I wasn't all that much interested in acting after all. Well guess what, now I'm interested again. I guess I've always been interested in acting! I suppose what I'm learning here is you don't choose the career, the career chooses you. I really am starting to feel that being an actor is my calling. Where I hope to go with my acting career is I would like to do stage plays and theater work. Oh, and note this important thing: I'M NOT LOOKING FOR FAME. I DON'T WANT TO BE A BIG-NAME CELEBRITY though I would love to have some film and TV credits under my belt. Soaps, primetime TV, indie films, short films, things like that. That's where I hope to take my acting career. I guess I kinda do know where to start -- get a professional headshot, visit LA or NYC where the business is, find a talent agent somehow, etc. that sorta thing. I guess I'm not actually asking a question here, but posting this just as an OMC (off my chest) type of post haha...
Hi, I am 17 and I live in india. I will be pursuing my further studies in the US and I have decided to do my major in theater. A lot of people told me to do else and keep a BACKUP but if I really love the craft, I don't see a reason as to why I should do anything else. The question that I have is that I find it difficult to envision a roadmap as to where I am right now and how to pursue a career in it. Being an international student, I won't be able to work my student visa also. How would I be able to connect those dots and be able to become an actor?
So I’ve been looking into getting into voice acting and I have a kinda good mic, I have a hyper x quad cast but I’m looking into getting into voice acting such as gigs and just practicing getting my voice better so any help would be nice!
I just got new headshots and the photographer sent them to me as both “Hi-Res edits” and “Web-Res edits”. Does it matter which ones I send to my agents/which ones to put on casting sites, print out, etc. ? Which ones do I use for what ? I already put the web res ones on actors access and i’m a bit worried. I’m confused about this.
We’ve all seen the videos. Terrible, over dramatic acting. Or under dramatic acting. It’s fun and painful in equal measures to watch a disaster in motion; but what are some of the things that *make* those disasters? What, in your opinion, identifies a bad performance? What makes you cringe in acting, and how would you correct the behaviour? What are some things you just hate in performances, or some acting tropes you’re tired of? What screams “I’m bad,” or maybe worse, “I’m garden variety?” (Because at least if an actor is bad, they can be comically bad.)
I originally attended a local theatre group when I was 14, I did a play with them in our towns theatre but when I was 15 the group got shut down and the only theatre in town was shut down. A year later I started attending a workshop for film and television in the city, it’s a successful workshop and it’s opened a lot of doors for actors, my teacher is also a casting director. I’ve been attending that for 4 years and I’ve learned so much, of course I have so much more to learn though. I’m paying £100 a term to attend but my only issue is I got regrouped into a new class of teenagers because of my age (I’m 22) I’m too young to join the official adult class because it’s 25 and up. I feel like a jerk saying this but no one in the class takes it seriously...whenever we get put into groups to learn our lines everyone just goes off topic and talks about school drama and nothing ever gets done. There was one instance where me and my partner had to completely improvise because she spent the entire time we were supposed to be practicing talking to the group next to us about some people at school, even though I had asked and asked if we could practice. I wanna improve and learn so bad but it’s not happening with the group I’m in and I feel like I’m wasting my money just to listen to a bunch of people talk about school drama. It’s been closed for the last year because of Covid but it’s set to open again in June or July. But during the time it’s closed I’ve been watching YouTube lessons and I truly feel that I’ve learned more this way since being put into the new group. I love my teachers so much and I’m so incredibly thankful for them and for what they have taught them, but I really do feel like I’m wasting time in this new group. And I don’t know what to do, because I feel like if I leave I’m throwing away opportunities since my teacher is a casting director who helps us get roles in TV series etc. I really don’t know what to do.
I usually ask my sister or my mom to be my reader when I do self-tapes. They're super gracious about it, but I'd love to start taping with my actor buddies, either via Zoom or at a local studio space, depending on everyone's comfort level. I usually buy my family a meal or something. When you ask friends to help you do a self-tape, what do you work out with them? Do you pay them (and if so, how much)? Do you buy them a coffee? Do you help them tape in exchange? Does your compensation vary if you do it via Zoom or in-person (provided it's safe)?
