Thursday’s SAG election was a victory for the moderate coalition. Yet, strangely enough, the leaders of the losing hardline faction will all find seats on the national board, and will continue to be a shadow government within the union’s Hollywood board—a board on which none of the key moderate leaders will be voting members.

Yes, the moderates (Unite for Strength (UFS) / USAN / RBD / independents) won the national offices – President and Secretary-Treasurer – and picked up additional national board seats and many on the Hollywood board as well. But with SAG, the story is never simple.

In fact, paradoxically, 1^st VP and failed Membership First presidential candidate Anne-Marie Johnson will probably continue as 1^st VP, ex-president Alan Rosenberg will almost certainly be back on the national board in a matter of days despite winning only an alternate seat, MF leader David Joliffe will probably be on the Hollywood board and effectively on the national board, and MF leader Kent McCord continues on the national and Hollywood boards.

Meanwhile, none of the key moderate leaders will be on the Hollywood board— Unite for Strength leaders Ned Vaughn, Assaf Cohen, Ken Howard and Amy Aquino are all off of that board, at least as voting members (the latter two will serve ex-officio, as non-voting members). Tough independent and former presidential candidate Morgan Fairchild remains, but she’s not a member of the UFS slate and thus doesn’t occupy a leadership position in that group. UFS-ers Adam Arkin and Amy Brenneman also remain, and perhaps will emerge to fill the gap.

How could the election yield so much change in the national offices and so little in the Hollywood Division? Here’s the scenario [UPDATED: Para. 3 is new.]:

1. The moderates seemingly have 27 seats on the Hollywood board out of 55 (because 27 = 6 seats pre-election plus 21 additional seats won in the election). That’s a tad less than half (49%). It would seemingly take peeling off one more vote from MF for the moderates to control the Hollywood board.

2. However, look closer. One of those 6 pre-election seats was held by Ken Howard. Under the SAG Constitution and By-Laws, a national officer can’t also be an elected member of the national board or a Divisional board. So, the day he became president, Howard lost his elected seat on the national and Hollywood boards, and, indeed, his name has been replaced on SAG website listings with “(1 TBD).” That leaves the moderates with 26 seats on the Hollywood board out of 54. That’s less than half by an even greater margin (48%). Now it would take 2 more votes, rather than just one, for the moderates to control the Hollywood board.

3. But, when it comes to electing officers (such as 1^st VP) or selecting replacements for the Hollywood and national boards, the news is even bleaker for moderates. That’s because the Hollywood Division Rules of Procedure specify that for such purposes, the only Hollywood Division board members who can vote are national board members (or alternates sitting in for them) from the Hollywood Division. There are 32 such people (33 minus the vacant Ken Howard seat). The moderates control only 9 of those seats, whereas MF has 23.

4. So, Membership First controls who the Hollywood board elects, unless 8 MF-ers break ranks. If that doesn’t happen (and it’s not likely), then MF will fill the TBD vacancy. Whom will they select? Almost certainly Alan Rosenberg, whom they would elevate from national board alternate (which is the office he won on Thursday) to full national board member from the Hollywood division.

5. Thus, although Rosenberg’s presidency was so discredited in many members’ eyes that he couldn’t even win a board seat, he’s likely to end up with one anyway. This would take place at the next Hollywood board meeting, which is scheduled for October 5.

6. Elevating Rosenberg leaves his alternate seat vacant. So, MF would then vote to appoint its longtime leader David Joliffe as a national alternate (and Hollywood board member). That effectively appoints him to the national board, because one or more of MF celebrity board members (which include Martin Sheen, Ed Harris, Elliott Gould and Ed Asner) will usually be absent from national board meetings.

7. MF will also presumably vote to appoint newly reelected board member Anne-Marie Johnson as 1^st VP (the VP office from Hollywood) and thus as Divisional chair, to the extent that she doesn’t automatically continue in these offices (note that the updated SAG website still lists her as 1^st VP and divisional rules say that the 1^st VP is also the chair). This is possible because Johnson ran for two seats in this election—president, but also, as a backup, national board member. She won the latter.

8. As a result, MF will have skilled leadership as voting members in the Hollywood board room, namely, all four of its core leaders: Johnson, Rosenberg, Jolliffe and, continuing on the national and Hollywood boards, Kent McCord.

9. In contrast, Unite for Strength will have none of its leaders as voting members in the Hollywood boardroom: Ned Vaughn and Assaf Cohen didn’t win seats on the Hollywood or national boards, and Ken Howard and Amy Aquino, as national officers, are non-voting, ex officio members of the Hollywood board, as well as the NY and RBD (Regional Branch Division) boards. One wonders whether Howard and/or Aquino will be able to find time to attend every Hollywood board meeting. In any case, their formal roles would be very circumscribed; under the Constitution and By-Laws, they’re not even allowed to make motions or “initiate any other parliamentary procedures.”

10. Note also that the Hollywood board gets to appoint the Hollywood members of the TV/theatrical contract negotiating committee, if there is one, and that Hollywood has a majority on that committee. That suggests that negotiation will once again have to be handled by a task force appointed by the whole board, not by a committee appointed on a Division by Division basis. (It’s unclear to me whether the task force appointed earlier this year is still in existence.) Unless, that is, SAG and AFTRA are able to reestablish joint bargaining under the Phase 1 agreement.

