Bangkok Adrenaline un-official site tells how a bunch of stuntmen went about just this.

On this website it tells how a group of stuntmen decided to make their own movie so they could become movie stars and kickstart their careers

Truth be told IF you were writting and Producing a movie couldn’t you put yourself in the starring role?

This is in effect what they did. Funny thing along the way these stuntmen discovered other abilities that affected their acting careers. Now they have scriptwriting, directing, producing, action direction, fight choreographer, etc credits to go along with their now starring role credits AND a bunch of new showreel showing them at their absolute best.

Now that is something definitely worth thinking about, after all Sylvester Stallone wrote the movie that skyrocketed him to fame too – Rocky so this method is nothing new.

Go check out the latest guys to kickstart their careers and make movie stars of themselves over at the Bangkok Adrenaline unofficial site.

Written by Louis Nowra. From Saturdays Sydney Morning Herald April 12 2003.

Louis Nowra’s screen credits include Map of the Human Heart, Cosi, Heaven’s Burning, The Matchmaker, Radiance, K-19: the Widowmaker and Black and White.

The food chain

The first lesson is to know where you are on the food chain. Let’s begin with a true story. I wrote the screenplay for Cosi based on my play. On the night of the premiere, I assumed that one of the seats with reserved written on them was for me. I had just sat down when an usher asked me for a slip of paper that entitled me to sit where I was. I didn’t have one. “But I wrote the screenplay,” I protested. The usher smiled condescendingly and said: “These seats are for special people, sir.” I ended up in the front row in a seat so far to the right that I had to twist at an angle to see just some of the screen. I noticed that the people sitting in the reserved seats were a motley collection of producers, actors, B-grade celebrities and others who had nothing to do with the making of the film.

Another time, I was invited to the premiere of a film I had co-written, only to be told I would have to pay for my air fare to Ireland. Other screenwriters, including Britain’s Alan Bennett, can tell similar stories.

The screenplay

It used to be that everyone thought they had a novel in them. Now it’s a screenplay. Not so long ago, a nurse was giving me a catheter and she asked me if I would read her film script. I have had a doctor pitch his screenplay idea to me while I was in a pethidine haze. Waitresses, students, yes, even a taxi driver, have told me they are writing a screenplay.

The attraction is obvious. Film is sexy, pays well and is universal. You can have your name on a film that plays to every country in the world, whereas an Australian novelist is lucky to be published overseas. Would-be screenwriters also think it is a glamorous profession.

The problem is that most people believe writing movies is easy and that all you need to create a great script is to follow a screenwriting formula. Hundreds of books and shyster lecturers from overseas cater to this need. If anyone wants to see the degrading effect of these scriptwriting formulas, just watch Hollywood movies of the past five years or so. The narrative patterns have become so clichéd that it’s a trial to sit through most of them.

Some novices also believe screenwriting is an art. In fact, it is a craft akin to being employed in a medieval stonemason’s workshop.

Producers

In the beginning, producers need you. They may not like it but they do. They want a script or they have optioned a novel and need someone to turn it into a screenplay.

There are several types of producers. The ones who treat you like a typist, for instance. These producers believe that if they weren’t so busy they could churn out a script. They bombard you with pages of notes. Once, I got 50 pages of notes for 40 pages of script.

Now, here comes the interesting part. You have written a good first draft, which is why the producer is interested in making the film. The copious comments follow and you obediently put his notes and suggestions into the script. He reads the second draft and is horrified. I don’t know how many times I have said to a producer: “But you told me to put your notes in.” “Well, not all,” is the backtracking reply.

It gets worse when there are two producers. I once worked on a multinational film where I was constantly given opposite instructions. This problem was vividly summed up one day when I received a fax from one producer telling me I had to have the protagonist rape his girlfriend and, an hour later, I received a fax from the other producer telling me he should only kiss her.

Then there are producers like the one who said he was extremely pleased with how I had incorporated all his notes into the second draft. The only problem was that he had mistakenly read the first draft again.

More producers than scriptwriters read screenwriting manuals and you can tell, with depressing ease, which book they have read or which one-day scriptwriting seminar they have attended. Terms such as “character arc”, “character jeopardy”, “the hero’s journey” and “three-act structure” are tossed about as if they are insightful gems. Then there comes that all-too-familiar phrase – “the characters have to be more lovable”.