I am out of the social media loop y’all! I’m an actress in her early 40’s (I’m a WOC and I often play younger) and I hate social but I am so curious about something... A friend overheard another actress say “she doesn’t like me” and when my friend inquired why she said, “because I followed (me) on IG and (me) didn’t follow her back” - first I hardly check my social media at all and second...her name is not even her name it’s a bunch of mixed up numbers and letters and stuff... Can I ask you - is it really, truly this petty out there? Truly, is it? Is it this disgustingly, horrifyingly petty? If one actor follows you and you don’t follow them back - by accident or whatever - does it constitute the brewings of WW3? This actress might think I’m younger and know the “lingo” but sheesh... I know there will be some writing saying “petty ppl are everywhere and screw her” but this question isn’t about that - it’s more about what is expected on social / etiquette. I was asking my bf about it and he said ask the 20 year olds they that that social shit SERIOUSLY- I’ll have to keep it in mind for younger casting assistants and produces etc. So I’m asking ... do you really take it that seriously? Thank you. And long live the 80’s. When your real enemies dissed you to your face. :)
Raya and the Last Dragon is a major milestone for voice actors and arguably represents a potential shift in the industry. Read more about it at https://www.codystewartvo.com/blog/raya-and-the-last-dragon-is-a-voice-over-milestone
This post is very abstract and just interested in general ideas and isn’t meant to target/shame anyone for their choices. Okay, so, throughout film history, there has been a niche of artistic filmmaking that indulges in depicting very graphic/explicit/unsimulated sex acts on camera. Of course, choosing to perform a nude scene is each individual’s decision to make based on their personal boundaries... But what about those who choose to do these more extreme things? Are there any prevailing thoughts about them in the industry? Will they always be tainted as unmarketable or fringe performers? Does it make them seem unprofessional? Or, going to other extreme, are they just such dedicated professionals that maybe they deserve more respect and credit for doing what most people wouldn’t? Of course, the unions have their rules, and post-#MeToo producers and studios are treading lightly, but still, this type of filmmaking seems to be proliferating in the foreign and indie scenes. Now, I’m not an actor, just extremely curious about the industry, so I really want to know how much validity you all give to these performances. And as for its artistic merit... is there even a line to draw anymore? If so, what do you consider it to be? For example, I can understand an actor not wanting to perform/receive oral sex with their scene partner... but does fitting a prosthetic penis for the filming of an oral sex scene really make that big of a difference in the end, especially if willing actors could have been cast in the first place? In closing, I don’t really have any single question to repeat here... I just wanted to put the ideas out there and see what everyone has to say about them. Even if it’s just your personal thoughts and feelings on the matter as it pertains to your individual career. So... Let me hear it. Thanks.
Hello, I was looking to hire some voice actors for a small motion comic project and was wondering how the hiring process goes. I understand that auditions are done, but I was wondering if voice actors have a portfolio of sorts? I have experience hiring artists to draw comics and was wondering if it’s a similar process. Auditions seem a bit strange to me since the highest word count a character has is about 80. Which leads me to my next question, how does pricing work? Are actors paid by word or is it paid per minute/hour? I’m very sorry to be asking all of these questions, but I’m looking forward to moving forward with the project with some awesome voice actors.
Hi! I'm looking to cast someone for the part of one of the three main characters for a pilot presentation (5-7 minute animated short). Must be LA-Based or able to connect remotely with a high quality home setup (I want to be able to direct the recording session). The character is a young adult elven woman (20's/30's) with a high energy, super positive personality. She loves EVERYTHING! She is a sorceress, but also the Queen of the Kingdom! Must be comfortable with fantasy/ancient accents. Characters will speak like the show Rome on HBO. For the 5 minute short, the pay is $100 for a 1 hour recording session. However, this is not a for-profit video. This will be for internal circulation and pitching. If you are interested, please submit any demo reels you have. And, I will send you sides to audition for the character. Thank you so much!
