The Actor's Business Plan: A Career Guide for the Acting Life

ISBN-13: 9781472573698 / Angielski / Miękka / 2015 / 272 str.

Jane Drake Brody

Opis

"The Actor's Business Plan" is a self-directed practical guide for actors graduating from formal training programs, as well as for those already in the business whose careers need to move ahead more successfully. Using the familiar language of acting training, the book offers a method for the achievement of dreams through a five-year life and career plan giving positive steps to develop a happy life as an actor and as a person. It assists performers to flourish using the same kind of business/career planning that is a necessary part of life for entrepreneurs and business people.

This introduction to the acting industry provides essential knowledge not only for how the business actually works, but also describes what casting directors, agents, and managers do, demystifies the role of unions, discusses how much things cost, and offers advice on branding and marketing strategies. It differs from other such handbooks in that it addresses the everyday issues of life, money, and jobs that so frequently destroy an actor's career before it is even begun.

While addressing NYC and LA, the guide also gives a regional breakdown for those actors who may wish to begin careers or to settle in other cities. It is loaded with personal stories, and interviews with actors, casting directors, and agents from throughout the US.

"The Actor's Business Plan "is the answer to the common complaint by students that they were not taught how to negotiate the show business world while at school. It is the perfect antidote for this problem and can easily fit into a ten or a thirteen-week class syllabus.

Offering support as a personal career coach, empowering the actor to take concrete steps towards their life and career dreams, "The Actor's Business Plan: A Career Guide for the Acting Life "is a must-have book for actors who are determined to be a part of the professional world .

Recenzje

Since actors spend much more time seeking and preparing for roles than actually acting, a career in acting should be viewed as a business. An actor, like any other professional, needs career plans, which pretty much sums up the main message of this work by veteran actor, director/producer, and agent Brody. Individual chapters cover the development of a five-year plan to achieve one's goals, getting an agent, and trying to land a job in a desired theater. Also covered are topics such as taking coaching classes, trying out for roles, handling life-plan obstacles (e.g., student debt), and dealing with business expenses (e.g., headshots, union fees, relocation expenses, or health insurance), along with tips on how to make contacts and write query letters or resumés. There is a section on what casting directors, agents, and managers actually do. The second half of the book focuses on the major acting centers of the country: Chicago, Minneapolis, New York, Los Angeles, Austin, Philadelphia, Atlanta, and the Washington, DC-Baltimore area. For each of these areas, the author provides a selection of agents, casting directors, photographers, drama schools, management, and theater companies with contact information. Summing Up: Recommended. All audiences. C. E. King, Iowa State University CHOICE

Spis treści

Preface IntroductionChapter 1: Dreams for Your Life Play Chapter 2: Given Circumstances of Your Life Play: ObstaclesChapter 3: Your Life Play's Five Year Plan: Objectives, Events, Tactics, Beats, and TasksChapter 4: Making Your Five Act Life Plan Happen Chapter 5: Handling the Obstacles in your Life PlayChapter 6: Access to the Fulfillment of your Life PlanChapter 7: The Cast of your Life Play: Casting Directors, Agents, and Managers; Who They Are and What They DoChapter 8: Building a Character: Type versus BrandChapter 9: Doing Your Life's Play, Action!Chapter 10: Your Life Play's Experience: ResumesChapter 11: The Album of Your Life Play: Pictures, Reels, and WebsitesChapter 12: Learning Your Lines and Showing up for Your Life Play: AuditionsChapter 13: The Location of Your Life Play: MarketsAppendix: Resources and Recommended Reading

O autorze

Jane Drake Brody is an award-winning casting director for her work on the film, Fargo. She taught acting for the past thirty years. She specializes in all forms of auditioning skills both on and off camera, and has received awards for teaching, directing, and acting throughout the US.