Acting

Great advice that'll save departments a lot of time and headaches, Matthew Cornwell! And great advice for actors on set in general! Thanks for sharing.

Thanks, Maurice Vaughan!

You're welcome, Matthew Cornwell.

Getting advice and insight from people who've done it is invaluable, Matthew Cornwell! These videos will save actors, writers, directors, etc. time, money, headaches, and so on because they're learning what to do and what not to do. Thanks for sharing and keep these coming!

Thanks for the comment, Maurice Vaughan! We have 2 more interviews coming. Next up: Costumes. Then a chat with a 1st A.D.

You're welcome, Matthew Cornwell. I'll keep an eye out for those videos. I'm subscribed to the channel and have the notifications turned on.

I love this Matthew Cornwell I have always wanted to know what the duties of 1st AD, 2nd AD, DP are. How they work with the Director. It's nice to know what is happening on set when you are just "waiting." It really does take a village to make a movie.

Suzanne Bronson thanks for watching (and commenting)!

It's not a simple lawsuit, though I fully support it. And although other types of job boards may have a paywall for premium services, we're one of the few industries where we are PERPETUALLY looking for a job. I think that's an important nuance.

One proposed solution is that Producers pay to keep services like AA and CN going, and keep it free for CDs AND for actors. Probably won't happen, though.

And regardless of the outcome, there's no need to make all breakdowns public-facing. If AA and the other sites suddenly went away, CDs would just be forced to collect the auditions "manually" from the agents. They wouldn't make breakdowns public-facing. They NEED the agents for the very reason you stated. It's a necessary step in the vetting process.

Ultimately, the problem is that these sites are milking actors sometimes for pennies, sometimes for lots of money. And it all adds up. Take AA specifically. The profile is free along with your first headshot, and if you have an agent and are only using the service that way (i.e. NOT self-submitting), then you can get by never paying them a cent.

UNTIL... you start hearing the marketing from AA itself (which unfortunately trickles down through agents, making them slightly culpable here). For example, AA will tell you "having media like a demo reel or clips attached to your profile will boost your auditions to the top of the results when submitting a self-tape." Then Gary Marsh created the useless SLATE SHOT, which again will "boost you to the top of the results". Problem is, video cost $22/min to upload, which presumably you'll be adding to and replacing clips every year, adding up to sometimes HUNDREDS of dollars per year.

And even though the 1st slate shot is FREE, there is fine print they like to obscure. Namely, once you switch out that primary headshot (also free) for a new one, the slate shot disappears. Now you have to pay to upload one.

And so Gary is scaring actors into paying him boatloads of money to boost their chances of being seen.

BUT, any CD will tell you it's hogwash. First, if they asked for your tape, they're going to watch it. Just because it might have been sorted to the bottom shouldn't mean anything. Second, the CDs can sort the submissions however they want. The default view will prioritize slate shots and clips/reels, but only utnil the CD changes the sorting to suit their needs. So now actors have paid money for these "advantages" that may be meaningless in most cases. Starts to feel sketchy at best.

What I love about your tips is that it also involves commitment to action which is absolutely needed even when an actor is working with an actual object and/or doing a physical action. It's the clarity and commitment to the movement that accentuates and can also create nuance giving dramatic or comedic weight to a moment.. So many examples of this on stage and screen.

Thank you for sharing this cool tip!

Susanne Palm are you still based in Taiwan? I've lived there for 10 years.

Hi Terrence! Yes, I live in Taiwan. Maybe we have friends in common? :)

Hi again Terrence! I just checked your Facebook and we have friends in common. Just connected with you here on Stage 32.

Hey mate, look up "headshot photographers" in your area. I'm confident you'll find one, several actually, since you're in NYC.

Checkout Michael Roud in Studio City. He takes amazing headshots.

Emily Lambert is pricey but, for my money, one of the best HS photographers working today.

Great advice, Tammy Hunt! Should a voice over demo reel be a video or audio file?

Great advice and idea to add a walk-through in the video, Aaron Marcus!

Thank you Maurice

You're welcome, Aaron Marcus.

Incredible share, Ashley Renee Smith! It's helpful for screenwriters to know how successful actors analyze a screenplay. I added this to my Screenwriting Videos list to go back and watch again. Thanks for sharing!

Yes that's what I've been taught to do. Write a backstory based on the information in the script . what are your objectives, how is it this cave to be the most important moments in your life? If there is a certain physicality to your character. I do everything from childhood to my favorite color to my relationships with the people in the script.

Does the process help you, Suzanne Bronson?

Yes Ashley Renee Smith I do.

it’s fair game for them to ask and to highlight their contributions IMO. Given their deal was with Artisan and they are now asking Lionsgate for retroactive participation may be tough legally. Will be interesting to see how Lionsgate reacts. Definitely going to follow this and see how it plays out. Thanks for sharing, Pat Alexander.

For big movies, would hope the studios aren't calling for more self tapes, as they actually have the resources to do a proper casting process. But for indies and smaller films, self tapes are actually a boon I've found. Casting is a huge process for any film, and in indies it can be costly in time and money, which you often have little of, to do full on intensive casting. Having self tapes as the first step can really streamline your process as an indie filmmaker and take a lot of logistics pressure off a smaller team with smaller goals in mind. If I were an A-list actor with nice credits having to tape myself though, I can see how that would feel annoying, unless I was going out for a role that plays completely against my type and I needed to show new chops.

A List actors don't need to audition that would be insulting. Haha

I've definitely been asked to do rereads with notes during in-person auditions. While I've had to do self tape auditions multiple times, I don't prefer them, as I've never been asked to retape with notes. It's just a cast or pass. It is convenient to not have to travel to a location to audition for a small role that pays very little. But the flip side is the big break roles are harder to get, as you can't leverage your charisma in real time; which is often a huge factor in getting cast.

Thanks, Darwin Reina!

Some fantastic points, Pat Alexander, as per.

Glenn Howerton's performance in BLACKBERRY was a standout for me.

I just recently watched All The Light We Cannot See on Netflix and I thought that Aria Mia Loberti's performance was incredible! She was truly captivating. In a cast with heavy-hitters like Hugh Laurie and Mark Ruffalo, she was the obvious standout.

You all have me in on PEARL and THE HOLDOVERS…gotta check those out.

“The Morning show” on Apple TV season one. Not a movie but such a strong performance. A scene with Jennifer Aniston talking with her daughter about getting divorced with the husband, the father of the daughter. Her performance in that scene was so real and liberating, and validating of what it is like for a parent getting divorced from a spouse with young adult children.

Can add Dev Patel in Monkey Man to this list. He goes all out with his performance

Great question, Amanda Toney!