Updated: 2011-07-29 17:37:09
Independent Film Week, the three-decade- old film forum that serves as a platform for emerging artists, is seeking volunteers. The Lincoln Center event will include panels, workshops, and seminars, and is set to run from September 18-22. Volunteers will be able to network within the industry by working behind the scenes with independent filmmakers. Besides experience, those who help out may be eligible to receive benefits, ranging from a one-year IFP membership to a subscription to Filmmaker Magazine. All volunteers must be at least 18 years of age, and must complete 30 hours of volunteer service to receive the previously...
Updated: 2011-07-29 11:30:26
The script is a tricky bastard. The problem is that as actors, we always wind up dealing with the end result, the final article, the finished product, which does not easily give up the secrets of how it came to be. In this situation it’s devilishly difficult to glean from the script the reasons for [...]
Updated: 2011-07-28 22:33:31
This past June, Back Stage sponsored the "Young Guns of Comedy" competition as part of the inaugural Stand-Up 360 Comedy Festival. The packed two-night event was held at the Broadway Comedy Club in midtown NYC and featured an impressive lineup of up-and-coming talent which was then narrowed down to eight finalists. The judging panel included late night comic legend and show opener Max Alexander (Steve Allen's is the sole Tonight Show missing from his impressive resume), Valerie Adami, the director of Weist-Barron Studios, Back Stage associate web editor Suzy Evans, and yours truly, representing the Back Stage Casting Department. It...
Updated: 2011-07-28 22:30:00
Watch the new music video for "Rise Above 1," in which Spider-Man, Turn Off the Dark composers Bono and The Edge of U2 appear alongside star Reeve Carney to perform the Broadway musical's anthem on the rooftops of Manhattan. The video also includes footage from the rehearsals and performances of Spider-Man.
Updated: 2011-07-28 21:18:40
GQ's annual summer "Comedy Issue" has been available for a couple of weeks now, but we want to share an excerpt of their interview with Bridesmaids scene-stealer Melissa McCarthy, director Paul Feig, writer/star Kristen Wiig, and other cast members from this year's hit comedy, illuminating how McCarthy was cast as Megan in the movie. Read about McCarthy's audition experience, from GQ's "A Brief Oral History of Melissa McCarthy's Huge Bridesmaids Performance": Melissa McCarthy: I read the script and had such a weird, fast reaction to Megan. I knew exactly what I wanted her to look like, to sound like, and...
Updated: 2011-07-28 20:44:20
In this issue: Welcome to New York! Every year, thousands of newcomers pour into New York City to make their dreams of an acting career come true, and every year we at Back Stage offer advice and counsel to those dreamers and doers in our "Welcome to New York" spotlight. In this issue, we show actors how to network to find their acting family and industry connections in the city, highlight helpful apps for actors in the Big Apple, figure out which survival job is right for you, offer tips on how to live in NYC on a budget, and...
Updated: 2011-07-28 19:01:46
The Ides of March, the new political thriller directed by and starring George Clooney, will premiere at the opening night of the Venice Film Festival this year. The film, which also stars Ryan Gosling, Paul Giamatti, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Marisa Tomei, is adapted from the play Farragut North -- which premiered Off-Broadway at the Atlantic Theater Company in New York City in Fall 2008, before moving to the Geffen Playhouse in 2009 -- which itself was based on the 2008 presidential campaign of Democratic candidate Howard Dean. Watch the trailer below: Back Stage published several casting notices seeking extras...
Updated: 2011-07-28 12:15:54
So, you’ve been invited to a casting, so the first thing you do is fail to check where it is properly, so you haven’t worked out the transport links until you’re already on your way out the door. Now you’re in a panic. You’re chewing mints and gum like crazy to try to take the [...]