Hi guys! Does social media follower count really matter or affect casting? I read some vlogs about it and want to confirm to your personal experience. I just believe that actors are not really that active to social media. Plus if yes, is it okay to post portraits of yourself or leave a little mystery to your personality? And also sadly, influencer's are getting handed jobs they didn't even audition for. Example: a tiktoker who got a lead role etc. Please share with me your thoughts! Thank y'all!
I know the answer is probably a big, fat LEAVE THEM ALONE, but if you’re a newish actor curious about the process, what’s ok? Is it ok to watch the process at a distance? Is it ok for a quick chat with someone on your street if they’re not busy? Can you ask them if they need extras? (Kidding.) They film a lot in my area and I’ve always avoided sets like the plague because as locals, we like to pretend we’re too cool for all that. But now that I’m an actor myself, I’m wondering if there’s any etiquette or room for paying attention to the sets and potentially meeting people. Especially if they’re filming right outside your house.
If this is the wrong community for this, please definitely let me know and I will delete and repost somewhere else if necessary. Some Background: I want to start this off by saying I'm 23 years old, and mentally in a very rough place at the moment, I've only got a semester and a half left until I get my AS degree in Film and Video Production, and I'm an incredibly visual individual who is in the process of getting a professional diagnosis done for ADHD (I've been putting it off out of doubt and self neglect- but been diagnosed with PTSD and anxiety for many years now). I currently live in Sacramento, CA, and I moved back here nearly 4 years ago after a trial and error attempt in LA (wrong major, wrong time), and I plan on moving back after I finish my AS degree to go to get my bachelor's in film and finally work in my field full time (if possible). Recently, I lost a best friend's support entirely when she began to talk down to me and I tried to set a boundary. She basically told me that I should never consider quitting my day job even if I feel like I get to a point where I can to focus on acting and filmmaking full time, and since she lives in her parent's home, doesn't go to school, doesn't have a car, and I really didn't care for the way she said it when she sent me paragraphs about how she's "worried about my mindset" because it seems "neglectful" and basically like it's too wishful of thinking, I essentially stopped responding to her. She has a tendency to bring drama with her and blame other people and mental illness for all of her problems, and I finally decided I didn't want to be petty based off someone not taking accountability and having an opinion so I reached out about 4 days later. It's been almost a week and she hasn't responded. So, I didn't reach out again. I've also had a very consistent negative relationship with my mother about anything art related since I "used" to be a professional actor, but I laid off it a bit to focus on school (I love being a visual artist in every way, and really only do voice acting and small projects consistently to keep my skills in check). Every time I talk to my mother about a new project I'm working on she says it's "good for me to have creative hobbies", or often talks about how I already "wasted my opportunity" when I came back from LA the last time (I went to AMDA LA with about 15 years of acting and professional industry experience, they wouldn't let me accelerate, and I decided I was spending a lot of money for repeat courses, and wanted to study something more technical so I could work in the industry in multiple ways). She's always kind of been negative towards me in general (long history of narcissistic tendencies and general verbal abuse), but never towards my art until this past year or so. Maybe I'm blowing things out of proportion, but I feel really lonely and unmotivated, and like the people I trusted most just simply think I can't do it. I just got my first IMDB credit this year, learned how to Animate this semester, and am on a new podcast that reached the top 50 in science fiction on Apple podcast, and none of it feels good enough? My fiance and one other friend seem to be my only support system, but they both work enough that I can't consistently untrain these negative thoughts that are being enforced by people who seem to have a lot more time to bring me down. I've had a very trial-and-error past, and it hurts to feel even more of a lack of trust in myself since my mental illness already makes it difficult. The overall question: How do you all motivate yourself when times get tough either environmentally or mentally? What are your comfort films, your routines, free classes or motivation techniques to help get you through when you feel you're at your most lonely? Are there any support groups I should reach out to as someone who is dealing with the things I am? I already don't have a lot of friends, and COVID basically made that worse. TLDR; I'm having a tough time and being put down by a lot of people I previously valued opinion from. I finally have my eye on hope around the corner and I keep getting put down the same if not worse. How do you stay motivated when you've lost the support of others or you just can't seem to convince yourself that you are enough?
