TO YOUNG ACTORS; SASHA BINDI ETC
Tue, 22 June 2004, 05:13 pmWalter Plinge16 posts in thread
TO YOUNG ACTORS; SASHA BINDI ETC
Tue, 22 June 2004, 05:13 pmTo Sasha Luke Bindi etc etc
OK kids, you all seem (with perhaps the exception of Luke) to be incapable of extracting the good advice and answers to your questions from what you view (incorrectly) to be critisism. In the interests of attempting to end all this godawful and increasingly boring sniping, let me try to help;
IF YOU ARE YOUNG (IE UNDER 18ISH) AND YOU WANT TO BE AN ACTOR;
1. posting on this board and asking for a part will not work;
2. agents will rarely be interested in you (especially in Perth);
3. there are unlikely to be many parts for you to audition for at your age;
SO
4. find a reputable school and take a whole bunch of classes, get better and learn about your craft;
5. look at the auditions on this page, call the number, book a time, prepare a couple of pieces and go try out. Please note, the directors will not call you, even if you post on this board and ask them to, you have to call them;
6. look at the Companies section of this page, ring your closest one and ask if there are any auditions on. If not, ask if you can help out in some way so by the time there are auditions they like you and might cast you;
7. form your own company, find your own scripts, get your mates together, rehearse and perform, in the backyard if necessary.
8. do all of the above over and over and over and over and over again, be nice to people and cross your fingers.
Sucess in this business is (arguably) about 10% talent, 60% opportunity (which you can make yourself) and luck (which you can't) and 30% who you know, or, more importantly, who knows you and what your reputations is.
The one rule overriding all others is BE PROACTIVE! Go out and find or make your opporuntities. No-one will hand them to you.
Some of you have burnt some bridges on this board, not a good idea, especially because, as has been pointed out, some of the people you have annoyed might be sitting in the chair on the other side of the table at your next audition. But try anyway.
Get ready for an awful lot of rejection, its the most common experience actors have and one we all share. But try anyway.
Break a leg.
Now please go away.
Leah M
OK kids, you all seem (with perhaps the exception of Luke) to be incapable of extracting the good advice and answers to your questions from what you view (incorrectly) to be critisism. In the interests of attempting to end all this godawful and increasingly boring sniping, let me try to help;
IF YOU ARE YOUNG (IE UNDER 18ISH) AND YOU WANT TO BE AN ACTOR;
1. posting on this board and asking for a part will not work;
2. agents will rarely be interested in you (especially in Perth);
3. there are unlikely to be many parts for you to audition for at your age;
SO
4. find a reputable school and take a whole bunch of classes, get better and learn about your craft;
5. look at the auditions on this page, call the number, book a time, prepare a couple of pieces and go try out. Please note, the directors will not call you, even if you post on this board and ask them to, you have to call them;
6. look at the Companies section of this page, ring your closest one and ask if there are any auditions on. If not, ask if you can help out in some way so by the time there are auditions they like you and might cast you;
7. form your own company, find your own scripts, get your mates together, rehearse and perform, in the backyard if necessary.
8. do all of the above over and over and over and over and over again, be nice to people and cross your fingers.
Sucess in this business is (arguably) about 10% talent, 60% opportunity (which you can make yourself) and luck (which you can't) and 30% who you know, or, more importantly, who knows you and what your reputations is.
The one rule overriding all others is BE PROACTIVE! Go out and find or make your opporuntities. No-one will hand them to you.
Some of you have burnt some bridges on this board, not a good idea, especially because, as has been pointed out, some of the people you have annoyed might be sitting in the chair on the other side of the table at your next audition. But try anyway.
Get ready for an awful lot of rejection, its the most common experience actors have and one we all share. But try anyway.
Break a leg.
Now please go away.
Leah M
Re: TO YOUNG ACTORS; SASHA BINDI ETC
Thu, 24 June 2004, 10:55 amHi Danya,
While I think you have missed the point of my post, I will answer your question because I think it might actually help you and the others out.
I am in my depressing mid to late twenties. The way I got started was by posting on this website and asking for an acting job when I was fifteen and then sitting back and watching the offers roll in. I have now found a similar website based in Hollywood called www.clickheretobeastar.com. I have clicked on the "Make me A Star" button and am awaiting my call from Mr Spielberg.
But truthfully. I may not be able to help you out. I act because I love it, not to make a billion dollars or to be famous enough to have magazines comment constantly on my weight, or for the public at large to think my love life is their business. I am not a professional actor.
I have, however, got about thirty shows, full length and one act under my belt, as well as several acting awards and experience with some of the best directors in Perth. I audition for parts, I show up to rehersals on time and prepared, I try not to yell at people too much while I'm there (shut up Mr Lee, no-one asked you!), I do my best to support my fellow actors and make the show as good as I can. I go to see other people's shows whenever I can, in a show of mutual support and solidarity for our community (sorry Deano, still trying to get to "Away"!).