There are also the producers who want the script rewritten to resemble a hit film they saw the night before. They fervently believe that there is a formula to making a successful film, which is why they want you to copy a recent hit, even though the film probably broke the common formula.

Meetings

Producers love meetings. Over the years, I’ve attended hundreds of meetings – in restaurants, in my home, in offices, in taxis, in airports and even on the street. Strangely, I can’t recall a meeting at a producer’s house. I think there is a reason for this: the producers don’t want you to see how much money they earn. A screenwriter will make comparisons with his own house and will realise that producers make infinitely more money than he does.

If producers like anything more than meetings, it is casting. At these meetings, the producer will fantasise about his ideal cast. These fantasies are generally along the lines of: “What about Daniel Day-Lewis?”; “Do you think Nicole’s available?” or “What about George Clooney? He loves doing quirky stuff.”

These benign fantasies can turn weird. I remember having a meeting with the American producer Harvey Weinstein. We were talking about a character I had written who was plump, middle-aged and plain. Suddenly Harvey sat bolt upright, galvanised by an idea. “What about Elle Macpherson?” he said. At times like this, you realise you are not so much in a New York office as in the Twilight Zone.

In the beginning, producers hire you because you are different or see things from a different perspective. When I started writing K-19: the Widowmaker, they talked of making it a “real and authentic” depiction of submarine life, as in the German film Das Boot. But, as the budget grew and grew (eventually it reached $150million), fear set in. That was understandable with so much money at stake. They wanted the film less edgy and more reliant on formula.

When I presented my final draft, the producers were decidedly uneasy. The story was based on a real-life incident aboard a Russian submarine. “The problem is that the characters sound like Russians,” said one of the producers. “You see, American audiences get twitchy if they think Russian characters don’t sound like Americans.”

Directors

I have written about half a dozen scripts that have not been filmed and if there is a common denominator it is that the producer did not bring in a director in the early stages of the writing. Instead, the producer has had me write dozens of drafts, trying to reach an impossible stage of perfection. But he isn’t the one directing it and a director may want a totally different slant to the story.

All my filmed scripts have had a director attached from the beginning. It makes sense, since the director is the one who will film the script. His or her energy and vision for the script will propel the project. The producer is not the writer’s collaborator; the director is.

I happen to like directors, even if the finished film doesn’t impress me. I like the process of collaboration, of trying to see the world in the same way. The best directors, like Vincent Ward, work in a way that is always positive. We have a policy of never saying no to any idea and, no matter how silly it is, exploring it until we either find something in it or it dies of its own accord. Other directors will flatly reject an idea, not realising that they are chipping away at a screenwriter’s confidence.

Then there are those directors whose egos are so gigantic, you feel crushed. I met such a director recently. He was brought in to direct a script I had written. The first thing he announced was that he was a writer-director and, as such, found it very difficult to direct the movie “unless I put my personal stamp on it”. I have seen his other films. He can direct but can’t write. My heart sank as he took away the script to make it “funnier”.

A screenwriter quickly learns that he is subservient to the director and I think that’s only natural. It is the director who makes the movie. The writer is there to help articulate his vision of the story. If you want it to be the other way around, then write for the theatre.

Actors
As the film moves into pre-production, you find you are rewriting for very practical reasons. Now that the film is cast, you might need to accommodate the limited range of an actor, or even change a character’s nationality when you’ve been unable to get the actor you wanted.

You also have actors who decide to change the character you have spent two or three years developing. I saw the final cut of Black and White and reeled out of the viewing room. I had spent a long time creating a character who was impetuous, likeable, funny and inefficient, and who gradually formed a conviction that his client was not guilty. Instead, Robert Carlyle gave a one-note performance, creating a dreary, humourless lawyer, full of self-importance. Sometimes, you wonder why you went to all that effort to develop a character, when up there on the screen is a character diametrically opposed to the one he was supposed to be. And, of course, reviewers and the audience think you wrote it that way.

A word of caution, have nothing to do with actors initiating projects. Once actors have achieved a certain level of fame, they tend to become restless. They turn to a vanity project to show off their acting skills or to boost their credibility. The actors’ managers facilitate these projects, but they don’t really care if they are made because they want their meal tickets to stick to the tried and true.

I wrote one for Julia Roberts. After a series of lightweight films, she wanted to be taken seriously. Because it was so outside her range as an actress, I knew it wouldn’t be made. I think the decision to can the project made her manager very happy.

