shesingsnow | Book - Kickstart Your Income

I remember sitting with a friend in a bookstore reading a similar book, with the ideas rated from $ to $$$$ as to start-up cost. They had web developer as $$$$. The following conversation happened:

Me: What do they mean $$$$ to be a web developer? You can get all the software you need for free!

Him: It just doesn't occur to you, does it, that not everyone has a computer?

Me: .... Well, no, I know, but I kinda expect you'd have one if you were planning to be a web developer.

LOL

You know, there was a paragraph in that book about "you can be a voice actor! Lots of people do this in Hollywood!"

...and I thought...no where in this book did this woman get into just exactly how much work and time it takes to break into some of these "businesses".

K's been wanting to be an extra in movies. And actually, the way he looks, he'd be awesome in role calling for "a scary biker guy" or "dirty pirate guy" or "creepy sideshow performer." I just don't have the first idea HOW one does such a thing.

Yes, he'd be an excellent, excellent fit as a character extra --

Okay, first - this: http://www.fabactor.com/
- this is the site from the insiders in Florida. They will have all of the most accurate casting call information for FL.

Second - he needs a head shot and a comp card. A head shot is probably obviously: a 8x10" b&w glossy with his acting resume printed on the back of it.

A comp shot is a card showing pictures of K in action, as his characters, for example. Showing his body. You can put the comp shot on a post card and send it to agents, for example.

In Florida you're allowed to have multiple agents (this is not true in California, where it's bad form). This is good in FL because not all agents will work for you as they should be, to find you jobs.

Once he has the head shot and comp card - just run with it...

search Google images for acting comp cards and you'll get the idea

you guys could probably create one, print it on stiff card stock and go with it

!!!!!!!

I've always wondered about the head shot. A "glamor shot" of him would be pretty much the exact opposite of the types of roles he'd want/get. He looks 95% different just hair up vs hair down. Never heard of a comp shot. That makes a lot more sense.

When I auditioned for HHN, they mentioned bringing a head-shot, but also said they weren't just looking for pros, so those were optional. So I just attached a photo of me in my Lucidique costume. SO not a headshot, but I could tell immediately when the people at the table in the front of the room got to my application. LOL I think that photo got me the job before they even talked to me!

If I ever manage to get down there to work again (and I SO want to!!! I die inside a little each year when I get the audition invite) I'm just going to attach my previous HHN photo.

It's occurred to me more than once that for what he wants to do, acting, fire-breathing, probably even sculpting, we'd be so much better off in Orlando. I seem to remember they were casting Pirates in Orlando, and I got the number of the casting agent they use for the "real" acts at HHN the year I worked there.

Yes - see - a comp card is more important for a guy like K because his primary appeal for jobs is in his action shots - but having a head shot is standard because the comp card doesn't really offer a good, excellent closeup. The headshot is about the expressiveness of the face...

But aren't headshots pretty much ALWAYS "pretty"? If he had his beard trimmed and his hair back, with a serious look on his face (or weirder, a pretty smile), I don't see anyone looking at him and thinking, "Wow, he'd be perfect for that biker guy!"

Now I want to find Danny Trejo's headshot...

It would good if you could find headshots of the guys who star in Sons of Anarchy --

K's been watching that show. That's actually what brought the topic up recently.

http://www.google.com/search?q=danny+trejo+headshot&hl=en&tbm=isch

Hmm. A headshot is not so much about "pretty" as it is about how your personal glow or life comes across through a camera -- model portfolios are more lined up for pretty, but acting portfolios less so.

*sigh* Yeah. You have the advantage of the country but not the advantages of the city.

If you guys moved to LA I'm sure he'd be working within weeks with all of the funky character roles on TV shows.

They have something called the Breakdowns. The Breakdowns, if you can score access, are the weekly massive list of roles needing to be cast on tv and film.

True story. Katie Holmes (aka Tom Cruise) had access to the breakdowns somehow, from her home in Toledo. I don't know how. She heard about a tv show that was casting for a pilot. She filmed a video in her basement and sent it in. Next thing you know, she's on Dawson's Creek.

So. I just did a search and the Breakdowns are online!!

http://www.actorsaccess.com/projects/

Holy crap!! Click on Florida!

SAG - means you have to have a Screen Actor's Guild or AFTRA union card to work the job

So K could audition for non-union roles.

I guess you have to have an account to see what they're looking for?

"ABC Cooking Show." There we go. ;-)

Yeah. It's a free account if you have a throwaway email address.

I think all of my acting and voiceover work time in Orlando was pre-LJ.

I don't remember you ever talking about it!

LMAO

I have a professional voiceover demo and I even became, for a time, the official voice of the automated attendant at Scholastic Headquarters in Lake Mary (north of Orlando).

And I was in a few industrials, too.

Oh yeah!

I don't talk about it much because after a while Pat got really jealous and made me quit. Of course, it is my fault I didn't stand up to her, but whatever.

That is how I met my friend Daniela. And a lot of good friends, actually. Long before Disney. But I withdrew because... well, you know the rest. About a year after that, I found LJ and found my friends online.

Wow, that's really awesome! Was this during the time you were singing, too?

Yeah... it was right about the time that I started doing the singing gigs that Pat freaked out...

I started with acting classes up in Ocoee. Then a voiceover class. Then an advanced voiceover class. Then I studied dialects. I loved it. Totally. Then I decided to face the singing demon and the coach was amazing. She's the one who helped me create the pro demo for voiceover work and got me my first audition.

Anyway, when I moved into the singing class and branched out from there... that's when Pat started freaking out about me being gone from home two and three nights a week. Although, I worked from home and...what did we ever do anyway? But it took me years to understand that it was more that she was jealous that she'd lose me to all of these new people. Etc.

That's why I have two professional headshots - I don't know as they are online anywhere.

and for his acting resume and specs - don't put the *real* information - put just how he looks

for example, he might be 48 or whatever, but he doesn't look that old - just put how old he looks to a stranger, that is all that matters

and he probably weighs more than than he looks like he weighs because of the muscle, so don't put the actual weight, put something 20-30 pounds lower

see what I mean? it's how you appear to look in a commercial or film, not how you actually are...

You know what's funny, he's 44, but sometimes looks older because of all of the grey in his beard. If he shaves, he can look like he's in his 30s. Hair up, hair down, again, he looks like a TOTALLY different person. IDK if you ever saw him hair down, but I've never seen that make anywhere NEAR that much of a drastic change in appearance on anyone else.

As for his weight, I've seen him through a range of 40 pounds (around 160-200, I think), and the ONLY difference you can tell is how much of a gut he has. At his thinnest, his arms are still bigger than my shins, and that's not even when he's actively working out. It's really weird. When I gain and lose weight, it's all over my body. He does NOT have 40 pounds of gut! I have no idea where the rest of it hangs out.

I'm sure he has the normal worries about getting older like I do, but I told him a while back that I see him getting older and turning into a white Danny Trejo. I didn't expect that to flatter him as much as it did. LOL

So I should go look up who Danny Trejo is!

44 - yikes - I'm sorry! He's younger than I thought -

LOL See what I mean?

But there were enough good ideas that the book overall was good.

Who the hell doesn't have a computer? INSANITY

While I do know a few people poor enough that they don't have one (or had someone's old cast-off that broke), hearing someone half my age saying they don't know HOW to use a computer, and don't want to learn, that makes me want to cry.

hearing someone half my age saying they don't know HOW to use a computer, and don't want to learn, that makes me want to cry.

*shudder*

Book - Kickstart Your Income

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