I am going to start this blog post by sharing an unsolicited email I recently received from a “manager.” (Note: All grammar and spelling has been included, as originally written.)

“I was looking on IMDB and noticed you do not have a Talent Manager.  As you may  know we are doing Talent Management..  A manager is different from an agent but in a way better as I have more fields to get you work.  I feel I could be a great assett to you to help you not only get your more acting roles but we are doing something no other Management firm does.  We are also going to provide free to our clients our Publicity Services.  We are a NON-EXCLUSIVE company so if at anytime you want to end services with us that is ok.  I really hope you will give me a chance to further your career and make you more money.  If you are interested please let me know and I’ll send you my information packate.” – Mike

File this one away into the “If it seems too good to be true, it is” mailbox. Of course, there are warning signs all over the above email that tell the actor that they should stay far away. So, how does an actor gauge the validity of these types of emails, which become more numerous as the actor gets more and more well known?

1) Does the manager know the difference between managers and agents? (Do you?)
Agents and managers are very different from one another, primarily because it is illegal for managers to procure work for their clients. Agents are required to be on file with their state as a “licensed employment agent” and managers are not given this clearance. Thus, a manager’s job takes on a different form. Directly from the Talent Manager’s Association website: “A manager, by nature, does not seek employment for a client, but rather council, market and network on their behalf making it easier for the agent to secure employment. A client, manager and agent should function as a team.”

You can see by the email above that the manager is not accurately conveying his role. This should be a very big “red flag” to you.

2) Why are they contacting YOU? 
Yes, we are all fabulous, and we usually feel we deserve to be represented. But, as I said on a recent post on the Backstage message boards, if you are ready to seek management, you want to seek out a management company that has a good track record and a solid client base. Typically, companies that fall in that category do not need to troll the internet to locate new clients, and they don’t typically seek to represent actors with small resumes. To get to know up-and-coming actors, managers spend time seeing plays, going to film festivals, and taking meetings via referrals. They may use IMDB or the actor’s website as a research tool, but rarely do solid companies “discover” talent on the web. So you have to ask yourself- if it is normally so difficult to be represented, why has THIS offer come so easily?

3) Does the email appear to be well written? If they give you a website to check out, does it inspire your confidence?
There are misspellings and bad grammar all over this email. Even if the manager were legitimate, would you want someone representing you when they cannot put together a coherent email?

4) Does the contact information make sense and seem professional? 
Often, when you try to verify their contact information, you’ll notice discrepancies in the information. In the above example, Mike gave me a web address for his company, but his email address came from a completely different company. Upon researching him, I discovered that his company was primarily a Publicity Company, where they pay actors to attend parties and events. Also, take note of where their office is located. I am based in NYC and this company is based in LA – it doesn’t really make sense for them to represent me from the opposite coast unless I plan to make a move out west.

Many actors ignore that voice of warning in their head because it feels so good to believe that we are being handed our big break. Believe me, I know- I’m an actor, just like you. I hustle, just like you. I taste the wins and the losses as sweetly and bitterly as you do. But I believe that if you do your homework and listen to your gut, you can protect yourself from those unsavory characters who prey on your dreams and desires.

Have you ever gotten an offer that was turned out “too good to be true”? How did you handle it? Please let us know about your experiences, and how you addressed them, in the comment section below.

PS: This article pertains, also, to those folks out there who randomly email actors about mailing autographed headshots. I regularly report these requests on my acting blog to help other actors research the requests, and one in particular has resulted in a very strange, stalker-like situation. Check out this blog post for more information (and be sure to read the comments!)

Added Bonus: (Because at Playbills vs Paying Bills, we think you deserve bonuses every now and then!)

I did a quick Google Search for the phrase “too good to be true” and here are some of the things that came up (some funny, some not so funny):

Looks Too Good To be True: Mail, Telephone & Internet Fraud Support
Too Good To Be True: The Rise & Fall of Bernie Madoff
Urban Dictionary: Too Good To Be True

Erin Cronican is the New York contingent of this blog. Find out more information and view her materials on her website, or read the rest of her blog posts.

One of the things I remember strongly from the game was this idea of bartering. If someone didn’t have money, they could trade some of their goods or services for someone else’s goods or services. This really resonated with me, especially since I have always been passionate about building a community and sharing with other. So, it stands to reason that when I got out of theater school, I started to think: as actors and business owners, bartering might be a great part of getting the things we need for a successful career. Imagine, if you created the right kinds of relationships and developed a much needed skill set, you could trade for the goods and services you desperately need for your career. No more, “Well, I would but I don’t have the money”… you would be able to trade for everything you needed.

So, how does one do this? Well, there are several different things you have to consider when thinking about using bartering for your business.

What kinds of things would you like to trade for?
Think about the things you need to make your career a success. (If you need help, just try going through this year’s receipts to see what you spent your money on.) There’s a good chance that the things you are purchasing could be done in trade, or at least at a discounted rate. You especially want to look at services that are rendered by another business professional (rather than items that are purchased.) Things like:

• Headshot Photography
• Vocal Coaching
• Demo Reel Editing
• Dialect Training
• Graphic Design
• Dance Classes
• Acting Technique
• Style Consultations
• Photo Retouching

You can also think of other goods and services that are not specifically for actors, but common (or even luxury) services used by people every day. Things like:

• Hairstyling
• Massage Therapy
• Spa Services
• Administrative Support
• Personal Training
• Nutritional Counseling
• Life Coaching
• Financial Planning

What do you have to offer?
In order to be able to barter, you have to have a good or service that you can trade that is relevant for the person you’re trading with. I started by examining my relationships to find where bartering might be most useful. For many actors, this can simply mean offering your time to someone for a task they desperately need support with, or it can also mean utilizing a skill set that is unique and desired by others.

