Actor-Preneur

The Association of Talent Agents (ATA) is a Los Angeles based nonprofit trade association comprised of over 100 talent agencies primarily located in Los Angeles and New York. ATA’s premiere membership includes agencies of all sizes representing artist clients in the motion picture industry, stage, television, radio, commercials and literary work. It is believed that ATA member agencies collectively represent ninety percent (90%) of the working artists. ATA member agencies collectively employ an estimated one thousand talent agents.

With ATA’s Actors’ Agent Search, you can find the agents for thousands of actors, plus links to resumes, photos and video — updated daily.

You can also use the Free Talent Agency Search form to find talent agents in New York and Los Angeles.

All ATA agency clients are listed for free.

FOX’s American Idol has set auditions for the eighth season of the competition reality series. Men and women 16-28 years old as of July 15, 2008 and eligible to work in the U.S. can apply.

There are some restrictions; visit the web site for specific details and more information on the following audition cities and dates:

July 17: San Francisco - American Idol Auditions
July 21: Louisville- American Idol Auditions
July 25: Phoenix - American Idol Auditions
July 29: Salt Lake City - American Idol Auditions
August 2: San Juan, Puerto Rico - American Idol Auditions
August 8: Kansas City - American Idol Auditions
August 13: Jacksonville - American Idol Auditions
August 19: East Rutherford, NJ - American Idol Auditions

If you have ever considered working in Australia, “The Actors Handbook” is a must have for every aspiring actor.

The book is for aspiring actors, adults, children and extras. It covers step-by-step every aspect of a performer’s career from training to retirement with practical advice and insider information.

The book also has hundreds of tips, interesting stories and opinions from dozens of industry professionals including leading performers, teachers, agents, casting directors, producers and directors from Australia.

Australia’s “The Actors Handbook” A guide to the Australian Entertainment Industry, by Marnie Hill (Casting Director) a must have guide for all Australian Actors.

For additional details on “The Actors Handbook” and to purchase the book, please take a look here.

How did veteran Broadway Actress and actorpreneur
Betty Buckley get the role of odd recluse Mrs. Jones in M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Happening”?

A video camera and bubble wrap!

New York casting director, Doug Aibel contacted Buckley’s agent, Tim Stone of Stone Manners Agency, about a possible part in “The Happening” and e-mailed her some scenes to her ranch in Fort Worth, Texas.

Doug Aibel asked Betty to record herself performing the scenes and overnight the DVD to him in New York. After purchasing a video camera, as she did not own one, she shot the scenes only to find out that her video camera was not compatible with her Macintosh computer! What did she do then? Buckley took the camera to the store in order to burn the footage to a DVD. When that did not work either, Betty decided to wrap the camera in bubble wrap and overnight it to Aibel.

Maybe it was her outstanding audition or perhaps just the unusual way she presented it, but she impressed M. Night Shyamalan and Doug Aibel enough to win the role of Mrs. Jones.

Actorpreneur Betty has had an astonishing record on Broadway, in films and on television. Her Broadway credits include starring roles in 1976, Pippin, Cats, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Song and Dance, Carrie - The Musical, Sunset Boulevard and Triumph of Love. She won a Tony award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical in 1983 for Cats.

She also has a long list of Film and TV credits. In addition, she has recently been signed to Playbill Records, which released two of her recordings; one was made when Buckley was 19 and has been issued both on CD and vinyl.

A new album with Quintessence was released on February 14, 2008.

While on the road between Europe, Australia, South Africa, Asia,New Zealand and the United Kingdom, the TVI Actors Studio staff have essentials which every actor should have easily available so they do not miss that film screen test.

On my list:

Always have on hand Euros, British pounds, US dollars, Australian dollars, South African Rand, etc

An un-locked mobile phone so you can swap the sim cards with local pay as you go cards. In order for you to do this if you are American, you must go with AT&T or T-Mobile as they have the same GSM technology as the rest of the world. Verizon and Sprint use a technology called CSMA that will not work internationally.

I also suggest a Blackberry device with international data plan. Although I have the AT&T International service, T-Mobile international service is actually much less expensive at $20 a month.

Of course a current passport with available pages. (South Africa requires 4 pages free)

And if you have an American iphone please see the details on the AT&T web site. They clearly note, “International roaming and data usage is not covered under your existing data plan.” Be Careful and put your iphone on airplane mode when leaving the US!

Erin Cronican of the Actors Enterprise posted an interesting article on why actors need websites. IN addition to the basic online services actors have, such as Actors Access, LA Casting, Erin makes great points.

The Actors’ Enterprise: Blog and News
: Why Actors Need Websites: “”

There is a great story in today’s Kansas City. com web site about John Leguizamo and his acting career.

The article asks the question, “How’d you wind up in acting classes?”

My high school math teacher suggested it. They were going to expel me because I’d never stop being the class clown. …

The article written by Joseph V. Amodio goes on to ask, “So when was your “aha” moment — when you knew you had to be an actor?”

There’ve been three. One was in acting school. My first scene … was from (the Sal Mineo film) “Dino,” about a street kid. I rocked it, man. I thought, “Wow, I can’t do anything right, but I can do this.” The next time was (in a performance art showcase). I went on last, 2 a.m. and I was like, nobody’s gonna care, but everybody stayed and I got a standing O. I thought, holy … I can make these white people laugh. They get me. The third moment was in (the movie) “Carlito’s Way” — I realized, this is what acting is about.

Please read the article in it’s entirety here.

A recurring conversation among aspiring actors, and somewhat trivial matter is “How do you adhere your acting resume (CV)” to your Acting Headshot. The simple answer is four staples, one in reach corner. Why it is even brought up, I do not understand, as some actors ask can they use two staples on top. With the current cost per staple….just put a staple and each corner.

The SAG (Screen Actors Guild) card isn’t something you should try to get so that you can become an actor. Instead, think of it as something that comes to you when you’re ready for it.

SAG’s membership department is busy everyday processing Taft Hartley forms making it possible for non-union actors to work and become members of SAG.

So what is the Taft Hartley Act?

The Taft-Hartley Act, is a United States federal law greatly restricting the activities and power of labor unions. The Act, still effective, was sponsored by Senator Robert Taft and Representative Fred A. Hartley, Jr. The Taft-Hartley Act amended the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA; informally the Wagner Act), which Congress passed in 1935.

The term Taft-Hartley has a special meaning in the entertainment industry. Specifically, for film and television actors, an actor not in the union who becomes a “principal performer” (says a line) is immediately eligible to join the Screen Actors Guild and is covered under the SAG contract with the production company for 30 days, at which point he or she must either join SAG or cease working on any union productions. Once joining the union, the actor may not work on any non-union production, per the terms of the bylaws. This allows SAG to get around the rules forbidding closed shops by providing a mechanism for new members to join the union.

Most aspiring actors are confused to understanding why you need a SAG card and how to get one.

The SAG card is not as important as you think and it’s not as difficult to get as you think.

Thanks to technology, actorpreneurs can now live in Münich, Sydney, Dallas or whereever and have a Los Angeles or NYC telephone number! The organization “skype.com” offers anyone a local number in most major cities. This way, as an actor, you can be an actor in London and have a Hollywood or Broadway number - which makes you a local actor. Just be prepared to always be available for auditions, which means catching a flight at the last minute for an audition in Los Angeles or on Broadway. Telling an agent, you can not make the audition, because you are in Perth, will not score you points.