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“The trail may be cold, but the stories are hot!”

By ivi blog Guest Contributor Dr. Rob Moore

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In this series, we have seen examples of how Hollywood stardom has come to many who were willing to dream, develop world class skills, and persevere. We have also stressed that, often, the process of “becoming” a star is more rewarding than actually “arriving.”

In this article, we will acknowledge that, despite the exceptions who do indeed succeed in climbing the Everest that is Hollywood ambition, the odds are small an individual with modest personal resources (primarily contacts and money) will become a major player in motion pictures.

For perspective’s sake, one could say the same of becoming the CEO of a major US corporation…with the caveat that there are many more Fortune 500 CEOs than there are successful film stars.

With that as background, let us take a look at casting agencies, and the challenges they face, standing as they do between  ambition and big screen success.

We need to be clear. In the real world of northwest Los Angeles, equal opportunity is seldom the rule of thumb.

Why is this so? How can there be such a chasm between what prominent performers say about  social inclusion and the behavior of the industry they represent?

The answer is to be found in every Economics 101 classroom. The law of supply and demand.

For instance, in a previous article, we mentioned  that 3000 actors auditioned for the leading male role in the  TV series Moonlighting opposite Cybill Shepherd. Bruce Willis was chosen for the part, and the rest is TV history.

This number of persons may seem outsized. However, at least this many resumes are considered any time a good part in a film is opened to relatively unknown talent.

And, with technology now being used by casting agencies, the number of persons considered for each role of this kind may eventually reach the tens of thousands.

So what do casting agencies do?

On the low end of the prestige spectrum, we have agencies that primarily take orders for film extras. Those are the people you see in films crossing streets or dining in a restaurant when a staged gang hit takes place.

Then there are casting agencies established by former mid-level stars whose careers have run their course, but who wish to use their industry contacts both to make a living and also to help others obtain work, starting with extras and perhaps working up to some minor players. The hope of these agencies is to hit it big with a few performers, demonstrate their worth to noteworthy personalities, and, by word of mouth  graduate to the “big time.”

And finally, there are the big timers like the William Morris agency which serve functions somewhere between the casting agency and personal agent.  These are the kinds of agencies where newcomers need not apply unless they have serious contacts in the industry. If one is a daughter of Meryl Streep, fine. If one is the daughter of a Milwaukee bus driver, better apply to the city of Milwaukee for a driver’s license. Read the rest of this entry »

“The trail may be cold, but the stories are hot!”

By ivi blog Guest Contributor Dr. Rob Moore

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Thus far in this series, we have discussed several important aspects of preparing for a film or stage career. Chief among them:

A) The need for personal maturity and perspective. Many successful performers have discovered that the journey toward stardom  is more satisfying than stardom itself. That is, many a performer has been surprised at the lack of freedom and privacy an accomplished star enjoys.

B) The importance of developing multiple performance skills (acting,  dancing, singing, playing musical instrument(s), stage combat, stunt acrobatics and others.) The more an unknown has to offer a casting director, the better the chances of being hired.

In this article, we will briefly discuss the roles played by personal managers and agents, relative to a performer’s career.

Definitions:

Managers: Show business managers tend to have few clients, sometimes a single performer. A manager’s role may include discovering opportunities, negotiating contracts, financial planning, favorable publicity, and damage control should that become necessary.

Agents: Show business agents tend to have a stable of clients and function primarily to search out and present offers to them.

Questions:

Why do newcomers find it difficult to obtain representation from managers and agents?

1) Newcomers have little box office following. That is, other than relatives and friends, few persons are likely to purchase tickets to see or hear an unknown perform. Since managers and agents are generally paid as a percentage of their clients’ incomes, representing a newcomer is unattractive financially — unless the newcomer has the personal resources to support such a manager or agent on salary.

2) Within the show business world, some managers, but especially agents, are rated (read: earn respect) based on the clients they represent.