Make a list by coming up with a group of skills or services that you excel at, and that you’d be willing to barter. Do you have an administrative skill that you could offer – for example, are you great on the computer, or are you good at organizing? Does your day job equip you with a skill that you could offer to someone in exchange for another service? Sometimes, though, it’s simply that you have time on your hands that you can offer to someone. My voice teacher has a young child, and I know that childcare is something she’s often interested in bartering for. If you have an interest in children, this might be a skill you’d add to your list.

Blend the two ideas together
Once you have a list of skills, and you know what kind of services you’re interested in receiving, it’s time to match the two together. Come up with some ideas about how to help each particular service provider with a skill you have to offer. For example, let’s say that you are skilled at graphic design and HTML coding, and you notice that your hairstylist doesn’t have a website. Based on this knowledge, you could offer to build a site in exchange for styling services of the same value. You’d be providing a valuable service while receiving your own valuable service in return, thereby freeing up your cash for other important purposes.

Years ago when I first discovered bartering, I talked to my voice teacher about trading so that I could get extra lessons. We came up with a plan for me to be a dog walker when she went out of town, as well some administrative work. One example of admin work I did: I spent hours creating a spreadsheet for all of the Los Angeles casting directors and agents listed in The Call Sheet (called Ross Reports, at that time), which she could then use to make labels. For every 4 hours of admin work I did, I received 1 hour of a voice lesson.

If you’re having trouble coming up with skills that are relevant to the service you want to barter for, all you have to do is ask. Talk to the service provider, and let them know that you’re looking for innovative ways to be able to afford the services you need. Give them a list of things you’re good at, and ask them if there is anything they might find valuable in trade for the services they provide. The worst thing that could happen? They could say no, and then you’re in the same position you’re in now. But if they say yes, you’ll now have the opportunity to build a constructive relationship with another business owner and save yourself some valuable dough.

Be Prepared for a ‘No’
Be advised: not all business owners are equipped to handle bartering, so be sure to be respectful if they say no. Each person knows their business better than anyone else, so only they can decide if bartering is useful to them. Remember that we all depend on our business income for our livelihood, so sometimes cold hard cash is more important than getting services for free. I’m convinced that if you do your homework, you will find someone (or multiple someones) that will be interested in what you have to offer.

Keep Good Records
I contacted Nance Schick, an employment attorney for small business owners, to get her thoughts on bartering (which she does quite a bit.) She reminded me that when bartering, you need to make sure that you keep invoices/receipts that show the exact value of the barter. Even more important, make sure that the bartered services are for equal value, so that there is a zero balance in the end. You do this, because the government will tax you if a service you receive has more highly valued than the one you provided. For example, if you did a website design for $500, but you received a $600 demo reel in exchange, you would be taxed on the $100 overage. To combat this, make sure you do the same value of work that the other service provider does, and then create an invoice that reflects that. In the above example, I would do a little extra work on the website package so that the value is $600, and then show that the web design was paid for with a $600 demo reel package. Make sure you both have invoices on file reflecting the trade.

You might remember my example above where I did 4 hours of admin work in exchange for 1 hour of coaching? The way we worked out that barter agreement was to estimate the admin work to be worth $15 per hour, and her coaching to be worth $60 per hour. So, on my invoice I showed that for each trade I worked 4 hours at $15 per hour, and as payment I received $60 in coaching services.

These kinds of invoices should be sufficient to show that the bartering was fair and equal. If you have any questions, it would be a good idea to talk to a lawyer or an accountant when setting up your bartering services. You can check out the IRS Website for tax advice as well.

You can also leave your questions in the comments section below, and I’ll answer them in any way I can. I have tons of experience in bartering — I currently barter for voice lessons, piano accompaniment, life coaching, massage therapy, acting coaching, dance lessons, and will soon be trading for facial/spa service and personal training. I feel like I’ve won the lottery!

- Erin

Added Bonus: (Because at Playbills vs Paying Bills, we think you deserve bonuses every now and then!)

There is an overabundance of information about bartering out there on the interwebs. Here are some great resources & articles you might like: Barter Quest: Social Network for Bartering | The Original Barter Babe Finds Wealth Beyond Cash | Bartering for Health Care: Yardwork for Treatment | The Art of Barter: How To Trade For Almost Anything

Erin Cronican is the New York contingent of this blog. Find out more information and view her materials on her website, or read the rest of her blog posts.

I’m not gonna lie – things have been a little nutty recently in Cronican-land (which is like Disneyland with the incessant singing but without the funnel cake.) As many of you know, in addition to me being a professional actor and a career coach for actors, I also self produce, through The Seeing Place Theater, which I helped to found.

The idea for this week’s blog came during my utter lack of time management skills for the week. You see, each day I look at my various to-do lists (overbook much?) and I started to notice that I kept setting this blog aside for another project that has been taking over my life:

A fundraising campaign I’m heading up, which includes a crowdfunding component through IndieGogo. And then it hit me — a cool way to talk about what I’ve been doing is to share my process of setting up a crowdfunding campaign for funding my self-produced theater company. Let the blogging commence!

First of all, let’s define “crowdfunding.” USLegal states,

“Crowdfunding refers to the collective cooperation, attention and trust by people who network and pool their money and other resources together, to support efforts initiated by other people or organizations.”

Using that definition, most of us are already familiar with crowdfunding. Think about the last time you sponsored someone in the charity walk/run – this is was a crowdfunding campaign to support a non-profit organization in their charitable efforts. Nowadays, artists are using crowdfunding to mobilize their fan base online, and audiences from across the globe are using these platforms to make donations of all sizes, the reward for which is more than a tax donation. Donors are now being treated to extensive perks and behind-the-scenes involvement in the creation of the artistic works that they’re funding.

My theater company, The Seeing Place Theater, is a young, ensemble driven company with members who range from ages 23 to 65+. In our first two seasons, we’ve done a good job at developing audiences and defining a mission & focus for our work. As we start our third season, I called on our ensemble members to start developing our fan base using social media. We created a professional page on Facebook and started a Twitter account. And in an effort to engage a younger audience, we decided to take a portion of our fundraising effort online, and that’s how we landed on the idea of crowdfunding.