im making this gta film which is quite important to me. i want a voice actor for the villain. i want to pick someone right because it's a big role and i wanna capture my vision right this time. this is also FREE work im not paying. this film is solely for entertainment and fun purposes and will be released on my channel on YouTube. if you are interested or want more details please check my Instagrams @abdullahvsthewrldd or @iron.boyfilms . thank you
If there are voice actors/actresses who have worked on popular media, during the recording of certain media, are there any forms or documents talking about leaking certain stuff about said project to the internet or other means of communication? If so, what are they? (if it's okay to talk about it) and how was it like to withhold said information until the release of said media?
Okay, so long story short: My agent recently just dropped me as she is quitting the industry and I've contacted every other agency in my country and either been ignored or told they aren't taking clients on. So I'm now an actor seeking representation. My friend has asked me to help with a self tape audition from a pilot and has sent me the sides (which have the casting directors name on it). I can easily access her professional email from her website and am wondering... Would it be completely unprofessional for an actor to send in a self tape when they aren't communicating through a representative? It's not a public casting, so only actors being put forward by their agents are seeing it. Or...would the casting director even care whatsoever, so long as the tape was on time and to an industry standard? I wouldn't mention my friend and simply submit a tape to them. Does it show gumption, enthusiasm and ambition; or... does it put me towards the blacklisted section? I feel like the obvious answer is DON'T DO IT, but when I really think about it; it's the beginning of the casting process and I'm not going to submit a half-assed or lazy attempt. I see it as seizing an opportunity. What are your thoughts? Go for it; or help my friend with the self tape and leave it alone? I'll also note that I would submit for the role my friend is reading opposite, so I'm not trying to screw my friend over here!
I am an aspiring voice actor, I just need some guidance on where to start with getting into the field. For context I live in a small town in upstate New York
Just wondering
bored
So I'm wanting to be a voice actor. I have a Blue Yeti X mic. And I think that might be good enough, but I'm not sure what I should use for my demos, as well as where I should upload that demo.
I want to apply for a job, but the age range has changed from when I saw it originally. I believe it started out around 15-19, but now it is solely at 18. Does this mean they only want actors who are 18 years old? That's what I'm assuming, but I'd like to make sure.
the worst part is, nobody seems to care! when I first starting getting self tapes a few years back, I wouldn't even fucking DO them, because I was so angry. Like, what? you can't even be bothered to rent an audition room? You can't even be bothered to READ opposite the actors you want to bring in? You expect the actor to do ALL of that themselves? Well here we are folks when the biggest of the biggest casting directors handling projects with the BIGGEST BUDGETS IN THE INDUSTRY now have this expectation, and it makes me want to projectile diarrhea and vomit at the same time in all of these people's smug faces. How hard is it to do a Zoom? We do them for callbacks. They have saved SO MUCH TIME & MONEY NOT HOLDING IN PERSON AUDITIONS! I don't think we even can fathom the amount of actors they are seeing with self tapes. The # is so high if we did know the true # I BET you less actors would be subjected themselves to this ridiculous ridiculous treatment. They can still save SO MUCH TIME & MONEY by holding Zoom auditions. By READING with the actor. They are spoiled rotten, they have TOO many choices with self tapes, you don't even fucking know if they are watching your tape. I'm going to start complaining to SAG-AFTRA about it. You would be wise to do the same, if you can't smell the writing on the wall that this is only going to get SO much worse, more global, and all the work you did to get to a point to even get these auditions is going to me MOOT because now, every Joe Shmoe outside NY and LA are now getting the SAME tapes. How do you like them apples? SAG-AFTRA should be regulating this situation. I am Anti-Self Tape to the day I fucking die. And anybody who gives even a half of a shit about actors or has any respect for the work we do or the insane logistics in our lives we have to navigate to do this, should fucking care. I know this sub is mainly newbies and bootlickers who won't care but this had to be said.
