Everybody agrees, there's a way in.
Or at least the people looking for the way in agree there must be some way in. There are a number of different camps.
Most commonly, you have the camp that swears by LACasting.com. Or, okay, not swears by, but thinks you, the fellow actor, are doing yourself a tremendous disservice if you aren't subscribed to their services. Into this camp also fall the people who swear by ActorsAccess.com, and, to a lesser degree, NowCasting.com and Backstage.com.
Second most commonly, the "work your way through agents" camp believes that it doesn't matter which agent you get at first, just get an agent (or manager) right away, and simply ditch them once you can get the interest of a better agent. They think the best way to break into this business is to send your kit out to everybody on the list of agents, and see who bites.
Thirdly, the casting workshops camp accepts that it's just a part of the biz that you pay to get seen. They'll dish out several hundred bucks to attend seminars or workshops taught by casting directors so that the casting director will know who you are and cast you in something. This camp is generally aware that "legit" actors and organizations, like the Screen Actors Guild and the columnists for Backstage.com disapprove of this practice, but respond, "Hey, it's the way things are done."
Fourthly, the work NEAR the biz camp seeks jobs near the entertainment biz, hoping to break in that way. Ideally, they find a job with a major studio, say, as a production assistant, but waiting tables at places industry professionals frequent will do in a pinch. This camp is being proactive about waiting to be discovered.
Fifthly, the make-your-own-work camp makes movies and theater on a shoestring budget, hoping someone will notice. Hey, at least they're doing what they want to do while they wait to get paid to do what they want to do!
Sixthly, the I-Don't-Have-A-Freakin'-Clue-How-To-Break-In camp scours Craigslist for auditions, tries to make friends with everybody on the off chance that person might be a go-getter, and calls the Central Casting hotline several times an hour.
I fall in the sixth camp. I made half-hearted attempts at following the advice of the second camp, and promise to redouble my efforts once I get an adequate reel together, am on the verge of following the advice of the first camp, am actively seeking jobs like the fourth camp, and am doing my best to be a part of the fifth camp.
Industry folks, are there more camps? Which camp do you belong to? Non-industry folks, are we crazy?
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Monday, May 2, 2011
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Getting back to the spirit of this trip
"We are a couple of newly free wanderers...." This is the start of our little bio on this here blog, but I feel like we lost our freedom when we decided to get jobs in order to live here in Germany. Maybe we lost it way back when I gave up on busking. So what if I'm not very good at juggling and our routine doesn't make us any money? At least Brendan and I were doing something fun together all day. Okay, well, to be more honest, I didn't always find the busking fun. But it was a big part of the spirit of this trip, and I want to get back to that. I don't know if that means trying to reincorporate busking, but I want to take the time to figure it out.
Brendan and I gave notice at our jobs and March 10th is our official last day, though I will continue teaching one class through the end of March. We are going to get back to the spirit of this trip.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not sorry we did this. We've met so many amazing people here, and many of them through our jobs. But I'm also not sorry to say goodbye my job here. It doesn't mean we'll be saying goodbye to all the people we've met, it just means we can spend even more time with them and be the happier for it.
I feel like a fog is lifting around me. Oh, there is so much more I could say but will wait to say, having already nearly lost my job once for words posted on this blog.
As I bid my job farewell, I thank it for the people I've met, both teachers and students, and for my improved knowledge of English grammar. I also thank it for showing me this is not what I want to be doing in my life and that it is more important for me to pursue my dreams than to make a buck.
Next post: a money one where we show you how we are affording to quit our jobs.
Brendan and I gave notice at our jobs and March 10th is our official last day, though I will continue teaching one class through the end of March. We are going to get back to the spirit of this trip.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not sorry we did this. We've met so many amazing people here, and many of them through our jobs. But I'm also not sorry to say goodbye my job here. It doesn't mean we'll be saying goodbye to all the people we've met, it just means we can spend even more time with them and be the happier for it.