For example, at one time or another, super-agent Sue Mengers’ stable of clients has included Barbra Streisand, Ryan O’Neal, Ali McGraw, Candice Bergen, Gene Hackman, Tony Perkins, Tuesday Weld, Directors Herb Ross, Peter Bogdanovich, Bob Fosse and writer Gore Vidal, to name a few.

Of what should a newcomer be wary relative to representation?

1) Newcomers should be wary of anyone claiming to be able to transform an unknown into a star in a short period of time. Scammers understand that newcomers are often in the position of seeing their savings (if any) dwindle rapidly. Such a precarious financial situation encourages scammers to circle.

2) It is not uncommon for a so-called manager or agent to a) Rent a small  office with a smaller waiting area, b) Hang a few touched-up photos on the walls showing the manager or agent in the company of various well-known stars, c) Let the newcomer gape at the photos in the waiting area for awhile, d) Finally, a receptionist (usually the scammer’s spouse or “close” friend) announcing, “Mr. Jones or Ms. Smith will see you now.”

Several weeks or months (and several hundreds of dollars later), after the manager or agent collects tens of thousands of dollars from dozens of unsuspecting stars-to-be, the office is vacated without notice, the photos gone. The scammer then turns up in another part of town or another community entirely under another name to start the process all over again. (Convictions for this type of representation are hard to come-by because newcomers are embarrassed they have been so easily taken, cannot afford to remain in the area to testify in court cases, and usually haven’t been swindled out of enough money to make aggressive prosecution worthwhile. In addition, a court might ask how much work the star-to-be expected for $500-$1,000 in the first place.) Read the rest of this entry »

“The trail may be cold, but the stories are hot!”

By ivi blog Guest Contributor Dr. Rob Moore

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For anyone with a personal and professional commitment to compete in Hollywood or Manhattan for upcoming stage and/or screen productions roles, it is always an advantage to have developed many performance-related skills. An actor or actress in waiting never knows when an opportunity will present itself and require one of his or her talents.

Odds for success are always improved when a performer can respond to a variety of casting calls. That is to say, if one cannot dance well, any film calling for that skill is out of reach. The same holds true for singing, playing a musical instrument, acrobatics and any other area that allows a performer to add versatility to the cast of a production.

For example, John Travolta comes from a stage family. All the members of his family were trained from an early age in dance, song and acting. Having developed all those skills, Travolta was ready for just about any role offered him, short of one that required he actually leap from the 20th floor of a burning building.

He was able to fill roles requiring expert modern dance movement, as in Saturday Night Fever and Staying Alive; entertain us with expert singing in Grease, and, of course, act well. Said differently, a casting director could not ask for much more of a single performer.

As a result, in head-to-head competition with other actors, casting directors understood that, if a script needed a re-write, or an unanticipated new skill was required, Travolta could answer the challenge without the need for the directors revisiting the casting process, which entails additional time and, in most instances, lots of money.

Having multi-skilled personnel “on the lot” also allows writers to add scenes to productions that make it much more alive for audiences. Multi-skilled performers allow writers to exercise their imagination to the fullest, rather than being limited to the “spoken word” in a medium demanding lots of visual and auditory stimuli as well.

As with a sports team, the more talented each segment of a production’s membership is, the more management can count on a final product that will translate into box office revenue. As we said earlier, it is not called “show business” for nothing.

What is true of John Travolta is also true of Madonna. She has shown in the past to be a great modern dancer, but Madonna also is an accomplished ballerina, guitarist and drummer. And, oh yes, she is able to add acting and singing skills to a cast as well.

Bruce Willis made many contacts via his skills, even though many of his particular talents were not directly related to performing in a film production. Willis was an excellent private investigator, bartender and security expert before hitting it big in film. Imagine how those skills might have allowed Willis to connect with many people in Hollywood! (If a star or director is grateful for a service performed by an individual, it is not unheard of for that gratitude to translate into screen opportunity.) Read the rest of this entry »

CELEBRITY GOSSIP comes to the ivi blog via Guest Contributor Dr. Rob Moore, Ph.D. Dr. Moore is a mathematician and academic, has enjoyed social life in Hollywood for many years, making many friends in the acting and directing film communities. Dr. Moore regularly writes for the blog of ToysPeriod, a premier source of classic Lego set toys and model trains.