Updated: 2011-07-27 20:11:03
Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo tweeted this video a couple days ago, singing "Tonight" from West Side Story: What do you think? Could Cuomo have a future on Broadway? -- Daniel Lehman
Updated: 2011-07-27 15:15:00
New York Film Academy Blog The New York Film Academy is an accredited film school and acting school with locations in New York City , Los Angeles , and Abu Dhabi . We offer courses in Filmmaking , Acting , Producing , Screenwriting , Computer Animation , Photography , Musical Theatre , and More Students can elect to take our one year , two year , short-term , and evening programs or earn an Associate , Bachelor , or Master of Fine Arts . degree Click Here to Learn More About Our Programs or Apply Online Pages About Us New York Film Academy Links Find me on Facebook Twitter YouTube Email Address Ask me anything Archive RSS Mobile Jul 27 New York Film Academy Representatives Celebrate Miss Universe China 2011 From left to right : Miss Universe China 2011 Runner-Up Li Han Zi , New York Film
Updated: 2011-07-27 12:05:36
When I ask actors of any level to describe or offer a definition of acting, they inevitable use the word Emotion. This is so widespread that I almost guarantee that in a group of ten, half will use that word. It has become an omnipresent belief, an article of faith that pervaded all levels of [...]
Updated: 2011-07-27 00:12:21
The following "Auditions at a Glance" calendar conveniently organizes projects by the date and day-of-the-week that the projects' auditions are taking place, to help you schedule your plans. Click on any of the following links to see the casting and job notices related to the dates and project titles highlighted below. Thu. July 28 • 'Giant', TX • 'Mary Poppins', B'way & Nat'l • 'Dark Light' • 'Romeo and Juliet', PA, Tour • 'The Weird' • USO Liberty Bells Fri. July 29 • 'The Weird' Sat. July 30 • '...And Then You Die' Sun. July 31 • Click here to...
Updated: 2011-07-27 00:11:39
The following "Auditions at a Glance" calendar conveniently organizes projects by the date and day-of-the-week that the projects' auditions are taking place, to help you schedule your plans. Click on any of the following links to see the casting and job notices related to the dates and project titles highlighted below. Thu. July 28 • UCLA, 'Drugstore Cowboy' • Kassting Inc. Meet & Greet • 'The Tavern' • 'The Marvelous Wonderettes' Fri. July 29 • New Reality Show • 'Damn Yankees' Sat. July 30 • 'Argo' • New Reality Show • 'The Tavern' • 'Damn Yankees' • 'Equus' • SD...
Updated: 2011-07-27 00:11:02
The following "Auditions at a Glance" calendar conveniently organizes projects by the date and day-of-the-week that the projects' auditions are taking place, to help you schedule your plans. Click on any of the following links to see the casting and job notices related to the dates and project titles highlighted below. Thu. July 28 • UT, 'Course 86B in the... Fri. July 29 • IL, Artemisia Theatre Sat. July 30 • PA, 'B.A.D. Choices' Sun. July 31 • TX, 'The Temperamentals' • MN, 'Capital Crimes' Mon. Aug. 1 • FL, Zoetic Stage Season • VA, Barksdale Theatre... Tue. Aug. 2...
Updated: 2011-07-26 23:49:01
Every week Back Stage posts hundreds of casting notices and entertainment-industry opportunities in the BackStage.com Casting/Jobs Database. Check out the following sampling of 37 new notices — performance venues calling for talent, film festivals calling for entries, staff/tech/crew jobs, calls for scripts, casting workshops, competitions, open mikes, and more: 1. JDProductions: 'BOUND FOR BROADWAY' SINGER SHOWCASE 'BOUND FOR BROADWAY' SINGER SHOWCASE JDProductions is seeking talent for its upcoming Bound for Broadway industry-invited showcases. John Forslund, exec. prod.; Garrit Guadan, music dir. Performs weekly (Sun. evenings) year-round at ... More 2. Stage Door Connections: MUSICAL THEATRE AUDITION SEMINAR WITH MERRI SUGARMAN,...
Updated: 2011-07-26 01:35:25
Just a short one today: A few days ago, I tweeted that ‘In my house, performing is a dirty word’. As he should, as a good friend, Paul Wilson brought me up on this while we were having lunch a few days ago. He felt that I was being a bit unfair to ‘performance’ with [...]
