[NEohioPAL] Honoring Commitments, Part 2

[hlewelle at bw.edu]

The Equity rules may have changed since I was in New York a many years
ago, but I remember that if you were on one Equity contract and you got a
part at a higher level contract, you were always able to move up, and the
show you left had to let you go with a sigh.  That was the rule.  I
formally resigned from Equity a long time ago, so those rules may be
different now.  Equity people??

HL

**

> You're (proverbially) a sweet kid... :-)  The production community both
> theatrical and cinematic would do well to infuse their creative
> priorities with your idealism.  I'm on your side.
>
> But I've learned by trial and error what the acting community rarely
> even sees or likes to admit of itself... that it's all a business, and
> an actor's commodity is less their talent, and more their time.
> "Putting the fear of God" into them only works when the actors see value
> in the production (I'm not saying yours lacks value).  I don't mean
> creative or artistic merit, but pocketbook value, and when in their
> mind, correct or not, the value is higher to be involved in a different
> production, they will go follow it, the same way we might walk out of a
> store if we remember that the store next door has the same item for half
> the price, without regard to the salesperson who may have been helping
> us and talking to us for the last 15 minutes.
>
> I would like to think that I as a producer have value.  I am one of the
> longest standing producers in Northeast Ohio, my films are consistent
> national and international film festival official selections AND award
> winners.  Many actors have gone directly from my films straight into
> roles for Robert Zemeckis and Disney Channel and the like.  In an
> industry magazine, I was named one of the top 100 producers for the year
> 2000, and most importantly, when a production wraps, I know how to throw
> a party...  :-)  But along will come Spider Man XI or another producer
> like myself, and they will claim to have Sundance waiting for them to
> wrap production (BTW actors, anybody who tells you that is delusional or
> lying, no festival works that way) so they can screen it and make
> everybody an indie film star.  They perceive value correct or not,
> compare it to what they think they know and make judgments we may not
> like.  Actors put themselves first, and producers who know how to dangle
> the carrot, bank on it.
>
> I've been left dangling by actors who will disappear to do someone
> else's film, leaving me with hours, sometimes days worth of footage that
> I have to recast, reassemble the existing cast and shoot all over
> again.  Sometimes I can't get that location back and have to renegotiate
> a new location, one that isn't half of what I originally had, but my
> hands are tied, thousands of man hours are wasted and money is spent on
> nothing.  It would be nice to think that if an actor wrongs you, the
> value of your production would give you the credibility to blacklist
> them until they come back begging you for a part.  But the production
> community (both theatrical and cinematic) is a community of businesses,
> not a commune of artists.  They are just as happy that the actor they
> want, quit your production to be in theirs as the actor is to be a part
> of theirs.  Nobody wants to admit it because it bursts the bubble of the
> whole "we're all in this together" ethos we all want to believe makes up
> a creative community.  It's amazing how cutthroat this business is since
> none of us are making any money... that's maybe the problem.
>
> I don't like it anymore than you do, but the truth is, the majority of
> actors are not in it to "be a part of something special."  They may hope
> to be, they may give lipservice to it, but it makes up at best 20% of
> the reason they are doing it.  They're in it to advance their careers,
> and the only way to keep 90% of actors in any region loyal is to
> actually have something that they don't want to lose, like hard cash.
> It would be nice to be able to shame them into doing what we think is
> the right thing, but it gets down to the question, the right thing for
> who?  The answer isn't always one I want to hear, or think is right.
>
> I say this less to discourage you from calling for solidarity from other
> productions on this issue and more to allow other readers to see
> themselves in this little verbal portrait.  It would be nice to be able
> to appeal to the artistic values they believe they have, but those
> values are easily (and whether I like it or not, understandably)
> corruptible by a bottom line.  It's easy to not give credit to a
> community as relatively small as NE Ohio's for having jaded themselves
> into this kind of value system, but turning a blind eye to this reality
> would be a very costly mistake.
>
> Christopher K. Young,
> Shallow Focus Entertainment