I started at 16 when my drama teacher asked me to fill in for an actor in a short excerpt from a show. I liked it a lot so I called my local theatre companies and asked about joining. Two of them told me I was too young. I thanked them polietly, and kept trying til I found a company that didn't tell me I was too young. (In an aside, I have never auditioned for those two theatre companies, despite being asked to in the past). I did the drama course at school, stage managed the Rock Eisteddford, entered all the school aged speaking and acting competitions I could, joined the debating team. When I left high school I auditioned and auditioned, and did all I could with each part I got.
Gradually, I learnt more and I got better. I formed some of my best friendships and had some of my most creatively rewarding experiences. I am now in a position to make my own opportunies which, with the help of some amazingly talented friends, is what I am doing. I hope to provide opportunies for other people, and be able to keep my "hand in" theatre for many years to come.
I also have a day job. I am ashamed to say I didn't have the courage of my convictions that David Meadows or Craig Williams et al had. They went out on a limb and chased their opportunites down, sometimes at the expense of their own comfort and financial security. They commited to it. I didn't. I lived as a poor student for six years and decided I would prefer a BMW, a big house and many many pairs of shoes. As a result the chances are I earn more money than either of them probably ever will, but they are doing what they love. I know DM at least would tell me, without a shadow of a doubt (has he ever had one?) that he made the right decision, and I made the wrong one.
So please, go back and read my other post, and get to it. You already know you have to be prepared to be rejected constantly, and to pick yourself up and try again over and over. You already know that there are a handful or superstars in the world, a slightly larger handful of actors who make a living out of it and floods and floods of actors who don't (more than the population of New South Wales in LA alone).
Once again, no one is going to hand you opportunities because you ask for them, not on this board, not anywhere. Those who tell you they will, usually just want your money.
Hope that helped.
Now, again, please go away.
Leah M
While I think you have missed the point of my post, I will answer your question because I think it might actually help you and the others out.
I am in my depressing mid to late twenties. The way I got started was by posting on this website and asking for an acting job when I was fifteen and then sitting back and watching the offers roll in. I have now found a similar website based in Hollywood called www.clickheretobeastar.com. I have clicked on the "Make me A Star" button and am awaiting my call from Mr Spielberg.
But truthfully. I may not be able to help you out. I act because I love it, not to make a billion dollars or to be famous enough to have magazines comment constantly on my weight, or for the public at large to think my love life is their business. I am not a professional actor.
I have, however, got about thirty shows, full length and one act under my belt, as well as several acting awards and experience with some of the best directors in Perth. I audition for parts, I show up to rehersals on time and prepared, I try not to yell at people too much while I'm there (shut up Mr Lee, no-one asked you!), I do my best to support my fellow actors and make the show as good as I can. I go to see other people's shows whenever I can, in a show of mutual support and solidarity for our community (sorry Deano, still trying to get to "Away"!).
I started at 16 when my drama teacher asked me to fill in for an actor in a short excerpt from a show. I liked it a lot so I called my local theatre companies and asked about joining. Two of them told me I was too young. I thanked them polietly, and kept trying til I found a company that didn't tell me I was too young. (In an aside, I have never auditioned for those two theatre companies, despite being asked to in the past). I did the drama course at school, stage managed the Rock Eisteddford, entered all the school aged speaking and acting competitions I could, joined the debating team. When I left high school I auditioned and auditioned, and did all I could with each part I got.
Gradually, I learnt more and I got better. I formed some of my best friendships and had some of my most creatively rewarding experiences. I am now in a position to make my own opportunies which, with the help of some amazingly talented friends, is what I am doing. I hope to provide opportunies for other people, and be able to keep my "hand in" theatre for many years to come.
I also have a day job. I am ashamed to say I didn't have the courage of my convictions that David Meadows or Craig Williams et al had. They went out on a limb and chased their opportunites down, sometimes at the expense of their own comfort and financial security. They commited to it. I didn't. I lived as a poor student for six years and decided I would prefer a BMW, a big house and many many pairs of shoes. As a result the chances are I earn more money than either of them probably ever will, but they are doing what they love. I know DM at least would tell me, without a shadow of a doubt (has he ever had one?) that he made the right decision, and I made the wrong one.
So please, go back and read my other post, and get to it. You already know you have to be prepared to be rejected constantly, and to pick yourself up and try again over and over. You already know that there are a handful or superstars in the world, a slightly larger handful of actors who make a living out of it and floods and floods of actors who don't (more than the population of New South Wales in LA alone).
Once again, no one is going to hand you opportunities because you ask for them, not on this board, not anywhere. Those who tell you they will, usually just want your money.
Hope that helped.
Now, again, please go away.
Leah M
- ···