Myspace or LA casting?

          In everything concerning acting or anything in the entertainment industry, you have to promote yourself like you are already the hard-to-get star that you are. Lucky for us, we don’t have to land an endorsement deal to do that anymore. All you need is some online access. There are countless websites that SELL the dreamy promise of giving actors direct access to casting directors and agents. They allow you to post those pretty little costly headshots, your training, and experience with only a small fee of what is equivalent to lunch at Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles. So you might have heard of them: Nowcasting.com, LAcasting.com, Backstage West, etcetera.  Then there are those home grown sites such as Myspace and Facebook that give you all of the same rights and privileges as those fancy actor sites, but at no cost. Videos can be uploaded. So can those same pretty little costly headshots. So what do you do? Let’s weigh the pros and cons.  

         Today’s industry is all about branding. Whoever said image is nothing, thirst is everything was liar! Image is everything. Think about it. Donald Trump began as a real estate developer. Now he markets everything from primetime TV shows to clothing, none of which have absolutely nothing to do with buildings. If you haven’t noticed, it’s not enough for artists to sell records anymore, they have to swing a couple of movie roles, launch a commercial clothing line, sell somebody’s skin care products, maybe open a restaurant chain, and make a band 3 times! And why can they do all of these things simultaneously? Because they have BRANDED themselves! If you didn’t like Jennifer Lopez as an actress you wouldn’t buy her clothes, or her fragrances, or her albums. Lucky for Jennifer, she knows you love her. And once you are a fan, you are a fan of everything because of branding and marketing, so what are you selling as an actor? YOU! Which takes us back to Myspace vs. LAcasting.

           

     The truth is that neither one are a bad choice. Sure LAcasting MAY tell you about some auditions and castings that Myspace will not volunteer, but you still have to make it to the audition and land the job. LAcasting is not going to get you hired. You are simply paying them to give you access to some things you might not have found out about. And that’s a good thing. We’ll come back to that. Myspace is free promotion. We can’t get over the fact that it is free. However, if you are posting party pictures with all of your friends, it could be bad for business. If you are posting pictures with all of your goodies out for the world to see and calling it “modeling,” it will definitely tarnish your branding. Myspace also has more users than any other membership site to date. Granted, everyone on Myspace cannot help you further your career, but there is the potential to meet someone who can. The difference between Myspace and an exclusive actor site is the difference between a resume on regular printer paper or resume paper. One just looks better, but that doesn’t no subtract for the content presented through the medium.

            For more information, see Tiffany’s studies on Privacy in Self Disclosure  . Also, see our comprised list of websites that help you promote you!

My Trip to the Oscars…

My day started at 7:00am because I find myself in a deficit when I don’t hear Frederick K.C. Price teach at least once a week. So I woke up to watch EIF ministries via television because I was so carefully advised to do so by Shante Smith. Having alleviated leaving the house, I was all too excited about attending The Oscars. I put on my crispest jeans, 2 jackets because Cali isn’t the real sunshine state (shout out to Florida), and my fresh pair of kicks because I knew I’d have to walk. I even put on some mascara just in case I saw Will Smith again!      I parked on Yucca and Argyle and happily trekked 6 blocks to Hollywood/Highland to find that frolicking at the Oscars was only something you should do if you didn’t speak English. After I made it past the gay rights protestors and the ultra-religious self-proclaimed ministers who claimed to want to save my life, I finally got close enough to see the LAPD up close! I couldn’t even touch the barricades. By the time the limos were close enough for me to make out a license plate number, the guests were already doing a second interview on the red carpet.

And TonyToniTone lied and lied again. Not only does it rain in Southern California, it rained all day at the Oscars. And when I got tired of fighting some high schoolers for a bus bench and risking 100% frizz, I decided it was time to take another approach. I took an alley before the Hollywood strip and came up Highland. That gave me an excellent view of the skyscraping Oscar replica, which doesn’t come close to the stature of  Will or Denzel.