Updated: 2011-07-25 22:50:00
New York Film Academy Blog The New York Film Academy is an accredited film school and acting school with locations in New York City , Los Angeles , and Abu Dhabi . We offer courses in Filmmaking , Acting , Producing , Screenwriting , Computer Animation , Photography , Musical Theatre , and More Students can elect to take our one year , two year , short-term , and evening programs or earn an Associate , Bachelor , or Master of Fine Arts . degree Click Here to Learn More About Our Programs or Apply Online Pages About Us New York Film Academy Links Find me on Facebook Twitter YouTube Email Address Ask me anything Archive RSS Mobile Jul 25 New York Film Academy Student Screens Award-Winning Short Film at Manhattan Film Festival New York Film Academy MFA student Yair Shvartz Left on the set of
Updated: 2011-07-25 12:02:20
You know, I learn more from teaching than most of the students ever realise. Having to articulate time and again the goal of truthful acting, the authentic behaviour that I call truth in action. Being an acting coach is a privilege, working with people young and old, beginners and experienced professionals, people coming back into [...]
Updated: 2011-07-24 12:00:05
There are many types of acting teacher or acting coach. Often when we experience problems with our acting teachers, we blame ourselves. Well, I’m an acting coach, and I can tell you sometimes, it’s not your fault, sometimes the type of acting teacher/acting coach that you have is preventing you from getting the most out [...]
Updated: 2011-07-23 12:00:20
Whenever the director gives you instruction, do not look puzzled, do not think for a moment, do not immediately start speaking, start to defend yourself, explain why you weren’t doing it in the first place. Instead, the trick to taking direction is to repeat it back to the giver in your own words with the [...]
Updated: 2011-07-22 12:05:13
In life, this is rather obvious. Someone speaking elicits a response from you and you react physically, emotionally, cognitively, facially, and then when socially convenient (or not) you react verbally. But because most people use the lines of the script to act upon, they’re really only acting when they’re speaking. This causes massive dead zones [...]
Updated: 2011-07-21 15:25:00
New York Film Academy Blog The New York Film Academy is an accredited film school and acting school with locations in New York City , Los Angeles , and Abu Dhabi . We offer courses in Filmmaking , Acting , Producing , Screenwriting , Computer Animation , Photography , Musical Theatre , and More Students can elect to take our one year , two year , short-term , and evening programs or earn an Associate , Bachelor , or Master of Fine Arts . degree Click Here to Learn More About Our Programs or Apply Online Pages About Us New York Film Academy Links Find me on Facebook Twitter YouTube Email Address Ask me anything Archive RSS Mobile Jul 21 New York Film Academy Original Movie Musical Premiering at Rhode Island International Film Festival New York Film Academyâ s first original movie musical ,
Updated: 2011-07-21 12:15:54
Last weekend, 20 of our students attended a masterclass with Kahleen Crawford, a Casting Director from Kahleen Crawford Casting. She explained to our students how the casting industry works from her perspective and gave useful hints and tips to the students about the casting experience. She also spent quite a lot of time explaining how [...]
Updated: 2011-07-20 18:56:14
Salt Lake Acting Company Skip to content Home This Season Angels In America Boom If You Give A Mouse A Cookie The Persian Quarter Circle Mirror Transformation Saturday's Voyeur 2011 Fearless Fringe Festival 2011 Attend Buy Tickets Subscribe for Season Tickets Directions and Parking Seating Charts Support Us Donate Online Sponsors Supporters Friends Community Partners Actors Auditions Playwrights Resident Playwrights Julie Jensen Kathleen Cahill Saturday's Voyeur Playwrights New Play Sounding Series Script Submissions Showcase Blog Photo Gallery Video 2009-2010 Archive The Caretaker Master Class Go , Dog . Go Too Much Memory Charm Saturday's Voyeur Fearless Fringe Festival Outreach Sunday Night Student Series Study Guides About Mission Production History Board of Trustees Staff Contact Us
Updated: 2011-07-20 12:00:54
Part of my job is preparing people for drama school by offering them audition coaching. My students have a great record of getting into top schools, in the UK and the USA and I’m proud of that fact. Today, I wanted to give you a little bit of coaching in a blog. Particularly for those [...]
Updated: 2011-07-19 12:00:01
For Scott I know that my friend Scott reads my blog. He often comments, although he doesn’t have an acting background. I’ve been in some pretty tight (grappling) positions with Scott and respect him hugely. A wee while ago, he asked me if I would talk something about writing, since he knows that I also [...]
Updated: 2011-07-18 12:05:58
My background is theatre, but I’ve spent a considerable amount of time now educating myself about how to work with actors that are mainly focused on screen acting. And the first thing that I want to say is that nothing I teach at ACS, aside from perhaps Shakespeare, is any different for stage as it [...]
