Just curious, does anyone here have any experience on the audition process for big streaming services like Netflix for their lead roles? I know for network TVs it’s usually, pre read, audition, producers, then network and then studio test. I know in streaming they don’t make you “test” because it is not a pilot- so is it usually audition, callback, producers? or a chem read? I know each project is probably case by case, just very curious about the various levels we as actors need to clear, and if anyone has ever gotten that far, can share the info!
I'm a 21 y/o actor who looks like a 16 y/o who found my love for the art late in high school. I want to be as invested in this community as those around me, but it's been four years since I've been on stage acting. I've auditioned for everything locally that I possibly can, even across my state. I have a resume and years of experience, I've taken and passed with flying colors college-level acting and directing classes, I've been on the technical side of shows, and I've had professional training from multiple professors and vocal directors. What the actual crap am I doing wrong if I haven't gotten so much as a callback within four freaking years? I'm so incredibly tired of seeing the same copy/paste "Thanks for auditioning, unfortunately----" emails. I've auditioned for two separate college theatres, a well-known community theatre, and a more professional theatre in my city. Around 43 shows collectively throughout four years, and absolutely nothing but half-hearted, emailed apologies. I don't want to see comments saying I should suck it up and move on. I want to know what I'm doing wrong. Actual advice is appreciated. I just need to know what's wrong with me that I literally cannot see in myself for theatre companies to practically avoid considering me for literally anything. Please help, I'm in desperate need of direction and advice.
I posted a couple of years ago asking for advice for my son who aspires to be an actor. After much deliberation he decided to get a degree in theatre. We know college isn't necessary to become an actor, but it is the path he has chosen for various reasons. He has narrowed his choices down to 3, and I do not have much knowledge to help guide him in his decision. His final three schools he is debating between are UT Austin (BA Theatre Arts/emphasis in performer's process), Texas State (BFA Production and Performance), and University of Evansville (BFA Performance). As this point the financial aspect of each is pretty similar. He just want him to get the best experience and hone his acting skills. We don't know how to determine which school will be best suited to help him grow as an actor. Anyone have knowledge of these programs to provide an informed comparison?
I know as actors we're not supposed to be so high maintenance, but I'm just a little annoyed that on set hairstylists never seem to be able to get my hair right. On low-budget productions without hairstylists, I actually seem to look more presentable because I can style myself before coming. But hairstylists for film shoots always never really seem to understand my hair type, would spend a long time styling it and adding layers and layers of product until its stiff as rock and something of a mess, and then wonder why they can't style my hair nicely. It does affect my performance when I'm walking around set looking much different from how the crew saw me during auditions, and getting raised eyebrows. Not really inclined to add the footage into showreels too. Would I be too much of a diva to request to hairstylists to allow myself to do my own hair (under their supervision of course)?
I hope some of you can lend me some valuable and interesting suggestions. There’s a local casting call for a short film and they want actors to submit a short monologue. Plot: Drama that follows Isaac on his last day of living, when he unknowingly comes across the angel of death who gives him the kiss of death. Character (I’m auditioning for): Male, any ethnicity, 20-25 He is philosophical and intelligent beyond his years, and is always aware of his surroundings. Though always on alert, he can’t help but fall victim to his environment. — I was thinking of a Donnie Darko type character for a monologue. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated(: under 3 minutes please
Hi friends — I have a question regarding motivation of my character and a way that’s playful for my actor and the character’s inferiority. The story is about a student turning in their frat brothers to the school after several sexually assaults a girl at a campus party. The issue I’m fighting is that for me — this story is about the struggle to do the right thing, the social stigmas that will come and loss of relationships for speaking up — but right now I don’t feel like there’s tension enough, and so “doing the right thing, speaking up” feels boring. I don’t want to complicate the story, but are there any tricks or ideas to adding conflict to internal character driven decisions so my actor can really express and explore and playable action. I’d love to add a “ticking clock” but I don’t think the premise allows for one besides the “stress” of knowing the right thing to do and holding back. The only idea I thought of was that the character could have a sister that was also assaulted years prior and creating a personal connection to the issue and why they speak up and snitch on their frat friends.