Hi! Thanks for letting me joint your group! I am a 20 year old actress from CT. I have been acting since I was 8 and haven’t had luck finding an agency. Most of them want me to move which I can’t do currently. I haven’t been in anything since covid hit and I’m so ready to jump back in! I have IMDb pro account and apply through that to castings. And also backstage! (Which I’ve had some luck with in the past) my question is if the nearly 300 dollar subscription is worth it?!
I have been acting for awhile now, but the biggest struggle I have faced is allowing myself to be vulnerable on stage or on camera. What methods do you use to get yourself out of your head and explore deeper emotions? What schools (Hagen, Stanislavsky, Meisner, etc,) have you found that helped you most? (I know different actors have different success with various methods) I feel if I am going to really progress, I need to develop this aspect.
Ok I have this thing where if I'm alone and acting in front of a camera I'm completely fine but when I'm with someone even just taking a video and have to act seriously I always laugh and smile its really annoying and I'm scared that i might not be able to be an actor when I'm of age because of it I'm scared ill go in and ill keep getting told off for laughing. I act by myself all the time around every 5 minutes ill start a scenario when I'm alone and I think acting Is a good job for me (except for memorising things I gotta work on that) but please someone tell me how I get over this.
what’s a solid number? Do agents who represent 50 actors each do well? I know some represent 100 and some represent 5- but how much does yours represent?
Hey! I am thinking about ways to democratise longform storytelling in a lofi way - and what I would like to experiment with is live streaming table reads of screenplays (Twitch). That way, people who cannot have their movie or TV show made because of prohibitive costs and gate keeping, can still have production of their screenplay that they can watch and share with friends. I'm looking for voice actors who want to help get this project off the ground. Currently it would be unpaid, but if the project magically generates any money, it would be split fairly. I'm looking for 2 time commitments, one rehearsal to work out kinks and then the livestream. I am also looking in particular for BIPOC performers, as one of the goals in this project is to tell more diverse stories that could have barriers to production.
I don’t make garbage. Here’s my work. www.noechavez.com If you live in Oregon, preferably Eugene, lets collaborate.
Is it a super difficult process? Obviously you have to be really talented to begin with but what exactly does it take to become a voice actor getting paid gigs?
Hey friends! I host a free voiceover workout group that is open to all levels of voice actors from super beginners to working professionals. The workouts are once a week, with spots available Monday - Thursday at 8:00 PM EDT, as well as Thursday at 7:30 PM PDT via zoom. What we do: Practice a variety of scripts including character, commercial, narration, etc. Give/receive feedback from fellow voice actors Improv Free and paid monthly Workshops and Webinars hosted by professional voice actors An active discord community with free voiceover resources, tips, feedback, casting calls, Friday Night improv groups, and equipment/editing advice. Again, with the exception of workshops hosted by professionals that we hire (and these are completely voluntary), everything is FREE. Sign up using the link below, and I will reach out via email with a confirmation of your workout date. There are a limited number of spots per day, so it will be on a first come first served basis. Anyone who does not get a spot can be put on the waiting list! https://forms.gle/9Yunv8hE9cCCVZoy6 Please do not hesitate to shoot me a message with any questions! THANKS!
I know it's like 5 dollars per image. Do you have them on all your images or just your favorite ones?
Hello my name is Nick Yates, and I've never been a fan on my real name. Would choosing a Stage name be a good idea? Has anyone done this or thought about this? Pros and cons? There are moments I don't mind my name and other times I think my name just doesn't feel like a good Actor name as lame as that sounds. Any input would be great. Thank you.
