Memorizing Lines
Jeanne writes...

Resume

Here is a sample acting resume. Actually, it's my resume. I found it was easiest to format the resume by creating tables within the document and plugging in my info. These tables were a pain to make. Please feel free to use this sample as a template for your resume and just plug in your info. You can add rows or subtract rows by highlighting the rows and hitting delete or highlighting below where you want your new row and hitting "Table>Insert>Rows."

If you want your resume to emphasize your film work, just make sure to put film before theatre. Don't have your list of special skills span more than two lines. I hear it's good to have your final special skill be something funny. Google actors web sites and see what they list as special skills to get a good idea of what to put. I find the best way to Google actors websites is to type "212 AEA" or "212 SAG" or something like "AEA SAG Special Skills"--in other words, terms you'd find on resumes.

REMEMBER BLONDE DESCRIBES WOMEN, BLOND DESCRIBES MEN.N.

I hear the casting directors of Law & Order really look for Police, Fire Fighter, and EMS/Paramedic skills in the Special Skills section. So put them down if you have them.

Also if you go to this website http://vistaprint.com. You can get business cards made pretty cheap. I think you can get 250 and only pay for shipping--which is like $8.

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Auditions

So, you've got your resume. How are you going to get in front of the Casting Directors and Agents?

Actors Connection
In New York they have this place called Actors Connection (actorsconnection.com) where you pay to meet industry folks. Some people say they feel sleazy meeting industry people this way but I think it's a necessary evil. The people who attend these meetings are legitimate (for the most part) agents, casting directors, and managers. The amount it costs to meet one of these folks is about the same amount you'd spend on a mailing and you know you'll meet this person. And it's your time so you can ask them questions like: "Did you think my monologue suited me?" "Can you recommend any playwrights that would be good for monologues for me?" or in the case of agents: "If I hear of something being cast that I would be good for may I contact you to submit me?" There's another outfit like Actors Connection called One-on-One (www.oneononenyc.com/aboutus.jhtml)--but they are more expensive from what I hear and require an audition to get into their system. I also hear they just have the same people anyway. At Actors Connection, I think they have a discount for on-the-day-of "seminars," ask about their "Blue Plate Special."

EPA's
If you're a member of Actors Equity Association you have access to countless EPA's (Equity Principal Auditions). A lot of people think these are bunk because they are mandatory casting sessions often attended by assistants. But you may be seen by some good people. And people do get jobs from these things. If you're not Equity don't let that discourage you. You can still try to get in by going to the place of the EPA--in New York it's usually The AEA Building: 165 West 46th St, 2nd Floor. If they still have spots left after the AEA folks audition they'll often see non-equity. It doesn't happen all the time but its worth giving it a shot. They make the non-equity stay in a hallway while the equity people get to hang out in the "equity" lounge. You can find a list of EPA's at www.actorsequity.org then click on casting. If you don't get in the audition at least you can drop off your resume. You might get to network with actors and find out some of their tips. Give it a shot.

Backstage
Lots of people say that Backstage only offers the crumbs in terms of auditions. You won't see what's inside Breakdowns (the daily casting notice that goes out to agents and managers) but you might spy something good. And Backstage is an excellent source of student films. If you are new to the scene I would say load up on the student films especially NYU and Columbia ones if you're in New York. Not only will you get experience on camera, you'll get material for your reel and some of these film students get impressive jobs in film and casting after they leave school. I would get the print version of Backstage because the job market section lists some good info on actor friendly jobs (if you're looking for a day job while you're hustling). BackstageUrinetown for example.

The online version of Backstage have a cool message board where you can ask other actors questions about the biz, i.e. "Has anybody ever heard of Stanley Kaplan he just called me in for an interview?" "Where should I take classes" "How do y'all warm-up before an audition?" You'll get some good feedback. Check it out here. It's a free service.