11. Remember too that it was the Hollywood board that passed a resolution expressing the goal that SAG “acquire actors of AFTRA,” i.e. in some mystical fashion divesting AFTRA of its actors and absorbing all of them in SAG. Anne-Marie Johnson ran for and won a seat on the AFTRA board—despite saying it was distasteful to run—giving her an internal platform for this goal as well. We can expect MF to seek to terminate the anti-disparagement agreement so that the Hollywood board will be free to express its anti-AFTRA views without financial repercussion to SAG.

Bottom line: SAG’s byzantine governance structure and geographical divisiveness will once again facilitate disunity. Among other things, the question becomes, will SAG and AFTRA be able to reestablish Phase 1 joint bargaining? The divided governance certainly makes it harder.

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In a victory for the SAG moderate coalition (Unite for Strength / USAN / independents), the UFS candidates for president, Ken Howard, and secretary, Amy Aquino, won the union’s national offices.

However, the election was close: Howard’s total was slightly less than the two hardline candidates added together (Anne-Marie Johnson and Seymour Cassel) and Aquino’s was slightly more than that of incumbent Connie Stevens. So the union is still very divided, and Howard acknowledged that the results were not a landslide and that the union is very divided, while saying that he planned to reach out to MF supporters.

On the national board, the moderates showed strength as well: They picked up 4 of 11 seats in Hollywood and held all of the NY and regional (RBD) seats. I estimate that this brings the moderate’s board majority to around 60%, vs. 40% for MF, but that’s a very rough calculation and I’m not sure at this point.

On the Hollywood board, the results were more dramatic: 21 of 33 Hollywood board seats went to the moderates. Added to the 6 they (and independents) already control, that’s 27 out of 55 – just shy of 50%.

UFS spokesman Ned Vaughn said he expected to see SAG and AFTRA jointly negotiating wih the studios next year. Howard said he’d reach out to AFTRA and the other guids. On the subject of merger with AFTRA, Howard disputed claims from 6 years ago that merger would hurt SAG members’ pensions.

The challenge for the moderates is to build a record of accomplishment, hire David White on a permanent basis, build relations with AFTRA and other guilds/unions, pick up more seats in next years’ July-Sept elections, then go into negotiations with the studios Oct. 1 (2010, i.e., next year). After that – work on merger. A tough road ahead.
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SAG Press Release:

Los Angeles (September 24, 2009)—Screen Actors Guild today announced results of elections for its top two elected positions. Ken Howard will serve as Screen Actors Guild president and Amy Aquino will serve as secretary-treasurer. Both will serve two-year terms beginning September 25.

Ballots were mailed to 99,485 paid-up SAG members on August 25, and 27,295 were tabulated today, for a return of 27.44 percent. Presidential candidates Ken Howard received 12,895 votes, with Anne-Marie Johnson coming in second with 8,906 votes, Seymour Cassel got 4,838 votes, and Asmar Muhammad received 402 votes.

“I’d like to be among the first to extend my heartfelt congratulations to our newly elected Screen Actors Guild national leadership. I look forward to working closely with our new president, Ken Howard, and new secretary-treasurer, Amy Aquino, as we focus on the wide range of critical issues facing our members in the coming year,” said SAG Interim National Executive Director David White. “I also extend my thanks, and the gratitude of SAG members and staff to Alan Rosenberg and Connie Stevens for their service and sacrifice on behalf of our union.”

“I am deeply honored to be chosen by the membership to lead the Screen Actors Guild,” said Ken Howard. “I campaigned on the promise that I’d do everything in my power to strengthen our position at the bargaining table by building a greater unity with AFTRA and the other entertainment unions, and that’s exactly what I intend to do. Despite the sharp differences that those of us active in Guild affairs sometimes have over strategy and tactics, we need to continually remind ourselves that we’re all on the same team, fighting for the same thing — and by pulling together, we’ll only grow stronger.”

“I am truly honored that the members have entrusted me with this responsibility,” said Amy Aquino. “Progress has already been made toward strengthening SAG’s finances and I want to make sure it continues. Only by fortifying SAG in this way can we hope to ensure the protections that performers need in these challenging times.”

Screen Actors Guild also announced election results for the National Board of Directors. Twenty-two of the 69 national board seats were open for election this year, representing Screen Actors Guild’s Hollywood, New York and Regional Branch divisions.

“It is my privilege to welcome and congratulate our newly elected Screen Actors Guild National Board of Directors for 2009-2010,” said White. “Along with our staff nationwide, I look forward to working with them to pursue a robust agenda as we navigate the Guild through these changing times.”

The National Board members elected today will assume office on September 25 for terms of three years.

SAG’s Hollywood Division elected eleven National Board members; the New York Division elected four National Board members; and seven National Board members were elected from the union’s branches in Chicago, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Philadelphia, Portland and San Diego.