“The trail may be cold, but the stories are hot!”

By ivi blog Guest Contributor Dr. Rob Moore

From the Advice From Those Who Have Tried and Made It Department:

College

In the first two parts of this series, the need for perspective was emphasized when planning a film career.  (Note: When speaking of a film career, we are generally also including the live stage as well, even when not specifically stated. It is rare for a star of live stage never to be recruited for film, and the reverse can be said to a lesser degree.)

We said that success in Hollywood (film) or New York (stage) does not generally depend on ready contacts. We pointed out that, at times, such contacts can serve to actually  disadvantage the performer, especially if they, the contacts, are used to secure roles which pre-date acting mastery. Incompetent actors are quickly sidelined by the film and stage industries.  First and foremost, for investors, the “business” element of  “show business” is paramount. Anyone  threatening business with inadequate skills is not going to be retained in current, nor recruited for future projects, irrespective of contacts.

Finally, in previous articles, we explained how important it is to accurately evaluate acting successes in high school, college or other amateur venues. With over 5,000 colleges and universities and 30,000 high schools in the US alone, starring roles at that level, although fodder for happy memories, do not necessarily prepare one for stardom.

In this, the third article, we are going to begin to outline how one may go about preparing for a film and/or stage career.

As Abraham Lincoln once said, “I will prepare and some day my chance will come.”

So, how does one prepare oneself to be ready when  one’s chance arrives?

One of the first questions usually asked about preparedness involves whether or not an individual should attend a formal college.

The answer to that question, of course, varies from individual to individual.

College can provide a place to transition from adolescence to adulthood. If an individual is not sure of himself or herself in terms of strengths, weaknesses and life options,  college can be an important step in preparation for entering a very adult rough and tumble world.

On the other hand, for the present, let’s assume the time spent obtaining a college degree could be used to better advantage.

There are plenty of examples of stars who found college unhelpful when it came to supporting their dreams.

For instance, Reese Witherspoon dropped out of Stanford after one year as an English major to pursue acting full time. Ben Stiller left UCLA after a semester and a half. Madonna stopped attending classes at the University of Michigan very early. Sandra Bullock dropped out of East Carolina University to pursue her acting career. Tom Hanks walked away from Sacramento State University to sign on for a three year acting internship at the Great Lakes Theater Festival. Julia Roberts did graduate from Georgia State University, however, her concentration was veterinary science. And, Jennifer Garner, having graduated from Denison University with a major in drama, had to study acting and stage combat at the National Theater Institute,  and then move on to New York before her career began to show signs of  life.

On the directing side of the film equation, even notables like Steven Spielberg dropped out of college (University of Southern California)  because of poor grades. He did turn up 30 years later at California State University Long Beach to receive a degree. By that time, though, Spielberg could have purchased both campuses.

If I choose college, what should I do while on campus?

If you do decide to attend a traditional college, it is important that during your time on campus, you do everything you can to advance your practical stage and screen related knowledge and skills.  Make certain, for instance, you choose modern dance over time on the college’s water slide. Be sure you sign up for the Method Acting course over one involving the finer points of badminton. Read the rest of this entry »

CELEBRITY GOSSIP comes to the ivi blog via Guest Contributor Dr. Rob Moore, Ph.D. Dr. Moore is a mathematician and academic, has enjoyed social life in Hollywood for many years, making many friends in the acting and directing film communities. Dr. Moore regularly writes for the blog of ToysPeriod, a premier source of classic Lego set toys and model trains.

“The trail may be cold, but the stories are hot!”

By ivi blog Guest Contributor Dr. Rob Moore

From the Advice From Those Who Have Tried and Made It Department:

Perspective, Perspective, Perspective

In the first article of this series, it was pointed out that — for individuals born without natural contacts in Hollywood, i.e., relatives, friends or acquaintances in the business — “making it” in films is not the impossible challenge  so often portrayed.

