Category Archives: The Film Set

Professionally Resting Interview: Lifting the Lid on Acting.

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The talented actor behind the blog Professionally Resting first caught my eye on Twitter. She is brave, witty and accurate about the downside of the acting industry. As an actor myself I just read her tweets/blog posts and nod. I just had to interview her for Frost, so here it is! I also have a guest post coming from her soon, so look out for that too.

What made you start your blog?

I’d been reading a few other acting blogs online and I soon realised that none really covered what it’s like to be an actual working actor. Many are written by actors who are constantly in work and that was something that I just couldn’t really identify with. Most actors I know spend a great deal of their time resting and I wanted to create something fun and supportive for those of us that regularly find ourselves within the unemployed majority. I also wanted to use it as an excuse to keep busy. There are days when there’s very little work coming in and having a blog to think about really keeps me feeling like I’m at least doing something creative.

Tell us a bit about yourself (without giving too much away)!

It’s always tough answering these questions without sounding like you’re on Blind Date! I’m in my late twenties and have been acting (on and off) since graduating from drama school in 2006. I had a break for a couple of years after getting a bit trapped in a temping job that became permanent. It was a horrible job but it meant I could have a couple of years actually earning money and being able to buy things that had previously been a luxury like food that isn’t on the reduced shelf. However, there’s nothing quite like a miserable job to remind you exactly what it is that you really want to be doing and that was the catalyst to making me find acting work again so that I could finally escape.


What do you think of the acting industry?

It’s very much a love/hate relationship. I regularly complain about it on Twitter and on my blog because it honestly drives me insane. It can feel that it often has more to do with luck than talent and you are completely at the mercy of those in control of the work that is out there. It often feels like many companies and channels operate a closed shop policy and I think many of them are guilty of working with the same very tiny gang of actors time and time again. I read an article recently that said there was a very small pool of talent out there which simply isn’t true. There’s an absolute ocean of clever and gifted people out there but they often get ignored as there are other names and faces that are deemed more popular. Unfortunately viewing figures and ticket sales are placed about creating quality work and while I accept that many of those performers that are used time and time again are very good at what they do, a bit of variety really wouldn’t go amiss!
However, having said that, there are very industries that would pay you a month’s rent to mess around as a time-travelling police officer for the day and that’s why I’m still slogging away at it!

What is the worst casting you have ever seen?

There are so many to choose from! The reason I started tweeting about castings was because people were so shocked at just how insulting and offensive and downright baffling they often were. Ones such as ‘No pay unfortunately but you will get to ride in a white stretch limo with a midget and the band’ and ‘She looks a bit like a trollop but tries to dress a bit classy’ have been incredible finds. However, I think the worst has to be one that I saw recently asking for actors to play characters in a sweatshop and the company (a very well-known TV channel) were only offering expenses. I thought I was past being shocked by castings but this one was offensive on so many levels that I genuinely had to keep re-reading it just to make sure that I was seeing it properly. Sadly I was.

What was the catalyst behind you starting your blog?

As I said, it was because I felt like I couldn’t relate to the other acting blogs out there and I felt that there needed to be a voice that represented normal working actors who often find themselves out of work. However, although I knew that it was something I wanted to do, it took me a while to actually get it started. It only happened when I was coming back on the train after a month performing at the Edinburgh Festival. I’d stupidly forgotten to bring a book and my boyfriend and I were unable to sit together so to keep myself occupied, I just started writing. After nearly 4 hours of solid writing, I realised I had a lot to say on the subject of acting and after a bit of encouragement from my boyfriend who’s also a blogger, the blog was born.

What can be done to improve the kind of roles women get?

It has to start with the writing. There is not a day goes by that I don’t see at least one casting where a woman isn’t required to either be a stripper or a prostitute and although I often make a joke of it on Twitter, it is very worrying too. There is such great writing out there for men but female roles are so often overlooked. So many times I read castings where all the male characters are given weird and wonderful characteristics while the women are just written to look nice. There are some incredible writers out there who are really trying to make sure that there are strong, interesting roles for women but they need support from the major producers for their work to get made and seen. I do think that it’s changing and television and film is starting to listen but it feels like a very slow process that needs to speed up a little!

What is your favourite, and least favourite, thing about the industry?

