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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

In Part 3 of this series, we spoke of the star-to-be’s decision to attend or not attend a traditional college. We pointed out that many of today’s brightest screen personalities chose alternative or unconventional ways of fueling their starships.

In this installment, we will discuss what those less traditional routes might be.

First, we have acting schools that, although not as plentiful as traditional colleges, may offer more focused opportunities for the aspiring actor or actress.

For instance, Marilyn Monroe, Andy Garcia, Anne Bancroft, Marlon Brando and a host of other successful actors and actresses attended Actors Studio.

Lauren Bacall and Kirk Douglas attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

The New York Film Academy, with campuses in New York and Los Angeles,  provides lectures from such artists  as John Voight,  Dennis Hopper, and Ben Stiller.

The National Theater Institute offers a fourteen week acting immersion experience that has graduated such notables as Jennifer Garner.

And, there are many others from which to choose.

Second, there are thousands of individuals with impressive thespian credentials offering instruction in the various aspects of acting, voice and other performance disciplines.

A cautionary note: It is very easy to waste time and money with unworthy programs or lessons.  In some cases, the ethics of schools or individual instructors may be questionable, as financial pressures force many to accept individuals who are in need of a good life coach to direct them to fields other than acting.

An excellent example of a show business institution with high ethical standards is the San Francisco Ballet. On one occasion with which this author is familiar, an ambitious parent brought a very large boned, overweight young lady to the Ballet. It was clear to everyone, egalitarian sentiment aside —except the parent — that, in the best of all outcomes, her daughter was not going to appear as a serious ballerina in her lifetime. The School, in as kindly a way as possible, turned the paying customer away. When the parent began speaking of a law suit to force the School to take her daughter, the Ballet clearly stated that it would have been unethical to take tuition from this family, despite the dreams of the parent.

The point to be gleaned here is that there are plenty of schools and individual instructors who would have taken this family’s money.

The standing advice to a person wishing to enter a school or hire a teacher for any of the performing arts is to check references. Most of the time such checking will give the aspirant a view of  the priorities of the offering party. The other method is to employ an honest life coach to screen schools or individual teachers. (Jennifer Garner, after checking references, took instruction from David Chandler, one of the finest stage combat instructors in the world. The result can be seen in most of Garner’s work, the most notable thus far being her leading role in the TV series Alias.) 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.

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:

For many born outside Hollywood, especially those with dreams of film stardom, there are certain maxims that have become more or less accepted  as truth.

For example, one of these might be rendered, “The best path to becoming a Hollywood film star begins with being born to a film star.”

A second might be, “To become a film star, arrive in Hollywood with a room size box of  ready cash, sans lock.”

A third, “To become a film star, play bridge with a friend of a friend of a Hollywood film star (Suggestions: Omar Sharif, a long time high stakes bridge player or, until recently, the late George Burns, a long time low stakes bridge player.)

Each of the above maxims contains a germ of truth. However, each can be very misleading as well.

In this series, as an acquaintance of many in the film industry,  I hope to show that, although it is marginally easier as a statistic to succeed in Hollywood if one has a natural advantage, natural advantages sometimes make the journey toward stardom much more difficult.

Said differently, starting without a natural advantage does not necessarily reduce one’s chances of success in Hollywood significantly.

To begin,  the percentage of people who look up from their bassinet and notice a Julia Roberts ranked star rocking it is infinitesimally small. If we then go further and measure statistically those with Julia Roberts ranked stars as parents who have gone on to become major or even minor film stars, the number is  touching the invisible; however, it may not seem that way, since we all know of people who have done something wonderful with so-called advantages of birth, so long as those advantages are combined with loads of God given talent, and a willingness to work very hard.

To put things in perspective, let’s get an idea of the size of the group currently working in the entertainment industry, most of whom were born in Biloxi, Gary or Worcester of professional carpenters, plumbers, teachers, ministers and farmers, and all born without immediate access to Julia Roberts.

There are approximately 200,000 actors and actresses who are represented by the Screen Actors Guild (SAG). Just 1/100th of 1% of these can make a living doing nothing else but choosing among excellent film offers. Perhaps 80,000 members of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists  (AFTRA) are in the same situation.  We can add to that group those who belong to the The Writers Guild of America (WGA) perhaps 20,000 souls, and the Actors Equity Association (or simply Equity) with a membership of approximately 15,000. These are followed by the American Musicians Union and dozens, if not hundreds, of other organizations representing everyone from stunt persons to grips (the happy folks who tote equipment from place to place). All in all, it is estimated that at least a half million persons are actively employed in positions that provide an occasional opportunity to rub shoulders with an internationally ranked film star. Read the rest of this entry »