Monologues
I think its best to find modern monologues in one act play collections. I think the one acts are a good choice because you can find unknown work by big name authors. Check out Tennessee Williams' Twenty Seven Wagons Full of Cotton for starters. Although the best thing you can do for monologue advice is to ask a casting director if he or she recommends any playwrights for monologues. I did this with a casting director I paid to meet at Actors Connection and he was very receptive. I wouldn't necessarily recommend asking such a question in an audition but if you met a casting director in another atmosphere--paying to meet them for example, you'll probably get some good advice.

I also recommend tracking down Sitcom scripts for monologues. Every once in a while you'll hear a great monologue on a sitcom. I wouldn't shy away from this material. Sitcoms are written more like plays than they are like films (open wall sets that contain most of the action). If you hear a good monologue on Seinfeld or MASH track it down on Google. I recommend the "Bookman" monologue from Seinfeld if you can find it.

Just my two cents: I wouldn't worry about using monologues that are classics, especially in regards to classics. If you can take something that everyone else does and knock it out of the park, I think it makes you look that much stronger. But I'm not a casting director. However--let me get out my horn so I can toot it a little--I received a callback from Julliard with the overdone Bottom's dream speech (from A Midsummer Night's Dream) as well as a somewhat obscure Tennessee Williams monologue (The Writer from "The Lady of Larkspur Lotion" included in Twenty Seven Wagons Full of Cotton). And judging from the callback, it was the Bottom monologue that got me noticed. I knew someone who got into Julliard and he used a fairly common Shakespeare monologue as well.

Also when picking your monologue, I hear its best if close to a minute and a half--they always say you 2 minutes but I try to do less--I've heard from a casting director that they can get a handle on you in thirty seconds. Also, when picking comedy or dramatic comedy monologues, stay away from angry tirades, the casting directors don't like being yelled at. And neither do I, ya breath stinks.

Here's some mistakes I have made in auditions:

• I didn't have much training for on-camera work when I started auditioning. I started this nasty habit of lowering my neck to get my face to match the height of the camera. Don't do that.
   
• Don't put special skills on your resume that you don't have. I'm a funny guy and I wrote a one man show in college so I thought I'd put "stand-up comedy" as one of my special skills. At one Audition I was asked to perform some of my stand-up. I said "stand-up?" The guy said "Yeah, tell me a joke." So, I launched into this monologue from my one-man show and tried to make stand-upish. It was awful, embarrassing, and I received no call back. I went home and took "Stand-up Comedy" off of my special skills as well as "Gun Safety." On the flipside, I used to list "Scary Clown laugh" on my resume. I worked as a "scary clown" one Halloween and had this awful high pitched laugh I would do. I thought I would be cool if I listed "Scary Clown Laugh" as one my skills. Well, every time I would go to an audition and the monitor would get bored, he'd look through peoples special skills and always make me do a scary clown laugh to amuse himself. It happened more than a couple times so I took it off.
   
• I went to an audition once and for this audition a prepared mime piece was required. I was a little nervous because I didn't prepare that much. When I got up to do my piece I told the auditor that he could feel free to stop me if I went too long. He said, "Of course I can." Needless to say if you're worried about your audition piece being too long, don't inform the auditor to stop you before you begin, that's their job. Just jump into it and do the thing that you do so well.

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Same old, Same old: Mailings
You know the deal about sending off your headshot and resume and following up with postcards. Remember to follow up your auditions with postcards as well. Develop a logo for you stationary either with font selection and border on Word or by making a graphic on Photoshop. What I do is take a photograph and play with the filters and color until I get a two ton black and white image. It looks like an illustration and if it's only black and white it prints out nicely from a laser printer. To see what I mean: Here's a sample off a cover letter I sent to agents. It got me sent on a commercial audition through Paradigm.

Temp jobs offer a great resource for working on mailings and designing your own stationary. An important part of mailings is executing a mail merge. If you don't know how to do a mail merge try Googling mail merge instructions or consult the help in your version of Word. Once you get the knack of it, it's a piece of cake and saves you a ton of valuable time. It's also a skill which might make you money as a temp. If you're crafty you can even set up your printer to print out addresses on post cards to mail your updates. Keep on mailing those postcards! I need to do that myself. Thanks for reminding me.

