Produce (Short) Movies

How to Become an Actor in the age of Electronic Submissions

This was a questions I recently received from an actress in LA:

QUESTION: I was wondering when you used to send out headshots to production companies and Casting directors what mainly did you mention in your cover letters?

MY ANSWER: I have heard casting directors say that if you just put a short post-it sticky on the picture and write something like

“Hi, I’m submitting for the roll of Veronica. Looking forward to hearing from you. Thanks, Leslie”

That should do it.

I don’t think they have time to read all of that stuff.

When I was casting my projects, I didn’t. I think electronic submission is the way to go now anyway. Cheaper and faster.

Let me know if this helps…

And just to elaborate on the topic of electronic submissions, if you are an actor in Los Angeles, LA Casting and Now Casting are the way to go.

I believe you need an agent to be on LA Casting, but actors can submit themselves on Now Casting.

I also like using the electronic submissions from a producer point of view because you can submit your project for free and with great ease, schedule actors for auditions without having to construct emails or call everyone, you can notify everyone of schedule changes all at once, and you can let the actors know they’ve been cast through these sites.

Additionally, many sites have performance reels (that’s what they’re calling demo reels now) of the actors

And the best feature is that I can make notes in specific actors’ profiles… So if I call someone in to audition and they do a great job but aren’t right for what I am casting right now, I will put a note in their profile letting me know that I should seriously consider them for something they are appropriate for and that they won’t have to audition next time.

Also, I’m the only one who can read the notes I put in their profile, which is good because sometimes I write things like “late for audition” or “didn’t read full script… only prepared scene” and this is important for me to note to myself because these are factors that effect my  casting decisions.

There third site that is used a lot is Actor’s Access, but I never use them.  I think their interface is pretty confusing, and on the acting side, they were spamming me for a while with roll (like 2-3 a day) notifications.  I know that that was a setting that I just needed to shut off, but sometimes I just want one notification every few days, not several per day.

If you have the notices going to your phone and you are really interested in submitting through Actor’s Access, these notices can be a good thing, though, because you have an advantage if you are one of the first people to submit to the project.  Your profile/reel will be looked at first, I believe.

I know that many people really like Actor’s Access, it allows the actor to self-submit without an agent, and it’s national, which means there are posts on there for many cities in the United States; not just Los Angeles, New York and Chicago.

However, keeping with the theme of this site, when asking how to become an actor, my overall advice would be to skip electronic submissions all together and put that time and energy into making your own projects and movies.  Easier, more fun and more fulfilling.  

Just my 2 cents.

Comments?

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SouthPark’s First show on southparkstudios.com (unaired until now!)

YAY! I always wondered about the pilot. Apparently it got terrible reviews with the focus groups but it is pretty much the same as the original episode that aired: Cartman Gets an Anal Probe.

Personally, I think this ep. is just as much fun as it was when I first saw it. They've definitely gotten more sophisticated with writing over at SouthPark Studio, but I kind of miss the days where they would just stop the relevant action and dialog for a farting moment.

Enjoy.

http://www.southparkstudios.com/episodes/pilot/

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FX Picking New Comedies

Hey, Just wanted to pass this on to you…

Article in Hollywood Reporter that FX channel just picked “The League” and “Louie” for their fall line up.  Both are comedies and they are looking for more.

Kind of gives those of us shooting comedic material for the online audience more incentive…

Check out the full article:

FX picks up two comedy series

New Comedy Movie by Vegas 1401

In the true spirit of this site, my friends at Vegas 1401 have created a cute short called “Swapping Husbands”.

www.vegas1401.com

Enjoy!

Tags: Las Vegas Acting, new comedy movies, Vegas 1401

Review: FOOD INC.

For those of us that read Eric Schlosser’s book Fast Food Nation when it came out a few years ago, most of the information presented in Food Inc. was not surprising.

Still, there is something very striking about the visuals provided in film that cannot be conveyed on the written page.

For this reason, I generally make it a point not to see animal cruelty movies. I’m well aware of the issues but if I see another cow that can’t stand up being kicked in the face I think I’m going to vomit.

For those that AREN’T aware of these issues, though, or those of us in America that don’t know how our food is over manufactured and over processed and why high fructose corn syrup and soy is in 90% of what we eat, then this is a good movie to watch. Very good and very important.

I’ve said this before with vehicle selection, clothing selection and food selection… we vote with how we spend money. And if we keep buying crappy food the government will keep subsidizing crappy food sources and production.

Expensive? Yes. And they admit that in the film.

Honestly, I used to go to farmer’s markets and co-ops to find food deals and now that it’s trendy, it seems to be super-expensive.

Here’s one thing they didn’t mention in the film… And I know about this because I’m always looking for clean ways to eat and healthy food sources:

Weston A. Price Foundation (http://www.westonaprice.org/) has been been teaching about nourishing food sources for years. Well, since the 30’s I believe, when Dr. Price, a dentist, started to notice tooth decay in Americans more frequently. He tied the increasing cases of decay and crooked teeth with the malnourishment that was caused by his patients consuming industrialized food (a new thing in the 1930’s).

Anyway, he sought to find foods that societies were eating that had not been touched by industrialization. Many of these societies had straight, healthy, decay-free teeth (though they never brushed), healthy bodies and longevity.

In this age, some of the foods suggested are quite expensive (salmon roe), some are illegal (stupidly) in most states in the U.S. (raw milk), but some are very reasonably priced (liver), or might take a bit of effort but once you get set up are reasonably priced (homemade kombucha, kefir sodas, fermenting veggies, etc).

But I sort of got on a different tangent. My point is Food Inc. is a good movie with important information, especially if you are unfamiliar with the methods of American food production.

My second point was less about the movie than that they should have added the point that many of the foods that are banned or considered unhealthy (or un-trendy) today (coconut oil, liver, sauerkraut, raw milk, etc) are actually quite good for you and you can find good deals on these products if you know where to look. Check out http://www.westonaprice.org/ for more info.

Tags: Food Inc., movie review, Weston A. Price

SNL Tickets! It’s that time of the year again!

Saturday Night Live lets you enter your name in a raffle every August for the upcoming season.

You used to have to send in a postcard (or perhaps several postcards… I never did it because I always imagined someone in their basement writing out thousands of postcards to win tickets.)

Now you just send an email. And they only take one per person.

So you only have this month to send your email in. If you win, thank you in advance for taking me!

FROM: http://www.nbc.com/Footer/Tickets/

Saturday Night Live
To enter the Saturday Night Live ticket lottery for the upcoming 2007-2008 season send an email in the month of August only to snltickets@nbcuni.com. Please include all contact information and do not request a specific date. If you are selected, you will receive two tickets to a random show date and time. You may only send one email per household and all audience members must be at least 16 years of age. Please note that entering the lottery does not guarantee tickets, and you will only be notified in the event that you are chosen.

Stand-by tickets are distributed at 7am on the 49th st. side of 30 Rockefeller Plaza on the mornings of the tapings. You may choose a stand-by ticket for either the 8pm dress rehearsal or the 11:30pm live taping. Aside from minimal, necessary breaks, all stand-by line members must remain in line at all times. Stand-by tickets are limited to one per person and are issued on a first-come, first-served basis. NBC staff reserves the right to revoke or not issue any ticket to anyone in line if proper procedures are not followed. Please arrive no later than 7:15pm for the dress rehearsal or 10:45pm for the live show. A stand-by ticket does not guarantee admission and no one under the age of 16 will be admitted.

Tags: audience, comedy, lottery, Saturday Night Live, Season, SNL, Tickets