I feel like a fog is lifting around me. Oh, there is so much more I could say but will wait to say, having already nearly lost my job once for words posted on this blog.
As I bid my job farewell, I thank it for the people I've met, both teachers and students, and for my improved knowledge of English grammar. I also thank it for showing me this is not what I want to be doing in my life and that it is more important for me to pursue my dreams than to make a buck.
Next post: a money one where we show you how we are affording to quit our jobs.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Ages and Real Life
Yes, sadly, it's been ages since we've updated. It's time to find out what real life is like when you're an immigrant.
Stina and I have a delightful one bedroom apartment. It has high ceilings and looks into our neighbors' home. We can't avoid watching their kittens play with the blinds.
In general I work from 11:30AM to 5pm, Monday to Friday. Once a week I work until 6pm, and less often, but still possible, I start at 6AM. My commute is about 40 minutes on either side. I work at a private grade school as an Erzieher. I guess the closest equivalent is a classroom aide, but we're much more prevalent here than aides are in the U.S. I take my class (the first graders on the English track - 1e) to lunch, occasionally sub, and teach a theater class every Wednesday. In January, I'll start directing a play as one of the kids' extracurriculars.
I enjoy my co-workers. One of them reminds me a lot of my co-worker Amanda from YTN (from her keen fashion sense right down to her occasional observation of the darker side of childcare). Another one has horses, lives in Quidlinburg (sp?), and has served as sort of my guide to figuring out this job. She's been very helpful, and I anticipate that Stina and I will visit her so we can play with her horses (and get to know her and her family better, too, of course). Yet another and I have struck up a friendship. He's vegan and punk and down-to-earth and would fit quite well with our old Seattle crowd. There's also a teacher here from Vancouver, WA. I've also made friends with a young lady on her Social Year and one of the French Erziehers, who knows someone who works at Berlitz with Stina. I haven't gotten to know everyone here very well, but I'm quite satisfied with being able to look forward to chatting with the friends I have made here.
We take time to play games together and with our neighbors and friends, watch videos from the library, and go to the Weihnachtsmarkt.
We are hoping to make monthly excursions. Our first will be in January while my kids are still on Winter Break. Ski trip or Vienna trip or someplace warm? Submit your suggestions in the comments!
Stina and I have a delightful one bedroom apartment. It has high ceilings and looks into our neighbors' home. We can't avoid watching their kittens play with the blinds.
In general I work from 11:30AM to 5pm, Monday to Friday. Once a week I work until 6pm, and less often, but still possible, I start at 6AM. My commute is about 40 minutes on either side. I work at a private grade school as an Erzieher. I guess the closest equivalent is a classroom aide, but we're much more prevalent here than aides are in the U.S. I take my class (the first graders on the English track - 1e) to lunch, occasionally sub, and teach a theater class every Wednesday. In January, I'll start directing a play as one of the kids' extracurriculars.
I enjoy my co-workers. One of them reminds me a lot of my co-worker Amanda from YTN (from her keen fashion sense right down to her occasional observation of the darker side of childcare). Another one has horses, lives in Quidlinburg (sp?), and has served as sort of my guide to figuring out this job. She's been very helpful, and I anticipate that Stina and I will visit her so we can play with her horses (and get to know her and her family better, too, of course). Yet another and I have struck up a friendship. He's vegan and punk and down-to-earth and would fit quite well with our old Seattle crowd. There's also a teacher here from Vancouver, WA. I've also made friends with a young lady on her Social Year and one of the French Erziehers, who knows someone who works at Berlitz with Stina. I haven't gotten to know everyone here very well, but I'm quite satisfied with being able to look forward to chatting with the friends I have made here.
We take time to play games together and with our neighbors and friends, watch videos from the library, and go to the Weihnachtsmarkt.
We are hoping to make monthly excursions. Our first will be in January while my kids are still on Winter Break. Ski trip or Vienna trip or someplace warm? Submit your suggestions in the comments!
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