Let’s start with my least favourite and get the negative stuff out the way. It has to be the lack of good, paid work out there for actors. So many companies expect actors to work for free and although I completely understand how difficult it must be working on a tight budget, it’s tough when you’re faced with it day after day. Acting is something that I stupidly want to do for the rest of my life but it’s hard when people seem to think that by offering you a limp cheese sandwich and £5 to cover your travel expenses, they’re doing you a favour. I’ve done jobs in the past where I’ve essentially been paying to be part of them and that’s when you know that something has gone wrong.

And my favourite thing about the industry? It’s that you just don’t know what’s coming up next. A few months ago I was whinging on Twitter about how there didn’t seem to be any work out there and literally minutes later, my agent was on the phone with an audition for an incredible part in a feature film. I didn’t get the role but I do love how your luck changes from one minute to the next. Although it can be pretty unnerving at times, especially when you’re going through a particularly quiet spell, it’s incredibly exhilarating too. I think it’s a little bit addictive which is why actors put themselves through such torment.

You blog and tweet under a pseudonym, do you believe it would harm your acting career if you didn’t? Can you be critical?

The decision to write under a pseudonym was made so that I could be openly critical about the industry. As an actor you have to be so careful because you never know who you’re going to be working with next and I think that means a lot of actors are worried about speaking out about how infuriating this industry can be. Writing anonymously gives me the freedom to be brutally honest about the problems I face without jeopardising my acting career. Although there are days when I wish I could just tweet under my real name, I’m sure I’d have been in a fair bit of trouble for some of my comments, especially about casting calls and auditions.

What was your favourite ever job?

Despite going on about getting paid, my favourite job was one when I didn’t receive a penny. It was one of the first jobs I did after graduating from drama school and was a devised piece. It was pretty shambolic most of the time and we didn’t even get expenses but it was incredible experience seeing a project from the first meeting where we had some terrible ideas to the final night of performance. We barely sold any tickets (mainly because it was listed incorrectly meaning that most audience members turned up about 5 minutes before it was about to end) but it was great fun and real learning curve for me as a new actor.

and your least?

A summer-long Shakespeare festival. It was fun for about a fortnight but after three months away from home on only £25 a week, I was a state. The plays were performed outdoors and it was a particularly bad summer which meant that we spent a lot of time performing in soaking wet velvet dresses. British audiences are incredibly resilient and would determinedly sit there huddled up in anoraks and shelter under umbrellas while we battled with wind, rain, thunder and lightning. Because I was earning so little money, I was mainly living off value bran flakes and tomato soup so I ended the three months malnourished, exhausted, utterly sick of the sight and sound of Shakespeare and with about £4 in my bank account. That was something they really didn’t warn me about in drama school!

You can read the Professionally Resting Blog here and follow her on Twitter.

Gabriela Hersham | Ones to Watch

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Gabriela Hersham is a British born actress who has appeared in a number of independent films
and fashion productions.

Born in North London, Gabriela originally studied at a London business school before deciding to
pursue acting, which has since taken her across the world.

In 2009, after an extensive search, Director Ross Hockrow chose Gabriela to play Shelby, a
troubled young girl struggling with depression in his film A Happy Ending, where she played along
side Lou Martini JR, from the US hit The Sopranos.

In 2010 Gabriela played a large part in the film The Burningmoore Incident, a horror film based
around the renovation of a house interrupted by the slashings of a serial killer. In this film, Gabriela worked closely with Geoff Tate of the cult American heavy metal band Queensryche. In late 2010
Gabriela filmed a number of short fashion films for hot young London based designers Nonoo
Lyons, Corlette London and Mechante of London, filming both in the UK and in New York City.
Working in both independent films and short fashion productions, Gabriela has been able to hone
her acting skills whilst working with prominent directors and costars.

Having formed a strong working relationship with her costar, Johnny Ramey and writer/ director
Ross Hockrow, Gabriela is now in undergoing extensive accent coaching in preparation for the
lead role in American Gypsy (to be filmed in New York City) which tells the story of a disturbed
young woman who puts on different disguises and personas to lure men into compromising
situations before robbing them of their possessions.

Gabriela has three feature films lined up for 2012 in Europe for director Tony Jopia and is also
involved in several other productions which are filming in the US and Middle East.

In addition to having studied at the Lee Strasberg Institute in New York, Gabriela has also been
trained by Susan Batson and Jack Garfein in New York and London.

