Larry Garrison - Breaking into Acting For Dummies

If you ever sign up with a non-SAG affiliated talent agency, you may not be treated fairly. A non-SAG agent likely won’t hear of the higher-paying union roles available, either.

One of the first major goals of any actor in film or TV should be to get into SAG. This process is often referred to as “getting your SAG card” (and, yes, you really do get a membership card).

Getting your SAG card is no guarantee of employment, let alone fame or money. The large majority of SAG members earn less than $7,500 a year.

The Actors’ Equity Association ( www.actorsequity.org ), which is also known simply as Equity, covers actors who perform in theater. (The British branch of Equity offers its own website at www.equity.org.uk , and you can find the Canadian branch of Equity at www.caea.com .)

Equity is the oldest of all the actors’ unions (formed in 1919) and began as a way to counterbalance the power producers held over actors. Actors in theater often got paid marginal wages (if they got paid at all), were forced to endure horrible working conditions, never got paid extra for working on holidays, had to make or buy their own costumes, and could be forced to attend unlimited numbers of rehearsals for any length of time — all without any pay, of course.

To protect its members, Equity forced producers to post sufficient advance funds to guarantee salaries and benefits, established minimum salaries and pay for rehearsal time, and even established rules forbidding producers to force actors to work in any theater that discriminated against audience members because of race, color, or creed (later modified to include gender, sexual preferences, and political beliefs).

Like SAG, Equity has also established guidelines for how agents should treat actors. When looking for an agent, call your local Equity office and ask for a list of Equity-franchised agencies.

After you join Equity, never work on a non-Equity production, or else you could be fined and lose your Equity membership. Equity may allow its members to work in non-Equity productions that are sponsored by charities or religious organizations, but make sure that you get written permission first.

In some small cities, Equity productions may be scarce. If Equity work is limited in your area, you may want to delay joining the union until you can be sure of getting more steady Equity work.

In the mid-1940s, studios dictated the roles that actors could play. Actors often had to change their appearance for different roles and appear in less-than-satisfactory roles that could potentially damage an actor’s fledging career. If an actor rejected a particular role, the studio could suspend that actor from working. Because actors were under contract to work for one particular studio, studios essentially dictated the future of an actor’s career.

Even worse, studios would often extend an actor’s contract against his or her will, effectively enslaving that actor to that studio. After appearing as Melanie Hamilton in Gone With the Wind, actress Olivia de Havilland rebelled against the restrictions in her contract and wound up getting a six-month suspension from Warner Brothers Studio as a result.

So Olivia took Warner Brothers Studio to court to fight for her right to choose her own roles. After three years, the courts decided in Olivia’s favor and ruled that she could leave her contract with Warner Brothers. This court battle became known as the “de Havilland decision,” and it forever changed the way actors and studios worked together.

After the courts allowed Olivia de Havilland to get out of her contract with Warner Brothers, other major film stars began using the de Havilland decision to justify getting out of their contracts as well, further strengthening the role of the then-fledgling Screen Actors Guild.

Today, actors regularly work for different studios and have the freedom to choose their roles at any time. Of course, judging from some of the roles actors have chosen, they still manage to appear in bombs every now and then, but at least now they have no one to blame but themselves.

Part 2

IN THIS PART …

Know how to market your appearance and your talent to an agent or casting director.

Figure out the ins and outs of using head shots and video clips to present yourself in the best way possible to help you get the roles you want.

Understand how to create a resume that stands out, no matter what kind of acting experience you have.

Find out how you can improve your acting skills.

Make relationships on the Internet with professionals in the industry.

Be careful what you post on the Internet.

Chapter 4

IN THIS CHAPTER

Understanding the purpose of a head shot or samples of your work

Taking a look at different head shot styles

Shooting your head shot

Pinpointing head shot problems

As an actor, you’re in business for yourself, and your product is you. What you’re selling is your acting ability, but what you’re advertising is your look and appearance. Of course, to get potential buyers interested in hiring your services as an actor, you need to catch their interest first.

Sean Garrison, international commercial photographer and producer who has worked on some of the largest advertising campaigns of the last decade said, “It’s important to be yourself. Let your personality shine. When we cast for a campaign or film, we look for the person who genuinely fits the part. Your best chance at landing the role is when you’re already the character we’re looking to cast.”

In this chapter, you discover the characteristics of a good head shot as well as how to use your head shot as a marketing tool to procure representation or a casting director’s attention.

Ideally, you want to meet casting directors and agents face-to-face like a door-to-door salesman, but that isn’t always possible. So until cloning becomes feasible, the next best solution is to rely on head shots.

A head shot is a close-up photograph of yourself that you submit along with your resume to agents and casting directors, so they can evaluate you in your absence. (Find more info on putting together a five-star resume in Chapter 5.) Essentially, your head shot is an advertisement that shows the best features of you as the product.