And then there is the singing sensation who wants to act in a vehicle written especially for her. Avoid this at all cost. Think of those projects that have been made: think Mariah Carey; think … well, think of any pop star except Eminem.

The filming

You are forgotten now. I know that screenwriters are desperate to get on the set, but why? You have nothing to do. The actors spot you and want you to change lines or talk about their characters. But, if you are sensible, you’ll say no because, once the director knows you are talking to the actors, his ego is pricked and he’ll want you off the set.

Post production/credits

Once the editing has finished, you will get a post-production script. In many cases, the first thing you will notice is several other names attached to the screenwriting credits. On K-19, I was astonished to see that seven writers were credited. On The Matchmaker, I was surprised to see that another name came after mine.

What happens is that, during pre-production and during the filming itself, other writers are brought in to “pump up” the script. Some are specialists. On K-19, for instance, one writer was brought in to do obscene military dialogue and I guess Tom Stoppard was brought in to give Harrison Ford’s character class.

After reading post-production scripts, you are depressed and want your name taken off the project. But then a little voice inside your head asks: “Hang on, what if the film is a hit?” So you decide you want to keep your name on the credits.

But what good does it do? I saw a matinee of The Matchmaker during which the woman behind me kept on jabbing her husband and saying loudly: “Tell me when to laugh.” I watched the first five minutes of K-19 on a plane a few months ago and became so dispirited that I ended up watching Stuart Little 2, instead.

Here’s a guide to credits. If you see more than three names on the credits, avoid the film at all costs, because it’s likely 10 writers tried to save it. If, as in K-19, you see “story by” and “screenplay by”, know that the writer who got the story credit lost out on getting the screenplay credit, by two votes to one, when credits were decided by the Writers Guild of America. It’s strange, but overseas writers frequently lose out on these matters.

The premiere

Now you know where you are on the food chain: you’re the golden spittoon in the brothel.

But what of the film itself? People ask you if you liked what the director did to your script. It’s almost impossible to give an answer because you saw the movie through a sieve of drafts. You remember great scenes that were not filmed. You recall the endless revisions that resulted in a dreadful sequence and ask yourself: why did I agree to that?

Only years later do you dare view it again, this time by yourself, with a drink in hand, you sit in front of the VCR and watch it with a detached air. It seems like someone else wrote it. When it’s finished, you say to yourself: did I really waste three years writing that?

Why write scripts?

Of the scripts I have written, I would have wanted to direct only two of them: the shooting script of Map of the Human Heart and my original script for K-19: the Widowmaker. The rest represent so many concessions, so many
half-hearted decisions and so many rewrites that I realise I lost the plot. Most of all, I can’t see anything of my own sensibility in them.

But I regret none of them. The money, the process of being wooed by producers and flattered (sometimes) by directors, the exhilarating nature of collaboration and the pleasure of knowing you could be part of something special seems worth it. But then, I have my novels and my plays to give me true creative pleasure. If I were a professional screenwriter, writing nothing but films, I would exist on a diet of tranquillisers and antidepressants and I’d have a profound envy of playwrights and novelists.

Louis Nowra’s screen credits include Map of the Human Heart, Cosi, Heaven’s Burning, The Matchmaker, Radiance, K-19: the Widowmaker and Black and White.

After all you do not want to be a low paid movie extra for all your life do you, it is much more enjoyable as an actor

Link is here Movie Extras Tips

It tells the Casting Director that you are a keen and professional actor. It shows you are prepared and serious about your acting career. This in turn a better profile in the eyes of the Casting Director and therefore a better chance at securing the job at the acting audition.

When you go to an acting audition and you have the script given to you before the acting audition you should read the lines again, again and again. Memorize your lines. This can’t be stressed enough.

To make a good impression at the acting audition you must memorize your lines back to front in all possible characterisations. The character in the scene can be played in a variety of ways depending circumstances and personality – make several characterisations and present them at the casting in different takes. Show the Casting Director that you are versatile. This can be achieved by varying the dialogue, the physical reactions, your delivery and your tonation. Present a pile of information “between the lines”, but to do any of this effectively you must memorize your lines completly.

Going to an acting audition without this preparation is only inviting rejection. However you must remain flexible and open to acting or character suggestions from the casting director.