With her unique looks and strong personality, Gabriela is an important new talent to the film
industry.

"It's the Audition, Stupid!" Book Review and Interview with the Author.

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“It’s the Audition, Stupid!”

It’s a brave opening gambit; a book that insults without giving you a chance to buy it a drink first. But if that upsets you then you’d better grow some thicker skin because Brendan McNamara’s 2011 book about casting doesn’t shy from delivering a few home truths.

And quite right too.

If you purchase the book then you probably are, or are intending to be, an actor. Good luck.

It’s a cruel and unforgiving career and, while the book gives invaluable advice on casting, the real value of “It’s the Audition, Stupid!” comes from its realism – a realism which newcomers to the industry would do well to embrace.

The book itself discusses the intricacies of the casting process in refreshing detail. As an actor popping in and out of castings, which may, on occasion, only last 2-3 minutes, it seems a very arbitrary and mysterious process.

Casting directors too can seem a mysterious and distant bunch, with many actors sending off CV after CV and never hearing a word back. Brendan McNamara’s book does a great job in explaining the casting process and humanising casting directors.

Much of the advice given by the book seems, in retrospect, to be common sense – but it’s amazing how un-common common sense can be. The advice is frank, clear and given with tremendous goodwill.

The book is not just about improving actors’ attitudes towards auditions, it covers everything from drama school training to how to approach the right people. It also talks over the differences between auditioning for stage and screen work and the gulf between the two.

It’s a fascinating and valuable read, and if you’re an actor, it may just become your new best friend.

I had the pleasure of chatting with Brendan himself recently. You can find a copy of the interview below.

“It’s the Audition, Stupid!” is available now in paperback. You can find out more at www.pinterandmartin.com or buy a copy of the Kindle e-book version at Amazon. It’s the Audition, Stupid!: The actor’s essential guide to surviving the casting and getting the part

Tim Austin is a stage and screen actor based in the UK. You can read more about him at www.tim-austin.co.uk

 …

Frost Mag;

Hello Brendan. You started off as an actor – a pretty successful one too. What was it about casting directing that made you move away from the acting? And would you go back to acting full time?

Brendan;

I don’t think I’d ever act again. I was very confident as a child, I was quite quirky,… [but] I didn’t have a craft and the more I see great actors, I see a craft.

I’d no time for doing accents, which was very limiting. I was cast as a West of Ireland “cheeky chapy” and that was the extent of it, and that bored me senseless. A career of that wouldn’t’ve made me happy.

I got into casting because it started as a part time job when I was trying to pick up auditions and just became an obsession and love, basically.

Frost Mag;

Have you kept the same contacts from your acting and has that helped you in your casting?

Brendan;

Not really. A lot of contacts would’ve been in Dublin. If what you’re alluding to is “Are contacts important?” then yes. In every regard. Networking and contacts are, for an actor especially, or any industry professional, immense. You’ve got to have them.

Actors have to be pro-active. They should go to festivals, they should go to screenings and opening nights and everything because you don’t know who you’ll meet and it can help.

Frost Mag;

Do you feel that your past as an actor has given you an advantage as a Casting director? Does it, perhaps, give you an edge?

Brendan;

I think its definitely had an impact, I don’t know about giving me an edge, but it certainly helps me when I work with actors.

Essentially my job is to get the best performance from actors when they come to audition for me. The fact that I relish reading in with actors and do my best to give them something when reading opposite helps the actor and helps me.

Frost Mag;

Having spoken to fellow actors at castings and networking events, I’ve found that many of them consider casting to be a tad, if I may say, “elitist”. By that I mean, only interested in graduates of certain schools and certain universities. I don’t know if that’s true. I personally react a little against that.

Brendan;

I think that’s rubbish. I mean there might be casting directors who favour those schools and obviously I can’t speak for everyone but in my own terms, I have never brought someone in because they went to those schools. To be honest, I don’t even look for that any more.

I like nothing better than bringing in someone new. Who isn’t even based in London, who doesn’t even have an agent, who I’ve seen in something, I like their CV or I’ve spoken to or met them.

There’s so many myths about casting directors out there, made up by people; drama schools or people who just aren’t getting work. You have to realise – my job is very simple; I bring in the best people to make me look good because if I can bring in the best people and they all do great auditions then I look brilliant.