National Board members elected from the Hollywood Division: Martin Sheen, Ed Harris, Elliott Gould, Ed Asner, Anne-Marie Johnson, Connie Stevens, Diane Ladd, Dulé Hill, Hill Harper, Nancy Travis, and Marcia Wallace (all three-year terms).

The following were elected to serve as National Board alternates and to the Hollywood Division Board of Directors (all one-year terms). Gabrielle Carteris, Jenny O’Hara, Michael O’Keefe, Clyde Kusatsu, Dawnn Lewis, Doug Savant, Michelle Allsopp, Alan Rosenberg, D. W. Moffett, Joe Bologna, Robert Hays, Jason George, L. Scott Caldwell, Clark Gregg, Patrick Fabian, Bill Smitrovich, Ellen Crawford, Stacey Travis, Mandy Steckelberg, Renee Taylor, Bernie Casey and John Carroll Lynch.

National Board members elected from the New York Division: Sharon Washington, Monica Trombetta, Sam Freed and Liz Zazzi (all three-year terms). Additionally, New York Division members elected Mike Hodge as NY Division President.

The following were elected to serve as national board alternates and to the New York Division board of directors (all one-year terms.) Manny Alfaro, Sheila Head, Marc Baron, Joe Narciso, Jay Potter, Dave Bachman, John Rothman, Kevin Scullin and Justin Barrett.

National Board members elected from the Regional Branch Division: John Carter Brown (Chicago – three-year term), David Hartley-Margolin (Colorado – three-year term), Dave Corey (Florida – three-year term), Scott Rogers (Hawaii – three-year term), Helen McNutt (Philadelphia – three-year term), Mary McDonald-Lewis (Portland – three-year term), Don Ahles (San Diego – three-year term).

Ballots for all eligible SAG members in Hollywood and New York were mailed on August 25 with a September 24 return deadline and were tabulated today by the independent election company Integrity Voting Systems. A total of 13,718 ballots were tabulated in the Hollywood Division (representing 25.25 percent of ballots mailed in the Hollywood Division) and 5,997 ballots were tabulated in the New York Division (representing 26.11 percent of ballots mailed in the New York Division). The number of ballots returned in the Regional Branch elections varied by region.

For complete results, please visit SAG.org.

According to unofficial sources, and as SAGWatch is reporting, SAG moderates have won every open NY Board seat that was up, and all the regional seats that were up as well.

Hollywood results are not in yet (expected in 1.5 hrs or so), but all the seats up in Hollywood are hardline Membership First – thus, they can only lose more seats, or hold Hollywood numbers at best.

Presidential and Secretary results are expected in 1.5 hrs also, but the NY and RBD (regional) results don’t bode well for MF, especially since two hardline presidential candidates (Anne-Marie Johnson and Seymour Cassel) are splitting the hardline vote. The interesting question will be whether moderate Unite for Strength candidate Ken Howard achieves a vote total greater than the sum of Johnson and Cassel.

If not, the hardliners can be expected to declare a moral victory, and the signal to AFTRA may be that SAG has still not turned a corner sufficient to realistically talk about merger. Indeed, unless Howard gets well over 60% of the vote, AFTRA may still be gun shy, since 60% is the threshold needing to approve merger. SAG has failed twice in the last decade to achieve that threshold, and AFTRA leaders have indicated that they won’t discuss merger unless the signals from SAG are more favorable than they have been.

Either way, management should remember that moderates as well as hardliners have indicated that they will be ready to seek a strike authorization during the next negotiations if necessary, as I reported recently. It’s going to take flexible negotiations by management to avoid a meltdown in 2010 (early negotiations start Oct. 1, 2010,just a year away) and 2011.

More later.

Emily Weisberg is a director working in Los Angeles. Recent credits include Bermuda!, ROBOTS VS FAKE ROBOTS, Jumping the Median, How To Be A Good Son, Independence, and numerous staged readings and workshops. Along with directing, she is a member of the Ojai Playwrights Conference reading committee and Artistic Director of Push To Talk Theatre Company, a company formed to support the development and performance of new work. When not directing, Emily spends her time wondering if she should move back to Chicago.

When I tell people I’m a director, the question I almost always get is “…of?” I say “Theatre,” they volley back with “Anything I’ve heard of?” forcing me to quickly dash through the list of plays I’ve directed, quickly eliminating any title involving a literary figure, a lower-case one word title or anything Shakespeare, and name the show that sounds most like a movie. The response: “Oh. Cewllll,” followed quickly by their exit and my noticing a hole in my cardigan.

There are definite upsides to creating theatre here: an amazing diversity of artists, the opportunity to experiment with multiple forms of media onstage – from film to puppetry, dance to live music. And you truly are surrounded by the best of the best, as a constant stream of the best and brightest stream into our fair city.

