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Posts tagged with "acting"

The Problem with One Source Talent

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So I was browsing the Casting Sites in LA and I came across this odd entity known as "One Source Talent."

I wanted more info since it was all fancy and nice. Namely, did it cost me anything? I scoured their website and couldn't find anything indicating whether they charged. If you're a paid service. Say it up front! If you've hidden that, you look guilty.

And they had hidden it, I had to search other websites... Even in their pretty videos, etc. they never once say "We are a paid service." They say we are a service but you don't have to pay for all services (just look at Gmail, My Opera, Facebook, etc).

They do say "We are not an agency," which doesn't mean anything to me. So what? Surely a Frequently Asked Questions list should include "Do I have to pay for your service?"

Turns out they charge something like $500 up front and then recurring monthly fees (according to various website accounts).

So are they a scam? Well, yes.

Here's how:

The problem with their whole happy approach is that they get paid no matter what. If you get absolutely no jobs whatsoever, they still get paid. On their FAQ they say

When or how fast can I expect to get jobs through OST?

  • No one can answer that question because there are so many variable (sic). Maintain realistic expectations
  • ....
  • There are no guarantees.

but excluding that small text the entire business and site is dedicated to this implicit promise: sign-up with us and you'll be an actor and model with the tools necessary to succeed in this business -- aka jobs.

So why is this a scam?
1. They get paid up front. They have no incentive to weed-out people who don't have much of a chance.
2. People who are successful, already had what it took, OST just helped them with some small details (like they say, the printing, an online presence and a searchable database). If you're talent with a unique look then you're going to get cast in parts where looks matter (featured background and modeling)... it's just a matter of getting in front of the right eyes. OST helps people legitimately do that but if you don't have a unique or sought after appearance then you aren't going to be cast regardless and OST has no incentive to actually tell you that -- after all their job is to sell their service not get you a job because then they'd be Agents.

In other words, if you've got a hot appearance you're going to get those parts no matter who you've chosen to work with.

But since there are no refunds the folks who never had a chance just lose out.

It's just legalized gambling -- their business is completely legal (Assuming they aren't fraudulently leading you on, i.e. you ask "if I pay this money will I get a job?" and they say "yes") but it's just slimy because they don't have to do anything but flag hotties and cuties who are already sought after in the industry.

So I have to disagree with the naive assessment offered by the jokers here. $500 up front + $40 a month so you can print your own comp cards and be in their database?

OST offer a legitimate service but only by skating just this side of the law. So I consider it a scam by
1. not stating up-front they are a paid service,
2. explicitly promising in ads that you can become an "actor or model" by applying now,
3. implicitly promising success in the industry while hiding behind ambiguous statements of "maintain realistic expectations" -- when you're just starting out, how are you supposed to have realistic expectations unless they tell you them??
4. having a business model that inherently disenfranchises a whole class of people who have the dreams but not the realistic understanding of what this service can get them - not jobs, but comp cards and paid exposure.

It's like John Robert Powers scam... yes, sure they absolutely positively provide a service -- will that service actually get you any modeling jobs? Only if you already had what it takes and needed an "agent" to help you get started.

So yes, if you are hot and you have money to spend One Source Talent would be a great way to get started in the industry. Outside that niche, probably not. The fact that this truth is hidden from consumers is what makes it a scam. It'd be like Las Vegas casinos claiming "the odds are the customer always wins!" when the truth is the opposite.

The truth is the business owners are taking advantage of people with dreams and ignorance. If they stated up front what they really were then it'd be a business I could respect.

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Theatre - David Mamet & Merry Muses

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I recently read David Mamet's "Theatre" which states early on, "Many of the observations and suggestions in this book might be considered heretical." And he's right... they are completely heretical... if theatre were a religion (as he notes in the next line).

Now, I read through is book and while I took issue with some of his points about acting (especially if you were to try, as he was not, to apply them to commercial or "theatrical" acting on television or film). It's a great read for anyone who has studied theatre. If you haven't, it'd probably be akin to reading the journal of secret society that you weren't apart of. So much of the real richness that is derived from my read of the book is the understanding of what he is responding to, so often (though directly stated, there is nothing like having experienced the things he criticizes).

Nevertheless, it's worth a read. And I thought that before I was given a live demonstration.

This last week I agreed to goto a religious convention. The 'hook' was going to be a production on stage! Now, this is no hook for me -- I've seen plenty of productions and I had no desire to see this one but out of politeness, I agreed.