Based on our experiences, here are the tasks you’ll want to consider when setting up a campaign:

We chose a campaign company

The front runners for crowdfunding are currently Kickstarter and IndieGogo. Kickstarter is the most well known – with them, you choose a fundraising goal and an end date, and your project only gets funded if you are able to raise the full funding. (If you don’t, no funds are collected from the donors.) IndieGogo runs with a similar goal & deadline, but all funds that you raise are collected (however, they incentivize you by offering lower service fees to those who meet or exceed their goal.) In the end, we chose to go with IndieGogo.

We chose our campaign goal, and time frame

We estimated what kind of funding we wanted ($3000), for what purpose (to allow us to provide low cost /$10/ tickets to general audiences for the season), and what date we wanted to raise it by (September 29.)

We shot our video

Each campaign comes with the option of presenting a promo/pitch video, and I highly recommend doing so. I watched hours upon hours of pitches as I prepared for this campaign, and here’s what I learned: videos don’t need to be professionally made, but your video should be very personal and introduce the people involved, and include what inspires you about your project. In fundraising, it’s said that people don’t fund projects – people fund people. By showing your audience why this project means something to you, it can mean something to them too. My artistic director and I opted for an interview style approach to introduce our company. We kept it light but passionate, and divided the content into three sections: Our personal introduction, what the company is about, and what help we need and the perks we’re offering in exchange.

We edited our video

Normally, it’s recommended to keep the video short (less then 4 minutes.) For our video, we opted to make it a little longer, but used a lot of jump cuts in the editing which made the video feel a little shorter. We suffered a hiccup here – our editor was fully booked and couldn’t editor our video, so I ended up having to do it. Considering that I’m not an editor by trade, it was a coup even getting it completed. The fun part was that I got to choose what parts I felt were best for the video. We kept a lot of our mess-ups and errors in the final version, because that’s when we laughed the most and showed our personality. We hope that people who watch the video will feel like they’ve gotten to know us and what is special about our company.

We wrote the supporting material to the campaign

On the campaign page beneath the video, there is a section where we can write information about our campaign and why we think it should be funded. I included a brief description of our company, some press quotes about the impact our work has had on audiences, and what they can expect form our season. We came up with a theme for the season, which would tie everything together – “Crimes of the Heart, and the Politics of Sex.” This helped to give our campaign an identity.

We chose our perks

I did a poll on Facebook and Google+, as well as in person, to find out what kind of perks people might like. I pulled some of the best ideas and slapped on some sexy perk names that matched our campaign’s theme.

We launched it!

This was the scariest part of the campaign. Once we clicked “Go Live” the campaign was set in stone and we were committed to seeing it through. Yikes!

We’re promoting it

Now comes the hard part — we now have to jump behind the campaign and promote it as heavily as possible without annoying people. Good friend, John Trigonis, writes in his blog, “The Tao of Crowd-Funding: Three Ps for a Successful Campaign” -

“CROWD-FUNDING IS A FULL-TIME JOB. Anyone who tells you otherwise must not have had a very successful campaign. A successful crowd-funding campaign demands around-the-clock promotion. In today’s technocracy, that translates to constant tweets, relentless Facebook status updates, email blasts up the wazoo, sleep strikes, the occasional hunger strike, and any other means by which to keep your project on the minds of your friends, family, and supporters. It also means having some fun with your promotion, keeping your audience engaged with things like contests, giveaways, fun videos, and the like.”

Now, we’re mobilizing our team

One of the toughest parts of this kind of campaign is to get all members on board as strongly as I am. It’s hard to convince your colleagues to raise money, even if they’ll directly benefit. So, I tried to make it as easy as possible to spread the word to their friends & family by giving them tools to do so. I’ve guided them through the process of how to market online, and given them tips and tricks on making meaningful connections in cyberspace.

We’re 14 days into our campaign, and we’re already about 1/2 way there. But now we have the tough part — we’ve already engaged the audience that’s excited about us. Now we have to mobilize those who are a harder sell. I’m working hard to encourage our company members to get the word out, but we never know if it’ll be enough. People that we talk to seem to love the concept of our theater company, and love the projects we produce. But will it translate to dollars? We’ll only know when September 29 rolls around and we look at the final tally. And that’s pretty scary.

This is where YOU come in…

I would be remiss if I didn’t ask you for your help. Theater in New York City is very expensive for audiences — especially for middle income families and artists. We are committed to providing professional theater at a price everyone can afford – less than $12 per ticket. With your donation of $5, $10, $25 or more, we’ll be able to pay down our theater rental which will allow us to subsidize ticket prices and make theater available to the masses.

So, I’d be so honored if you would take a look at what we’ve created! On our campaign page — http://www.indiegogo.com/TheSeeingPlace_Season3 — you’ll find a kooky promo video, a description of our season, and all of the fun perks that are available to you at different donation levels. I’m sending written updates once a week until we’re in production on our first two shows, and video updates once a month throughout the season. That way, we can keep in touch with donors to express exactly how we’re using the funds, and how we’re able to translate that into even better theater for audiences.

Thanks for letting me share this time with you — if you have any questions about fundraising or our process, please shoot me an email or leave a comment on this blog. Happy crowdfunding!

– Erin

Added Bonus: (Because at Playbills vs Paying Bills, we think you deserve bonuses every now and then!)

Here are some of the interesting articles (and a funny video) that I found when I was researching for this post:

Backstage: Helping Artists Raise Real Money
Top 5 Crowdfunding Success Stories
Xtranormal Video: Explaining an Arts Non-Profit

Erin Cronican is the New York contingent of this blog. Find out more information and view her materials on her website, or read the rest of her blog posts.