Then again, we need to anchor ourselves in reality, slicing through the vines of fantasy and legend that have grown up around the film industry.

For example, we could park ourselves on our collective backyard loungers, squinting at the bright blue Southern California sky , confident that loose large denomination bearer bonds will eventually float within arms’ reach. We could also assure ourselves, if we are patient, that a Hollywood studio executive will walk under our neighborhood window, falling helplessly under the thrall of  our shower voice as we boom passages from Henry IV, Part II.

OR, we could invest our Hollywood hopes in one of the famous legends, like the one involving Lana Turner.

For those of you not familiar with the story of Lana Turner’s discovery, it is told thusly: One sunny weekday afternoon, Lana, then a senior at Hollywood High School, was leisurely camped at Schwab’s soda fountain a few blocks from school. Schwab’s, like tens of thousands of other American stores of that era, catered to the young while they navigated their often conflicted soda sipping personal development. A studio executive, entering Schwab’s to purchase his weekly pound of  aspirin, so necessary when casting projects, noted Lana working on her last straw, and made her a decent offer.

This story is nice for the hopeless to imagine. However, it never happened.

In Lana’s case, with the horde of young suitors forever in hot pursuit,  occasions for leisurely refreshment anywhere were difficult for her to manage.  Lana alone, purchasing her own soda, is hard to imagine.

So, we must put away in our soon to be dusty closets thoughts of getting anything out of soda other than cool refreshment or, in the case of super sizing, pounds that may definitely keep us from center stage.

OK, so dreams aside, what about crashing in on celebrity dinners when they dare show their faces in public. Why not casually drop a recording, movie script or other object in the vicinity of their plate? After all, this is your life’s dream we are talking about.

Assuming that you could approach the celebrity’s table without being intercepted and dragged from the building, there is a word for plate-dropping. The word is “rude.”

In addition, people in Hollywood who have “made it” are in constant fear of crazed fans with dreams of stardom raging in on their private moments.

We remember Frank Sinatra pummeling the persons of fans disturbing his ability to appreciate expensive Sunset cuisine.

We remember how justifiably upset Barbra Streisand became when an environmentalist took aerial photos of her Malibu home and placed them on the Internet, thus leading fans to her doorstep.

Other stars, like Henry Winkler, have had the experience of emerging from their showers only to find  fans, pads in hand, in their bathrooms.

Still others, having had too many of these encounters have been driven to take steps that seem insane (and are definitely illegal). For example, W.C. Fields was so incensed with people gawking at him, and then stalking by his home for sight seeing purposes, he hid in the large bushes out  front. When the stalker stepped more than four feet onto his property (Fields had it marked), he would shoot them in the legs with BB’s.  No charges were ever filed against Fields, since no fan knew from whence the BB’s originated. However, that Fields was out there at all gives us a view of the internal struggles to which many well connected Hollywood personalities are subject.

Although stars try hard to remember that it is fans who ultimately allow them to live well, some fans venture way beyond annoyance and actually become dangerous, as was the case for Jodie Foster’s fan, John Hinckley, who shot President Reagan to gather to himself Jodie’s attention, or a Lennon Sisters fan who shot and killed their father, William, because the fan believed, in his fantasy world, that it was Mr. Lennon who was keeping him from one of the girls.

Of course, the reality is that most fans of the stars are just that, fans. They are respectful. On  the other hand, for every thousand fans, there is at least one who borders on instability. Therefore, rule number one, in our search for stardom, “It is important to make friends.”  But, laying in wait for stars whose screen image invites intimacy is not the way to launch a career, unless that career involves the California penal system.

Pursuing this subject of contacts and perspective, out of necessity, nearly to the point of exhaustion, “How valuable are “contacts” in Hollywood?”