Finding people in Los Angeles who are interested in, and actively want to create, theatre is a tough challenge. So where does a theatre nerd living in a film town go when she wants to feel surrounded by like-minded artists? Here are a few places guaranteed to give you good company, a good night of theatre, or space where you can create your own:

1. The Actors Lounge
Billed as “an open mic for actors” this monthly event is a fantastic place to workshop a piece you’re developing or currently performing. The Lounge was started by a group of local LA actors, producers and writers frustrated by the lack of community and support for other artists. They wanted to create a place where they could constantly work and challenge themselves, without the anxiety of an audience full of agents and managers. They wanted a place to do good work, experiment and feel support and encouragement from other like-minded artists. Notice I did not use the LA fan-favorite phrase “showcase.” If you’re looking for a place to get an agent or manager, this isn’t it. If you’re looking for a unique, supportive environment where you can feel comfortable taking risks and working on a scene or monologue you’re currently at battle with, this is the place. Run by a diverse group of writers, directors and actors committed to cultivating a community of artists here in LA, The Actors Lounge is a good place to do some great work. The lounge begins at 8:30pm the first Wednesday of every month, but get there early to sign up and be sure to catch the opening musical act, live art and fantastic film clips that break up the evening.

2. The Pretenders Studio
This studio is set to open its new location on September 21st at 1635 16th Street in Santa Monica. Why recommend a dance studio? Not only does The Pretenders have some of the best instructors around, they also rent out their amazing new facility for some of the best prices going. Two dance studios, including one space at almost 900 square feet, are perfect for rehearsals, auditions and public readings while their two smaller spaces are ideal for yoga, massage, audition coaching and vocal lessons. Don’t be misled by all the tiny dancers on their website’s homepage – I have yet to find a more welcoming, professional, high-end location for such an amazing price. Get in touch with Lisa, the owner/director and see for yourself!

3. The Atlantic Theatre Company Acting School- Los Angeles Program
Not cheap. Not easy. You might pee your pants a little. The Atlantic’s summer intensive was the program that made me realize I wasn’t an actor, something 4 years of high school, 4 years of college and a few more years of professional work hadn’t gotten across to me. Why, in gods name, is that an endorsement of this program? It helped me see the artist I really was and embrace a new, focused outlook on my work and the process of creating it. I have studied at many other studios and participated in other challenging programs, but none have opened my eyes and pushed my limits more successfully than The Atlantic. Also, classes taught by William H Macy, Felicity Huffman and Mamet aren’t anything to shake a stick at.

4. We’ve all been stopped in our tracks, fear freezing the blood in our veins as a friend hands over a postcard and says “I’m in a show, come check it out.” Swallow that fear, brave theatre-goers, here are a few local companies that consistently turn out good work:

The Elephant Theatre Company

Push To Talk Theatre Company
…yeah. ok. In the interest of full disclosure, I should probably mention that I’m the artistic director of push to talk. I also secretly like Kelly Clarkson. My honesty should move and motivate you to check out the website and attend any and all upcoming productions.

Need Theater

Furious Theatre Company

5. Lastly, if you’re looking for something great to see in the next few weeks at one of the large, are-you-kidding-how-can-I-afford-this theatres, check out the following plays:

Eclipsed by Dania Gurira

Running at the Kirk Douglas Theatre from September 13 through October 18th, this is a compelling new work that explores the strength of women caught in the crossfire of war. Focusing on the “wives” of a rebel commanding officer in war-torn Liberia, the play is brilliant, heart-breaking and funny (yes, funny) exploration of the strength of women who navigate the most brutal of circumstances.

August: Osage County by Tracy Letts

September 8th through October 18th, this winner of the 2008 Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award for Best Play tells the story of the Westons, a large extended clan that comes together at their rural Oklahoma homestead when the alcoholic patriarch disappears. Forced to confront unspoken truths and astonishing secrets, the family must also contend with Violet, a pill-popping, deeply unsettled grandmother at the center of this storm. Get tickets while you still can, the show is fantastic and will sell out soon!

God Save Gertrude by Deborah Stein

Running October 1st through November 8th, this piece is a punk rock riff on Hamlet. Angry crowds gather outside an abandoned theatre as Queen Gertrude takes the stage to riff on Patti Smith and sing about her many loves and her many mistakes, while her country simmers in a volatile state of transition. As the bombs rain down and her coked-up son sells out to MTV, Gertrude hopes to incite one more riot before she goes.

Many of these recommended locals are comprised of people and places I know and love. But that’s not why I’m recommending them to you. There is amazing work being created by talented, committed artists every day – if you have companies, workshops or productions that you know and love, I’d love to hear about them! LA, for all of it’s unique, diverse, horrifying, silly wonderfulness can also beat you up in a way that leaves you vowing to never leave your house again, clinging to episodes of Project Runway you’ve tivo’d and swearing to get a “real job.” These places have, in many of these moments, given me the motivation to get up and out, and a much needed reminder that good work, by good people, for the right reasons, is always being generated. I encourage you to get out there and see for yourself.

We like to share the internet love. Here is what’s been catching my eye lately:

An amazing series in The Guardian, Guide to Performing: Acting, that I can’t get enough of. You’ll need a whole Sunday to delve into the articles, full of first hand accounts from actors, teachers and critics. The perhaps unsurprising, yet incredibly comforting, through line from the actors is the struggle of both the creative process and lifestyle. From Juliet Stevenson saying, “I often wrangle with myself as an actor, and wrestle with the process. In striving for authenticity I often have the feeling I am falling short.” To Maxine Peake admitting to crying at an audition, “I wouldn’t generally recommend a bonkers approach to auditioning, but when you know you’re right for the part and you think “I can do this, I need to do this”, like I did at that audition, then what have you got to lose? They can only say no.” I left the articles feeling part of an intense, valuable tradition.

