Are Casting Director Workshops Useful for Actors?

Casting Director Workshops are considered good by some, bad by others. It is a personal decision you’ll have to make whether to attend or not. In any case, it is best not to spend a lot of money to attend one.

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What Does AB1660 Mean for Your Child Actor?

AB1660 for Your Child Actor – If you live in California and have a child actor (or if you are a teen actor), you have probably heard about AB1660. You may wonder exactly what AB1660 is and what it means for your child actor. AB1660 (Assembly Bill 1660) has been in the news and discussed …

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Do You Want (Your Child) to Become an Actor?

Do You Want to Become an Actor ? Have you every really thought about what it is like to become an actor? Whether you are an adult or a child or teen (or the parents of a child or teen), there are so many issues to think about as you contemplate whether this is something …

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If Your Child Wants to Be On Disney Channel, What Should You Do?

Your Child Wants to Be On Disney Channel – Having a child who wants to be on Disney Channel is not unusual — many children want to be on Disney Channel.  And the thought of your child being on Disney Channel is probably pleasurable to you. However, it is important to determine how serious your …

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Should Your Child Actor Take the CHSPE ?

Should Your Child Actor Take the CHSPE ? When a child actor becomes a teen, it is not uncommon to be excluded from auditions for characters who are meant to be exactly your age. These roles are often specified as “18TPY” (18 To Play Younger) or perhaps as “Legal 18.”  It is precisely at this …

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What Is the CHSPE (Showbiz Term of the Day)?

What Is the CHSPE ? Don’t you hate it when everyone uses acronyms, like CHSPE, and you don’t know what they mean?  I know I do. In this particular case, the term CHSPE is not uniquely a showbiz term (view showbiz terms in my “Showbiz Term of the Day” posts).   In fact, the CHSPE …

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How Do You Quickly Get a California Entertainment Work Permit?

California Entertainment Work Permit – Every minor working in the entertainment industry in California is required to have a California Entertainment Work Permit.  For those who need an entertainment work permit quickly, there is now (as of January 1, 2012) a faster, easier way to get a California Entertainment Work Permit. This new temporary entertainment …

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What Is a Headshot? (Showbiz Term of the Day)

What Is a Headshot? I’ve had several young actors email me recently to ask, “What Is a Headshot?” While I often talk about headshots on my blog and in the emails I send to my subscribers,  I don’t exactly answer the question, “What is a Headshot?” So today I picked “headshot” to be my “Showbiz …

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Are Casting Director Workshops Useful for Actors?What Does AB1660 Mean for Your Child Actor?Do You Want (Your Child) to Become an Actor?If Your Child Wants to Be On Disney Channel, What Should You Do?Should Your Child Actor Take the CHSPE ?What Is the CHSPE (Showbiz Term of the Day)?How Do You Quickly Get a California Entertainment Work Permit?What Is a Headshot? (Showbiz Term of the Day)

Nov 01

What Are Residuals as Related to SAG Acting Jobs? (Showbiz Term of the Day)

Categories:

SAG, Showbiz Term of the Day

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SAG Acting Jobs - Residuals

SAG Acting Jobs studiosushi™ via Flickr

SAG Acting Jobs — Residuals

When an actor has SAG Acting Jobs, the term residuals is an important topic to understand. When actors work on movies or television shows under SAG (or AFTRA/ACTRA) agreements, they may receive residuals for those SAG acting jobs (or AFTRA/ACTRA) for many years to come.

Residuals, as related to SAG Acting Jobs, is today’s Showbiz Term of the Day.

My daughter has been in SAG (See “What is SAG?” and “What Does SAG Stand for?” for more about what SAG is) for several years now.

My daughter gets residual checks periodically for SAG acting jobs that she had in the past, though many of them are quite small. After fees and taxes are taken out, sometimes they hardly seem worth a trip to the bank! But still it is nice to receive money for work that she did quite a while ago.

After an actor receives money per the signed contract for time worked on SAG Acting Jobs (or other union jobs) and initial releases of the productions, the actor may at a later date receive an undetermined amount in residuals. The details of residuals structures and payments are often a major source of confusion for even the most seasoned actors.

So, “What Are Residuals as Related to SAG Acting Jobs?”

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Sep 24

How Can You Become a Child Actor When You Have So Much Homework?

Categories:

Become a Child Actor, Education

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Become a Child Actor and Get Your Homework Done

Image by topgold via Flickr, Homework When You Become a Child Actor

If you want to become a child actor, you need to spend many hours working on your career. It is hard to have time to do what you need to do to become a child actor (i.e., acting classes, coaching, rehearsing, auditions) when you have to go to school and do homework each day.

When school is in session, particularly as you get older, homework often takes 2 to 3 hours or more each day. My daughter started back to school a few weeks ago. She has already had so much homework that she had to pass on several auditions.

Passing on auditions is never a good thing when you are pursuing an acting career, especially if your talent representatives set it up for you.

The auditions my daughter passed on were some I got for her from submitting on LA Casting and Actors Access, but I still hated for her to miss them. All auditions help in developing acting abilities and could result in jobs — meaning more experience, more for a resume, and (possibly) money.

