Do you think working for a studio, agency, production company, etc. as a day job is a good idea or a bad idea for an actor? And if you do go after an industry job, is it beneficial to hide the fact that you’re an actor?
I smirked at this when (long overdue) reading Jenna Fischer's book "The Actor's Life" - some great insights for all levels in it but when she writes to get feedback from Cds from your reps...do your reps do that for you? ​
So I have a big audition tape due in a couple days and the sides that have been given to me are pretty lengthy. I’m worried I might not have time to memorize everything for the tape. Another actor friend recommended I use a teleprompter app to read off of and just line it up with the reader or whatever I’m using as my eye line. Has anyone else ever tried this? If so, what have been the results?
Hi everyone! If I can get some help/advice on my training I'd be extremely grateful. I went to school for Finance and then decided I wanted to be an actor so I already have an undergrad degree (and no more financial aid). I applied to NYU's summer acting program - specifically the 6 week Stonestreet acting class. The cost is $13k + room and board. My question is - if I do this summer intensive would it be better than only having done scene study classes/acting technique classes at studios like Stella Adler and Berg Studios. Is the $13k tuition worth it? Or should I just continue taking classes at studios like Stella Adler. Thank you!!
The standard for the production column on resumes for films tends to be: \- Production Company. Director But for a television series, I generally see it as: \- Network, Director Makes sense since with prime time network shows the network is the production company. Is the same standard holding for what people are seeing for things on cable TV and streaming services where someone else might be producing the content and the network is just the viewing platform? From what I am seeing.... Yes, still show the viewing platform...but I wanted to be sure I wasn't only seeing examples where the streaming platform/cable TV channel was also the production company. For a maybe better example: If Pizza Studios creates a series that is going to be viewable on Netflix, does the actor put "Pizza Studios" on their resume or do they put "Netflix"? People reading the resume will be more familiar with Netflix or Amazon Prime or whatever. But, that's not necessarily the ones behind the project.
I like watching shows and movies to learn about how many successful actors act. Do you guys have any recommendations?
Has anyone gotten an audition from them? I know people in LA did a few weeks ago, but I don't know anyone in NY who's heard back which is odd since some of them are great actors with good agents that I would've expected to make it past the screening round.
So I saw a YouTube channel that I follow asking for voice actors. I sent my audition in and he liked my voice and said they could do it for their next video and see how the audience responds. Then he asked for my price. I told him I could do $100 per video minimum as was willing to go lower if my first video was accepted well.(10 min video with lots of voice over, probably 1-2k words) He responded and told me that he usually pays $10 per video(for the current narrator) and that my price was way too high($10 was “his budget”). Keep in mind he gets 5k views regularly and has several videos with a couple million. Now I could try to compromise somewhere between his and my price, but I feel like anything less than $100 is a bit cheap. I mean I would be paid for multiple videos(1 every other day), but $10?! That’s like $30 a week! Am I wrong? And would It be worth it to try and negotiate for around $50 a video? (He might not even be willing to pay that though) Or would that be selling myself short? I’m a bit of a new voice actor, so I don’t know a ton about pricing this kind of stuff yet. Any help/advice appreciated.
I was watching Doubting Thomas and this actor named Mike Bash showed up in a scene where he has one line. I thought I recognized him from something iconic in the 90s , but his imdb doesn't show anything that old and he is way too young to have played an adult in the 90s. Here is a link to his actor website that shows a picture of him: https://mikebash.weebly.com/ The original actor I am thinking of played a character that was scruffy haired with crooked glasses and king of nerdy. I can picture him explaining something to the main character as if he we an authority on the topic (possibly drugs) within the group. I can see him speaking in a kind "hey man, yeah man" stoner kind of way. My first thoughts were Dazed and Confused or Encino Man, but it's neither of those.
Hey, so I’m a new actor who is moving to Vancouver soon. I have experience in child acting classes, high school theatre, etc. But I’ve never done any professional work. Does anyone have any advice as to how to make the leap to professional acting in Vancouver and also where to find work, and audition materials (monologues, etc.). Also I’m thinking of getting headshots done with Buck A Shot. Any reviews on them? Anything and everything would be helpful.
(17F) Hi, I'm an aspiring actress. This is my first time taking acting classes so I don't have a headshot, etc. I recently got an official offer to be a part of an agency. What should I do? I wanna work on my craft more before I do other things. Can I have some advice. Thank you, my fellow actors <3
Hi! This is kinda a strange problem to have, and I was really wanting to get opinions from other people, not too sure where to go, and figured if anywhere might have people with similar experience, it would be here. I'm a voice actress who has worked on a pretty wide variety of different kinds of project types, and none before these have really garnered any sort of following. I've been voice acting in short films for a Youtuber/animator whose work primarily appeals to preteens and younger teens. These films often end up on YouTube and Amazon Prime, and as far as the specific community of content creators he's in, I've learned he's one of the most popular. I've been doing these movies for a while now and I'm used to when a new movie comes out, usually getting a few kids interacting with me more on Twitter for a while. Recently however a few of the kids have found some of my contact information I have publicly available for clients, including my Discord. They'll reach out and message me every now and then and usually when one messages me, the rest will follow, as I assume they talk to each other about it. At first I didn't think too much about just chatting with them a little bit from time to time when they reach out, since sometimes it can really make their day, and I didn't think about it too differently than from interacting with them on other social media. However, I've been seeing more and more coming out about content creators having inappropriate interactions with their underage fans in different private messages, and it's had me thinking a lot more about how I interact with these kids. Of course I know that I would never behave in an overly personal or inappropriate way with these kids, but I worry if me responding to them shows them that they can reach out to other content creators and celebrities and sometimes get a response, and if those people might take advantage of them. I feel bad ignoring them, but I also do not want to encourage behavior that might lead to them being taken advantage of. At the same time, I can never have any idea how old any of my fans are and if their parents know they are messaging me and are okay with it. I feel a little silly for not even thinking about that before now, but realizing it's something I do need to think about. I'm honestly leaning on cutting off any interactions that are in a more private setting like them messaging me on Discord, but I'm not sure about the other interactions on Twitter. I like interacting with them, I know they get super excited when I respond to them, but I want to make sure I'm as responsible as I can be with my interactions with them. It's something I never really anticipated having to deal with. I'm nowhere near being famous or anything like that, and it's one of those things that there's just not that many people I know who I can ask for advice. Any opinions, thoughts, personal experience, or ideas are very appreciated!