In a place where 50% of the population is attempting to feed on the other 50%, it is wise to remember the old vaudeville routine regarding the sincerity of Hollywood promises. The routine is performed thusly: Mike to Joe: “Joe, Have you heard that Hollywood is populated by people who are like artificial tinsel. Joe  to Mike: “No, Mike, I haven’t.”  Mike to Joe: “Yeah, but have no fear, Joe, behind the artificial tinsel, lies the  real tinsel.”

Bottom line: Hollywood people are no better or worse than people anywhere. That said though, with so many starry eyed individuals floating up and down Sunset and Hollywood boulevards on any given day, securing one’s home and some degree of personal privacy, if one is a so-called “industry contact,”  is not always the easiest thing to manage. It is difficult for a well connected Hollywood resident not to feel sometimes (or always) that people make their acquaintance only to further their personal career goals. (Unhappily, for individuals who have come to “tinsel town” in order to make it in film, this is often the case.)

So what is the proper attitude to approach the place called Hollywood?

Here is where Perspective, Perspective, Perspective (some would call it maturity) comes into play.

Most of us have parents who have had the courage not to pursue the glamorous, to sacrifice their moment in the camera’s eye in order to allow their children to dream. I am speaking of the builders and fixers; the growers and caretakers; the teachers and  grocers; the healers and drivers; the servers and  designers; the preparers and the warriors.  You know, those people most of us call Mom and Dad.

These are the people who  preserve and protect the environment that makes the Hollywood dream possible.

That said, becoming an actor or actress, despite the profession’s history of being at once honored and shunned, can and should be considered what it is, an exciting way to inspire, teach, direct and preserve for all time, on film, the messages most precious to the human heart.

Like all other professions, the ranks of screen workers are made up of people with fears and securities; desperations and contentments; and, oh yes, the need to find a place to live, pay their energy bills and avoid being mugged if at all possible.

That said, let’s start our journey toward stardom as a teen in Biloxi, Gary or Worcester or one of any of the thousands of wonderful places throughout America that make up the collective memories of where we are “from.”

Let’s start by understanding that there are over 30,000 public high schools in the United States alone, perhaps another 20,000 to 30,000 secondary schools not drawing public funds, approximately 3200 four year colleges, and another 2,000 private or community two year colleges.

Let’s start with some sense of perspective regarding what it means to **star** in a high school or college play or to be crowned prom queen.

I point this out in an article about becoming a Hollywood star because each and every institution, almost without exception, gives each person the opportunity to “star” in a stage production or beauty contest or sporting event or Lord knows what other venue, all aimed at the legitimate goal of preparing youth to march forward with confidence into the future.

The result of all these institutions’ work is wonderful, so long as it is seen for what it is. That is, the star of a high school play is just that, the star of a high school play. He or she is perhaps in a group nationally of 200,000 to 300,000 individuals at any one time who in their respective schools are considered “stars.”

However, here is where perspective often breaks down.

There is a huge difference between the lead in Waiting for Godot presented in a local high school gymnasium, and Lawrence  Olivier playing Henry the Fifth at New York’s Lyceum or Tom Cruise playing the lead in Collateral.

It is one thing for an individual to place a monologue on YouTube. It is quite another to deliver a monologue such as Clive Owen provides us in Inside Man.

The problem is that many would-be stars do not recognize the differences, and they are not willing to study their craft in order to  perform like legitimate stars.

We need to remember that perspective says it is a mistake of huge proportions  to translate a high school acting success or YouTube presentation into an unplanned trip to Hollywood for the purpose of becoming a star. That is a way to end up in a place needing to be rescued by those who love you, those who every day continue to report to the work site back in Biloxi, hoping to hear from you, hoping you will come home.

So, now we have established two things in these articles.

The first (Explained in Part 1) is that you do have a chance of becoming a star irrespective of  where you were born or who you and your loved ones know.

Second, in this section we’ve explained the need to maintain perspective when thinking of a career in film. We should not throw ourselves on the mercy of existing stars nor should we translate our appearance in a local high school play as sufficient preparation for Hollywood stardom.

Next time we will discuss some first practical steps when planning a Hollywood career.