I've been with my first agent for a few years now, and I've always been told they're a starter agency. They've gotten me work, but the truth is that my agent has way too many clients and has dropped the ball on several things. I've got a foot in the door, having done a few commercials and a supporting film role. I'm ready to move on. I've been applying for different agencies and really only gotten a couple responses. One of those has been a newer agency that's actually based in my market of Atlanta, but so far has mostly represented Broadway actors in New York. I had a Zoom meeting with the owner. She asked me questions about the CDs I have a relationship with and what type of shows I could see myself in. She seemed knowledgeable about the market, and we talked about all the top CDs. She said they're looking to beef up their Atlanta roster and that their focus is Theatrical. A few things kinda give me pause, though: 1. They're a SAG-AFTRA franchised agency, and she told me they don't usually accept non-Union talent. This is Atlanta. Georgia is a "right-to-work" state and primarily deals in commercials and costar roles. The vast majority of actors in this market aren't Union because commercials, the bulk of our work, are almost exclusively non-Union. We're often told, even if you're eligible, hold off until the last possible moment. I am SAG-E after getting a Taft-Hartley for working background on a SAG Industrial last year, and I do like the idea of belonging to a franchised agency and becoming SAG in the long term, but as a working actor in the Southeast with limited credits, I don't plan on joining anytime soon. 2. I looked up the agency on IMDb Pro, and I don't see any other local actors that I recognize, nor do the actors I do see have many recognizable theatrical credits. She said she had about 100 clients, but it appears they're mostly on Broadway. Only 29 showed up on IMDb. She seemed to know who local Casting Directors were when we talked (Atlanta and the Southeast really only have so many), and she said that the agency is actually based in Atlanta, but the focus has been in New York since she used to be a Broadway actor herself. 3. She said they encourage Managers, and if you have questions about your career that's really who you should be talking to. Again, working in the Southeast, this is mainly a commercial and costar market. Most actors that primarily work here wouldn't have managers. I've always heard it said you need something to manage before you hire a manager, and it makes a lot more sense to hold off until you're booking guest star and recurring roles. 4. She offered me a contract pretty much immediately. She said that she didn't have a lot of talent in my age range (I'm mid 30s, but play younger), and she said I have a lot of versatility and she could see me in a number of different worlds, which is flattering, but I also know I have my type. I'm a character actor with some everyman vibes. Even though I still look pretty young I'm a darkhorse candidate for a lot of middle aged roles (in case they decide to cast younger) or the office drone type or I do well in period pieces from the 50s - 80s. When all is said and done I have one theatrical credit from four years ago, a supporting part in a horror film with a B-list actress in the lead that made its way to Netflix. Everything else I've booked, or even had callbacks for, has been Commercials and short films by local independent filmmakers. So, I'm thinking that she doesn't really know the market and she's pretty much looking for any warm body to fill up her roster. I'm not sure that's what I want or where I need to be to take the next step in my career. My immediate goal is to book my first costar, which I could still do with my current agency until someone better and more established offers me something. However, perhaps my doubts are unfounded. What do you guys think?
I've been struggling with this for a few months now. I'm an unrepped actor in LA. I'm SAG-E. I'm booking non union commercials, with big brands. I've booked 4 these last 3 months. (all online, or pre-roll ads, no TV) . They've been paying my rent. I have great headshots, I'm getting 3-6 auditions a week. I'm doing improv at the big schools here in LA, commercial classes with the top commercial teachers, etc..... But for the absolute life of me, I can not get a commercial agent and I feel so defeated. I have friends who have never booked anything and are signing with massive commercial agencies, and I am SO happy for them, but I can't figure out why I can't even get a meeting with boutiques. I know this is kind of a vague post, but I don't want to give away my identity on reddit by plastering my materials for people to analyze, so I come with just a single question: Commercial headshots... should they be bright backgrounds and big smiles, or is that a thing of the past? I'm not having trouble getting called into commercial rooms, I'm having trouble getting an agent. Maybe they see my headshots and think they're not commercial enough, so they don't even bother? They're more theatrical, but still smiley. They are very "typed". Small town girl, office intern, trouble young adult, etc. Should I get new headshots with brightly colored backgrounds and fun clothing, specifically for commercials and ham it up? Has anyone ever had this problem before?