Larry Gelbert’s previously unpublished speech to the WGA in Vanity Fair left me actually looking forward to writing. No small feat. Gelbert quotes Thomas Mann as saying, “A writer is someone who has a harder time writing than other people do.”

Now that you are inspired, you may be ready to tackle more practical matters. Dallas Travers has a great article on headshot prep on her blog. While you’re there, enter your email for her free “Thriving Artist Starter Kit.”

There is so much to read at communicatrix.com. I particularly like her articles for actors which manage to be helpful and inspiring while also being sardonic, funny, and honest.

At the Happy Days blog, Tim Kreider explores the way we look at the life choices of our peers and judge them against our own, what he calls, “The referendum.” Maybe it’s because we get to dip our toes in other lives through the roles we play, but it seems that actors are especially prone to question their life choices. For myself, I don’t know that a week ever passes by that I don’t at least half seriously consider moving to New York, Greece or a yurt on a mountaintop. From the article, “The problem is, we only get one chance at this, with no do-overs.” A theme is appearing among these links. Apparently, I like articles that make me feel less alone in my choices and neurosis. This one did just that.

Another delightful New York Times blog, is Abstract City, by Christopher Neimann. Neimann is an artist who lives in Berlin with his family and has apparently been feeling as homesick for NYC as I have been lately. My favorite recent entry is I Lego NY.

I think we have another heat wave coming our way, but in the meantime, the misty mornings and chilly nights make it feel like fall. I want to make these for friends before the last of summer is gone. As a kid, I always thought my mom was so strange for reading cookbooks. Now, I realize I continue the tradition by browsing food blogs. The previous recipe is from The Kitchn. 101cookbooks.com also always delivers with its gorgeous pictures and delicious, healthy (for the most part) food.

Need to laugh? These clips are not new, but a drunken Orsen Wells should make you feel better about your most botched commercial audition.

And this spoof by the Upright Citizens Brigade is pretty fantastic:

What has been making you laugh, think or get hungry? Do you have a blog I should know about? Post your comments and links below.

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As we discovered in last week’s article on actors’ experiences using The Breakdowns, telling your agent you read them isn’t likely to illicit shock and a call to the LAPD. Nonetheless, the agent/client/Breakdowns dance has some tricky steps and today we’ll hear from the other players. We’ll also talk to Gary Marsh, owner of Breakdown Services, and learn his tips for maximizing our online submissions.

The Agent

When I got out of school and was going through all the “what’s the best way to communicate with you” rigmarole with my new agent, I asked him if it would be ok if I called him with things I “heard about.”

He said, “Sure,” and resignedly looked at the floor.

“Is that annoying?” I asked.

“Not in and of itself. I want clients to take initiative. It’s just that actors, generally, have no idea what they’re right for.”

Except me, of course. After several queries about this or that sexy young professional or worldly grad student I arrived home to see sides for an audition for a Law & Order spin-off in my inbox. Now the world will see me for the sexy D.A. I really am! I thought as I opened the attachment.

“Ursula Thorne, in a wheel chair. Raped and beaten, she suffers from a rare disease that ages her prematurely.” Oh…But hey –  a guest star! And I don’t even have to wear makeup to the audition!

Paula Friend* (*not her real name – you’ll just have to trust us on this one) echoes my former agent’s ambivalence about actors and The Breakdowns. Paula currently works on the Motion Picture Literature desk of one of LA’s biggest agencies and previously spent a year-and-a-half at another office assisting one of the town’s most respected theatrical talent reps.

“It did have a tendency to be annoying,” she responded via email to my questions about actors calling in with roles to be submitted for. “Not because they were trying to be proactive for themselves, but because they would go through them on the phone with you and this would last like twenty minutes.” Remember, any time your agent spends on the phone with you is time they aren’t on the phone with a casting director talking about you.

Paula also cites another complaint common among the agents and managers I’ve spoken with in that many clients don’t take it upon themselves to educate themselves about the shows they push to go in on. “A lot of times they’d never seen (the show) or had any idea what it was, so they didn’t know that they weren’t the right ‘look’ for the show…shows like CSI:Miami and Gossip Girl have a ‘look.’ “

But Paula adds that rolling client calls with her morning latte wasn’t a total wash. “It did have some good things though, because if the agents weren’t sure about someone and if they would do certain gigs, a phone call about the breakdown would tell us they were open to it…we didn’t like to get them appointments for things they would pass on.”

The Casting Director

I expected the casting director perspective on actors using The Breakdowns to be one of unqualified frustration – along the lines of, “Before actors started using The Breakdowns I could actually see my floor and receive incoming calls from clients!” But independent film casting director Brette Goldstein (her real name!) agrees with Paula that knowing of an actor’s enthusiasm when he initiates the submission through his agent or on his own makes her job easier. While she occasionally goes straight to reps for a role, Brette “almost always” uses The Breakdowns and is actually reliant on self-submissions when she’s looking for a difficult type. But she stresses that face-time is the best way to get on her radar, either through a mutual connection or a meeting at a networking studio. Brette teaches in New York at Actors Connection and The Network and says that “a five or ten-minute general can lead to some great roles.”