Thanks to Linus Bohman for the photo: http://linusbohman.se

Twitter friend and inspirational writer, Gini Martinez (@ginimartinez) posed a really interesting question on Twitter the other day, which got my bloggy-sense all excited. (It’s like Spidey-sense, but for inspiration and not crime fighting.) Gini asked:

 “What would you rather have: freedom or power?”

I wrote back, “Oh gawd, can’t I have both?”

And she responded with, “You tell me, Miss Erin. Can you?”

And Ladies and gentlemen, just like that the gauntlet was thrown… and this blog was born!

The Argument for Freedom
I think most actors would agree that freedom is vitally important for their acting career. Freedom allows us to set the schedules we need rather than the schedules that are required of us. Financial freedom means we’re able to take projects that we love rather the ones that help pay our bills. Logistically, freedom allows us to really live the life of an actor, rather than having to split our focus. I feel incredibly lucky that I learned early on that I needed to learn how to be self sufficient so that I could have freedom to pursue acting fully. This meant I practiced for many years under the direction of amazing business owners and working many more hours than I was paid, just so I could learn all aspects of owning a business. And fortunately, I was able to translate that to a coaching career the fully supports my #1 passion: acting. I experience immense freedom as a result of these choices (not the least of which is completing this blog at 3am, knowing that I don’t have to get up in the morning.)

Freedom, for me, also means the space to create. Actors can often feel confined by a particular way of working, which can stifle their creativity and make the process more difficult and less enjoyable. Sometimes this way of working is imposed by a director who has a specific artistic vision, and sometimes it is imposed by executive producers who hold the financial fate of the production in their hands. To be free of that would mean such a difference in what we’re safe to create.

We can also feel barred from fully experiencing the range of emotions we need for our characters. Freedom, to me, allows me the safety of going really deep in my work as an actor. I’m currently working on the role of Anna in the play, “Closer,” and believe me, when we get to the end of Act One and I’m in a violent fight with Larry (both verbally and emotionally), I need the freedom to explore and risk failing in order to bring my best performance to audiences.

The Argument for Power
Ohhhh… power. Power seems to make the world go round. Power allows us to stand tall for our desires and beliefs. Power makes people simmer down and listen. It gives us the opportunity to lobby for the kinds of roles we want, work with the kinds of people we admire, and chart our own course in our careers.

Power allows us to command the kind of money we deserve for the work we offer. In a recent  article on day jobs, I talk a lot about the power an actor has with their voice to demand the things that they need. We are often afraid to stand up for ourselves, opting instead to be easy going — sometimes, even complacent. If we feel powerful, this means that we can easily assert our position without the need to beg or plead. And when we don’t get what we want, power gives us the strength of character to understand that the word “no” doesn’t de-value our worth.

Power also allows us to give opportunities to those we want to support. One of the most exciting things about being managing director of a theater company is that I get to offer work to actors, directors and designers that I know and love. It is absolutely amazing to be able to give back to those who have made my life as an actor a true dream. Thus, power allows me the chance to make a difference in the lives of others — which is my core objective in life.

My Argument for Both
I actually believe that having freedom gives you power, and having power gives you freedom. So, this little exercise made my head spin a little, because I didn’t know how I could live with one without the other. It’s a huge “chicken or the egg” argument.

Truly I believe my freedom started because of different kind of power — the power of crazy optimism. When I was only 24, I read a newspaper article that talked about owning your own home. “You can own for the same amount as you rent!” the article said. For some reason, I had the gumption to do some research and found that, with a First Time Homebuyers loan, I could indeed, afford own a home – I was able to buy a townhouse with a mortgage comparable to what I was paying in rent. I lived there for 2 years but started to feel overwhelmed by the responsibility of owning. So, I sold the townhouse — luckily, for a huge profit — which then allowed me to pay off my debts (read: more freedom.) I then got my Equity card (read: power), and due to auditions/rehearsals I decided to quit my day job in favor of a part time job. Selling the townhouse allowed me the financial freedom to do so easily. Power leads to freedom leads to power leads to freedom. And so on, and so on.

Having my own business, where I control my hours, my workload, and my income, has been a huge freedom for me but it also comes with great power, and great responsibility (cue the super-hero movie music!) I can’t pretend it’s all perfect – the power that I have limits my freedom somewhat, because anytime you have power it means that people are counting on you. And some days, my need for freedom wins out and I don’t get the work done that I need to. But the most exciting part of it all is that I CHOOSE EVERY MOMENT. And that, my friends, is why I believe you can have both at once: Freedom makes me feel immensely powerful, and power makes me feel incredibly free.

So, let me turn it over to you: Would you rather have freedom or power? Please leave a comment and get the conversation going!

Erin  :)

Added Bonus: (Because at Playbills vs Paying Bills, we think you deserve bonuses every now and then!)

Often, the result of having freedom and power with “work-at-home” employment, is being sucked down into various rabbit holes of silliness and mischief on the internet. Here are some fun articles you might like:

Why Working At Home is Both Awesome and Horrible
5 Questions You Need To Ask (To Avoid Ruining Your Life)
You Should Be On Broadway

Erin Cronican is the New York contingent of this blog. Find out more information and view her materials on her website, or read the rest of her blog posts.

Hey, everyone! Last time, we talked about standardized patient work and corporate training as some of the unique ways to use your acting skills to make money. Here’s Part III of the series, outlining a job I relied upon heavily when I first moved to New York City:

Part 3 – Background Work / Being an “Extra”

Say what? Did I actually just say background work? Bear with me here for a few moments and hear me out.

First of all, remember that I’m the NY arm of this blog, so much of what I have to say pertains to the NY market. But it also might be useful for actors in cities other than Los Angeles where work for actors is more scarce.

You might be wondering- “Why does she include background work in a blog focused on day jobs that utilizes acting skills?” And I would respond, “Exactly! You will a golden ticket!” And then you might scratch your head. Background work is exactly that- a day job that uses your acting skills.

