[NEohioPAL]Auditioning for a film? - use sense and caution

[AC Earing]

A testimony from an otherwise outspoken out-of-town
actor...

--- Bill <cinevid at yahoo.com> wrote:

>    Is there pay?
"...may be just practicing at your expense of time and
talent." 

This happens A LOT!!!  It's not a bad thing, if the
producer/director is willing to admit that they are
somewhat new at this too.  Whether it be through
verbal acknowledgment, or through actions, 'the
learning process' has some humility involved, so one
thing that I, as an actor, look out for, are
producers/directors who aren't people (objectify the
actors, crew, see the project only as a paycheck, are
mechanical with their process, etc).  This industry,
though competitive and sometimes unforgiving, is still
about people working with people; egomaniacs, if
they're good, are sometimes worth working with, but if
they're new and are "practicing at your expense"
consider other projects to work on!

In addition to that, I've actually
produced/directed/written a few projects, and to get
people to work on the first couple, I had to admit,
"hey, this is my first project, so if I say/do/try
something that you disagree with, let me know!"  And I
let actors/crew know that I'm grateful for their
willingness to do me a favor, and I followed through
with getting them their dvd copy, proper spelling in
the credits, etc.  Then, once the 2nd and 3rd projects
rolled around, we already had a repoir and they were
working more with ME, than with the project.  That is
awesome!  

 
>    What has the producer / director done before?

Again, sometimes it is difficult to find out what
people (now that we've established that they ARE
people, and not movie junkies burdened by your
presence) have done before.  I was offered a good
opportunity, and then was told to NOT watch a few of
their previous projects, as it might scare me away. 
Woah!  And then, the first read through was horrible,
and then they weren't willing to offer deferments. 
But, instead of just walking away, I asked around. 
The tough part is that I heard BAD things about the
producers/directors/writers.  But, further research...


>    What will this project do for me?

...and I found that I'd be going to a lot of expos to
meet with fans and do conventions where I could
network and possibly get on board with other projects.
 That in itself is a good opportunity.  Plus, I was
willing express my concerns, in a professional manner,
over the pay, the script, the peculiarity of the not
being 'allowed' so see their previous projects, and
professionally, I was responded to.  We were able to
communicate and find common ground on everything
except for pay...DOAH!  And, there was a rewrite on a
few parts of the script, so everything was better
because the producers listened and actually did care
about the project in it's entirety, not just 'making a
movie!' I did get paid, but it wasn't anything that
I'd be willing to put that much work and time and
effort into again, at least not at that rate. 

With regards to the pay, I'll be honest, that will be
the first thing negotiated with them, if they want to
work with me again.  They are no longer 'new' at this,
and neither am I.  And that feeling compounded with
having thoroughly looked into a project and openly
expressed my concerns and being listened to, made for
a great experience!  

AC Earing


AC Earing
Pittsburgh Actor, Model, Producer
 
alanearing at yahoo.com





		
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