I'd just like to give a shout out to the cast and crew of Suicide Math (one of the plays I'm producing). We sold out our opening night, got a glowing review from nytheatre.com, and more importantly we had a terrific show. I was also just notified that we'll be listed under "Best of the Fringe Festival" at nytheatre.com come Monday.
If anyone's curious here's a few quotes from the review:
"A tight, bright script that does not let up, even for a moment."
"What makes Suicide Math such an engaging work is that the characters are organically gifted with the ability to describe their cages, even as they are fundamentally unable to escape them.
"[David] Gelles digs into his mountains of words with a carnivorous vigor that alone is worth the price of admission"
"[Jonathan Randell] Silver rises to the challenge"
We have a show today at 2:15PM, and we have a handful of shows before we close next Sunday. If you're in the area, come check us out. Tickets are $15 online and $18 at the door. We play at the Robert Moss Theater (440 Lafayette St) and you can find more information at www.suicidemath.com
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Great Piece of Advice
Just want to highlight a terrific piece of advice for any actor:
http://www.backstage.com/advice-for-actors/secret-agent-man/advance-your-career-yourself/
If you read this blog you probably know that I produced my own play last year. The aftermath of that: I'm involved in three productions right now. A short film, a play in the NY International Fringe Festival, and a feature film. One of them is paying me a salary. One of them has the potential to put me on the map as an actor and a writer. ALL of them are giving me invaluable experience and improving my network of connections. I wouldn't be doing ANY of them had I not produced my play last year. Every single one of these opportunities sprung out of the work I did for my play.
Create your own work. It's the way the industry is moving these days.
http://www.backstage.com/advice-for-actors/secret-agent-man/advance-your-career-yourself/
If you read this blog you probably know that I produced my own play last year. The aftermath of that: I'm involved in three productions right now. A short film, a play in the NY International Fringe Festival, and a feature film. One of them is paying me a salary. One of them has the potential to put me on the map as an actor and a writer. ALL of them are giving me invaluable experience and improving my network of connections. I wouldn't be doing ANY of them had I not produced my play last year. Every single one of these opportunities sprung out of the work I did for my play.
Create your own work. It's the way the industry is moving these days.
Saturday, June 1, 2013
Keep It Professional...
I've recently signed on to produce the play "Suicide Math" at the New York International Fringe Festival. We're currently in the process of casting, and I'm reminded again of how often actors get in their own way.
So I'm combing through the submissions, and I finally see a headshot I like. Solid resume. Solid training. Great. I'll bring him in. Then I look at his other headshots and I see something that resembles a family vacation photo. I shake my head and move on.
We get hundreds of submissions. We bring in maybe 40 people. Every detail counts. We want to work with perfectionists. We have to be picky. If you can't manage to present yourself in a professional manner then what does that say about the commitment to your craft?
So I'm combing through the submissions, and I finally see a headshot I like. Solid resume. Solid training. Great. I'll bring him in. Then I look at his other headshots and I see something that resembles a family vacation photo. I shake my head and move on.
We get hundreds of submissions. We bring in maybe 40 people. Every detail counts. We want to work with perfectionists. We have to be picky. If you can't manage to present yourself in a professional manner then what does that say about the commitment to your craft?
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Why Actors Get Paid
It's been a while since my last posting. I'm happy to say that things have been busy for me. I was cast in a new play (which had a staged reading a few weeks ago), a short film, and this weekend I'll be acting in a trailer for another short film. I'm also revising my latest script ("Nice Guys Finish Last") which I'm happy to say is nearing the end of its development process. Last week I attended Vanity Fair's 2013 Tribeca Film Festival party and got to rub elbows with acting legends like Robert De Niro and Christopher Walken.
The point of all this work is to make an income, and so I thought a good topic for today's blog should be Why Actors Get Paid.