The Owner

So who is responsible for all this proactive calling and clicking and uploading when we could be at the beach knocking back martinis doing ‘research’ while waiting for the phone to ring?

In 1971, Gary Marsh, a 17-year-old former child actor and the son of a talent agent, was doing a little work for Mom, making the rounds at the studios and reading scripts in offices, jotting down notes on the parts to be cast. At this point there was no centralized system for collecting casting information. Every day agents (or their assistants, or their kids…) got in their cars, sat in waiting rooms and read scripts and took notes. They then drove back to their offices and culled lists and pitched. One smart agent, sitting alongside young Gary, leaned over and said, “If those notes are any good, I’ll buy ‘em off you.”

Apparently the notes were good. Soon Gary was selling them to agencies all over town for $20 a week.

Over the years The Breakdowns have evolved from several printed pages delivered to offices each morning via messenger (and Gary claims that even then he had to stop thieves at the printing press) to today’s online document that allows reps to electronically submit clients as they read it. In addition to its flagship product, Breakdown Services (BDS) also owns Actors Access, the online service that enables casting directors and producers to solicit unrepresented talent. The photo/resume/video portfolios that actors create for their Actors Access accounts are the same ones used by representatives to submit on The Breakdowns (a representative may create an Actors Access account for a client who doesn’t wish to create her own). How’s that for some vertical integration?

Despite BDS’s current marketplace dominance, BDS wasn’t first to the computerized casting table. In 1997 two software developers started Star Caster, the first system of computerized casting. According to LA Business Journal, Gary was not sure notoriously technologically-slow-to-adapt agents would ever use computers. But never one to eschew innovation, he continued to explore the idea, and, unlike Star Caster, whose system required actors’ photos to be stored on a special computer’s hard drive, Gary hired developers to make the Internet-based system we all know and love/are beholden to. Making up for lost time, the company has several products to service every step of the casting process: Showfax, Screenplay Online, and the recently acquired CastingAbout.com.

So he invents an indispensable part of the industry and navigates quantum changes in show biz and technology for over thirty years. How does Gary Marsh stay ahead of the curve? What’s the secret to his hustle?

“I work my ass off.”

When I asked his thoughts on actors receiving The Breakdowns he said, “It’s the people who are selling them that I’m after (and he doesn’t play around –check this out). They think they’re Robin Hood, but they’re just robbin’!”

But what harm does it do to an actor to pursue projects from The Breakdowns?  “They’re just making problems for themselves. By the time an actor gets The Breakdowns, talent reps have had them for several hours if not at least a day. By that time hundreds of actors have been submitted for a role and appointments – at least for TV – have almost always already been booked…If a casting director wants to open up a project for unrepresented talent they can use Actors Access.” And he adds that the major advantage for cd’s (and actors) to use Actors Access instead of another online casting service is that cd’s view the submissions of unrepresented talent alongside those submitted through The Breakdowns.

The rise in the leaking/reselling of The Breakdowns and consequent increase in self- submissions has made several casting offices (as we discovered last week) demand that BDS deliver their breakdowns to select agencies. But doesn’t that infuriate some of the representatives who subscribe and are left out of the loop? “What can I do?” asked Gary. “Otherwise, those casting directors would bypass the service completely and just contact agencies directly.”

To illustrate his point about the time line, Gary logged onto the system. Pulling up the morning’s releases we landed on a co-star for Breaking Bad. The breakdown had been out for less than three hours and already there were over 400 submissions. Ugh. So that’s what we’re talking about when we’re talking about time being of the essence. If one’s ‘illegal’ BDs source is a day old, television casting has likely moved way on.

We then viewed individual projects and submissions and he shared his thoughts (38 years in the making!) on how to help your submission become an appointment.

Photos

Searching the submissions scheduled to audition (a whopping nine of hundreds) for a guest star in an upcoming pilot, Gary pointed out that all the chosen actors’ photos a) were really good photos (great lighting, composition, color palette), b) had the actors looking directly into the camera, and c) were cropped close to the face (3/4 shots don’t pop so well on a page of thumbnails). When we then went inside their portfolios, their credits were (surprise) notable, but I noticed that of the slimmer resumes none were “filled out” with non-notable credits. This made the meaningful roles that did appear more prominent at first (and likely only) glance than if they’d been competing for resume space.

Most surprisingly, their photo portfolios tended towards 2-5 photos. In recent years I’ve heard actors insist that they need tons of photos in super-specific ‘types,’ so their agent can submit the one as close to the role as possible. Throughout the session, Gary demonstrated that there were seemingly no instances in which an actor’s four photos (if they are good!) could not capture the essence of any particular part. In many cases two direct, contrasting, and expressive photos seemed as if they could cover all casting opportunities, and, Gary pointed out, by only uploading two photos “the actor would be completely free (of charges)” (Actors Access charges a per photo upload fee after two photos).