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The Unions!
Actors Equity Association
The easiest way to get in Actors Equity Association is to get a job as a strolling character actor through The Jekyll and Hyde Club, a theme restaurant in New York City. Why? You get in the union when you're hired. It's not a tour. You don't need "points." They take pictures and resumes a few times a year when the busy seasons start up. However, the current contract for this job makes it impossible to get health insurance. Look for their ads in Backstage but don't mention my name. They look for strong improv skills.

Well, the easiest way to get into Equity is to be handed a Broadway role, but agents don't submit people to the above option.

Another option is to get a tour with Theatreworks. This company has children's touring shows. Some shows stay close to the city. The good thing about Theatreworks is that if you do a whole tour you'll probably have health insurance for a year.

AEA grants health insurance according to weeks worked. I believe the current system is this (check it out for yourself though): you work 12 weeks within a year you get six month's health insurance. You work 20 weeks, you get a year. If you work an AEA gig 20 weeks during a year you have no need to be reading this and please hook me up with your agent and did I mention how thin you look?

What are some benefits of being in AEA? You get a little membership card that says you're an actor, you can attend EPAs, you can become a member of Actors Federal Credit Union, you can get free Broadway tickets if a show is undersold and is looking to fill seats, you can get into SAG after a year. The thing is if you want to be professional you're going to be Equity someday so you might as well have it working on your resume as long as you can.

If you are in an AEA show I'd recommend being a deputy so you can familiarize yourself with the union and attend deputy meetings and hob nob with the Broadway deputies (and get to hear what they whine about). Deputies are liaisons between the cast and AEA as well as the cast and management.

SAG
The people who I know who have joined SAG have gotten more attention from industry folks then before they joined. Now I don't know if this is because they get new headshots when they join SAG, decide since they plopped down the $1400 to make more of an effort, or if the union just gives you more clout--but it does seem to make a difference, sometimes small, sometimes a little bigger than small.

I had a couple friends who got to join SAG just by being recurrent extras in a movie. Others have gotten membership be being in AEA. The lucky and talented get it by getting a TV, movie, or commercial spot.

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Survival Jobs and Money: Paying Your Bills!

Temping, Office Work
The only real survival job I know well is temping. In New York City. I have worked recently through The Employment Line (www.theemploymentline.com). The Employment Line is great and they're pretty nice. I know Headway and Core Staffing (the downtown branch on Maiden Lane) are agencies my friends use and get a lot of work from. You can find ads for temp agencies in Backstage (the printed version, not the online version). temping gives you access to time and resources to work on your mailings and website as well as office supplies. Remember to make use of the laser printers and copies as well as paper cutters for your resumes.

To sign up with an agency it helps if you know of someone who works for an agency, but if you don't no big whoop. I would just call the agency and say "Hello, I'd like to register with your agency for temp work." The term register is the word to watch. For some reason it'll show you know a little about the biz.

Here is a sample resume to use as a template. It got me temp work.

On your resume make sure you list "Word, Excel, and PowerPoint" as your skills that and a BA will justify asking for $18 (in New York at least). You may not get this rate but you should at least ask for it. Let the temp people knock it down. But don't mention your rate until you are asked.

Even if you don't think Word, Excel, and PowerPoint are your skills, LIST THEM. These are the magic three programs. You can probably figure them out and if you're given a specific job to do at your temp job they'll show you what to do at the job. Plus, most temp jobs I've had are either brainless simple tasks or you do nothing.

When you are called into the interview dress as nice as you can. Wear a suit or whatever makes you look like you're the CEO of a company. Suits for men really leave a great impression with these temp people. Because if you go in wearing a suit they think you can do legal work and legal work is the highest paying of the temp jobs and sometime legal jobs run around the clock so you can work at night and run around hustling auditions during the day.

List as many computer skills you can think of. If you know word, then you know WordPerfect and you probably know FrontPage. If you know Excel you might be able to break into Access. If you know Frontpage you probably know Dreamweaver. Photoshop, Quark, Outlook, iMovie, FinalCut... Name them all. Proficiency in computer skills leads to a higher rate and a higher rate usually leads to less work to do at your assignments and more "you" time while you're on the clock.