The business of acting has huge supply and demand problems, and from an actor's point of view the numbers are not in your favor. For every role that goes out, there are literally thousands of talented actors that are willing to do it for free to advance their career. So with all this free talent floating around, why would a producer pay anything at all? Two reasons:
1) Your Marketing Value. Producers need to sell tickets. They need to fill seats. You can produce the best film in the world, but if it's marketed poorly, you won't make a dime. One of the best marketing tools a producer can employ is casting a well known actor. Actor's like Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise have huge fan-bases. When they star in a new movie, millions of fans will flock to the theaters and buy a ticket. That's why these guys can command their $20 million+ salaries.
But this works on a smaller scale too. Producers also need their films reviewed by critics and seen by industry executives. Contrary to what you might think, the press does not review everything that's submitted to them. It's actually just the opposite. They're very selective. But casting a up and coming young actor can get their attention. So suppose you don't yet have a fan-base, but you've won a few minor awards and your work's been generating a lot of buzz in the industry. Critics and studio heads are mildly curious about your work. That's an extremely valuable commodity for an actor to have, and producers will pay well for it.
So how does one develop market value? Or a fan-base? Well... ultimately it boils down to talent. Which is why it's so important for an actor to master their craft. It's not enough to be "above average." You have to excel. You have to be among the very best. Movie stars have fan-bases because at some point in their careers they did some incredible work. Their "break out" role. And people enjoyed it so much they're willing to pay money to see them again.
But what if you're just starting out, and you're name doesn't have any marketing value? Shouldn't you get paid too? Of course you should, and that brings us to the second reason why actor's get paid:
2) Unions. Every actor should get down and thank God that unions exists. Because without them most of us wouldn't get paid a dime. It's a cut-throat business and producers have to be very tight with how they spend money. If they could get away with hiring actors for free, they'd probably do it. If you don't believe me, just look at all the non-union work that pays nothing. Unions require producers to pay us a fair rate, and since all the big name actors are union, any production that wants to hire them needs to be union as well.
This is why it's so important for actors to join the union. It's nearly impossible to make a living if you don't.
The point of all this work is to make an income, and so I thought a good topic for today's blog should be Why Actors Get Paid.
The business of acting has huge supply and demand problems, and from an actor's point of view the numbers are not in your favor. For every role that goes out, there are literally thousands of talented actors that are willing to do it for free to advance their career. So with all this free talent floating around, why would a producer pay anything at all? Two reasons:
1) Your Marketing Value. Producers need to sell tickets. They need to fill seats. You can produce the best film in the world, but if it's marketed poorly, you won't make a dime. One of the best marketing tools a producer can employ is casting a well known actor. Actor's like Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise have huge fan-bases. When they star in a new movie, millions of fans will flock to the theaters and buy a ticket. That's why these guys can command their $20 million+ salaries.
But this works on a smaller scale too. Producers also need their films reviewed by critics and seen by industry executives. Contrary to what you might think, the press does not review everything that's submitted to them. It's actually just the opposite. They're very selective. But casting a up and coming young actor can get their attention. So suppose you don't yet have a fan-base, but you've won a few minor awards and your work's been generating a lot of buzz in the industry. Critics and studio heads are mildly curious about your work. That's an extremely valuable commodity for an actor to have, and producers will pay well for it.
So how does one develop market value? Or a fan-base? Well... ultimately it boils down to talent. Which is why it's so important for an actor to master their craft. It's not enough to be "above average." You have to excel. You have to be among the very best. Movie stars have fan-bases because at some point in their careers they did some incredible work. Their "break out" role. And people enjoyed it so much they're willing to pay money to see them again.
But what if you're just starting out, and you're name doesn't have any marketing value? Shouldn't you get paid too? Of course you should, and that brings us to the second reason why actor's get paid:
2) Unions. Every actor should get down and thank God that unions exists. Because without them most of us wouldn't get paid a dime. It's a cut-throat business and producers have to be very tight with how they spend money. If they could get away with hiring actors for free, they'd probably do it. If you don't believe me, just look at all the non-union work that pays nothing. Unions require producers to pay us a fair rate, and since all the big name actors are union, any production that wants to hire them needs to be union as well.
This is why it's so important for actors to join the union. It's nearly impossible to make a living if you don't.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)