If you come in as an actor and don’t do a god job, I look bad. My job is to make you do a good job. Every actor that comes in I want them to be brilliant, I want them to be prepared, I want them to the best they can do because they make me look brilliant.

All these myths about a casting director being obstructive or getting in the way is rubbish.

Frost Mag;

What is it in a showreel that really jumps out at you, or is that different for every project that you’re casting?

Brendan;

Sometimes I don’t need to refer to it because I’ve seen the work that the actor has done or I’ve met the actor.

I sometimes have to refer to a showreel to check someone’s physicality or their accent or if I’m unsure how they look in their photo. But obviously if you’ve got a reel that has a great performance on it that’s what I’m going to tune into as well.

I don’t think there’s one thing. It could be anything; it could be a flash of the eyes.

For us it’s a reference or it’s something that I could send to a director and say “I like the look of this person, what do you think?” So if the work on it is strong or a good representation of the actor then it’s a very useful tool, basically.

“It’s the Audition, Stupid!” is available now in paperback. You can find out more at www.pinterandmartin.com or buy a copy of the Kindle e-book version at It’s the Audition, Stupid!: The actor’s essential guide to surviving the casting and getting the part
Tim Austin is a stage and screen actor based in the UK. You can read more about him at www.tim-austin.co.uk

 

Jeremy Drysdale on Film, Writing and Saving The Cat.

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Jeremy Drysdale is an incredibly talented scriptwriter. I first came across his work after watching Grand Theft Parsons, I then badgered him until he gave me an interview. It has lots of great advice for wannabe scriptwriters.

Did you always want to be a writer?

I did, yes. I started out in advertising in my late teens and quickly became a copywriter. I enjoyed writing advertising and I learned the importance of words, because for the most part one had to throw away anything extraneous and concentrate on getting the message across in the most efficient way. I became a creative director – first of a small agency and then, eventually, a big communications consultancy. After a few years, I decided that I would like a bigger challenge and looked for ways to move into longer-form writing. All I knew is that I didn’t want to write novels, because they required too many words and I’m quite lazy.

How did you get into script writing?

I was the co-Creative Director of a company called Visage when I read a report in the Hollywood Reporter, or perhaps Variety, which mentioned that an American production company called Rhino Films – part of the Warner Bros empire – had optioned the book ‘No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs’; the autobiography of John Lydon (AKA Johnny Rotten.) I was cheeky – you have to be, I think – and found out who was producing for Rhino. Then I contacted him and told him that the project had to be written by an Brit, because punk was a British phenomenon (although in hindsight, I think the Stooges might actually be the first punk band – and they were American) and that I was an expert on the genre. Which was not strictly true.

I got lucky, because the producer was a lovely guy called Stephen Nemeth and he gave me an ‘in’; I could compete for the job against American writers, as long as I sent in an acceptable sample and came out to LA to pitch directly to Lydon. Well, I did have a sample, which I immediately rewrote over 48 hours to make it edgier and then I flew out to LA to meet everyone. Obviously, I was paying my own way and so I flew out on a shoestring and booked the cheapest hotel in town and I met with everyone at a lovely table at a fantastic place called Shutters on the Beach in Santa Monica. I pitched my take on the story to seven or eight people: the studio guys, the finance people and Lydon and his manager and I wasn’t going to lose. Luckily, my determination and the huge amount of work I had put into the pitch worked and I was offered the job. Although I later discovered that I nearly didn’t get the gig because they thought I was an alcoholic as I had drunk four bottles of beer over the three hours we sat at the table! Then I caught flu and poor Stephen Nemeth had do leave cartons of soup outside my hotel door every day for a week, which is probably another story.

The film never actually got made, but the script was good enough to get me an agent and was a perfectly usable writing sample. I also got paid, which was nice.

What is your proudest achievement?

In writing? I suppose it would be Grand Theft Parsons, as it was the first of my projects to get made. Although Battlefield 2: Modern Warfare made much more money.

What is your writing process?

I spend a very long time working on a step-outline in order to check that the structure is correct and my story will be properly told at the end of the process. So every single scene is written down in a programme called Final Draft and then I check it against a list I nicked from a terrific book called Save the Cat, which is the only instruction book that new screenwriters will need, to make sure that everything is correct structurally. And then I just have to put in the dialogue.