I say “day job” because working as an extra is not what we would consider a “career builder.” Sure, an actor can learn a lot on set – you get to work alongside professional actors, learn what happens on a film/TV set, and develop relationships with other people in the business. Some people might even argue that they got a big break from something that happened while doing background work. But none of these credits can be used to build a career or prove one’s worth as a principal performer. Therefore, working as a background actor is relegated to “day job” status – something that pays the bills but isn’t in line with what a principal performer does to accelerate their career.

I’ve been recommending background work to SAG members in the NY area who need some extra cash. Plus, member that it is a great way to earn income towards your SAG Pension and Health. For non-SAG actors, this is one of several ways to earn SAG vouchers towards getting your card (see an article I’ve written about SAG vouchers.)

So, given that, here is some information about how to find background work in NYC:

Below is a list of the background companies I recommend submitting to. To be considered, you simply need to mail a headshot & resume with a brief cover letter, stating that you would like to be considered for background work and want to be notified when they will be doing their next open call. (The open call is for you to fill out paperwork and they take a polaroid/digital image of you for their files.) You can also consider calling their offices and asking what days they bring actors in to submit their information. Background companies often do this once a week.

Once your information is on file, they will contact you when they have a job available for your type category. Just like for temp work, you can say yes or no based on your availability. Also like temp work, the more available you are, the more often they will call.

Background Companies I Recommend (in no particular order)

Grant Wilfley Casting- http://gwcnyc.com/

Central Casting- http://www.centralcasting.com

Amerifilm Casting- http://www.amerifilmcasting.com/

Barbara McNamara Casting- http://www.barbmcasting.com/

Sylvia Fay/Lee Genick Casting- www.sylviafaycasting.com; 212-479-8569 (hotline)

C&G Casting- http://www.myspace.com/candgcasting (I cannot fund a more robust website for this company. Their email address is candgcasting @ gmail.com.

You can also submit yourself for background roles through the following websites (pay per submissions, or pay for a yearly membership and submit for free):

NY Casting/Casting Networks NY- Pay to submit, worth the $5 a month for unlimited submissions. http://talent.nycasting.com/Common/Home.aspx

Extras Access- A part of Actors Access, but only for extra work. Only $10 a year if you are a member of Actors Access. http://www.extrasaccess.com/extra/

Some of you have asked questions about background work on soaps. As most of you know, all NY soaps have either been cancelled or moved to Los Angeles. The only remaining soap in NYC is “One Life to Live” and its last episode airs in January. There still is background work available for this show until December. Also, rumor has it that One Life to Live will have, well, another life to live online — via a company that is looking to keep this show and All My Children going. I don’t have any further details about this, but there is a good chance that background work will continue, just in a different format.

If you are interested in getting background work on soaps between now and December 2011, probably the best way to get involved is to meet the background casting director at one of the networking companies, like The Network. For $32 you can meet the casting director and do a group Q&A, read a scene from their show with one of your fellow actors, and then they will give you one-on-one feedback and answer questions about the possibilities of you working on daytime. It is an educational opportunity, not a casting opportunity, but they will take your headshot & resume back to their office for their files, and many actors have been called in for background work on these soaps simply from attending these events. For One Life to Live (ABC), the background casting director is Sheryl Baker Fisher. You can also opt to meet the casting associate who’s responsible for Under 5’s – Victoria Visgilio.

You can also send your headshot & resume directly to the casting folks at the networks. To get their address, do a search online or pick up Backstage’s “The Call Sheet.”

Have any positive stories about background work? Please leave a comment so others can learn from your experiences!

- Erin

Added Bonus: (Because at Playbills vs Paying Bills, we think you deserve bonuses every now and then!)

As I was creating this article, I found some fun things about background work, including info about famous actors who got their start being extras, and a parody sketch video. Enjoy!

Erin Cronican is the New York contingent of this blog. Find out more information and view her materials on her website, or read the rest of her blog posts.

 
Hey, everyone! Last time, we talked about standardized patient work as one of the unique ways to use your acting skills to make money. Here’s Part II of the series, outlining another job I currently hold:

 
 
Part 2- Corporate Trainer

Most of us, at one time or another, have worked for a company that held training sessions for their employees. Often, the sessions train on more than policies and procedures — they also can be used to boost morale through team building exercises, and improve management skills by training on interpersonal communications. This work can be very similar to standardized patient work, and usually involves actors role playing scenarios on a specific topic that the company is focusing on.

It’s kind of hard to describe what corporate training is like without getting specific, so here are three types of modules I present through various corporate training companies I’ve worked for:

 
• True Colors Personality Theory •

I work with a group of actors here in NY who go into corporations with live shows created by True Colors, a “model for understanding yourself and others based on your personality temperament.” With this live show, we work with a group of employees to help them figure out what their dominant personality type is, and teach them how to collaborate with others who are different personality types. There are 4 actors, and each of us represent one of the types. Of course, most people are a mix of all 4, but for the sake of the workshop we portray the personality types to their furthest stereotype, which makes it a heck of a lot of fun. I play Trudy, the “blue” personality, who is a bundle of emotions & energy and is passionate about collaboration, artistry, warmth and harmony. (Nope. That’s not typecasting at all.) We then break up the employees into groups based on their types, and lead them through a series of exercises to help them understand other personality types. (This includes creating a mock commercial for their company aimed at attracting employees of the opposite personality type.) As you can imagine, actors are a very important part of this concept, so it’s a great way to use acting skills.

On a practical note, anytime you work in the corporate world you stand to make more money than for much of the acting we do. So, it can be a very lucrative opportunity. For True Colors, each team is different with regard to casting, but usually the facilitator will contact actors as needed, and if the actor is available they’re used. So, in that way it’s similar to temp work.

