Constance Cooper: Actor and musician in New York City, New York.

HI Constance - I'll never forget the wonderful collaboration we did at Dixon Place last Dec. Still want to perform with you again to your music! Thanks so much.

While I am a writer, producer and director, I was & am an actor 1st. If you’re a “filmmaker”, stop reading this. It’s not meant for you. If you’re an actor, let’s wax lyrical about getting paid for your work. As an actor, you may have studied your craft and have amassed a sea of dept. You may have done theater; sacrificing your valuable time for months at a time to be a part of something that only a theater actor can fully appreciate. You may have acted in short films, feature films, teasers, trailers, pilots and webisodes. As an actor you may have put years in to working on your craft. Why do you keep acting for free? Please allow me to clarify a point. Short films, feature films, teasers, trailers, pilots and webisodes should pay you. At the very least, they should offer deferments, so that if & when the filmmakers make money, the actors will make money. The only projects that should not have to pay their actors are student films and film challenges. You probably keep acting for free because “filmmakers” aren’t paying. “Crafty, credit, drinks.” “You will be well fed.” “Professional set.” “Fun people to work with.” “Networking opportunities.” “Considered for future work.” None of that pays the bills! It’s preposterous for “filmmakers” to pretend that those are incentives to audition for them. It is disrespectful! They’re supposed to offer that on their shoots! Yes, I understand & appreciate the argument that actors have to first build up a resume. However, at what point should you get paid? For me, and on my projects, if an actor with no resume has the "look" and the ability to pull off the role, they should be paid! Often times, it’s not necessarily their resume that earns an actor their role. It’s their look and their abilities, but that's another post. Whether or not they are a good person with a great energy also factors in on the casting, but that’s another post. Fellow actors, let’s look at the power we posses. What if you stopped acting for free? What if all of your actor friends stopped acting for free? What if every actor stopped working for free? “Filmmakers” would have to start paying you. How would “filmmakers” get money to pay you? They’d have to secure funding for their projects. How would “filmmakers” secure funding? They’d have to approach investors or stage crowd-sourcing campaigns. They would have to write and/or find great screenplays that would attract investors and/or crowd-sourcing campaign donors. But really, that’s none of your concern. That’s the “filmmakers” job. Some might ask, "isn’t that what a producer does?" Well, isn’t that what a “filmmaker” is? Somewhere along the line, compensating a cast fell out of the job description of a “filmmaker”, and that is disgusting. It is unacceptable. It's disrespectful. “Filmmakers” figure all costs in to their budgets. They should add the cost of paying you. You are bringing your skill set and your abilities to do the job you’ve been hired to do, just like everybody else on a production set. This article isn’t meant for filmmakers. It is meant for actors. It is meant to get us thinking and talking about the powers that we posses. We can have a domino effect in getting paid. We deserve to be rightfully compensated. We are to be treated with respect. I hope you all are well! If this post resonates with you, please share it on social media. Respectfully, Marcelo Dietrich https://twitter.com/MarceloDietrich

http://www.actorsinfobooth.com/industry-news/hollywood/752-jenna-fischer...

Thank you, Mark Wellington. It's good to be in touch with you.

Hey Constance, I'm the CTO and lead developer at Stage 32. Please let me know if you have any questions or feedback about the site. I'd love to hear your comments! To get started with Stage 32 and understand all the features and resources the site has to offer, please check out the Getting Started section and our FAQ.

Hi Constance. I'm RB, Founder and CEO of Stage 32. As a screenwriter, producer, actor and filmmaker, I know first-hand the challenges all creatives face finding work, landing representation, launching projects, securing funding and simply making the connections that will make a difference in their careers. That's why I created Stage 32. Since our launch in September of 2011, the community has grown to 325,000+ members representing every country on the planet making Stage 32 the social network uniquely populated with the most creative people on Earth.

This is a network for you, built by you. Like most things in life, the more you participate, the greater the rewards. We ask all new members to pay it forward by inviting 5 fellow creatives to the network and by spreading the word of Stage 32 through other social media sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. The more creatives, the stronger the network. The stronger the network, the more opportunities.

Thanks for joining the movement and for being a part of this most talented and inspiring community. I very much look forward to your contributions.

Thanks, and have a creative day!

RB

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