A background actor is someone who performs in a nonspeaking role, usually in the background. Background actors (BG) help make movies, TV shows, and other productions look and feel more authentic. Doing BG can give you a unique opportunity to see behind the scenes on a variety of productions. In some cases, you’ll be able to observe the actor/director dynamic and how an actor deals with blocking/marks during a scene. Many actors make the decision to …
Listen up—today’s #mondaymythdebunker is an important one: The notion of “following rules” isn’t to be confused with following the directions that casting gives you for an audition or self tape: Please always, always, 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 READ everything and follow those directions to a tee. What we’re referring to is the “rules” of the industry. We’re not talking about SAG rules or employment rules or the law. We’re talking about INDUSTRY rules. …
What exactly does “Taft Hartley” mean and how do you jump on the coveted bandwagon? Grab some popcorn, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳… Once you book your first union job, the producer or CD will need to draft up Taft-Hartley report. You might have heard this referred to as “being Taft-Hartleyed.” There are few ways to become SAG-eligible without being “Taft-Hartleyed.” One way is to do background work and receive (3) union vouchers. The other …
Let’s call this one exactly what it is… A big. Fat. 𝗠𝗬𝗧𝗛. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, we want you to be human first and actor second. For many of you, acting comes 4th or 5th in your life. 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩’𝙨 𝙊𝙆. Acting does NOT need to be your #1 priority or focus in life in order to have a successful acting career 🤯 It IS possible …
Let’s start of by asking this: 𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕚𝕗 𝕨𝕖 𝕕𝕠𝕟’𝕥 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕨𝕖’𝕣𝕖 𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕗𝕠𝕣? That’s not to be confused with the notion that doing the work, having strong text analysis skills and using the information we give you to make smart choices is NOT the way to go. What we want you to take away is this: Don’t give us the take you think we want to see. 𝙂𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙪𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙨 …
A nudity rider, or “nudity clause”, is a contract between an actor and production that defines what will happen on set while filming nude, intimate, simulated sex, or simulated sexual assault scenes. It might also be called a nudity waiver, simulated sex act rider, simulated sex waiver, intimate scene rider, or proposed written consent. Any actor filming a nude, intimate, simulated sex, or simulated sexual assault scene, or appearing nude or simulating a sex act on set (even if …
When crafting your reel, what criteria comes to mind? Showing us the best of the best, most likely, and also making sure you’re showing enough range. But what exactly do we mean by “range?” A range of characters? Range of emotion? We sort of mean both. The range of 𝗬𝗢𝗨 and your ability as an actor. But what we don’t mean, is a digital pie chart of characters you could play. You …
It’s August! It’s a great time for actors to start focusing on getting their start in TV. Whereas pilot season can be a bit more competitive, episodic season is most likely when you’ll be going in for (and booking!) that first co-star role. traditionally means… 𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕪 𝕖𝕡𝕚𝕤𝕠𝕕𝕚𝕔 𝕤𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕠𝕟!!! Once pilots have received their pickups and series have received their rewnewal notices, writers go back to work. Typically, casting goes back to work a month or so after the …
ʜᴏᴡ ᴍᴜᴄʜ ᴅᴏ ʙʀᴇᴀᴋᴅᴏᴡɴꜱ ᴀᴄᴛᴜᴀʟʟʏ ᴍᴀᴛᴛᴇʀ? Before we release a breakdown, we always have a thorough, in-depth discussion with the creative team in order to narrow down certain traits as we go through a sea of thousands of submissions. We try to get as specific as possible in the discussion (even if we don’t end up listing all these details in the breakdown) Generally speaking, we try and put the most important requirements of the role in the …