Another Backstage.com article. Their coding isn't great so this article could disappear. I'm reposting it here.
Stage actors go to New York; film and TV actors head to California. That's the sort of truism few people bother to question. But these days, things could be shifting. With state and city tax incentives in place for production companies that shoot in New York and a mayor and governor who strongly support the film and TV industry, more New York actors may soon make on-camera work their primary focus.
Christine Toy Johnson has reaped the benefits of this new climate. A longtime New York actor who pursues both stage and screen work, she recently appeared in the first episode of ABC's Ugly Betty to be filmed in New York after two seasons in California. "I'm thrilled that they're here," she says. "The cast and crew really had a great energy, and I had a ball working on it."
Among the series now shooting in New York are Gossip Girl, Lipstick Jungle, Damages, and the yet-to-debut Fringe and Life on Mars. They join such stalwarts as Rescue Me and the three Law & Order programs, which have provided speaking roles for thousands of local actors over the years. Meanwhile, features like Sex and the City and the recently wrapped I Hate Valentine's Day and Brooklyn's Finest continue to stoke cinema's ongoing love affair with New York.
So how does a newcomer to the city get a piece of all this action? Some feel that the first orders of business are to find an agent and become a member of the film and TV actors' unions. But James Calleri, a New York casting director currently working on Lipstick Jungle, dismisses that theory. Representation and union membership mean little to him when he's filling roles. "A lot of people get really focused on getting an agent," he says, "but I think that if you can start developing relationships with casting directors who are doing stuff, that's a really good way to go about working."
Easier said than done, right? "It's hard," Calleri concedes. "I think you have to try to reach out as best you can. Either getting auditions with them, mailing, taking a workshop or a class with one that's teaching somewhere, offering to be a reader — I think those are all really great ways of developing relationships with them."
Michael De Nola, a former jazz musician who has pursued an acting career in New York for the past five years, tracks down film and TV work without an agent. "I'm interested in things I can control," he says. "I can control how much time I spend as an artist working on the art, the craft. I can control how much money I want to spend on doing something like Actors Access or on One on One or any other kind of showcase." Actors Access (www.actorsaccess.com) is a casting website, and One on One Productions (www.oneononenyc.com) offers classes and networking events for actors. But, he adds, "I cannot control whether an agent is going to be interested in me or not."
Selective Service
Mailing headshots and résumés is one of the more traditional ways to connect with casting directors and agents. It also may be one of the least effective, especially if done haphazardly. "It's a crapshoot," says Calleri. "There's so much stuff that comes in." But doing your homework and then tailoring your submissions to the specific needs of projects can be significantly more productive. "I don't know how they do it," Calleri says of actors, "but they do find out what we're doing. And I don't know how they get a copy of the breakdowns, but they do. And more power to them."
Teddy Alvaro, an actor who worked with a manager during his stint as a child performer but is currently unrepresented, suggests that Henderson's Mailing Labels (www.hendersonenterprises.com) and similar products can be a "fantastic" way of reaching agents and casting directors — if they're used judiciously. "If it's just a cookie-cutter letter or résumé," he says, "it doesn't excite someone that much."
Alvaro suggests preparing no more than 10 submission packages per day and personalizing each one. "Tell them why you want to work with them," he advises. "And keep tabs on who you've written to. If you know they're a great commercial agent and you just did an Internet commercial, tell them about it."
Spinning the Web
One thing you should not include in a submission to a casting director, Calleri says, is an unsolicited demo reel. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't start assembling one or that you shouldn't post it in cyberspace where interested parties can watch it. Johnson, for instance, has posted clips of her various film and TV roles at www.christinetoyjohnson.com.
"My husband built it, and it's very comprehensive," she says. "And it has come in handy in a lot of ways. One, if someone is looking for someone like me, they can find me through various links. Two, there are some video clips that I have on there and MP3s of my singing. So sometimes, if you can't get to an audition immediately, you can point someone to your website and have them look at a sample of your work."
New York-born actor Lionel Pina currently has a MySpace page as well as his own page on BackStage.com. "I've received a good amount of hits — inquiries and audition invitations — from it. I didn't think it would pay off so well, but it really has."
What about paying to take a workshop, class, or seminar with a working casting director? Although some in the industry — including actors and casting directors — caution against it, most actors Back Stage spoke with for this article recommend it. De Nola says he booked jobs on two Law & Order series after attending sessions at the Actors Connection (www.actorsconnection.com) conducted by casting associates.
"You can get real feedback and see yourself on camera and meet casting directors," notes Johnson, who endorses taking classes with CDs alongside other classes in which you'll feel freer to make mistakes (as the instructor is not also a potential future employer). "You can't expect somebody to hire you directly from those kinds of things," she contends. "I think it's better to go in with an expectation of learning."
Peer Advice
Even after you've done the requisite mailings, posted your clips online, and introduced yourself to casting directors, you still may not find yourself getting calls to audition. So what further steps can you take to stay productive and stave off the unemployment blues? The actors Back Stage consulted offered these tips:
Keep busy. Don't just sit waiting for the phone to ring. Find a teacher or school and keep working on your acting skills. Do background work on a studio feature to get a glimpse of experienced film actors plying their trade. "You get to see firsthand how a film or television show is made," says Pina, "and how unexciting it is." Alvaro notes that his girlfriend, who is also an actor, makes it a point to take at least one step every day to move her career forward: "That could be mailing a label, reading a play, getting a headshot. But it could also be doing something as simple as going to a museum and looking at art pieces to see if anything stirs you…. Being an actor is experiential."
Get seen. Alvaro and his college actor friends formed their own theatre group to stay sharp and put themselves in front of audiences. They've staged four full-length showcases in the past two years. "It's fantastic to be able to come in every day," he says, "and work on some difficult part that people might not think I'm ready to play — really work on it and really tackle it." Maybe an agent or casting director will show up at your showcase and be enthralled by your performance. When an executive producer from One Life to Live saw Johnson in a live performance early in her career, it led to a two-year stint on the soap opera.
In addition to getting you seen, appearing in student films or low-budget independents can help you gain on-camera experience as well as provide clips for your reel. And if you're not yet a union actor, you can accept choice roles that union members are not allowed to take. Besides, you never know where that student director will be five years from now.
Be sociable. Having a circle of mutually supportive friends is a must in a harried place like New York. The more networking you do with peers, the more chances you'll have to hear about job opportunities. An early and extremely big break for Pina came when he ran into an actor friend who told him about a new film he thought Pina should audition for. Pina did so and landed the part: the pizza boy who brings food to Al Pacino's bank hostages in a memorable scene in Dog Day Afternoon. That performance opened many doors for him in ensuing years.
Adjust your mindset. Sometimes the mailings, website postings, and all the rest can seem like unpleasant chores. Alvaro suggests you think of them instead as "chances" — chances to act, chances to make a connection. "If you go to one of those agent nights, you know what? That's a chance to act that night," he says. "That's an audition experience."
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