 
• Emotional Intelligence Training •

For the past year, I have worked with a corporate training firm to deliver programming on the topic of Emotional Intelligence. I, along with 3 other actors, go into corporations and train executives on how to use Emotional Intelligence to more effectively manage their departments and employees. (Emotional Intelligence can be defined as understanding the thoughts and feeling of yourself and others, and taking action accordingly.) This program uses actors to demonstrate 3 scenes where emotional intelligence is being ignored, and then we do role playing with the executives to recreate the scenarios using their suggestions for better emotional intelligence. For example, one scenario might involved an employee running into their co-worker’s office ranting about something, and the boss ends up feeling attacked or frustrated. We teach the employee ways to approach their colleague in an emotionally intelligent way, which will help the employee get what they need more quickly.

Working as a corporate trainer can be VERY lucrative. The problem for actors is that in order to do this work, you must have a flexible and open schedule and be available to travel. Most corporate trainers are on the road several weeks out of the month, so it ends up being too strict a schedule for actors to handle. But on the off chance that you can work with a team of actors who share in the work, this can be a great supplement to your acting income.

 
• Emotion Science Training •

Based on my work as a standardized patient at Mount Sinai, I was hired to teach a 2 hour workshop on the basics of Emotion Science, which was brought to the forefront by Paul Ekman (the man behind the tv show, “Lie To Me.”) Ekman’s life work revolves around the idea that there are 7 basic emotions native to all human beings, and these 7 are expressed with a unique facial expression, which is the same no matter where they live or what kind of society they have. These emotions are: Happiness, Sadness, Fear, Anger, Surprise, Disgust, and Contempt. Ekman has demonstrated that when a person has a genuine emotion, their face will exhibit it in a very specific way. But there are times when a person tries to hide how they feel (for example- pretending to be happy when your friend gets cast in a role you wanted. I swear I’m not bitter.) Ekman says that there are certain ways one can tell that someone is lying, and that is to look for “hot spots” — places where the true emotion is “leaking out” from the “mask” we’ve created to hide it.

So, why would a medical school be interested in this kind of work? Like law enforcement and the justice system, the medical profession often deals with clients who lie, or misrepresent the truth. If we can train doctors how to read body language and facial cues, they could establish intimacy with their patients more easily and detect when something serious is going on. And who better than an actor to teach this course, demonstrating how each of the emotions are registered on the face? This is one of the more rewarding “day jobs” I’ve had, because I learned the science behind much of what we do as actors.

So, there you have it! 3 examples of corporate training jobs that utilize acting skills. Now, on to the part you’ve been waiting for…

 
• How to get this kind of work •

Truthfully, most of this work comes by referral — you meet someone on set or in rehearsals who notices your intelligence and professionalism, and they ask you if you’ve ever done corporate training. On occasion, you might find something like this on the job boards, but rarely will you find it on casting sites. Outside of someone approaching you, the best way to find this work is to let people know you’re looking. Post requests on Facebook and Twitter, letting people know that you’re interested in getting involved in this kind of work.

For True Colors — There are hundreds, if not thousands, of facilitators across the globe. There’s not a central place to reach out to them, but if you’re interested I might suggest that you browse the True Colors website and see if there’s a person you can contact to find facilitators in your area.

 
Important to note:

Because corporate training is serious business, you must be the utmost professional. You must be well spoken, clean cut, and always on time. You must be a good listener and have the ability to represent both the consulting firm and the corporation you’ve been hired by. Most companies require that you have corporate attire (suit jacket, with shirt & tie for men; suit jacket with slacks or skirt for women.)

What do you think? How many of you have done corporate training work, and how has it supported your acting career? Any funny stories? Crazy stories? Leave a comment- I’d love to hear from you!

 
- Erin

Added Bonus: (Because at Playbills vs Paying Bills, we think you deserve bonuses every now and then!)

Here are some links to articles about actor-based corporate training and team building, and its positive effect on many different kinds of industries…Link 1 |  Link 2 |  Link 3 |  Link 4

Enjoy!
 

Erin Cronican is the New York contingent of this blog. Find out more information and view her materials on her website, or read the rest of her blog posts.

Hey, everyone! Given that this is a blog whose title implies that we’re constantly in a battle between making money and being artistic, I thought I’d write a series of blogs about different ways you can use your acting skills to make money. And I oughta know – I’ve done a crap ton of unique and crazy work all in the name of being a working actor.

Part 1- Standardized Patient for Medical Schools

Ever see the episode of “Seinfeld” where Kramer signs on to be a “fake patient” at a local hospital? (clip from show) Would you believe that these jobs actually exist? Ok, so the TV show over-dramatizes the job, but every day in medical schools throughout the country, actors are being used as “standardized patients” – allowing medical students and resident MDs to practice/test their clinical skills in a safe and controlled environment. This past week alone, I spent 3 days playing 3 different cases, and it is a heck of a lot of fun.

The scenarios we do have to be kept under wraps, because most involve national testing for medical students to get to the next level. But I thought I could still give you a little taste of what we do, and what the programs are like.

The idea behind using standardized patients (SPs) is one of fairness – if students are expected to see a patient in a testing situation, they have to make sure each student gets an identical test. Given that no two patients are the same, medical schools hire actors and train them to give an identical, precise performance. So, all SP work starts with thorough training on a specified case. We learn the back story of the character (which can be up to 15 pages of content, sometimes more) as well as the general demeanor while in the scenario – should the patient be frightened? Frustrated? Edgy? Easygoing? What kinds of clues should we give in our performance to indicate that there is something deeper going on, something that the student should dig for?

Then we make sure we understand all of the medical jargon that might be thrown at us, and we learn the correct (and incorrect) ways to do physical exam maneuvers. For example, did you know that they teach students to listen to the heart in 4 keys areas, and to compare the lungs, listening at a minimum of 3 levels– and this is called auscultating? Did you know that testing for eye movements (“follow my finger”) can be used to see if a patient has hyperthyroidism? (indicated by eyelids that are slow to respond when the eye moves — who knew?) I know more medical terminology and practices than I ever thought possible. It’s pretty awesome to be on the inside of this amazing profession.