I'm considering moving to LA once the pandemic starts clearing up and doing background work full-time. I have no interest in regular acting, just in doing background work as a full-time regular job. I'm hoping someone who's more familiar with the market could help me get a realistic perspective on how much I could expect to work and/or make doing this. I know this is an industry where you're booking can vary wildly from one month to the next, but even a rough idea of what to expect is better than nothing. I don't know if it's realistic to expect to work 10+ days per month with an average daily pay of $250+ or if working 3 days per month with an average pay of $190 per day is optimistic. In case it matters, here are some details about me: I'm a white male in my mid 40's. I'll be a full union member (SAG-AFTRA) so I can't take any non-union roles. I drive a Blue 2021 Hyundai Sonata I can use for shoots. I don't have any special skills (instruments, skateboarding, etc). If you can give me ANY information that can help me set some realistic expectations for LA based background work I would greatly appreciate it.
I just got an email saying I had a cmail notification, which is always a little adrenaline rush. Go to check it out only to find that it's a notification that my agent has removed me from her roster. No phone call, no email, no heads up of any kind. I'm not very surprised that she's dropping me, I barely hear from her and she has in 3 years gotten me under 10 auditions (I've gotten more on my own). We haven't communicated in awhile. There's not much to say, there's a pandemic going on, not as much work as before unless you were already fairly active. It was clear that the relationship was probably not going anywhere. I can live with that, but you can't even take 2 minutes to send me an email? A text message even?????? I'm just SO sick of actors having to be so professional and on top of their shit but everyone else in the industry just does whatever the hell they want. If I as an actor tried to just drop my agent with no heads up I'd be lambasted. And this isn't a small agency, it's fairly big and reputable in NY. It's not like this really changes anything, I wasn't getting anything from her to start with, but it still sucks.
I've been practicing as a voiceover artist for several months and now looking into the social media and marketing side of things where I see so many other artists with professional headshots of themselves even though it's work that doesn't necessarily mean they will be on-camera. Vice versa I see a lot of artists with artistic renderings or cartoon versions of themselves and other times where it is just a logo. Now I've heard some say that it's better to not put your face out there as it can serve as a distraction to what should be front and center: your vocal performance. But with social media and engaging people later on, others say it is good to put a face with the name. What do you all think? Is a headshot necessary for a voice actor? Or would something like a logo or a mascot version of yourself better serve you? I guess it all depends on what kind of branding one might go for especially if you specialize in a specific field of voiceover work. In any case, I was just wondering and would love to hear everyone's take or experience with this.
After watching this movie, and realising John Nash was a real person, it makes me crazy to even imagine how hard would it be to create this character, and there's a long character journey for him, this might be one of the most complicated role to perform, Russell Crowe did a decent job. But, my curiosity still lies in wandering how would different actors have performed it, someone like Daniel Day Lewis, Dustin Hoffman, or any other great actor, if there would've been a way to watch this performed by someone else too.
Hello, I'm pretty new to the acting thing (don't even have headshots yet), so I haven't done any self-tapes. But an acting buddy of mine (who lives in the same house) keeps asking me to read for his self-tapes. And I know I'll eventually have to do self-tapes of my own, so I figured I'd ask. The friend has over the past 6 months asked me to read for his self-tapes, and I think I've helped him with around 9 auditions during that time. I'm honestly getting frustrated with it - just yesterday I spent like 2.5 hours helping him. He's been asking me this favor with promise of him helping me when I start doing self-tapes - it's just I haven't gotten there yet, so he hasn't had opportunities to help. He's also offered to help with setting up profiles and whatnot on all the big casting sites. At the same time, while I appreciate the offer (and no offense to him), I'm perfectly fine just doing everything on my own. To be honest, it kind of feels like he's trying to set things up for a one-sided friendship where eventually he gets more work out of me (he keeps casually floating ideas about us "practicing" or working together more, which I've already declined). That said, considering the above, and for my future self-tapes... is there general etiquette amongst actors when it comes to asking friends/family to read for self-tapes? Is it a "thing" for actors to ask all their other acting friends to read for their self-tapes? I mean, I've audited an online self-taping class, and a big portion of the students used recordings of themselves as the reader. So, it seems using recordings of myself really isn't a big deal. I understand a live reader is still preferable, but is it that important to really have to ask all your friends to be there for all your auditions? If I could use recordings of myself for all my auditions, I honestly would. Thank you for your input in advance.