Hey my fellow actors, Just wanted to ask what are the top 5 essential films for aspiring actors to watch? I want some films with top tier acting performances. Thanks
Hey guys. It feels pretty cringe-worthy to accuse someone of being jealous, which is essentially what this post is, but I am starting to feel like that's just what the case happens to be. I have a pretty close group of friends that I graduated college with, and they all are accomplished, stand up men who all work in highly respectable fields - banking, law, software, etc. I on the other hand, am an actor, (of course) alongside a few other side hustles to keep my income consistent in-between jobs. Over the last two years or so, I've gained a considerable amount of attention in regards to my work, relative to when I was in college. As of recently I star on a popular HBO series that most of you have probably watch or have heard of. Like you can probably assume, we share plenty of mutual friends, as we attended the same university and graduated in the same class. I'm starting to feel like they see the attention I occasionally receive from our other peers as a reason to resent me or try and bring me down. For example, sometimes they tend to bring up my past mistakes out of nowhere. (For ex, randomly out of nowhere bringing up some of my less-than ideal habits, or how cheated on my ex while we were in our early 20's in college) The only explanation that I come up with is that they want to make me feel less-than for whatever reason. Being that we are mostly open about our finances, I know that I do earn a bit more altogether than my peers, but not by a significant number. We are all fairly high earners for our young age, so I've never assumed it has anything to do with money. I really hate to make this a point but, I also usually do tend to have the better luck with women on group outings and such. Anywho, I just want to make sure I'm not drawing up irrational, self-absorbed conclusions or that this is just a normal gag of typical male friend groups. I spent most of my time reading, working and studying so these are really the only friends I interact with on a regular basis. Has anyone else ever felt the same way in regards to having close friends who are not working in the film/entertainment/acting industry?
[https://www.facebook.com/groups/286465273616571](https://www.facebook.com/groups/286465273616571)
I am a sorta successful electrical engineering student and I love what I am doing. But evet since I heard the voice of gollum from lord of the rings, voice acting has become my passion. I think I am good at putting emotion into my voice and making variety of different sounds. The problem is, I have rhotacism which means I can't pronounce the R letter correctly. It is not so bad, I can say 40% of the words with R letter but the rest hard for me to say and doesn't sound right. I can get voice therapy to strenghten my vocal cords that may help with the rhotacism but I don't have enough time to do that due to my harsh engineering career. I am willing to burn all the bridges and get into voice acting if I can be sure that my rhotacism can be cured. Can I have a career even If I can't fix my disorder? TLDR: I can't say R properly, Can I have a career as a voice actor?
Some of my most recent bookings play the secrecy game TOO much. What I mean is that they don’t even send me call sheets. No sides until I get to my trailer. Just like how the grips or electricians need the call sheet to prep what and how they will plan their day, actors need the same thing! I had this happen for a _commercial_. Like dude, no ones gonna leak a dang commercial!! Cmon now… I can skirt by because my roles are small in the grand scheme of things but it’s so annoying to be treated like some kid who can’t handle responsibility. We’re hired for a job, so give us the tools to do the job. Another booking I got recently sent me the entire script even though I only have 1 line. I appreciated it. Anyone else feel this?
I submitted to a management agency in January because this manager ive been following on twitter for a while said in a post that he just signed an actress with no credits. Saying that credits don't really matter. I have been waiting to submit to this management but when I saw the post I was like, "Why not submit now?" I have some credits (not big credits). I sent in my materials and heard nothing back. I didn't really care because thats common until I saw that they did see my materials. Like damn, I can't even get a simple meeting? At this point I feel like I can't even be picky anymore because of my type. I think it feels worse because management is more personal. Like you don't see worth in me at all? Any advice would be appreciated. I would also like to add, please do not leave just encouraging words. I learned in therapy I don't take well to encouraging words without advice or tools.
I have experience (went to school and all that and booked gigs) and have a mid tier agent in the city. What studios do you go to? I haven’t been in an actual class in a while, but have been doing so privately. I’m currently choosing between ProActors Lab and LB Studio, but I need to know more about them. Any insight on these studios, or even recommendations?
Perennial actor problem, I've been with an agency (NYC) for about nine months and they've gotten me enough auditions to keep me on the hook, til about three months ago. I emailed to see if there was anything I could do on my end to make myself more marketable and they wrote back with my February submission report and said they'd try a different main headshot for me to see if that helped shake things up. They'd submitted me to 68 roles, tons of recognizable things I would have been *thrilled* to read for, mostly costar from what I could tell which is totally what I should be targeting right now anyway. Zero auditions came out of that. This is a really small agency so I have no idea if they're just not getting considered in their submissions, or whether there's something about me or my materials that isn't cutting it. My contract is up in May so I'm trying to decide if it's worth sticking it out with them longer or chasing someone else. I got them through a big mailing last year and no one else really gave me the time of day, so... I'm a white guy late 30s/early 40s, plenty of training and a full resume, just not with recognizable film/TV credits. It's all shorts & webseries & Off-Off theatre & self-produced stuff. Any thoughts? Stay or chase someone else? Or is there a way to even figure out why I'm not getting seen that I haven't considered?