To give you an idea of time spent, I work for a couple of weeks on character outlines – so I know exactly who my people are and how they’ll behave in any given situation. I know how they speak, how they dress, how they look and what their sexuality is. I could tell you what music they listen to, how they would vote and what sports they like. You have to know and love your characters, even if they are utterly loathsome to everyone else.

The step-outline itself will take about six weeks and then the dialogue will take another four. I wait two weeks before reading the thing, so by the time I am ready for the rewrite I have already spent three and a half months on the project. The rewrite will probably take another three weeks and then I’ll wait a week and do another two-week draft. At that stage, hopefully, the script will be ready to show to my agent and a couple of close industry friends. I will absorb their notes and spend another couple of weeks on the next draft. Then, assuming everything has held together, I’ll have a draft which is ready to send out to studios and producers. That’s nearly six months on each project and if you assume that only one in seven will get made (and bring in decent money) you can see why screenwriters need to be well-paid for the projects that do progress. Which is not really happening these days.

Favourite film?

What a hard question! I suppose I’ll be a bit dull and say Godfather 2, which is the film I have watched the most. I love the scope and the wonderful, vibrant, full characters. And the music. And the… everything. I love everything.

Favourite script?

Se7en. It’s as close to being perfect as any script I’ve ever read. The characters are great, their motivations are absolutely clean and the story – oh, what a story. And what a twist! When John Doe turned himself in, I remember thinking ‘what the fuck?’ and being very disappointed, because I was used to the standard ‘detective chases killer’ story. And then this wonderful script turned that convention onto its head. Glorious!

You wrote Grand Theft Parsons, a film I love, how did the film come about?

I had vaguely heard the story about a guy stealing his best friend’s body in order to fulfil his last wishes and burn it in the desert, and so I did some research and discovered that it was actually Gram Parsons’ body and Phil Kaufman – the burner – was still alive. I managed to get a phone number for Phil and he refused to speak to me on the phone, saying he only discussed the project face-to-face. So, I flew out to Nashville, where he was living at the time, and knocked on his door. I discovered that he always asked people to come to him, because most people wouldn’t bother, and that he had been approached a couple of hundred times over the decades from people who wanted the film rights to the story. So my fantastic plan about him being delighted to see this pale Englishman turn up and offer him film immortality didn’t really work out. In the end, I just wore him down and he just said ‘yes’ to get rid of me, as I had booked my return flight for five days later and he couldn’t face it.

Then I found a good producer and a good director and brought them on board. The rest was easy. (Not really, actually.) We were lucky with cast (Johnny Knoxville, Christina Applegate and the extraordinary Michael Shannon) and we had a first-rate crew. I’m still very proud of that we shot in twenty-two days on a tiny budget. I think it cost around one point two million dollars, which is really not much, considering.

Where do you get your inspiration?

Well, I need the money, which is pretty inspiring. I just start with a ‘what if…?’ and go from there, I suppose. That probably isn’t very helpful, is it?

What’s next?

I am co- writing a comedy drama and am halfway through a thriller. I have a comedy which is very close to being financed and a horror film which isn’t quite so close. And I have co-written a novel for Young Adults with a very good novelist called Joseph D’Lacey which is attracting a lot of interest. That came from a film idea I had last year, which actually worked so well as a novel that we went that way with it. You have to find an edge with everything, I think.

Any advice for people who might want to break into screenwriting?

Well, don’t. I know that sounds flippant, but these days it is exceptionally difficult to get paid. Although the industry is doing well and film isn’t really affected by recession, the money somehow seems to have disappeared. Previously, if you took the risk and wrote a spec script then you would earn more because you had gambled six months on the thing being made. You earned less if a producer paid you development money to write it, because they shared the risk. Now there isn’t really any development money around, in England at least, and yet screenwriters are being offered the lower figures for spec scripts over here. So my advice is to avoid the industry in Britain, and to be careful in the US. Although if screenwriters were logical thinkers, they wouldn’t be screenwriters, so I don’t expect anyone to take any notice of anything I say. And nor should they, of course…

Follow Jeremy on Twitter.

Is The Film Industry Sexist?

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Is the film industry sexist? It is a broad question, and unfair to label everyone with the same tag. I think the answer is; less so. I think, more specifically, some people in the industry are sexist.

