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Market Yourself to Casting Directors
Don't have an agent, but still want to get into major auditions? It's possible to
get into those auditions without an agent if you market yourself directly to casting
directors. The best way to market to a casting director is by regular mail. If you
can get the attention of the person who opens the mail, a casting director just
may call you to come in for an audition. When marketing yourself to casting directors
via mail, keep the following in mind. • Appropriateness – Most casting directors
specialize in certain kinds of casting. If you are an aspiring film actor, do not
market yourself to casting directors that only cast commercials. If you are looking
for theatre roles, don't market to television casting directors. Make sure your
submission is appropriate for the casting director. • Mailing Envelope – Your first
impression is your mailing envelope. Usually, an assistant will open the casting
director's mail, then sift through what the casting director will see and what he
won't. A casting office may receive multiple envelopes from actors every day. Send
a clean, new mailing envelope of the correct size for the contents. • Mailing Label
– Do not handwrite the address on your mailing envelope. Even if you have good handwriting,
a handwritten mailing address/return address is not professional. Print the mailing
address and return address on a mailing label using black ink and a simple font
of appropriate size for the label. A nicely typed mailing label will make the good
impression that you treat acting as your business. • Addressee – Do your research!
Never misspell the name of a casting director or casting company. Make sure you
have the name of the correct casting director, not someone who left the company
four months ago. In addition, include the name of an actual casting director on
your mailing label and not just the company name. If you just put the company name
and not the name of a person, whoever opens the mail will usually toss it since
it technically belongs to no one. • Cover Letter – Don't just put your headshot
in an envelope and send it off! Always include a cover letter on nice heavyweight
business stationery/paper. Don't use notebook paper or cheap copy paper – remember
you want to present the impression that you treat your acting as a business. Never
handwrite your cover letter. Typed (with appropriate sized business font) is always
best on stationery with a nice header. If you don't have pre-printed stationery,
make up some on your computer. Include a header with your name, e-mail address,
website (if you have one), and a 24-hour cell phone contact phone number. Don't
be cutesy – stick to business. Address the letter to the person you addressed the
envelope. Be brief, simple, and direct in telling the casting director why you are
writing. If you are interested in auditioning for a particular role, include that
in your note. In addition, include any special skills or qualifications you'd like
to highlight, the names of anyone who recommended you mail the casting director,
and end with a short conclusion. Run your computer spelling and grammar check and
have a friend read your letter before mailing it. • Sealing – Don't make your envelope
impossible to open. Gluing, excessive taping, and especially covering the metal
fastener are quick ways for your envelope to end up in the trash. Some casting directors
receive hundreds of submissions from aspiring actors. An assistant will give up
after fifteen seconds of struggling to open your envelope. That's it! Just add your
professionally done headshot and resume to the envelope then mail it out to casting
directors.
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Breaking Into the Talent Industry
"Type?" you may be asking. Yes, type. The word typecast brings about fear in many
actors. The reality is that typecasting is here to stay, especially for actors in
the beginning of their careers. Instead of fighting typecasting, an actor should
learn to love it and use it. Knowing and taking advantage of your type is one of
the biggest casting secrets in the industry. When a casting director is casting
for the part of a professional boxer who grew up on the streets and you walk in
lacking muscles and looking like a high-dollar attorney, you do not stand a chance
of getting the part. You are wasting your time and the casting director's time by
showing up for that audition. Casting directors appreciate agents and their actors
who know their type and audition for roles that fit. Typecasting does not mean you
will never be able to break out of your type. If you make it as an actor and become
a box office star, you will be able to choose your parts. Until then, knowing your
type will help you along your acting career by giving you a clear place in the talent
industry. Now you are probably thinking, "How do I determine my type?" One way is
to ask casting directors. A better way is to go straight to the movie going public
by doing your own market survey. Get yourself a clipboard, a pen, and a few sheets
of paper. Write "Male" at the top of two of the pages and number from 1 to 50 down
the left hand side. Then, write "Female" at the top of two more pages and repeat
the numbering from 1 to 50. Put on some neutral, non-descript clothing so your outfit
will not influence the answers to your questions. Head out to your busiest local
movie theater near show times. (You may want to ask the theater management ahead
of time if you can stand outside the movie theater to complete your survey.) As
people arrive, ask if they will answer a short, three-question survey. Most of the
time people are happy to help. If not, move on. For those who will take your survey,
ask the following questions: 1. How old do I look? 2. What ethnicity do you think
I am? 3. What do you think my job is? Write the three answers down on your paper
on the appropriate line and on either the male or the female pages. If people answer
that you are a student for the job question, ask what they think you are studying.