If you fully memorize your lines and impress them with your acting abilities at the acting audition, they will then be looking to see your willingness and ability to change your character to suit their requests.

Not only are they are looking at your suitability for the acting role on offer, but whether or not you will fit in with the other members of the production. You could even give them reason to rewrite the character if your interpretation is strong enough! It’s been done for me before.

Even if you start to get stage fright, you will be ok by the fact that you have prepared properly. If you forget your line just say ‘line please’ and simply continue on. You know what your character is after in the scene so go for it. If the casting director has any instructions for you just follow what he asks, regardless of the script – after all he is the one who is in charge of hiring.

Take your time and deliver your best performance.
Always learn the lines and prepare. If you are not given the lines, go in to the acting audition early and get a copy of the lines and then prepare for the acting audition or more correctly, the “Cold Read”.

At the cold read make simple but strong decisions for your character in the same way you would do if you had the night to prepare, obviously you will not memorize your lines so well but your aren’t expected to. The casting director will be looking for your interpretation of the character and the script.

In a cold read audition the casting director is interested in the way you “act”. They don’t care how well you “read” a scene. The casting director is there to view a performance. They want to see how you “act”, how you relate with your character and the others in the scene.

Develop a ability to read ahead, off the script and then deliver your lines with confidence while relating to the other actors there. Keep your head and face up toward the camera or other actor. If you have the first lines you read the first one or two sentences, then look toward the other actor and deliver the rest of your lines. Keep your face upat all times, lift the script up to keep your face visible to camera. Also do not be so absorbed in reading your lines while the other actor delivers his lines that you forget to respond correctly to what he says and the ways he delivers his lines. Remember the casting director is interested in your baility to act, not read.

Furthermore, once you get that part on TV, film or commercial, you will be expected to know your dialogue word perfect. You will only get a dialogue run for the lights and camera positioning for the shoot. Maybe the other actors in the scene will be polite enough to do a line run with you before hand, but don’t expect it. When that call comes to the green room for your part in the production you had better be sure that, once on set, you know your lines and the lines of the other actors for your cues. Otherwise…gee…I don’t want to think about it, because, the production you are now holding up is probably working on a budget in the tens of thousands of dollars per hour! You are “not in Kansas any more Toto”. This is for real!

It tells them why you’re sending the package and it allows you to sell yourself quickly before the whole lot goes into the trash. You should make it a hard hitting sales letter with the only aim to get them to view your photos/showreel/bio.

Much like a job resume, a cover letter will vary between one acting agent and another. Customise it for the peron you are sending it to.

Here are some ideas when writting a cover letter to an acting agent / casting director.

Address the letter to…

…a specific person within the acting agency.

Don’t write “To whom it may concern.” it’s impersonal and spammy. However, just because you’re addressing it personally don’t go and send a package to every agent in that agency, 1 package per agency should be enough, unless they are huge then maybe 1 package per department. They’ll pass it to the most appropriate person if you meet their selection criteria

Keep it short and to the point

Your personal sales letter (cover letter) should be 20 seconds or less to read. Acting Agents are busy and they don’t have time to read an essay and often they don’t care. Filli t with the benefits you can bring to them, don’t talk about yourself too much.

Recent happenings

You could include a line or two on a work that is in pre or post production as it will be relevant to yoru experience even if it is not released yet.

Contact Info

Iinclude at least your phone number, make that your cell phone or pager and a land line. Also include a fax number if you have one and an easy to read professional looing email address. If you are already somewhat famous I might consider passing on your direct land line as you don’t know who is going to get a hold of it.

Personality

Let your personality shine through in both your Biog and your Cover Letter. You do not have to follow a bland corporate format just because you read somewhere the correct formula for laying this stuff out. That is boring and boring gets the garbage bin rather quickly. Dress it up a little but keep it professional.

Signature

Sign your letter. It’s the professional thing to do. You are offering a business letter make it look like one. Skipping this step will make you look amateur and inattentive. People like to know that you pay attention to detail, do it.

Spelling

Spelling is very important, in this day and age if you cannot hit spellcheck on your wordprocessor it just shows that you are sloppy and you don’t care. So why should they care either. Package -> Garbage bin. Don’t let it happen to you.

Once you run the spellchecker over it re-read it and make sure the grammer is correct and that the spellchecker hasn’t added in any oddities.