And what an example... The production was horrid. Completely wretched, really. The voices were all prerecorded (for various reasons which nevertheless was no excuse to the theatrical purity pulsing through my veins) and worse, they had this "translated from Japanese animation into English" vibe. The voice acting was just horrible, the lines were all rushed (great for radio/voice-overs) and the actors all overacted because, logically, they have to convey all the emotion in their voices alone so they "really went for it!" Instead of just saying the words... they "filled" them with emotion.

"We must go do this!" spoken as if a 7-year-old was performing some homemade play. The voices were often out of synch with the actors. The dialogue was completely ridiculous, written with such a slant toward the religious point they were making that I felt like every scene we were getting slapped with a big "do you see the point" trout!

Oh and the players? Well, the lack of any acting ability was made up for with wild gesticulation! "The town over there..." "The threat over there..." "The wine over here..." "The world..." (all over). Imagine any 7-year-old performing a play and their concept of the words is simply to indicate what they are speaking about.

The scenery was flimsy, the characters cliché, the morality in your face, the music cheesy (just like that animation fair), the costumes convincing enough but the props ridiculous (a sack of 'heavy' belongings that seems as light as an balloon).

And the audience was ... well... eating it up.

No, really, this audience of over 10,000 people sat quietly, applauded and remained engaged. Now, I thought, of course, this is simply a mark of politeness -- a sign that they respect the lessons being delivered to them and wouldn't dare be out of line. Now, some people came and went to the bathroom, but very few. And then it ended. No curtain call or anything but something amazing happened.

People left. People began to talk in their seats. A lecture began in front of the same audience and they were transformed. A couple of girls below me began talking persistently, only pausing to applaud when the rest of the audience did. Hundreds of people actually just left, perhaps it was to use the restroom but many seats remained open for the hour afterward.

How could this be? They... they enjoyed it?

And then I described this to a cheerier and more accepting person than I, who had experienced these lectures and the plays, and she summed it up succinctly, "they talk for the whole weekend but the drama you can just chill out."

Mr. Mamet would be ... well, would be muttering something about "duh, you idiot."

Everything a learned theatrical master would "know" about theatre just tossed out. Was this even theatre? I'm not sure but it was certainly performance. And it certainly engaged the audience as a staged production. Even the children seemed a bit more relaxed.

The audience could turn off their logical brain and simply enjoy the plot... and there was a plot. Beyond the wretched dialogue, there was a plot. Like most biblical stories, they are good stories. You want to know what happens next. Do they do this or do they do that? That fundamental push, that.. "Oh, that fellow just showed up with new information!" moment.

And here, 10,000 people enjoyed a performance any self-respecting theatre major would term as crap (to be fair, I've never been a self-respecting or even disrespecting theatre major). So what happened here? It wasn't sheer politeness that guided this audience to remain still -- they would have remained seated and quiet for the final lecture. If it wasn't that we're left holding the bag of "duh" from Mr. Mamet, they were entertained.

For all the theory, all the character work, for all the years of practice and brilliant lectures and untold experimentation with lighting and music and....

No, it was a real-life demonstration of what he said mattered. The audience could hear what was being said and there was a plot. Even if the actors had not been on stage I think only the children would have been disengaged because the story still would have been there.

It was a lesson that came at a perfect time.

I may disagree with some of the points Mr. Mamet makes but as far as his most fundamental points -- I found I'm left holding the proverbial bag. All the pondering and grand theories of great-makers of theatre wrapped guiltily around my wrist.

It makes me reevaluate my prime beliefs of theatre, of performance.

I've been around theatre long enough to "get" most of what he says and see when he's spot-on. However, it's the points that I disagree with that deserve further study because right now, I have all these thoughts and no where to go with them.

Other than... as an actor, doing it, is a very powerful tool. The rather bad part of all of this is I saw how I far more easily fit his definition of a great Director than a great Actor.

But, I knew that going in.

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Hate Painting, Love Acting

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I do hate painting, really, it's one of those activities that are inherently messy... BUT then have to end with pristine cleanliness. It's like playing in the mud... with your church clothes. Playing in the mud would be fun, if you didn't have to worry about the clothes later.

So, now I have to blaze through some painting. 2 hours for a ceiling, and 2 hours for some walls... and different colors and not all the supplies one ought to have...

and why all this?

So I can keep my acting class... after the long week with Census hell I'm really hurting. Literally.

Okay.

Procrastination done.