I recently had lunch with a director that had cast a female friend in something. My female friend has three children. The director offered me her part, and all the future work he was going to give her as ‘she could not be totally committed to her work’ as she had children. I was appalled and turned him down. What if I have children soon? I couldn’t work with him after that. The irony is that the director has FIVE children. But no one ever asks a man how he juggles work and kids.

Most of the castings I see are for men, the rest are for women, usually between 18-35, size 8-12 and the part usually requires nudity. I don’t do nudity. The most depressing thing about the movies I see are the amount of naked females in them. Rarely any naked men. What kind of message is this? That women are sexual objects?

Some castings require you to wear a bikini or ask that actresses are a specific weight. Age discrimination is rife, so much so that an actress who was the same age as me when we started out is now four years younger. I won’t lie about my age although I have been told to. It’s a stance against idiocy. I am still young, but I am cast younger. This is a problem. They can cast someone who looks like a teenager, or an actual teenager.

I am making a film, Prose & Cons. I am buying equipment and have been asking for a lot of advice. The most annoying thing about making the film so far is how condescending some of the men are in their answers. If I ask a general question on where to buy a microphone I get a lecture on what a boom is. I have worked in the film industry for eleven years. I know what a boom is, thanks mate.

But this is what happens when a ‘girl’ makes a film, or wants to be taken seriously. When she gets sick of the girlfriend roles, which become the mother roles and go on to be the hag roles. And the constant requests for nudity.

She says I have had enough and I am not taking it anymore, then she goes off and makes her own films while finding other amazing people who make films she wants to be in.

Casting Notice For Shakespeare Project.

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We need the following cast for a Shakespeare project filming next year. Unpaid at the moment, but will be paid if we get funding. Filming in HD with experienced and talented cast and crew.

William Stanley, later 6th Earl of Derby (1561 – 1642) here aged 21
Christopher Marlowe, student and alleged spy (1564 – 1593) here aged 18
Francis Bacon, later 1st Viscount St Albans (1561 – 1626) here aged 21
Edward de Vere, 21st Earl of Oxford (1550 – 1604) here aged 32 Craig
Will – son of a local glove-maker (1564 – 1616) here aged 18
Anne, a local barmaid (1556 – 1623) here aged 26

Please audition by uploading yourself doing a Shakespeare monologue on Youtube and then post the link below. Name link ‘Audition for The Shakespeare Episodes’.

Thank you

Has Hollywood Gone Potty for Limeys? How the Brits Conquered Hollywood.

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A few weeks ago I attended a fantastic industry networking event in Manchester. Among the exhibitors was Industry Hollywood, a company whose sole aim is to help British actors to grow their exposure across the pond. They told me that UK talent is in real demand over in the “Land of the Free”.

So this got me thinking; is this actually true and, if so, why?

Take a gander at the casts of some of the most popular shows on American network TV and you’re sure to come across a fair few Brits. Archie Panjabi in The Good Wife, Linus Richie in Law and Order, Louise Lombard in CSI – this is just a small selection of Brits to “crack” the US drama scene.

The same can be said of many Hollywood movies, with the re-jigged Batman franchise, the upcoming Man of Steel, The Amazing Spider-Man and recent Oscar contenders such as The Social Network all featuring British performers taking roles that could easily be played by Americans.

So, on the surface at least, Hollywood has indeed gone potty for the “Limeys”. But why?

Could it be a cultural thing? In the UK, we have a long and noble theatre tradition, with actors cutting their teeth on stages across the nation before making the move to TV and onto film. In the US this tradition is often reversed. Might this create a different “style” of performance that is now “in vogue”?

In a 2007 interview for the Radio Times, Stephen Fry talked about the difference between American and British actors; “[Take] the supreme relaxed authenticity of a James Stewart or a George Clooney compared with the brittle contrivances of a Laurence Olivier or a Kenneth Branagh, marvellous as they are”

I would certainly agree that you can, at times, see a distinct difference in style when a British actor is dropped into an American TV drama. Take Christopher Eccleston’s short stint in Heroes – he sticks out like a sore thumb. There’s nothing wrong with his performance but it’s certainly different to those around him; he’s performing a role (brilliantly) while those around him are “inhabiting” their characters in a far more comfortable fashion. I’d say the same about the wonderful Hugh Laurie in House.