Spell names correctly, do not offend the people you are writing too by mispelling their name of the company name.

(I might mispell stuff but it doesn’t matter this is just a website and I have heaps more info to write yet + I don’t have aspellchecker inbuit here)

An acting agent in the carries out activities on behalf of you, the performer in return for payment, usually a percentage of what they make for you. The main role of an acting agent is to negotiate with employers about possible acting jobs on your behalf. An acting agent is responsible for getting acting auditions and jobs and fixing the terms and conditions for those acting jobs.

How Do I Get An Acting Agent?

If you’ve graduated from a good acting school, then there should have been acting agents invited to see your performance in the final year production to showcase yourself and other graduates.

You should contact acting agents upon graduation at the latest, I would recommend being on the books of some lower tier agents well before that to get some additional experience and pay.

Your local Actors Union can provide a list of acting agents in your area, if you have completed a recognised course with a reputable school this should be enough to get membership, otherwise you’ll have to get some work by working the lower tiers (extras / TVC’s, etc)

When first contacting acting agents, you should send them a letter requesting an appointment with the acting agent. Include a resume and photo of yourself. Then follow up the letter with a telephone call about 5 – 7 days later to organise to Go See the Actor Agent.

How Do I Choose An Acting Agent?

In choosing an acting agent you need to think about a few things:
*the type of acting work you want to do
*the size of the acting agency
*the reputation of the acting agent
*the agents personality and yours – do you match?

What To Discuss With My Acting Agent?

It is vital that when you engage an acting agent you both clearly understand each othersroles in the relationship.

From the start you should discuss:
*what tasks they will do
*what path you want your career to take
*what types of characters and roles you will be audtioning for
*if they want you to be solely represented by them, and what the advantages are for you
*commissions if you bring in work for them to negotiate
*whether they expect commissions for work you find and negotiate yourself
*what areas is the acting agent is authorized to represent you eg. only in live theatre, in Australia or overseas, etc.)
*what areas they are specialised or known for
*how long the agency will represent you
*any obligations of the required of you

A contingent compensation deal is one in which a participant in the film receives a
percentage of the revenues made by that film in addition to, or in lieu of, their fixed
payment. There are four main elements that might have to be taken into account in
determining the payment due under such schemes:

• gross receipts

• distribution and sales fees

• distribution expenses

• cost of production

Before entering into a contingent compensation deal, it is imperative that all parties
understand precisely the terms of that deal and that the contracts are crystal clear and
agreed by all parties.

Gross Receipts

Gross receipts for a film are comprised of:

• net theatrical rentals (ie. box office less tax and the exhibitors’ share)

• non-theatrical (eg. planes, ships)

• video rental and retail (either a royalty or a distribution deal – see below)

• video on demand, pay TV and pay per view and free TV

• ancillaries (eg. music publishing, books, merchandise)

US Studio gross will usually exclude revenues from sequels, remakes, stage shows or
theme parks and any revenues remitted back to the studio from sale and leaseback deals.

For video receipts the studio can put in place a royalty deal, in which they will account for
around 20 – 30% of gross revenues derived from sales of videos for the rental market and
10 – 20% from sales of videos for the retail market, or a distribution deal, under which the
studio retains 100% of the revenues and charges a distribution fee and recovers its
expenses. Royalty deals are most common, but some stars are now able to negotiate on
the basis of distribution deals which can be more lucrative for them. Under a royalty deal,
it is important to check the basis on which the royalty is being calculated; whether any
distribution fees are being charged on the royalty itself; and whether any distribution
expenses are being deducted. Royalty deals tend to work out better for low performing
films, and distribution deals for better performing films.

Distribution and Sales Fees

The distribution fee is the amount that the company distributing the film charges for its
services and to cover its overheads. They vary in different territories, but tend to be
between 30 and 40% of net theatrical receipts and from 25 to 40% for television sales.
Sales fees, paid to sales agents for selling the film to distributors in different territories,
range from 5 to 15% in the US to anywhere from 10% to 30% in the rest of the world.

Distribution Expenses

These are the direct expenses incurred by the distributor in releasing the film. They
include:

• prints and materials

• advertising and publicity (usually uprated by a 10% advertising overhead when
distribution is handled by a US major)

• re-editing/foreign dubbed versions

• taxes (eg. sales tax)

• currency conversion, collection and remittance costs

• trade association dues

• residuals/use fees

• shipping and delivery costs

• sub-distributors expenses

Recent MPAA figures report that an average approximately 90% of P & A expenditure goes
on advertising, with just 10% on prints. The 10% advertising overhead usually charged by
the studios is intended to cover the costs of running their advertising departments.