I felt like I've been wanting to act for about a month and I've never taken classes. I've been really embarrassed to tell my mom this but I just did and took it like it was nothing. My uncle is in a couple of commercials and is a nice actor. She said we would ask him about classes. I have done alot of research about about acting and I've watched and took notes on how actors act in shows or movies. I feel so relieved now that I have told her. I am still very young and almost out of 7th grade and I want to get into acting soon.
Hey guys! So I signed with an agent back in January, which was super exciting. However, I'm kind of concerned about my materials. My headshots and resume are pretty good for my market, but my reel definitely leaves something to be desired. Although I've done some short films and student films, they either never sent footage to me or the footage wasn't really usable. I sent my agent a couple of self-taped scenes to use for submitting me to stuff right now, but I really want to create scenes that are filmed like a traditional film so casting directors can see what I'd look like in that setting. I was considering going with one of those companies that produce a reel for you, but after finding out the prices and watching some of the samples, I figured that my actor friends and I could probably make similar scenes for a fraction of the price. Anyways, that's kind of where my question comes in. For anyone who's done something like this and created scenes for their own reel, what tips do you have? We're just teenagers (I'm 17 and the rest of them vary from 14-16) and I literally have no clue about if we should hire a crew, how to edit, or anything. I'm really invested in the idea of creating my own scenes and I want to make something I'm proud of, but I have absolutely no clue where to start besides writing and location scouting. So yeah, if anyone has any tips please comment with them below. Thank you so much, and have a great rest of your day.
I’ve started an animated YouTube channel. I’ve done all the writing and character design and animation myself. I’ve started recording, which I wanted to do all on my own, but, I’m very much not happy with how the female characters’ voices sound. It always sounds like a male faking a female voice. I also seem to be much less able to add any depth to the acting when I’m trying to voice the female characters. I’m looking for a good, but cheap, app or program or both, that I can use to feminize my characters. I think if I didn’t have to focus so much on trying to sound more realistically feminine, I could do a better job with the acting. It took me a while to find voices for the male characters, but once I did, it flowed and sounded natural. All the females sound flat, forced, and sound like a guy pretending to be a girl. In a perfect world, I’d have a talented person do it for me, but, I have zero budget. I’ve blown all my available funds on hardware, mics, cameras, and software. I could afford to buy a piece of software but I couldn’t afford to pay voice actors, if that makes sense. As far as hardware, I have decent mics, a soundproof room, a PC with a dedicated card for audio and a rack unit for inputs, XLR and MIDI and such (I record a lot of music so I pretty much have a basic home studio already). I also have a new iPad Pro 12.9. I have a Blue Yeti that I can plug into that and record, but it’s not my goto setup. It’s more for travel. Works great for jamming with friends, but, having it opens the option to using an iOS app if there are any of those better at “voice changing”, although I expect a full PC program would likely work better. I’m looking for people who have experience with specific apps or programs that have worked well for them. I’ve not tried any PC programs yet, but, I tried a couple of free apps that review websites said were good, and they were not. They sounded cheesy and cheap and not at all what I was looking for. Pretty much just basic pitch shifting, which I could do without them. So if anyone has any experience with any that they were satisfied with, I’d love to hear your opinion. Thanks in advance.
I think it was my last post here that I was like “don’t give up! You can do it!” I’m on the other side of that again lol. I am not getting auditions. I’ve had 3 this year. And it makes me so sad and frustrated. I have credits (not a ton, but they’re there), I think my headshots are good, I have a demo reel, I have an agent (albeit at a smaller agency but we do have some big actors) who I know is working hard for me and submitting me. I’m always in class. I booked in the fall and was shortlisted shortly after that. I think I’m ok looking and sort of funny. I have a ton of skills to offer (thanks to starting acting later on life). So what the heck man? What can I do? I have a friend who has no acting credits and is very new to the industry who is signed with a huge agency who is reading for leads, roles for Netflix etc. Multiple times a week. And I’m so happy for her but I also want to implode. I can’t stop thinking about what’s wrong with me.
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.