I recommend signing up with as many temp agencies as you can. For each day that you aren't working either set up an interview with an agency or walk into an agency in your best dress or suit or whatever you wear and ask to register.

Once you meet with agencies don't be alarmed if they don't call you for work. It's a bad economy, but don't fret. Call the agencies at least three times a week. Call early in the morning around 8 and tell them that you are dressed, ready to go and available all week. Most places that hire temps are sympathetic if you need to leave for an audition during the day--so don't let the possibility of scoring a big audition interfere with your temp work. you need to pay the rent and use office supplies for your mailings and website development!

Be A Tour Guide
I've heard that being a tour guide is a good survival job. The hourly rate isn't that high in New York City (I think it's around $12.50 an hour) but you get tips. In New York City you need a license from the Department of Consumer Affairs to be a tour guide. Click here for more information. On the form found at the Department of Consumer Affairs, I could not find a copy of the affidavit forms they say you need for your license. I found this link which posts a .pdf file of the all the info. The affadavit is on page 3. Just print out three copies.

Focus Groups
Market research companies pay people for their opinions. They gather people in things called Focus Groups and ask your opinion about a particular product or service. These things often pay in cash and only take a couple hours. I made $100 from one that was only around 2 hours. I never heard of anybody making a living from focus groups. You can often find Focus Groups listed on Craigslist, www.craigslist.com, under Et Cetera jobs. They have different Craigslist for different cities, just click on your city and then click on "Et Cetera Jobs." Here's the link for the New York Craigslist Et Cetera Jobs. You can also find other odd job leads here too.

Money!
Any easy way to get some extra cash is to take all your loose nickels, dimes, pennies, and quarters to a Commerce Bank and cash it in for free! They have these video game like machines called Penny Arcades. If you correctly guess how much change you have you get a prize. Here's a link to find a Commerce bank near you: http://bank.commerceonline.com/information/branch_locations/index.cfm
I know a lot of actors in NYC who use and recommend Commerce Bank. If you just moved to the city check them out! Don't waste money on Coinstar anymore!

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Website: Do It Yourself (or have me do it)

Please make your own website. Websites are not impossible to make. Cruise around the internet and see what actors put on their sites: videos, audio clips, photo galleries, words of wisdom (ahem), diaries, and weird stuff. Every up and coming actor should have a site not just as a calling card to display who you are to the industry but to network with other actors. Also if you put some cool stuff on it you can get your name out there. Make little movies, keep a journal, just put something on the web that'll make people curious who you really are. Below are some tips to set you on your way, if you would rather have me set up a site for you to save you some time and a couple fumbles check out my web design page--I'll make you a deal.

In order to make a webpage you need to be familiar with HTML coding. It is not hard to learn or understand. Try this website for tips on html code: www.htmlbasix.com. Remember you can always view the source code on someone else's page to see how they did something by going up to the top menu bar of your web browser and hitting View the click on "view source code." You may steal source code this way but it might be illegal so I am not instructing you to do so.

There are many HTML editor programs that will let you compose a webpage like a word processing document so you can see the layout and translate it into code as you do it. you can do this on Microsoft Word but it adds unnecessary code and makes you webpages take up more bytes than necessary. If you go to Netscape.com and download Netscape, there's this application called Netscape Composer which is free and lets you compose webpages. Frontpage (which is probably on your computer at work if you have an office job) and Dreamweaver are superior but not as free.

You will need to host your webpage on the internet. There are many free places to do this. I recommend Freewebs.com. If your going to use more memory or bandwidth than they provide (usually you'll use a lot of bandwidth if you have video or audio clips), I recommend using a paid hosting service. Right now I use  Dreamhost. They're cheaper if you need a lot of space and have some cool bells and whistles.

But if you're just starting out, use the Freewebs to get started. Once you have a site through one of these free services, you'll have a long internet address which will probably sprawl half-a-mile. You can purchase you're own domain name for around $10 and then have the domain registration company--such as Active-Domain.com forward your new shorter  domain name to your long ugly address.