Thank the survey participants and keep going until you have surveyed 100 people
(50 males and 50 females). Then comes the fun part, it is time to compute the results.
First, add up the ages and divide it by 100 to come up with the average age people
think you look. Second, calculate the ethnicities to determine what people perceive.
Lastly, sift through the jobs. You should be able to come up with a general range
of jobs and characters. Use this information when shooting your headshots. Go for
the look of the job, age, and ethnicity most popular in your survey. You are "right"
for acting in these types of roles. If you were surprised or disappointed about
how the public perceives you, do not be upset. You can do things to change your
appearance, but it is usually best to be who you are and go for the type of acting
roles perceived than struggling to be something you are naturally not.
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How To Get Famous In Hollywood
Once you arrive in Hollywood looking to get famous as a screen star, you will face
one main question: how do I break in? Well, first off, there are a number of good
ways, and you need to get yourself up in front of casting directors, producers,
and an audience quickly. The fastest ways to do that are - classes, extra jobs,
self-promotion, low budget films, getting representation. Make sure that you have
a headshot (8x10 photo of your face), and some sort of resume, and then charge into
stardom like a bull. CLASSES Depending on your particular talents, you may take
dance, singing, or scene study; but for sure you need an audition class, an on-camera
& casting class and it is always good to take an improv class just to loosen
you up. A place like actor's boot camp is good, and The Improv Olympic will put
you on stage immediately (a good way to get famous). EXTRA JOBS Being extras can
be fun and profitable. Some of the biggest stars began their careers doing extras
work and bit parts. Contact Central Casting (centralacsting.org), for extra jobs,
they're the biggest extra's casting agency in LA. Once you get some extra jobs,
you will be well on your way to get famous. Remember, as soon as the guard at the
studio gate finds your name on the list, it's "Welcome to Hollywood" You are now
part of the movie business. If you have what it takes you'll do well, and whenever
you're in the break room (which will be 80% of the time), you'll make friends SELF
PROMOTION Another way to get famous, a little bit, is by entering your name in on
IMDB (the internet movie database). Once casting directors are able to look you
up on IMDB it is a completely new ball game. LOW BUDGET FILMS Then get a better
headshot, and join actorsaccess.com, a do-it-yourself casting breakdown service
that lists all the low budget movies in town. This will help you set yourself up
with speaking-role audition. However, if you insist on a higher salary you will
not get famous quite as fast. The value of doing low budget work is that the roles
are bigger. REPRESENTATION Once you have a whole bunch of low budget movie credits,
it is time to get an agent or a manager. You may not be union yet, but you will
have SAG vouchers from your extra jobs, and once you have collected three then you
can become union any time you want. So now, you are getting roles, taking meetings,
going to audition and casting sessions, and well on your way to get famous. To paraphrase
Michael Cain from his book on how to become famous as a performer in the movies,
‘if you want to be a lead, then only take the leading roles'. So, "choose the way
how to be famous for you, and stick to it". Are you a character, a comedian, a villain,
an ingénue or a leading man? Commit to one and be that person, everywhere you can,
in every role no matter how small, even on You Tube. Become a screen personality.
In addition, if you stick with all these steps, you will find your path: leading
towards the movie stardom that you seek.
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