Breaking into Acting For Dummies. Larry Garrison

rejected today may turn out to be the superstar of tomorrow. Don’t ever close any doors, because the person you antagonize today may be the one who might hire you tomorrow.

Chapter 3

      From Agents, Managers, and Unions: Introducing the Movers and Shakers

      IN THIS CHAPTER

      

Knowing who’s boss (the producer)

      

Knowing who’s boss on the set (the director)

      

Working with the writers

      

Getting in good with the casting directors

      

Realizing your agent’s role

      

Hiring other people to manage your life and your finances

      

Knowing your role as an actor

      

Utilizing unions

      You may have heard the old saying: It’s not what you know; it’s who you know. Show business, like any business, depends on people.

      This chapter introduces you to the different people in the world of show business and what they do so you can better understand how your own role as an actor fits into the chaotic world of show business.

Producers: The Champions of Every Project

      Show business is full of great ideas, but nothing happens until a producer takes the initiative to turn a good idea into a finished product. Producers are responsible for guiding a project from a raw idea or script to a finished film, play, TV show, or commercial and often risk losing money or their reputation if the project never gets completed (or gets completed poorly). So the overriding goal of a producer is to create a quality product that’s both marketable and profitable as quickly and inexpensively as possible.

      Basically, producers do the following:

       Search for and obtain the rights to a story or script that has the potential to be both interesting and profitable.

       Get money to finance the project. (The money can come from a studio, a production company, individual investors, the producer’s own bank account, or wherever the producer can get it.)

       Hire a director and writer to work on the project.

       With the help of a casting director, audition actors and ultimately suggest which actors to cast.

       Oversee the filming, taping, or rehearsals of a film, TV show, play, or commercial.

       Supervise the editing of the project.

       Work with studios or distribution companies to market and distribute a project.

      Producers also have the less than enviable job of soothing frayed egos and dealing with problems that may occur between the director and stars on the set. When directors and stars can’t agree on the way a project is developing, one or both of them may threaten to walk out of the project (or actually do it), citing creative differences. Sometimes, the producer has to replace the director or star, and sometimes, the producer can convince the warring parties to stick together long enough to finish the project (and hopefully do a great job despite any professional or personal disagreements between them).

      

Until you’re a big star, you may work on a project without ever talking to the producer. When you’re on a set and you have a problem, talk to the line producer or one of the line producer’s assistants. While the producer takes care of the overall details of finishing a project, a line producer worries about the day-to-day details of getting a project completed, such as telling you what time to return to the set the next day and helping you with any problems involving your costume.

Directors: The Bosses on the Set

      After the producer, the director is usually the second most powerful person involved with a project. Directors typically do the following:

       Help the casting director decide which actors to hire for the major roles

       Control the creative aspects of the set, including lighting, background design, and camera angles

       Work with the actors on a daily basis to shoot the various scenes in the script

       Polish the final film prior to its official release

      The lighting and set designers may create the actual backgrounds, but the director has the final say on whether to alter the look, add more lighting, or film the set from a particular angle. The director determines the overall mood and tone of the final production. The actors’ roles comprise just one of many pieces that the director has to juggle when completing a production.

      After shooting a film, the director (along with the producer and, occasionally, the writer and an actor or two) remains with the project in post-production, where scenes may be cut or rearranged and sound effects and music added. In some cases, the director may need the actors to dub in their dialogue in scenes where the existing dialogue doesn’t sound right due to technical difficulties, an airplane flying overhead at the wrong time, or any number of problems.

      

On a set, any number of things can go wrong, from light bulbs burning out to costumes being torn. Every problem that delays the production is likely to fall on the director to fix, so, as an actor, do your job, stay out of everyone else’s way, and be flexible. If you do, the director will remember you as an actor who’s easy to work with, which increases the chances that the director will want to use you in the next project he directs.

Writers: The Idea Makers

      No project gets done without a script, so every project relies heavily on the people who write (and rewrite) those scripts. Basically, writers convert a bunch of ideas (good or bad) into a cohesive script that tells a compelling story with interesting characters that (hopefully) the general public will want to pay money to see.

Writers may write a script from an original story, an existing story (such as a novel, poem, or short story), or an idea given to them by a director, producer, or another writer. No matter how a writer starts with an idea, the final result should be a script that a director can use to tell the beginning, middle, and end of a story and that a producer can use to generate interest (and money) to get the project rolling.

      

Always respect the words that have been written. The writer may have some power on the set. At other times, you may have the ability to improvise. Unless you’re a big name actor, you should stick to the words as written.

      Sometimes, writers