Once you have a website, go to www.sitemeter.com and you can get the code to add a thing on your website that counts your visitors and tracks info like what domain they are coming from (you might spot someone from hbo.com).

All of this takes some time, if you would like me to set you up with a site, I'll make you a deal. Check out my web design page for actors, models, and comedians. Click here.

Blogs
Blogs are online diaries. I see that a lot of stand-ups use them as a means of getting a following and keeping people up to date on their work. I think they're very effective and very easy to maintain. Here are some examples; http://kidliam.blogspot.com or http://www.christianfinnegan.com/TowerofHubris.htm. You can set up a blog for free at www.blogger.com. They're easy to set up and a cinch to maintain you can also do it while at your temp job. if you have a good blog people will be checking in every day seeing what you have to say. Once you get your blog rolling go to haloscan.com and you can get code to set up a commenting system where people can post comments to your blog entries.

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Movies: Roll Your Own

Make your own movies! Please! It is remarkably easy to make a digital short and put it on the web these days. I think this is a great way to promote yourself. All Apple Computers that are being made now come with iMovie (make sure and check though if you're going to buy one). iMovie allows you to edit digital video as easy as playing Solitaire. And I think the prices of digital camcorders are even going down. And if you live in a place like New York you have the whole city to act as your set.

I'm unfamiliar with other editing programs such as Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere, and Windows Moviemaker but iMovie can export movies to Quicktime format which you can upload to your website.

You don't even need a crew: you can write, shoot, perform, and edit all by yourself (see any one of my shorts). I think this is invaluable if you are a comedian and do characters. Make a video of three different characters that you do. Ka-Pow, you are now a web presence.

I bought a tripod for around $14 that works pretty well. I bought a lapel mic for around $13 as well. For lighting I use those clip on work lights that I bought at home Depot. Check it out, this dude tells you how to make a $14 steadicam.

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Classes
Here are places that I've taken classes and recommend.

The Peoples Improv Theater a.k.a. The PIT.  They have some great shows and all of the tickets are under $10. The PIT's a great group of people. They probably offer the best comedy writing classes in the city.

The Magnet Theatre Everybody always says that this place has a "great vibe." A certain SNL alum who has been in the Austin Powers movies sometimes makes an appearance.

Michael Howard Studios There are all sorts of classes to take here and I think it's a great acting school. I have studied with a few teachers here and thought it gave me a solid foundation for acting. I recommend this school and I hear others recommend it often as well.

The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre a.k.a. UCB. The hub of New York City Improv and Comedy groups. UCB is probably the most famous improv place right now. I took my first two improv "levels" here (In the improv educational track there are usually four levels, sometimes five--each level is around 8 weeks). Amy Poehler from Saturday Night Live is one of the founding members of The UCB. They have a lot of shows here as well. I think they have a hilarious show called ASSSCAT which is free Sunday nights--often with familiar faces from SNL and Conan O'Brien--you just have to wait in a line. I hear Agents like the UCB.

A lot of studios and theaters that offer classes also have internship or work study programs where you work a few hours a week and get reduced prices for classes. Ask wherever you choose to study about such programs.

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Actual Acting Tips

I apologize if you read this whole thing expecting to get some tips on scene work, acting, and performing. I'm no acting teacher but here are some tid bits I recommend.

• Look into your scene partners eyes and talk to them.
• Loud volume is not a technique. Don't scream at people.
• Specify everything.
• Don't rock back and forth like a willow tree. It looks really bad. And if you are wearing nice shoes, it click clacks.
• Watch performers you admire and see if you can pinpoint why you like them.
• Listen when your scene partner is speaking.
• If something falls on stage, pick it up. If you try to continue the scene and trying to not pay attention to it, the audience will notice it more. Audiences appreciate a quick bit of improvisation to fix a small problem like vase tipping over. My favorite is when a phone ring cue goes off and keeps ringing after the actor picks up the phone. I think it's fine and hilarious if you give the phone a quick look in this case.
• When acting in comedy, always commit to the jokes no matter how lame you think the jokes are. Commitment can really sell a joke.