Then comes the fun part – doing the actual scenarios. This is improv at its finest, because despite training on a case and knowing your character cold, you never know what kind of questions will be thrown at you. Just yesterday, I (as the character) told the student that I have two kids. Instead of them asking how old the kids were, the student asked me how old I was when I had my kids. (Say wha?? I was not prepared for that! I mean- c’mon, I majored in theater so I wouldn’t have to do math on the fly.) But somehow I was able to stall the student while I did the math in my head. Other times, I haven’t responded so gracefully. One November several years ago, the student asked, “What costumes did your kids wear for Halloween?” I froze, then blurted out, “We don’t celebrate holidays!” Yeah… not my finest moment. There were a few seconds of awkward silence – the student must have thought I was a nut job. But now I always try to guess what kind of small talk the doctor will do (“where do you live?” “what do you do for fun?”) and then come up with something appropriate for the character.

Finally, the SP is charged with leaving feedback about the encounter. Sometimes, feedback is given to the student verbally, involving the SP tells the student how it felt to be their patient. But most of the time, the SP fills out a digital checklist at the end of the encounter, which notes the student’s success in the areas of history taking, physical exam and communication.

This is where it gets tricky – we wear “two hats” as an SP. On the one hand, we’re a patient with a full history, complete with thoughts, feelings and fears. On the other hand, we’re an educator, going through a mental checklist while answering questions to make sure the student covers everything on the exam checklist. This means that both sides of the brain are working at once, and it can be easy to become overloaded or confused. Often, an SP will see 12-14 students in a given day in 15-30 minute encounters. At the beginning of the day it’s easy to remember what questions you’ve answered and which you haven’t. But at the end of the day, when you’ve answered the same batch of questions 12 times, you start to become a little fuzzy on which items this student asked and which they missed. So, a sharp mind and good memory are essential for the job.

One of the greatest things about SP for work actors is that it is very flexible. Much like temp work, once you are in the system they notify you when work comes up in your age range/type. If you’re available, you do the program. If not, they’ll ask again for the next program. Therefore, as an SP I can take on as much work as possible when not working on a film or musical, and then take a break from SP work when I have another project.

As an actor, SP work is fabulous training, particularly in the practice of “the illusion of the first time.” Yesterday, I had to see 14 students as a part of the Compass II 3rd Year exam. Each student needed to have the exact same portrayal, so each time there was a knock on the door, I had to reset for a brand new encounter, as though I’d never done it before. This is where my work on film sets comes in real handy. And for those of you who subscribe to the Stanislavski and/or Strasberg techniques, being an SP is a fabulous way to practice sensory work.

If you’re interested in doing this kind of work, your best bet is to contact the medical schools in your area and ask for the department that handles standardized or simulated patients (usually the department o medical education.) You can often find that information on the school’s website or you can just call the main switchboard. I did some basic research for NYC, LA and Chicago, and here are a few of the major medical schools. (Note- not all schools have their own program – they may share in a single SP program. For example, many NY/NJ/CT schools use Mount Sinai’s Morchand Center for their testing. Contact each school for more information…):

NYC Area: Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, NYU School of Medicine, Kaplan Medical, City College of NY, Clinical Competence Center of NY

Chicago Area: U of Chicago School of Medicine, Northwestern University, University of Illinois at Chicago

LA Area: USC School of Medicine, UCLA School of Medicine, Here is a list of programs from the Association of Standardized Patient Educators (though, it does not appear to be complete. I happen to know that there is a robust program at UCSD Medical School in San Diego, but it is not listed.)

What do you think? How many of you have done SP work, and what schools have you worked with? We’d love to hear about your experiences (especially the funny ones!

– Erin

Added Bonus: (Because at Playbills vs Paying Bills, we think you deserve bonuses every now and then!)

As I was searching for the clip from Seinfeld, I cams across from spoof videos about standardized patients. Now, granted, some of these might be more like inside jokes for folks already involved in med school or with SP work, but I thought they were worth sharing…  Clip 1 / Clip 2 / Clip 3 / Clip 4.

Enjoy!

Erin Cronican is the New York contingent of this blog. Find out more information and view her materials on her website, or read the rest of her blog posts.

Prior to moving to the “Right Coast” (as New Yorkers affectionately call it) I worked professionally in both San Diego and Los Angeles. I thought a fun way to start off my posts with PvsPB would be to mention some of the differences I notice between pursuing a career in the asphalt jungle (NYC) versus the concrete jungle (LA.)

The Biz

• In LA, you call your TV / Film / Theater agents “Theatrical.” Here, we call them “Legit.” With that, we also call that kind of work “legit.” Which, I’m sure, makes commercial / voiceover / hosting actors raise an eyebrow (“What…I’m not legit?!?” <sucker punch!>)

• Many NYC agents, especially commercial agents, freelance. This means that they don’t sign contracts when you first start working together, opting to “date openly” rather than being “exclusive.” Oddly, NYC actors seem to be ok with this, even though they know that an agent who doesn’t sign is not usually as serious about promoting their career. Most bi-coastal agents reject freelancing, luckily.

• Believe it or not, background acting an actual, legitimate day job here in NYC. No stigma. I have a theory about this. Well, actually two. 1) Since people don’t move to NYC to become movie stars, there are not as many people vying to “break into movies” by doing background work. 2) Being that this is a major theater town, NYC actors require jobs that they can easily leave for long periods of time. Desk jobs just don’t cut it. As my friend Allison Mosier (who recently moved from NY to LA) puts it:

“Unlike actors in New York, actors in LA never leave their day job, because when they book an acting gig, they are only away for a day or so. In New York, you book a gig, and you’re gone for the whole summer. Serving/bartending jobs are at a premium [in LA.] I think it might actually be easier to get an acting job here than a day job.” (link to full blog)

Therefore, flexibility is key here, and background work is just about as flexible as you can get. Not to mention a great resource for health/pension (though, career builders need to look elsewhere. Background work will not grow your career.)

