Actor Links

Who you get to know is what really sets you apart in this biz...


LINKS for Actors

BackStage - the actors resource website
http://www.backstage.com/bso/index.jsp


Backstage "Advice Columns" for theater people
http://www.backstage.com/bso/advice/index.jsp



A great blog for theater students (voted one of the top 100)
http://www.acting-auditions.org/2007/11/headshot-and-resume.html


Actor resource eGuides (for most states)
http://www.actorsresourceguides.com/


Monologues
http://www.monologuearchive.com/


THE UNIONS

A Blog on joining SAG
http://www.brainsofminerva.com/2009/11/05/acting/how-to-join-sag/


SAG-AFTRSA (one Union)
http://www.sagaftra.org/


An OVERVIEW of all the Performance Unions
http://open-site.org/Arts/Performing_Arts/Acting/Unions/




PROFESSIONAL AUDITIONS

Advice from an LA castng Director
http://www.brainsofminerva.com/2010/02/02/acting/emmy-winning-cd-holly-powell-on-the-4-steps-to-casting-a-series-regular/


"Call Sheet" (formerly Ross Report) for nat'l AUDITIONS and CALLS For Actors - subscription page
http://www.amazon.com/Call-Sheet-By-Back-Stage/dp/B00564JK4M




AGENTS


Association of Talent Agents
http://www.agentassociation.com/#fact_4


Screen Actor's Guild advice for "getting an agent"
http://www.sag.org/content/find-agent



Advice from the NY Academy of Dramatic Arts on Agentshttp://www.sft.edu/tips/acting-agents-and-agencies.html



Advice for getting an agent
http://www.ehow.com/how_7692036_represented-talent-agency.html

FIND AN AGENT - website
http://talent-agencies.findthebest.com/


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TO FIND WORK:

a list of resources to look for work:

Free to You:

UTA List/Temp Diaries – This is the cream of the crop. The biggest agencies, the busiest production companies and network TV shows go through here if they write up a job listing at all. I get the list in a timely manner from friends sporadically but it’s posted online with a delay of a few days. I suggest you sign up for their mailing list as they e-mail you when the list comes out and they also forward on a few good job leads that aren’t on the official listing. On their website they also have a listing of temp agencies used by the business. Those guys are absolutely flooded with people who need work, but you should get listed with them anyway. Temps are the lowest of the low. If you’re a temp expect that no one will bother learning your name, but they can be a good way to get some experience and make some money.

Staci’s Job List: Once in a while there’s something good in there but it’s often a rehash of UTA list stuff a week late. She still has some unique stuff in there once in a while and it’s worth the sporadic e-mails.

The Grapevine Agency: They sometimes have assistant type jobs but mostly they have nanny/housekeeper work. If you’re looking for personal assistant work they’re not bad either.

The Help Company: They also have personal assistant work and once in a while have “office assistant” jobs. They’re a bit NY heavy and also have lots of nanny/housekeeper listings.

Reality Staff: This one has a few office positions but is mostly work in the field and in production of reality shows. Once in a while they have a non-reality gig as well. I’ve never used their pay service but it lets you attach a cover letter to your submission. Of course if you’re enterprising you can often find the hiring company and contact them directly without having to pay Reality Staff anything although they’re doing some good work, so it wouldn’t hurt to throw them some change.

The other ones are move obvious: mandy.com and entertainmentcareers.net and showbizjobs.com and of course, Craigslist. None of those guys need my explanation or endorsement.
Each of the studios has their own site for hiring. NBC has recently broken off from the GE site and now has their own, Fox has one, Time Warner has one and MTV has one. Disney’s is weird and is hard to figure out what jobs are new, but they have one too. Paramount I think uses Monster.com. The links to all of those can be found with a 10 second Google search, so I won’t bother to list them.
As an aggregate search tool I use is indeed.com which picks up A LOT of duplicate positions (I see 3 month old listings at NBC once in a while) but it can find jobs listed in odd places that you can’t search every 10 minutes. I have a bunch of searches saved on there. I still check as many sites as possible in case my search terms don’t pick something up and also to get past the delay in Indeed’s indexing but this is a great way to cast a wide net.

For Some Money:

I don’t spend money on any of these services and I certainly don’t get a dime from them. But here are a couple that I’ve heard are legit. They cover many of the same jobs that the free sites do. Don’t cry if you spent your 20 bucks and don’t find anything you haven’t seen before.

I know nothing about Media Biz Jobs except that a friend told me they’re good. Not a creepy friend either, but a nice one.

Production Notices used to have some free stuff and it was always high quality. They’ve since started charging but from what I’ve seen the quality hasn’t suffered at all. They often have PA jobs that you don’t see anywhere else.

Interning is a great way to get work, but you’re not going to get paid at first. These positions are in clear violation of labor law but no one seems to care much. You’ll be fetching coffee, making copies and doing other work that people get paid to do but you simply won’t get paid.

If you’re working for a halfway legit company these positions can lead to work. Don’t fall for the “Intern Personal Assistant” jobs that are billed as something that could lead to paid work if the producer whose house you’ll be “interning” at sells a script.

Work for a company or at least someone with a real office. While I was working as an intern I was offered several jobs within my company.

How to get these jobs? Just call up companies and ask for whoever hires their interns. Say you want to intern for them. If they don’t need anyone, call the next company. Some places are flooded with interns and some will let anyone come in and intern. Also if you intern at a place that passes around scripts you can read upcoming (possibly casting) projects to your hearts content.