For acting advice in book form, I recommend reading Audition by Michael Shurtleff.

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Seeing Theatre for Cheap or Free

Here's how I've seen Broadway shows for cheaper than usual. Broadway tickets will run you $50 to $80. You can't afford that and shouldn't pay such prices, especially if you're reading this webpage. The easiest way to get the cheapest tickets to a Broadway show is to go to the box office of the theater and ask the ticket salesperson what's the cheapest they have. Ignore the ticket sale sign with its $50 upper mezzanine "bargains." If the ticket salesperson responds with a price like $40 for the cheapest price ask them about:

• Standing Room Only Tickets-- You buy a place to stand in the back of the orchestra seats. Sometimes you can sneak a seat during intermission.
• Student Discount Tickets-- If you have a student ID, often you can get reduced price tickets.
• Obstructed View Tickets-- These are my favorite because sometimes you get seat right up front on the side. The call it obstructed view because you technically can't see part of the stage but sometimes you're so close you don't care. Ask where the seats are.
• Rush Tickets-- Some Theaters offer reduced priced tickets on the day of. You might have to wait early in the morning by the box office. Some theaters use a lottery system to sell rush tickets.

Free Tickets: If you're a member of Actors Equity Association, then they have a free ticket bulletin board by the second floor of their New York Office. If a show is not selling enough tickets sometimes the producers will be gracious enough to offer Equity members free tickets. You can usually get 2 free ticket vouchers for whichever show is offered. I've gotten some really good seats at Broadway and Off-Broadway shows through this. I've also heard of people ushering for shows in order for them to catch them for free. Basically you show up early and direct people to their seats.

Movies: If you're in SAG, you can some free tickets. If not you can often buy discount movie passes over Ebay. Do a search for movie tickets. Or your job might get some movie passes that they can sell you. Oh and if you're a senior you can get discount tickets through the ATM-movie ticket machines in the theater. And if you're not a senior you might accidentally press the button which sells these discounted tickets. And that would be horrible.

The Opera: In New York City, you can get orchestra seats to the Metropolitan Opera (popularly known as "the Met") for $25. These are student discount tickets. You must have a student ID and be under 29. You can buy two tickets with your student ID. These tickets are sold from the box office directly and can be bought any time, not just on the day of. I hear they sell out fast. When looking at the other prices for these tickets, this is an extremely good deal if you like the opera. For more info check out the Met's website www.metopera.org.

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Stand-Up Comedy: All Eyes On You!
A lot of actors are also interested in stand-up comedy. You think you can make a room of people laugh for five minutes? You never know. Gigglechick.com has a great list of open mics and bringer shows (shows where you have to bring a few paying people to watch you), check it out. Make cultural comparisons, complain about political leaders, denounce the MTA. You will be loved or rejected. But you'll never know until you take it to the stage.

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Scams!
There are many people out there who specialize in separating enthusiastic actors from their money. I'll try to post links of scam when I hear them.

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Glossary of Terms
I remember when I just moved to New York and people would throw around show biz terms I would pretend to know what they mean because I didn't want to sound like a chump. Let me wrack my brain and see what terms you can through around to make other people feel like chumps.

30 Rock - This term is slang for "30 Rockefeller Plaza" which is the address of NBC in New York City and home to such shows as Saturday Night Live and Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Don't use this term, you'll sound silly. You might hear casting directors and hot shot agents use this one. This is also the name of a show on NBC about a TV show that is filmed at 30 Rockefeller Plaza.

Actor – Someone who performs the role of a character for the audience. A female actor is  sometimes called an “Actress,” however this term is dated and “actor” now refers to both men and women. Actors can perform characters from a text, such as a play, opera, or comedy sketch. Actors can also perform improvisation, scenes and characters which are not prepared before the performance.

Ad Libbing – Making up lines within a prepared scenario or text. An actor might forget his or her lines and ad lib a couple lines to get through the scene. An actor might say his or her own lines within the context of a scene either because their having fun with the text, think their lines are better, or have permission from the director. Ad libbing is similar to improvisation, however improvisation is more about creating scenes or moments that had not existed before, Ad libbing is playing with what is already there. The phrase “make it your own” is sometimes used by directors to instruct actors to ad lib or improvise.

