Where are our young talents? From my own personal experience
and from that of my peers – they’re in debt from having spent a fortune on
going to acting school and now twittering about their #BlessedActorLife for
doing another student film and paying a fortune more to get discovered ‘the
modern way’ ----- ‘by paying to get seen.’ Maybe Lana Turner never was
discovered in a soda shop, maybe no one worked their way up to a big break –
the past is often revised, but that option isn’t even a contender these
days. If you’re getting somewhere,
you’re going to PAY cash for it.
Get a college degree! Who isn’t told that from kindergarten
on? So if you are a theatre artist, why not go to a ‘name brand’ school like
NYU and get your training there? Sure, you’ll end up $200,000 in debt, like
most other students, but that’s the price any 18 year old is willing to pay.
Until at 22, when they should be making their great strides, they find
themselves needing to work 60 hrs a week in order to pay for food, rent and to
make the bare minimum payment on their student loans. Where’s the time to
audition, to create, to experiment? Our youngest, most trained groundbreakers
have cut themselves off from prospering by falling prey to this trap. In their
most potent, creative years, they are beholden to pursue other work to pay
their debt. By the time the debt is paid off, they are dead, in a routine or
too bitter to create.
Bring back the casting couch! (Did it ever leave?) It may have
cost your dignity, but didn’t leave you in debt. Now, to meet a pseudo-director,
casting director, D level agent, you need to PAY CASH! Yes, pay us and you can
get in the room with a professional for $30 for 3 minutes of time. (Yes, like a
pimp, they will knock on the door at 3 minutes, and open it to dismiss you at 4
min.) BUT THEY ARE ‘CLASSES’! Say what you want about the Actors Studio, Carnegie
Mellon, etc.; they have their faults, but those are trivial compared to
charging multiple actors $600 an hr. HOW IS THIS EVEN LEGAL? It’s the shady
fine line of hookers calling themselves escorts to skirt the law! But trust us; the potential talent is getting
FUCKED. The Unions and the Attorney General need to investigate Actors
Connection, One on One, The Network, etc, etc, etc. Some of the ‘professionals’ teach
these classes at the different studios on a fulltime basis…. When do they find
the time to do their professional job?
As one website’s main page proudly extols their track record of success
with, “Carolyn is FREELANCING with legit agent Michael of 9MUSE after meeting
at a seminar at Actors Connection!”
Notice the words ‘FREELANCING’ and ‘9MUSE’. Impressed?
And then there are teachers- 2,000+ actors on average submit
for one of our shows so we see lots of resumes. As most of their credits are
unheard of or untraceable, I find the best place to look is the ‘training’
section. The majority are 3 min “Classes” from the places listed previously
(thought they don’t mentioned they are 3 minute ‘classes’). The rest are often aa composite of teachers
made up of Sandy Meisner’s main protégé, Stella Adler’s 2nd in
command, Uta Hagen’s successor, etc… It’s amazing how many people these master
teachers anointed to carry on their work! Then there are those who teach ‘the NEW
Meisner’ or ‘Strasberg-esqe Method.’ It would be laughable if it weren’t!
Actors are blindly duped into paying these charlatans a fortune to train – and it
does more damage than good. Many of the worst actors/directors we’ve ever
worked with are teachers at leading conservatories. The stories of the famous,
old-school teachers hurling ashtrays at students and bringing them to tears are
legendary- but they cared about the theatre as an entity larger than any of us. Put yourself in their shoes? Who doesn’t love
babies? If you were trying to teach childcare and the student kept dropping the
baby on its head, you should hurl something at the student and tell them to try
a different profession. You’re protecting the child. Sure, there are other ways to do
it, but when an untalented person’s DREAM is to be in the theatre, this harshness
serves a purpose. Objects were thrown
out of love and care of the theatre. Too
many people allow the theatre to constantly be dropped on its head if there is
a buck to be made.
This may all sound obvious.
The advice offered is more vital than the weekly “How not to give up on
your career,” “You can still make it after 25!” columns in Backstage every week
or the quarterly “Pat Yourself on the Back for Paying Dues” Equity newsletter
article. They’re not here to promote art; they are here to make money off of
suckers and nothing more.
SO what to do besides whine?
1. Young actors – your time is NOW! Training is very
important – but getting out there and working is the best training. AND it’s priceless
and free. Intern – understudy- AND READ! Working and learning go hand in hand –
study is not a means to an end – it goes on.
2. If you are taking private classes, and most of
the class has been studying with the same teacher for years, and the teacher
bandies about words like ‘loyalty’ – RUN! If the teacher says reading the whole
play isn’t important – RUN! If the teacher says she knows better than the
playwright – RUN! If the teacher tells you there is only ONE way – LAUGH and
then RUN! If you 'aren't ready to approach the text' after a year - HIRE A LAWYER! (Yes, these all come from experience.)
3. Experienced Actors, of all ages – help spread
the word! With sites like YELP and a recently launched site to review teachers (the
name escapes me! Anyone?) , help a fellow actor out! As the unions seem
powerless or unwilling to do anything about the pay-to-play Acting Schools,
contact the Attorney General with your own horror stories. These little things will give us back part of
the theatre we so badly need!
4.
Question everything! The great teachers often
rave over their best students – those who challenged them at every turn. You’re
likely to be shown the door if you respectfully challenge your teacher – which may
be the best lesson they can offer you.
MORE SOON
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