• Strangely, there’s also no stigma about casting director / agent workshops. A select few are well-reputed in this city, and most of their teachers approach the event for what it should be – an Educational Opportunity, with the added bonus of building relationships.

NOTE — I’d now like to officially close the can of worms I just opened. I, in no way, want to turn this into a debate over their legality. I’m in agreement with you, LA peeps. Paying for auditions is bad, bad business. I’m just letting you know that, in NYC, there is no stigma for actors taking part in them, and I think that is because there are a few companies (like my friends at The Network) who do a nice job of making sure that actors know that they are being trained, not auditioned. And the company is very good at weeding out those instructors who get complaints from actors about lack of content. That all said, it is still a personal choice for the actor, and it is every actor’s right to demand that they receive apt education for the money they are paying.

We’ll now return you to your regularly scheduled blogging…

Headshots

• In NYC we use photo paper, not lithos. Yeah, that was a big shock when I came to NYC all stocked up on litho headshots. Yikes. Luckily, in NYC it’s actually cheaper to print on photo paper than on thicker stock.

• The bad news about photo paper – you can’t write on the back and you can’t recycle them. (That said, check out one of my spoof articles called Top 10 Things To Do With Old Headshots – which I wrote for my coaching blog.)

• In NYC, it’s outrageously more expensive to get headshots taken than in LA. The average price is easily $500-$600, and that doesn’t count makeup, retouching, and a myriad of other things that NY photographers charge for.

• Because of the weather, we often wait to take headshots until the spring and fall so we can take advantage of outdoor shooting. Otherwise, due to inclement weather, studio shoots are the only option. Some of the more successful photographers will have the option of studio lighting and natural light, usually from a huge window.

Auditioning

• One AWESOME thing about living in this city is how dense midtown Manhattan is — most auditions are within a 10 block range. This means that you can easily go to 5-6 auditions in a day, 8-10 if some of those are quick commercial or print go-sees. Convenient and potentially lucrative!

• But given that you don’t have a car, this also means that you have to carry EVERYTHING with you. Men carry murses (man purses) or backpacks and women have deep grooves on their shoulders from carrying 5 bags. It gives new meaning to the phrase “bag lady” — “She’s not homeless, folks. She’s just an actor on her way to an EPA!” (And, don’t even get me started on the wheely suitcases many actors have to lug with them. Ugh.)

• Given that we have to walk everywhere, we have to bring 2 pairs of shoes. One pair that we can actually walk in, and another that looks good. They’re never the same pair, unless they’re flip flops. And flip flops are poor choices when it’s sleeting.

Transportation

I miss having a car for 2 reasons:

• Climate control between my apartment and the audition. NYC humidity, rain, and wind will take my carefully coiffed hair and turn it into a Greek tragedy.

• My car stereo. Having a stereo and a (virtually) sound proof chamber is an amazing way to warm up my voice before a musical audition. Now that I live in NYC, I have to warm up at home before I hop on the subway. EPAs usually start their sign up line at 8am, or earlier. This means I’m belting High Es before 7am. Yeah, my neighbors love me.

Then again, I love NOT having a car for 3 reasons:

• Peaceful commuting. I swear, I haven’t had an incident of commuter rage since I left SoCal. Ok, that’s not true. I get really ticked off at people who push onto the train before others get a chance to exit. I also will turn into Regan from The Exorcist if I get hit one more time by someone’s gigantic bag that they refuse to take off their shoulder in a crowded subway!!! (pant…pant…pant….) But, I digress.

• Amazing people watching. Seriously, you can’t get any better than taking in all of the colorful characters on the subway. There’s usually at least one person that makes me feel like my life isn’t so bad. And then I try to remember to smile at them and bring some good energy to their day. (Almost 6 years here, and I haven’t lost my SoCal optimism!)

• A feeling of community without having to talk to anyone. Have you noticed how lonely you can feel when commuting on your own? Sure, I know it’s sometimes good to get away from people. But in NYC, I find it amazing that you can find a way to be with people but get your “alone” time…at the same time.

Health & Fitness

• For those of you over 21 who think that walking around NY will be enough exercise to keep off those pounds… be aware that the drinking you’ll do because you no longer need a designated driver will far outweigh any benefits of walking. Trust me. No, seriously… trust me.

• I never knew what hibernating was until I moved here. My body doesn’t want to do anything but eat and cuddle during the winter months. And then, spring is an amazing renewal. Like lightning, when the sun peeks out my body shoots outdoors all ready to stretch and regenerate.

• Speaking of lightning — we have the most phenomenal thunderstorms here. And seasons. We have seasons! Delicious.

And that’s it! Well, for now. Again, that’s just a small taste of the culture shock I received when I moved to The Big Apple. One I didn’t include: noise. Right now it’s 11pm, and there are 2 jackhammers going at it on the street below my apartment. And speaking of the sounds of “going at it”…

You know what? I think that’s best left to your imagination.

Are there any topics you think I’ve missed? Have any experiences of your own? I’d love to hear your thoughts — please click the “Comments” link (I try to respond to all comments I receive!)

– Erin

Added Bonus: (Because at Playbills vs Paying Bills, we think you deserve bonuses every now and then!)

As I was searching for photos for this blog, I found a blog post talking about some of the general differences between NY & LA and another fun one about some of the lifestyle differences. And… I’ve written a couple of other humorous blog posts about my move to NYC: Blog 1 / Blog 2 / Blog 3 / Blog 4. Enjoy!

Erin Cronican is the New York contingent of this blog. Find out more information and view her materials on her website, or read the rest of her blog posts.