AEA - Actors Equity Association. The stage actors union. See here for more info.

AFTRA - American Federation of TV and Radio Artists. This union represents some TV shows (most of the Soaps, talk shows) and all of radio (DJs). This is the only performer's union that you can buy your way into. See here for more info.

Assitant Director (A.D.) – This is a position on a film or TV production, for someone who assists the director. There are usually many Assistant Directors. Each one usually has a specific task. One A.D. might be in charge of making sure the extras get to where they need to be. Usually on a set, actors check-in and take directions from an A.D.

Blocking - The placing of actors on a stage in a scene. Directors will sue blocking to make sure all the actors can be seen by the audience in a scene and to define the focus of the scene.

Commit -- This is a term and command actors and directors use to give a role, scene, or line your serious focus and to carry out any ideas you have until they materialize. Example: if a man is cast as a woman, he is committing to the role if he acts as feminine as he can. Another example is if your character is sad, you have to be the saddest person you can be in that scene, however you choose to pursue that.

EPA - This anagram stands for Equity Principle Audition. These are auditions set up by Actors Equity, the stage actors union, which are open to all members. See here for more info.

Extra, Background, Atmosphere - These terms all refer to actors who fill out the background of a film or TV scene. These roles are not speaking roles. Some people turn there their nose up at extra roles, but if you're not doing anything else why not hang out on a set and see how its done, this is a great way to do that. Stay away from these types of jobs if they don't pay, unless its for a friend.

Headshot – An 8” x 10” photo that an actor uses to represent himself. On the back of the headshot an actor attaches his resume, of which the margins are trimmed to fit the 8” x 10” size. The headshot can contain shot of the head from the neck up and some contain a æ body shot. There are black and white headshots and color headshots. Color headshots are normal in Los Angeles, while in New York black and white headshots are still used, although more and more people are getting color done. People can usally expect to spend $300-$1000+ on a headshot photographer. People also usually pay someone to do hair and makeup for them. There are a wide vaiety of headshot styles in use. The goal is to get a picture that looks like you on a great day and represents you. Legit headshots refer to headshots with a serious expression and commercial headshots refer to a shot with a big smile. Some performers make sure they have one of each, some performers just go with a commercial shot. When selecting a headshot, I hear a lot of people recommend picking one that communicates something through the eyes.

Improvisation  or Improv– Making up scenes, stage business, or any kind of performance that has not been prepared or rehearsed. Certain techniques, structures, games, and methods to developing improvisation are sometimes rehearsed by the performer. Improvisation is frequently connected to “improve comedy,” but there is dramatic improvisation as well as dance improvisation. The phrase “make it your own” is sometimes used by directors to instruct actors to ad lib or improvise.

Mark - You have heard the term "hit your mark." Marks are pieces of tape stuck to the floor on a film or video shoot to show where you should stand so the camera can stay on you and get everything else it needs to in the picture. basically its an easy way to remember your blocking.

SAG - Screen Actors Guild, the film actors union. They also cover a lot of TV shows. See here for more info.

Scale - This usually means payment of the union's minimum rate according to the contract signed by the producer. Being paid scale for 1 day of work on a SAG contract is--I think--around $750 for a speaking role.

Under 5 - This means any role--usually in film or television-- that has a speaking part but exceeds no more than 5 lines. This term is often used to differentiate pay scales between extras and those who make full scale.

Theatre - The performing arts. Note the spelling. This is a tricky one. This is the British spelling, in the United States this is the spelling for the art form. Its more prestigious to spell theatre this way. On your acting resume your stage acting credits should be under a header that reads "Theatre" not "Theater."

Theater - The structure in which the performing arts take place. Note the spelling. This is not the spelling for the art form.

Getting around New York City
If you're new the city, chances are you need a little help getting around to your various auditions, rehearsals and film shoots. I'm a big fan of the New York CIty subways. A great site that gives decent directions to almost anywhere in NYC is hopstop.com.

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