TAN Power Groups

With the title "TAN Power Groups," and the copper hues it implies, this post could be downright Zefrontastic; but it isn't. TAN Power Groups are not a meeting of hard-bodies on the beach, but an amassing of pasty actor's in the basement of a pub/improv-venue in Hollywood. One of the benefits of joining The Actor's Network is that you are placed in what they call a Power Group. Essentially, it's a support system not entirely unlike AA. Actor's come together to celebrate what they've achieved, make public commitments about what they want to do, and then ask for help with issues that are beyond their ability to cope on their own.

There were two things that I found really helpful about the power group that I attended last Tuesday. The first was a segment wherein each person was given 3 minutes to talk about what steps they've made to progress their acting career in the past 30 days, and what steps they plan to take in the following 30 days. The second was the moderator's insistence that all important goals be given specific deadlines - if you're too chicken to call the producer who asked to see the script you wrote, mark it as a date in your Calendar and tell a friend that you will call them once the deed is done.

After taking stock of all that I've accomplished since arriving - I'm proud. I've done a heck of a lot considering I arrived a little over a month ago. I'm now going to introduce a section that I intend to post regularly (mostly for myself):

Career Accomplishments (8/1/07 - 9/18/07)

• Shot two student films (one for a USC student).
• Enrolled in an ongoing acting class with Richard Seyd.
• Joined The Actor's Network.
• Attended a slew of Q&As and Topical discussions with industry professionals.
• Registered with LA Casting and have been submitting to 5+ projects/day.
  
• Went on one Commercial Audition for a Japanese Alcoholic Beverage with a reputable casting director.
• Attended a 3-Day Fitzmaurice workshop taught be the teacher of the work.
• Attended one casting director workshop (at no cost).
• Registered with Sage Marketing for Actors.
• Have been keeping a career blog & increasing my readership.
• Secured flexible employment.
• Shot a non-union music video in Berkeley, CA.
• Did a modeling photo shoot with a friend, and have some images for my portfolio.
• Updated resume to match industry formatting.
• Booked a gig at LA Film School working with a renowned international director.
• This led to many other auditions.
  

Career Goals (9/19/07 - 10/16/07)

• Create an audition log database to store audition dates, times, CDs, clothing, audition pieces, etc.
• See some local theater productions and get a sense of the companies.
• Audition for 4+ theater productions with a new monologue.
• Book 2 student films that are usable for my reel.
• Sign up for some continuation of the Fitzmaurice voice work.
• Book more photoshoots, and build up a modeling portfolio.
• Try to get in with USC film students.
• Volunteer for a casting director.
• Practice working in front of a camera.
• Record audition video for the 1-Hr Fantasy Girl feature film.
• Send follow-up letters to agents/producers that Sage has been submitting me to.
• Send thank you notes to all production staff that I have worked with.
• Practice cold-reading out loud.
• TAN's Mandatory Goals
• Drive around town in traffic and try to figure LA out.
• Visit: ABC Prospect, Paramount, Sunset Gower, CBS TV City (in Fairfax)

Negotiating a TV Contract

Kevin, the main dude at The Actors' Network is (in)famous for what he calls his "Kevinisms". This little beauty sums up just about everything you need to know about negotiating television contracts.

You better know when you dick's big enough to swing it. Otherwise keep it in your pants.

Which is to say, unless you have strength of position in a negotiation, you can't really negotiate anything. At my level in this field, I'm essentially expendable, so I have no room to negotiate.

And for my visual learners out there, here's something I whipped up in Photoshop for ya!

What A Manager Does

Peter Kluge came to speak at The Actors Network and I was really quite impressed. He's a former-actor/business-man turned talent manager. He really reminded me of Aaron Eckhart in so far as he was tan and charming. What struck me as being really unique about Peter is that he was completely devoid of smarm. The man was smarmless. When faced with the possibility of dropping and F-bomb, he instead literally spoke the word "blank".

The following are some excerpts from my notes.

On actor's taking themselves too seriously:

In the grand scheme of things, we're not that important. Sure we tell a story, and sometimes we get a message across, but in the end, we're entertainers. We're here to entertain people.