Updated: 2011-07-16 12:00:39
We’ve been talking about this all week in class, so as usual, it’s made it’s way into the blog. One of my top tips is not to listen to the words the other actor says. Don’t let yourself get caught up in them, they’re a bunch of baloney. They’re the same every night and you [...]
Updated: 2011-07-14 16:51:27
Only a few days ago, some of the main drama schools in the UK announced that along with other institutions of higher education, they would be charging the maximum of higher fees, £9,000. Now to those readers in America, you’re not entirely sure what all the fuss is about, £9,000 is nothing compared to what [...]
Updated: 2011-07-13 12:05:59
Today, I’m delighted to introduce another guest blog, from someone that has inspired me in my progress as an acting coach over the years and I hope she inspires you too, Mel Churcher. Mel has been an acting and voice coach for many years and worked on such films as The Fifth Element, Lara Croft [...]
Updated: 2011-07-12 15:22:00
, , New York Film Academy Blog The New York Film Academy is an accredited film school and acting school with locations in New York City , Los Angeles , and Abu Dhabi . We offer courses in Filmmaking , Acting , Producing , Screenwriting , Computer Animation , Photography , Musical Theatre , and More Students can elect to take our one year , two year , short-term , and evening programs or earn an Associate , Bachelor , or Master of Fine Arts . degree Click Here to Learn More About Our Programs or Apply Online Pages About Us New York Film Academy Links Find me on Facebook Twitter YouTube Email Address Ask me anything Archive RSS Mobile Jul 12 New York Film Academy Has Free Upcoming Filmmaking Workshops in NY , LA , and Harvard New York Film Academy Road Show is offering completely free
Updated: 2011-07-12 09:45:09
It’s important that any organisation has core principles which guide it’s activities. Google, Coca-Cola, the Royal Shakespeare Company – they all have their own guiding principles, which reflect their values and working philosophy. Actually, I think it’s rather useful for individuals to think the same way. And I would encourage you to come up with [...]
Updated: 2011-07-11 14:42:12
I didn’t want to write it. I umm’d and aaaarrr’d and put it off. I have almost 500 blogs, plenty of resources and enough time to do it. But there always seemed like something a bit crappy about an ebook on acting. The ones that I’d seen were either free, and of about the same [...]
Updated: 2011-07-10 01:01:45
Most pay-to-get-a-chance-to-play audition information websites often recycle audition notices previously released via legitimate audition outlets like...
Updated: 2011-07-09 12:05:02
I was recently working with a young actor and we discovered that he can’t work under his own name as someone else has registered his name with Equity, it’s a real shame because it’s a strong name, but that’s life and he has to now come up with a name he will use for the [...]
Updated: 2011-07-08 12:05:18
ONE: Acting isn’t pretending, it’s not performing, it’s being truthful in every moment on camera. We’re already truthful in life, so we know how to do it, but somehow, whenever we think about acting, we start to pretend, or get fake. Stop. What’s required in each scene is authentic behaviour. Honestly. You do that all [...]
Updated: 2011-07-07 11:23:02
It was three years ago today that we rented a wee gallery space in a rough area of Glasgow and a small group of people gathered together to attend a basic six week acting course under the auspices of Acting Coach Scotland. One of those people, Ian Watt, is still with us, now teaching Step [...]
Updated: 2011-07-06 12:04:20
The writer is either good or bad, and there’s nothing that you can really do about it. But I would urge you, if you find good writing, to pay attention to what they have done in the script with regards to lines. Many actors struggle with script and it comes out as many problems such [...]
Updated: 2011-07-05 12:05:52
Oh these blogs always get me into trouble. So I’ll be balanced and here’s five reasons for and five reasons against why you should go to drama school. FOR ONE – Drama School is… especially for younger actors, it’s a place to grow, mature and come of age under professional tutelage. You get to know [...]
Updated: 2011-07-04 12:00:33
Actors are as individual as grains of sand, but when you work with them a lot, you quickly start to see certain patterns of behaviour emerging and I want to share this with you in the hope that you will try to avoid some of the more negative behaviour. I will admit that these are [...]