> http://www.shallowfocus.com
>
>
>
>
>
> DVangaasbe at aol.com wrote:
>> I have received several e-mails from other directors who have worse
>> stories than what I had happen.  One director running a weekly mystery
>> theatre discovered much to his shock two days before a performance
>> that one of his actors had a major role in a production somewhere
>> else.  It seems that the young man could not figure out that the
>> Opening Night conflicted with the performance at the mystery theatre.
>> Ipso facto, a massive scramble to get someone in at the last minute
>> occurred.  The young man knew about this particular opening night for
>> two months and failed to tell the mystery theatre.
>>
>> Another director wrote me and stated that a leading actor dropped out
>> of the play only one week before Opening Night.  It was soon
>> discovered that he had accepted a part with another playhouse because
>> he wanted to play that part.
>>
>> A student director had to find two actors two days before her class
>> project was presented to the professor because the leading actor felt
>> that the particular drama being presented did not meet his
>> specifications.  It seemed odd that he had no problem with the drama
>> for weeks.  It was soon discovered that he took a part at another
>> playhouse.  The other actor seemed unable to function without the
>> first actor and dropped out as well.  There's backbone.
>>
>> Frankly, I have three weeks to correct the damage.  Already the cast
>> and crew are pulling together to make this play work.  Junior who left
>> us in the lurch did not get the part he wanted and is a member of the
>> ensemble with the other playhouse.  I understand that he is happy as a
>> lark.  Frankly, he does not know how many bridges he burned behind
>> him.  I received notice from another playhouse who figured out who it
>> was stating that he is no longer welcome there either.
>>
>> I do believe that we as directors and producers should take a very
>> high road here.  That is we should put the fear of God in these rather
>> talented but rude actors and actresses who believe they can walk out
>> whenever they feel like it.  That means you sit Junior down and tell
>> him or her that he or she will never act again in the area until he or
>> she cleans up the act.  That is you finish what you start.  I have two
>> children.  They are both highly talented and are in demand.  However,
>> they were both told you finish what you start.  Both are no nonsense
>> type people.  Coaches, directors and teachers loved them because they
>> took the responsibility of honoring a commitment.
>>
>> I had a bad feeling two months ago about an actress when I was casting
>> /Once Upon a Mattress/.  This young talented actress came running in
>> about one and one half hours after auditions started.  She claimed she
>> could not be at the beginning of the auditions because she was in
>> rehearsal for another play.  I allowed her to audition since she was
>> there but I told her that the part she wanted was going to be given to
>> another actress who had shown up on time and in my opinion had more
>> talent.  I did state that I would offer her another part but that I
>> would have to talk to her director in the other play. When I asked for
>> the name of the director who was in the other production so I could
>> coordinate schedules, she balked.  I withdrew the offer.  I later
>> discovered that there was no way that she could have done this play
>> and that play.  Frankly, my instincts clearly showed that she was not
>> happy with the part in the other play.  Unfortunately, she accepted
>> the part.  In my opinion, that means you play the part.  If you are
>> that talented an actor or actress, then it should be a snap to make it
>> work.
>>
>> I did have another actress who was involved in another play when she
>> auditioned.  She was up front about it and gave me her schedule.  I
>> saw that I could use her in Once Upon a Mattress and the part I had
>> for her could accommodate her schedule.  She went to every rehearsal
>> of the other play and when she was not scheduled for rehearsal she
>> came to us.  That is a good actress because she was honest and she was
>> willing to work with everyone.
>>
>> I am asking all directors and producers to honor other playhouses
>> productions. The playhouse that cast Junior has had several of their
>> actors come to my playhouse for major parts.  When I see that there is
>> no way we can coordinate a schedule so the actor or actress can play
>> both, I do not cast.  That other director has invested time and energy
>> in directing that actor or actress.  He or she should not have the rug
>> pulled out because Junior who has talent cannot figure out that
>> commitment means to the end of the production.
>>
>> David Van Gaasbeek, Director and Producer, Canal Fulton Players
>>
>>
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