But there are times in your life when you have to decide what is most important to you.  My daughter does not want to be homeschooled, and she wants good grades so she can get into a good university. So she chooses to miss a few auditions in order to have enough time to study and complete her homework.

She and I would both prefer that school was less demanding so she could go to all the auditions like she did when she was younger. When she was younger,  her homework typically took less than an hour each day. And it was not a big problem when she had to leave school early or even miss school for acting jobs.

She also had time to go to acting classes 2 or 3 times per week. There was one very positive effect all this acting had on her at school — it boosted her reading level to the 12th grade level when she was in 3rd grade (from reading all the acting sides and scripts). So being a child actor really can have some benefits!

For more on the topic of schoolwork and becoming a child actor, see “When You Become a Child Actor, How Do You Keep Up With Schoolwork?”

There are times when nearly every child actor becomes frustrated at trying to keep up with homework and schoolwork while going to auditions and all the other activities you typically participate in when you become a child actor.

So, “How Can You Become a Child Actor When You Have So Much Homework?”

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Aug 17

Should You Take Music or Dance Lessons If You Want to Become a Child Actor?

Categories:

Become a Child Actor, Music

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When You Become a Child Actor Should You Take Music Lessons?

Music Lessons for Child Actors? (S Lee/Flickr)

If you have a child who wants to become a child actor, chances are that the child is also interested in music and perhaps dance. It is common for child actors to be gifted in the arts, so many children who become child actors also sing, dance, and play instruments.

I know in my daughter’s case, she was singing before she could really even talk. She started creating small plays and musicals and loved performing for family and friends before she turned two.  I knew she was destined to be involved in the arts.

My daughter may not choose acting or music or dance for her career as an adult, but I am sure she will always find ways to be involved with the arts for the rest of her life in one way or another.

Neglecting Other Skills to Concentrate on Acting

For a while, my daughter primarily concentrated on acting. She took scene study (acting) classes twice each week and had numerous acting auditions. Before auditions she typically had to get coaching. She also took an improv and comedy class and performed as part of Giggle Gaggle each week.

There was not much time for other activities besides acting. And we did not have much extra money to pay for her to do other things.

So my daughter did not take any music or dance lessons or participate in sports for a couple of years. In fact, she did not even learn to ride a bike until she was 8.  I think she missed out on a lot of other things that she liked to do or should have been doing while we concentrated, perhaps a little too much, on her acting. (See “What Skills Are Helpful When You Become a Child Actor?” for additional discussion on this topic).

She really missed doing all these other things that she loved and enjoyed.  And if I had it to do over, I would have made sure she did not give up her music activities or dancing and sports. I think continuing with those things would have been good for her.

She has just started taking some music lessons recently, but at the age of 13 she is getting a pretty late start. In this day and time, when kids often learn sports and seriously study dance and music at a very early age, it can be a little hard to catch up with those who have been studying for years!

So, “Should You Take Music or Dance Lessons If You Want to Become a Child Actor?”

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Jul 25

What is an Open Call When Referring to Auditions (Showbiz Term of the Day)?

Categories:

Kids Modeling, Showbiz Term of the Day

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NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 22: Actors, singers and da...

Open Call, Getty Images via @daylife

When we talk about acting and modeling auditions, it is important to know what it means if the audition is an Open Call. Today’s Showbiz Term of the Day is “Open Call.”

My daughter went to Open Calls a couple of times for shows such as America’s Most Talented Kid before we moved to LA. Those were not experiences I really wanted to repeat!

We arrived early in the morning for one particular Open Call. We sat in the waiting room with hundreds of other people, trying to pass the hours. We did not know that other people would arrive long before the open call time to get in line, so there were many people in front of us.

After waiting for many hours, my daughter was finally told she would go in next to audition. She was very exited. She warmed up, practiced, and got psyched and ready to go in.  The assistant came back, and my daughter stood to go in.  But then the casting assistant informed us that casting was going to take a lunch break, and that she would be first after lunch.

My 5-year-old daughter, who had been waiting happily and patiently for 5 or 6 hours, then started to cry. She had been all excited that she was next, and being told she’d have to wait some more was upsetting to her. She was hungry and tired, and we were not sure we even had time to get her lunch before they called her in!

Her Dad rushed off to pick up some lunch (along with hundreds of others). When he finally got back with food and my daughter eagerly took her first bite, smearing ketchup all over her face and hands, the casting assistant showed up to take her back to audition!  I quickly tried to wipe her hands and face, and she finished chewing that bite as we walked back for her audition.

She was not really at the top of her game when we went back to audition. Of course, that was not surprising, given how things had just gone. But she was a trooper and did her best, and I was very proud of her even though she was not selected for the show.

If you are not in the LA Area or NY Area or other areas where theatrical auditions (see  Do You Know What Theatrical Acting Auditions Are?) and commercial auditions (see What Happens When Your Child Is Auditioning for a Kid Commercial) are common, an Open Call may seem like the only way you can be seen by entertainment industry professionals.

So, “What Is an Open Call When Referring to Auditions?”

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