Now I’m a firm believer that good acting is good acting and I’m wary of the notion that we Brits are in any way “better” than our American cousins. But does our different tradition and altered style make us more attractive to US casting executives? Is there a fashion for “Brit style” acting at the moment?

Maybe not.

In an interview for the Caledonian Mercury, Scottish TV producer Andrea Calderwood, who now works in the US TV Industry, gives another theory; Cost.

“,… Producers are always on the look out for new talent which won’t break the budget. Enter stage right all those eager and ambitious British actors hungry for that Hollywood breakthrough.”

Are we really just “White Mexicans”, a phrase that is apparently doing the rounds in LA?

Toby Hemmingway, a British actor making huge strides in his career over in America, might have a few words to say about that. In a recent interview for the Guardian, he claimed that British actors benefitted from being more resilient.

“It’s the natural pessimism. Being a good loser. Americans think 15 minutes of fame and it’s all over or it’ll make you. Brits are more dogged and realistic”

It’s an interesting idea; that Brits are more tenacious in their attempts to find work. But is it true?

And, indeed, should we be complaining if we’re simply “cheaper” as long as it get us the work?

Let me know what you think in the comments below0.

This article was originally published at www.tim-austin.co.uk

IMDB: Using IMDB Resume and IMDB Starmeter To Boost Your Career.

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IMDB is a great resource, not only does it have a page on every movie and every film industry professional you can think of, it is also an amazing tool for an actor to promote their career.

IMDB has a resume section that you can join for a reasonable price. When you have IMDB resume you can add pictures to your IMDB, and of course your resume. You can also link your blog and your twitter to your page.

When people google you, it is usually your IMDB link that comes up first, so it is a false economy not to have it. If you do not have a project on IMDB (and you need one! Work for free for an IMDB credit is my advice) then you can still be on it if you get IMDB Resume.

People do lie on their resume, but I don’t recommend this, and do not list extra work unless you were heavily featured or had a line.

Even more important than IMDB Resume is the IMDB Starmeter. This is IMDB explaining what the Starmeter is http://www.imdb.com/help/show_leaf?prowhatisstarmeter

The Starmeter is important for actors and here is why: if you get a good starmeter ranking that means you are bankable. If people are searching for you then you will be offered movies and auditions. My starmeter has been as high as 6,000 and is usually between that and 31,000 on a bad week. Which is very good news and has helped my career. So, if your IMDB rank is not very good what can you do? I previously wrote about this in my personal blog http://balavage.wordpress.com/2011/07/25/charting-imdb-becoming-obsessed-with-starmeter/ and I am going to go into more detail here.

Step 1) This site is very good. http://www.karmalicity.com/b/?r=218 I know people who have done barely anything who now have good rankings, the site gives you publicity for your IMDB, Facebook fan page, YouTube and Twitter. It Is free so join now. The premium version is cheap and very good too.

Step 2) Make sure you have your photo on IMDB. Very important. Also put film stills and on-set photos on and modeling shots as well. If you want a photo, you can click the following link and go to add photos only: http://resume.imdb.com/

Step 3) Use social networking. Post your IMDB link. Add it to your email signature, your website, Twitter, anywhere you can think of. Share the films you are in, not just your IMDB page, every time a movie your in goes up, so do you.

5. Create an e-mail list. Only email when you have something to say. Do not spam people. Invite people to a screening, tell them of an award you won, an amazing job you just booked. Add your IMDB link into the email.

6) Get people to click on your IMDb profile (post the link on your Facebook or Twitter profiles, have it in your email signature, etc.)

7) Get interviewed and mentioned in TV guides and news articles.

This brilliant article has a run down of what the numbers mean and it says that a rank of 14,999 – 1,000: This is generally working actor territory and this about 999 – 1: You’re working. A lot. Good chance you’re repped by one of the big 5 agencies…or are about to be. Alternatively, you were recently on the cover of National Enquirer.

Give it a read.

I also recommend you get IMDBpro, and so does Harrison Ford, Blake Lively and Kevin Smith, if you are in the film industry, you need it.

To round up; IMDB is an amazing resource to help your career and I wish I had paid more attention to it earlier. Click on your friends links and put nice comments on their message boards. Keep coming back to Frost for more acting tips and career guidance. If you liked this article give my IMDB a click or post a message http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2952107/