I’ve been meaning to ask this for a long time as I have a small indie project with two other friends, two of us are phenomenal at voice acting and the other one is me. It mainly became a side issue though as I was more focussed on writing and animation, and even then the voices are passable. What really put this into a major issue though is the video game OMORI. I played through it once and I adored everything about it, but after contacting a friend about it, he said he never heard about it which was strange as I thought it would be right up his alley. He liked undertale and doki doki, and it’s a humorous rpg that certainly takes...turns. So I decided to use discord’s streaming feature to show him the game, for clarity he is one of the two fantastic voice actors mentioned above, but he doesn’t like reading, so on the first session I had him voice Aubrey, Basil, and a not very plot important NPC called happy. Two plot important roles, one gets princess peached and is missing for half the game, but that still leaves me with Mari, and if you’ve played omori then I hope you can see why my inability to voice girls makes me feel like I’m not doing the character justice, plus, when the “I don’t feel like reading” gets really bad, I have to do Aubrey too! I’m fine with doing all this, please don’t misunderstand, but if he feels flakey in faraway town (the place where Aubrey has d i a l o u g u e) there’s no way I could manage that. All I really can do is make my voice softer for Aubrey and slightly softer slightly deeper for Mari and these are characters with m o m e n t s. Please, I beg of you internet, if we get to sweetheart’s castle I will die of not-giving-my-favourite-character-a-good-voice-syndrome.
**Context**: I'm nonunion and I've been acting about 4 years, but can commit more to acting now that I've graduated college. All of my roles have been for film, with the exception of one pilot. I have 5 lead roles (one in a feature, one in a pilot), and 7 supporting roles. I just submitted today to a few local agencies in the Mid-Atlantic region, and I'm expecting to hopefully get into at least one of them. I'm based out of western Maryland, about a 4 hour drive from NYC. Closest airport is an hour away: flights to NYC would only save me about 30 mins. **Question**: I'm curious what your opinions would be on submitting to NYC agencies. Am I too far away? Lacking credits? I feel like if I make a deal with a NY agent to not submit me for things unless it's SAG work or above a certain rate, it might be okay to do the 4 hour drive for a callback or audition now and again? I keep going back and forth. Any feedback is appreciated, thanks in advance.
I would love to hear any podcasts about the art form, why people chose acting, what makes actors tick, etc, etc. Bonus points for people who gave up solid careers and stability to pursue what they love. Would also be open to similar stories about other art forms if you've got something particularly juicy in mind. Thanks all.
I ask this since I can’t afford to kick money around at the moment, fortunately I do have a DAW setup at home. Thanks!
Meaning this in a non-offensive way and asking out of genuine curiosity: Why do so many aspiring voice actors seem to think that mimicry of existing characters is the main goal? Or, like why do they aim to do that instead of trying their own thing? I am talking about the ones that are trying to do an exact duplicate of the original voice, not just use it for inspiration. Some examples I am thinking of are when they post here about something like "I can mimic the voice of the character of Mickey Mouse, does that mean I can be a voice actor?" Or "I want to be a voice actor but I can't mimic the voice of Skeletor, does that mean my career is doomed?" Like, I get wanting to practice and play with things. But, it often comes across like that is the end goal of the person asking rather than just a practice thing. I am an on-camera actor too and don't see quite the same thing in those circles with on-camera actors asking how they can do a scene exactly the same way their favorite actor did. At least not at the same volume level as I hear voice actors asking about how to mimic doing a character exactly the same way the original voice actor did. Are the people asking this really more interested in just doing fandubs rather than professional voice acting? Or are there articles or coaches out there saying that is a thing they need to be able to do? That's where I see a lot of strange on-camera acting beliefs come from. Or something else?
Hi guys! I'm wondering whether you can join a union (SAG-AFTRA) and then join an agency, or if agencies will take union actors? Do big brands like Netflix or Hulu work with non union actors? I'm a minor, I just thought I'd add that, since it prob affects things. Do I have to join a union in order to start acting in big productions? ​
Hi all, I just accepted a new job in LA (I need to be located in LA, but I will be remote and working from home, it's weird I know). My partner will also be working from home, and this works out as she has been in acting in the city we currently live in (D.C.), and will likely explore getting another agent and auditioning/taking classes when we get to LA. Which areas is it important to be near as an actor? I need to find a place within 1 month. My plan is to narrow down the neighborhoods, and then search zillow for apartments in the neighborhoods, and then request tours during a trip I take out to LA in 2 weeks and see the apartments/neighborhoods for myself. Our budget is $3.5k absolute max, and we'll likely try to stay closer or under 3k if possible. A 2 bedroom would be ideal to have a spare for an office. And other than that, I'm looking for somewhere my partner can walk the dog out alone without worrying about any trouble. We are in our 20s and would like to be able to explore new places and do fun things when we can. 1. If anyone has any neighborhood recommendations, 2. or general advice towards my approach in finding an apartment, please let me know. 3. Additionally, are people giving in-person apartment tours at the moment?