An actor may keep many photos in his Actors Access account as long as he wishes. While there’s no financial incentive to remove photos, I noticed that I found portfolios bursting with outdated photos (not to mention the just plain weird ones – is there any need to have a ten-year-old picture of you with a tiger to prove you’re good with animals?) to compromise the professional image of the actor.

Video

Video is another important component of your Actors Access account. You can upload video clips for an additional fee. While you cannot link to another website directly in your account, you can write the address of your website or wherever you are hosting your reel in your resume section to give casters a chance to see your wares without paying the upload fee. However, if you do upload your video on Actors Access, you’re submission will be in the cd’s queue ahead of those without video.

Actors Access gives actors the options of having short clips of different work available to view that may be pertinent to a particular project. This enables the cd to cut to the chase and not have to slog through four minutes to get to the comedy or procedural role that caught their eye on the resume. In several of the clips we watched, Gary pointed out that often the actor chooses material in which he doesn’t appear until several seconds in. While that may seem like a trivial amount of time, if I consider how many clips a cd might be perusing to fill an appointment within the day, I now see the importance of doing everything I can to streamline the process of viewing my work.

The Girl in the Haystack

Scrolling through pages and pages of tiny photos I wondered if I could find any trends that made a photo jump out from the page. Perhaps a red shirt could double my audition rate! Uh, no. “But, wait, what is that?” I asked as we scanned submissions for a co-star of a restaurant hostess. Enlarging it we found a dead-eyed attractive woman in her 20s lying prostrate on a haystack covered in feathers. Feathers. On a haystack. “Why would anyone choose that?” I asked. The submission was, unsurprisingly, in the “not scheduled to come in” pile.

I assumed she had self-submitted and made a beginners mistake of thinking attention any which way possible was the surest route to an audition. But her manager had chosen the picture. Unfortunately (or fortunately), upon opening her account, we saw several attractive professional photos that would have made me interested in checking out her resume. Don’t give your representation room to hang you, I thought.

Gary went one better and reminded us not to partner with representation that would hang you. “In all my years in the business, I’ve seen the great, the good, the bad and the ugly as far as agents and managers are concerned. There are great ones out there, but be careful. When you are interviewing an agent or manager remember that they work for you!”

And at that he excused himself from our meeting. It was time to work his ass off.

Technological innovations have put many more items on our marketing materials checklist (check out Sarah’s article for info on demo reels). But online casting also gives us the chance to cast a wide net and show our wares to agents, producers, directors, writers and casting directors at their (and our) convenience. I hope our exploration of perspectives on The Breakdowns has given you practical tips on finding casting opportunities and positioning yourself to make the most of them. Whether you are represented or not, as career coach Dallas Travers says, “You are the best agent you’ll ever have.”

Don’t be shy! Let us know your methods of maximizing your online submissions and experiences with different casting products below.

Photo by

Seth Michael May is co-founder (along with Bryan Radtke) of NYC’s Acting on Impulse Coaching Services. His clients include Reiko Aylesworth (Lost and 24), Charlie Hofheimer, (House, Canterbury’s Law), and Kristina Klebe (Halloween). He is regularly referred clients by WME, Innovative, Titan Talent and The Gersh Agency in New York.

Audition Anxiety?

Audition Anxiety, like everything else in life, is a choice.

At least that’s how I like to view it – I like to pretend that everything in my life, including my emotions, are my sole “response-ability”.

Now, there are two basic Point of Views (P.O.Vs), or “lenses” through which you can choose to perceive this event called “Auditioning for them”.

The first POV is fear-based and therefore will NECESSARILY cause you to feel fear whenever you think about Auditioning.

POV #1 (FEAR-based POV) “AUDITIONING IS A SKILL”

You believe that Auditioning is a SKILL, and that with time and practice you’ll eventually become proficient in the Auditions department.

Sounds logical, right?

I’m going to attempt to explain why this POV is soooooo unhealthy. It is THE cause of Audition Anxiety.

Bear with me -

People have been socially conditioned to fear rejection. Remember the dance in the 7th grade? Girls on one side and Boys on the other. Everyone leaned against the far wall dreading to walk across the gym floor. Because is that little red haired girl (in my case) rejected you, you’d have to walk all the way back across the empty gym floor toward your snickering peers. I feared that so much that I never went to those things. But then the little red haired girl joined the New Player’s Theatre Company and I discovered I could act.

No one wants to be rejected. Actors are ’supposed’ to take the room, act, and hit it out of the park every time. And a lot of actors suffer from this fear.

It is Yang’s job to audition, and it is Yin’s job to…screen us out. Yin, for the most part, CHOOSES.

If you are reading this, I suppose it’s because you want to be chosen more often…

These days, you see THOUSANDS of methods that are dedicated to this cause.

What these well-intentioned “guru’s” do not realize is that they are actually reinforcing your auditioning Anxieties by framing “Callbacks” or “Auditions” as a SKILL.

Don’t get me wrong – most of these Actors, Coaches, Teachers, and well-intentioned “guru’s” are people I have met personally, and I’ve SEEN with my own eyes that they truly do know what they’re talking about. Some of them are GOOD, and I personally use some of the techniques that they teach and preach on how to consistently audition well.