Cost of Production

The US studio model for calculating the cost of production is the direct cost plus an
overhead (generally calculated at 15% of the direct cost). The direct cost includes the
actual cost of production plus any third-party participations payable up to the point of
recoupment. They will usually also charge an amount for interest on the direct cost and
the overhead.

Contingent Compensation in Talent Deals

There are three traditional forms of contingent compensation:

• net profits

• adjusted gross

• deferments and bonuses

Net Profits

(May also be referred to as “net proceeds”, “defined proceeds” or “contingent proceeds”.)

Net profits are defined as: Gross receipts remaining after deduction/recoupment on a
continuing basis of:

• distribution fees

• distribution expenses

• cost of production (including overhead and interest)

• deferments

Once the level of net profits has been determined, it will usually be split 50:50 between
the distributor and the producer, but the producer will have to bear the cost of any third
party participations. A hard or soft floor may be applied to these terms to ensure that the
producer does not have to give away all of their share to other parties. A hard floor defines
the minimum amount that the producer will receive; a soft floor indicates a level below
which any further payments to third parties will be split between the distributor and
producer in agreed proportions. Producers and directors might also be liable for an over-
budget addback, under which a further amount equal to any overspend is added in to the
cost of production (which itself will include the overcost) when calculating the producer’s
or the director’s contingent compensation. Their earnings may also be cross-collateralised
with any other projects that they have made for the same distributor – ie. losses on one
film might be offset against profits on another before the producer sees any upside.

Adjusted Gross

Adjusted gross deals are generally only paid to top talent and are less common in the UK.
Adjusted gross means gross proceeds (ie. the monies actually received by the distributor
(not gross box office)) minus “off-the-top” expenses (residuals, trade and industry dues,
taxes, remittance and conversion charges, and any costs of collecting and checking
receipts).

There are different types of adjusted gross deal. First dollar gross means an adjusted
gross participation payable from the first dollar of receipts. In first dollar gross deals it is
usual for any fixed compensation payable out of the budget of the film to be treated as an
advance against the talent’s first dollar gross participation. Gross After Break Even defines
a deal where the talent earns a share of adjusted gross revenues after a specified break
even point has been reached. The break even figure used is usually the point at which
gross receipts equal the total of full distribution fees plus all expenses (including
advertising overheads and residuals) and the cost of production. Alternatively, a cash
break even figure can be used which may typically involve the part at which the film
recoups using a reduced distribution fee.

Deferments and Bonuses

Bonus payments can be made to talent when certain target income figures are reached,
based on domestic and/or international Box Office. These can sometimes be expressed in
terms of a bonus to be paid after the film’s negative cost has been covered a certain
number of times by Box Office receipts. Bonuses can also be agreed for major award
nominations or successes. Deferments are fixed payments that are made after certain
financial milestones have been achieved – for example after revenues have reached a
certain break-even point or as an agreed additional payment to the talent immediately
prior to net profits.

Tailoring Contingent Compensation to the Financing Structure

Contingent payment structures will differ between studio and independent deals. Studios
have the advantage of being at the centre of the distribution chain and can exert control
over these revenue flows. Independent producers are up to three steps removed from the
revenue streams and therefore are less well placed to offer shares of those revenues. The
golden rule is never to commit to pay talent revenues over which you do not have any
control. The other partners with whom the independent producer must operate (eg. local
distributors or sales agent) are unlikely to want to pick up liability for contingent payments
offered by the producer.

Typical Talent Deals

Writers and underlying rights owners: 2.5 – 5% of net profits (top writers will be able to
negotiate better terms than these).

Directors: the majority of directors will receive around 5 – 10% of net profits. A-list
directors may negotiate gross after break even deals while the real top names will receive
a first dollar gross participation.

Actors: principal cast will usually receive a small net profit participation plus Box Office
and Award bonuses. A-list talent generally receive gross after break even deals. First
dollar gross deals are only available to that handful of actors who can really open a film.

Producers: most producers receive 40 – 50% of net profits with third party participations to
talent borne out of their share. Executive producers may secure a small proportion (c.
2.5%) of net profits.