The rain picked up and all of a sudden I wished I at least worked at the popcorn stand at the Kodak Theatre. Since they weren’t hiring on the spot, I decided to hike up Highland and linger between the parking garage and the Renaissance Hotel. I followed a woman with a custom tailored black trench and beautiful blonde hair; she was clearly ready for a Pantene Pro V commercial. Well, she had unlimited access, reminding me that my access was well, limited. It was only then that I gave up and headed towards Franklin Ave to find countless black Lincoln towncars with the infamous “TCP” on the bumper. I could smell the leather interior and I knew Anne Hathaway or somebody was inside, reminiscing  on the days when they were on the other side of the barricade.

     Short story long, No, I didn’t make it in, but I still ended up with the best seats in the house; front row, warm and dry, in my apartment, in front of my TV.

Stay Tuned. You’ll see me on the other side. Tiffany Black

The director says to me…

” You really rocked the reading”, and continues with the run down of the rehearsal and shoot schedule dates. Yes, today I went on a call back for a short indie film that the production company intends to enter into a couple film festivals.  I got a little nervous as I  physically prepared to present myself as much like the character as possible. Prior to going to the call back I performed a serious soliloquy that went something like this:

Is this the right color shirt; Should I wear these jeans or a dress? Ok, I’ll put on the dress; no, this is too slutty, the character isn’t slutty, she’s exotic. Ok well then lets go with the purple shirt and the red belt, no no too 80’s. Is my hair too short? Is it too curly? Maybe I should wear a wig…no they like your head shot silly why would you cover up the hair that helped you get the call back? Ok, I think I’ll go with the blue dress; sexy but classy. Damn, I only have 10 minutes to get there; hurry up Ashlee. Ok, ok I think I’m ready…breathe; this should be fun. Yes fun, don’t make a big deal about it. Either they want you or they don’t. They saw something in you to call you back; now be natural, do your best, and most of all: HAVE FUN!!

And that’s the bottom line. I did my best and had fun with the project. The director enjoyed my performance and said he will give me a call with the rehearsal schedule once they have the final cast member in place. And that was my Sunday, a fulfilling confirmation of my life; I’m already famous! And so are you Enjoy every moment of this incredible journey…and always remember that if you truly believe it to be, so it shall. What do you believe about your success?

Castings on Craig’s List: Are they legit?

So I have constantly asked myself, “how safe is it to post your resume and headshot to unkown users on Craig’s List?” This is a very serious and legitamate question that probably crosses the mind of many unsigned actors attempting to build up their demo reel and get on-camera experience. Though I question if I should even apply for the castings, I still find myself in the Talent/gigs section about 2-3 times a week searching for upcoming castings. Well I finally got a gig for an up & coming artist’s video shoot. I was to show up at a studio at 6:30 in the morning, there was no pay and copy of video would be provided as pay. I agreed to the terms. Once I hung up the phone, I said to myself what if the person on the other side of the phone is a crazy, what if this person is a criminal, what exactly do they want me to do in this video? Any smart person would realize reading this that these are all questions you should ask BEFORE you agree to participate! Luckily everything turned out well. I got a small part in a video and this weekend I am actually reading for principal role in a DV short film project, that I could possibly be cast in. So is Craig’s List legit? So far I have not run into any scam artisit; its seems to be a good bartering system going on at Craig’s; production companies need talent at non-union rates, and talent need exposure to get them into the union door. In the end we are both getting something out of the deal. I will say this though; All the Castings that I’ve gotten called for I am sure to let someone know the address  and contact person of where I’m going. I do a search to see if I can find the production company online.  And if I decide to go to the casting, I make sure that I’m comfortable with the surroundings, its a public place , and if I can, I have someone I trust along with for the ride!  My reading for the DV short is this sunday afternoon at Burbank library..nice public location, lots of  sunshine, very safe in my opinion. I just say be sure to use discretion if you decide to utilize Craig’s list. There are definitely other places that you can search for castings, like back stage, LA Casting, Actor’s Access, etc. These are all great places to start and legitamate; they also incur a monthly fee to access the information. I plan to join Actor’s Access in the very near future, but at this moment in time Craig’s list is an alternative to this small waiting period in my career.