And I’m NOT saying that an actor shouldn’t learn how to audition like a pro, because it’s more than 85% of the job. Maybe more.

The truth is that you CAN learn a bunch of field-tested audition routines, plow through your fears, and eventually master the Art of Auditioning.

BUT… no matter how good you get, you’ll always have that nasty feeling in the pit of your stomach pre-Audition as long as you continue to think about Auditioning as a skill.

I have even heard very convincing, logical-sounding theories that this Anxiety is hard-wired in and that there is no way that you could EVER get past this.

Cute theories abound about how we all used to be nomad cavemen and women who lived in small tribes, and that in those days, if you risked going outside of societies norms, and stuck out, it would ruin your entire reputation FOR LIFE and that you would be rejected and an outcast and die without passing on your genes…

This was the “reality” hundreds, even thousands of years ago – so they theorize you supposedly still carry a gene that automatically generates this Audition Anxiety. Which is why most actors hate auditions… and most people wouldn’

t dream of being an actor.

While that theory is CUTE, the problem I have with it is simple:

1) Ok, you’ve given us a reason for the problem and no solution.
2)I do NOT have any Audition Anxiety.

There was a time when I did. BUT NOW:

None. Nada. Zilch.

When I audition, my heart rate doesn’t increase, and my breathing rate doesn’t change at all (unless I have to run across the street because I am running late – by the way, don’t ever be late).

I make no claims to be special, or “gifted” or anything like that.

How am I able to do this?!

How did I break f r e e ?

Well… For the low price of $99.99,

…Just kidding.

Here’s the cure:

POV #2 (LOVE-based POV) “AUDITIONING IS A SCREENING PROCESS”

The ONLY difference between you and I is that I no longer think about Auditioning as a SKILL.

To me, an Audition is nothing more than a screening process.

My thought process?

“Great part. I wonder if the company is good… I wonder if the director has more going for her then an M.A. from Yale… Man, what a great play. I could do wonderful things in this part. I wonder if this director will be the type I like to work with. I wonder how the director likes to work with actors, or under pressure. Do I have time to really make this part mine? Okay then, let’s go find out if she can work with an exploratory actor.
If I get this part, I’

m gonna have cancel the Costa Rica trip I was planning…” You get the idea.

You see, I have no investment in the outcome. I have no outcome other than to find out what the energy is like.

I’m not trying to “succeed at auditioning”.

I’m not seeking any particular REACTION from them.

I’m not trying to make them see me, I am simply trying to find out if *I* want to work with them. I know they are doing this project, but I want to know if I want to work with them

Have you noticed that a lot of people are really miserable?

I still get to have fun no matter what, you see?

I don’t view Auditions as something that you win or lose at. I do not view it as a game, or a skill, and I certainly don’t view it as a way to validate my self-worth. Call me crazy!

Listen to me -

The ONLY problem that you’ll EVER have with Auditions is that YOU GIVE AWAY YOUR POWER.

Stop it!

Their REACTIONS mean nothing to me. They don’t mean that I suck and they don’t mean that I’m good or bad or worthy of love or not.

You see, I would cast myself.

I would!

Oh, stop being so HUMBLE… Humble sucks. It’s boring, it’s meaningless, and it’s annoying. You don’t need it; you can let humble go now.

Flowers are not “humble”! They stretch up toward the sun and seem to say, “Look at me, I’m beautiful!”

To recap, the moment you feel that icky feeling in your upper and/or lower belly, it’s because you are choosing to feel inadequate and giving away your power.

You have already decided that a stranger in a casting office has the power to change the way that you feel about yourself.

It’s the wrong lens.

When you see an agent or a casting director, enter a state of PURE CURIOSITY.

Get curious about what she is like, and don’t give another thought to what “she thinks you are like”. Her opinion is none of your business.

She doesn’t know you, and trust me when I say that the majority of her responses to you will be socially-conditioned reactions that truly have nothing to do with Your worth.

Now, realistically it’s going to take a while before you completely let go of the old “Auditioning is a skill” POV and adopt the more healthy “Auditions is nothing more than a screening process” POV.

The old, outdated POV is set on “automatic” right now and you’re going to need to remind yourself that Auditioning is a screening process over and over for at least a month, probably more.

But if you keep on choosing the healthier POV, and you do this proactively, before long you will feel Totally f r e e And Comfortable Around Any And All people in the industry.

Do you know how AWESOME it feels to be f r e e of this Anxiety?

I’m so comfortable, and I always seem to say the right things.

I’m NATURALLY funny and charming and everything else you have been told that you need to make them want to hire you.

I no longer have to THINK about what I’m going to say next! I’m totally in the “Now Moment”

when I meet with CD’s and agents and it’s the most awesome gift I’ve ever given myself.

Here’s a little test for you, so that you can all Be Your Own Gurus and decide for yourselves if I’m right about all of this.

Say the following out loud, and notice which POV makes you feel MORE PEACEFUL:

“Auditioning Is A Skill.”

“Auditioning Is Just A Screening Process.”

Well, which one do you want ?

For more info on Seth visit Acting on Impulse Coaching Services.