In response to SAG having way too many contracts. What's next? The...

after school Disney, blank me up the butt rate?

On most actors' fatal flaw: myopia

To separate yourself from the vast majority of actors, don't be so me oriented. Don't just walk into an audition room and forget to engage with others as human beings. Be nice to assistants and receptionists. They often do the submissions for you - or cast the deciding vote in a casting office.

What a manager does:

• A manager fights for their clients, they submit them on projects they are right for - they can be specific because they have fewer clients.
• Managers represent you across the board, which means they get a piece of the pie whether you shoot a commercial, film, series, or print ad.
• Your manager helps you to better market yourself. He/she won't intentionally give you negative feedback, it's not in their best interests. If they tell you that CDs say you read like an ice queen - don't take it as a criticism, use it as the starting point for your new ice queen marketing campaign.

An Agent's Perspective on Actors

I hate actors. I don't mean any disrespect. But you guys are fucking crazy.

Says an agent* to a room of 30 actors. To which we all laughed and continued to seek his advice - and it was around that time that I realized he was right.

But regardless of this gentleman's perspective on his clients, he was informative. I gleaned these tidbits from his presentation:

• Actors sell to agents, agents sell to casting directors, casting directors sell to producers, and producers sell to networks. There's rejection up and down the chain, don't think that your agent isn't fighting for you just 'cause you aren't getting bookings.
• Never turn down a role: there's a chance it will become recurring or the person you work for can help you down the line.
• His agency tries to keep 2 of each "type" on their roll books.
• Pilots used to make unknowns into knowns, but now that film actors are doing TV that isn't the case so much.
• Some agencies accept drop-offs of resumes, but don't expect to talk to anybody.
• Agents do read cover letters. Make them personal, recommendations are meaningful.
  

A Good Client...

• Stops into the agency once every 3 weeks just to say "Hey!" and check on headshot supplies, etc.
• Keeps headshots & resumes current.
• Stays loyal: there's a lot of poaching in the industry.
• Doesn't harass his/her agent daily.
• Has a relationship of some kind w/ their reps.
• Sleeps with as many celebrities as possible.
• Is proactive about their career.
• Never leaves town
• If you must: Leave between the end of Pilot Season and July 4th.
  

But the main thing I took away from this Q&A is that I don't have a reel and that's going to make finding an agent very difficult. Which means I need to start doing lots of student and indie films to get some footage together.

*Am I better off keeping names hidden? Or do I cite my sources? Keep in mind: I want to get work.

Polishing your little star

When I was an infant, my mom would bundle me up and drive me out to countless commercial auditions. Eventually I booked a commercial where got to play around in a giant pile of Kleenex. My sister also did a fair amount of work as a child actor in commercials (her big break was 1-episode in TV's "The Judge"). Based on this limited success, my parents wrote a book and marketed a workshop called "Polishing Your Little Star". At the end of the 2-hour workshop where they made it clear why you shouldn't put your kids in show business, they said "If anyone wants more than $50 from you, it's a scam." Then they proceeded to sell book after book for $35. This is the mid-80's people: $35 for a mimeographed and spiral bound book written by my parents.

Today I spent $50 dollars on a mimeographed, spiral bound, book on the industry written by someone that I don't think has kids. I did so willingly, and with full knowledge of what I was doing. In addition, I plunked down another $200 to join an organization called "The Actor's Network" - they host a lecture series that is populated with industry professionals. They promise to save me the 3 years of getting up to speed that it takes the average nuevo Angelino. I did all this despite an oogy feeling I got from the gentleman running the orientation: the man brought up race far too frequently - and I didn't appreciate the joke about an Arab friend of his being a terrorist. I'll probably be posting with some regularity about events at The Actors' Network because they do seem to offer a cadre of useful services.

Financial Update
Oh, and I have $850 in my checking account.
Rent is $825 and just this morning I got a $50 parking ticket (the same street sweepers that plagued me in Oakland).

It looks like I'm going to have to dip into savings before the month is through - but (and we'll see if I keep this promise) I won't dip into savings next month. No sirree.