TOP TIPS

1. Producers must be absolutely clear about the key elements of a contingent
compensation deal: gross receipts; distribution and sales fees; distribution expenses; and
the cost of production.

2. These terms must all be made crystal clear in any contracts.

3. Never commit to pay contingent compensation based on revenues over which you do
not have control unless you pass on the obligation to pay to the person who does control
them.

When you go to ‘go sees‘, the actors agents will be looking to meet you in order to see what you have to offer with regards to casting suitability for acting roles in movies, television, theatre, etc.

They want to see if you have the ability to act and make the grade if they send you out to an acting audition, because if you do, they’ll keep asking you in to audition.

Take along your showreel and a printed copy of your Bio and some profesional photographs. I always include one montage of photos of the work I have already done as photographic support for my Bio. The actors agent might look at your showreel then (or they might not, leave it with them either way) with you and discuss the work.

Be ready to do a ‘cold read’ or a one-minute monologue to camera in order to see how you look on screen and how you handle audition conditions. Be prepared, be very prepared as this is the most important audition you will get – if you do not get past the actors agent you won’t get any others until you do.

Treat it like an opening night where you know what is going to happen but be prepared for a surprise, the actor agent may throw you a curve ball to check if you have to think on your feet right.

Anyway, be yourself and try to enjoy the experience, don’t get stressed. A tip to help is to make up a short script about yourself and your acting experience and get it down pat so you can recite it back perfectly at a moments notice. Practise at home in front of the mirror, or better yet in front of a camera so you can see yourself and correct any mistakes.

Don’t be stressed here, the actor agents want to like you because they get great joy out of ‘discovering’ a new talent and it is their business and their best interests to take on anybody who might make them money.

Your personal sales script.

Just like a salesman reeling out a sales script to sell you that new car, you need a sales script to sell yourself to the actors agents.

Think of it as a monologue featuring you, what you want to do, why you want to be an actor, which character roles you fell are most suitable, any outstanding features that you have, any special abilities, awards or accomplishments. Let them know all your good points.

Try to present yourself in a few different ways, act out a few different characters and emotions during your personal sales script to the actors agent.

But be prepard for the Actors agent to test you by throwing in random questions.

Remember making friends is not a one way street all about you, ask them about themselves, their business, how long they have been operating, how they got started, get them talking about them.

Get involved and start a conversation, keep it going by getting the actors agent to talk, in the end if they like you they will take you on, as long as they do not already have someone the same as you and as long as you can do the job and earn you both some money.

Getting the actors agent to talk to you about themselves and their business shows that you are proactive and interested in something more in the industry than just yourself. It also allows them to relax with the knowledge that you appear self confident and personable. 

After you’ve said goodbye with a hearty handshake and warm eye contact, you can go and pat yourself on the back for a job well done. You will probably feel so excited that you will want to arrange another go see quickly…. or maybe not just straight away.

Mostly this is how it goes – the actor is contacted with an offer, and if the actor likes the role then negotiations can begin.

Negotiation usually refers to the payment offered, but can also work in any number of factors, most importantly would be time – ie for a lower budget the actor might only be free on certain dates between other commitments. Some famous actors ‘give’ their time to low budget productions they like if they like the script and to ‘give something back’ to the industry by helping out less experienced people. I have been told by a friend in the know that Jack Nicholson is one such generous actor.

Even when you make it to the point of being known in your industry – the point I am now at – you get calls direct too. Somebody who knows you or has seen your work before will call or recommend you for a specific part. Then you get the call go in.

Even though I have had direct call-ins I still have to go through an “audition” process, sometimes just against myself, sometimes there will be another 1 or 2 candidates trying their luck – but if you are good then it is really a one horse show with a couple of side acts  for later reference (ie if something goes wrong).

For an action movie you will have to go through the motions of taking bumps and hits, running through some imaginary fight sequences (a martial arts ‘kata’ but self designed helps a lot).

The other thing they will test for is to see how you play this particular character. So often a few short acting sequences just to make sure you are competant with this role.  Some actors are good at certain characters but hopeless at others.

Lastly and most important they want to make sure that they can work closely with you for hte next few months and that everyone will get along fine. An abrasive personality will get you kicked out of the industry faster than anything.

So in general, beginner actors get to go to the cattle call auditions, known actors get interviews and famous actors get offers.