We're looking to better serve actors who are working in all the places that are NOT New York or Hollywood! Let's face it: There is plenty to discuss.

Who are the best agents in Chicago? What are the casting directors in Miami most looking for? Who is your favorite acting teacher in St. Louis?

Moreover, share your favorite places and services! Shops for costumes in Phoenix. Where to buy plays in Charlotte? And so forth.

Looking forward to hearing your feedback! Thank you.

Hi.........HELLO!!! (echo) Am I the first to arrive?.....hello, anybody here?????

quote:

Originally posted by Tomster:
We're looking to better serve actors who are working in all the places that are NOT New York or Hollywood! Let's face it: There is plenty to discuss.

Who are the best agents in Chicago? What are the casting directors in Miami most looking for? Who is your favorite acting teacher in St. Louis?

Moreover, share your favorite places and services! Shops for costumes in Phoenix. Where to buy plays in Charlotte? And so forth.

Looking forward to hearing your feedback! Thank you.

Yes, welcome! It's like an exclusive club for the moment...


Tom

Well this is interesting. I was out in LA working in film and television. I decided to come back to Omaha,Nebraska to be close to my kids for a while. Since I came home I have been working in theater nonstop and making better money than I did in LA. There is also a thriving Indie community here and they use me as well. There is life outside of Hollywood for a actor. Of course it dosent hurt having a couple of national and worldwide commercials running all the time,but , as a working actor I do whatever comes along to pay the bills.

Thank you for making this Thread and thank you for the email notification that exists.

I am looking forward to hear what other actors have to say. This will be a great benefit for everyone who knows backstage.

VERY neat idea. I'm originally from Ontario, Canada. I actually did a ton of theater in Toronto and a lot of student films for my University, which lead to auditions for twilight New Moon and then Eclipse!

I got offered a part on Degrassi but I turned it down to move to LA to take classes here (I got into the Stella Adler Program), and I'm loving it! I do miss Canada, but I find the LA market has more opportunities at the moment.

I have to agree with MrBradley - the film & television scene in Toronto is so dead right now. Not many opportunities at all. I went down to LA a month ago to check out the scene and wow, soooo many more opps! As much as I'd love to stay here in Toronto, there just isn't anythng going on unless you have 20+ credits under your belt.

quote:

Originally posted by TorontoActress:
I have to agree with MrBradley - the film & television scene in Toronto is so dead right now. Not many opportunities at all. I went down to LA a month ago to check out the scene and wow, soooo many more opps! As much as I'd love to stay here in Toronto, there just isn't anythng going on unless you have 20+ credits under your belt.

You gotta give yourself more than a month Ever think of maybe a summer or half a year down here? There are always places subletting rooms. All you need is to bring yourself!

I've worked in Washington Dc, San Diego, England and am curently in Dallas. I make a living traveling the country doing one man shows and have worked at many theaters in Dallas however it has been frustrating. There is so little work and I personally know of no one making a living just acting here. This market seems to be very model and print oriented. The films I have worked on here seem to be filled with actors with little training. I'm going to try LA and see what happens. I remember going to a workshop a few years ago here and the teacher was saying things like "if you can't make it in Dallas why would you bother going to LA?" I remember thinking how crazy that sounded. In Dallas you might get an audition a month for a comrrcial that pays $300. Seems beyond talent and training it's a numbers game like any sales. I need to be able to audition x number of times to hope getting cast. LA seems the only game in town for that.

Tom, I think this is a wonderful way for actors and commercial models to connect and share information.

As someone who has given over 500 acting/modeling workshops throughout the world, it is always wonderful for me to see others also trying to help people in the industry.

If you would ever like me to offer my acting/commercial print blog posts in this forum, let me know. You can read some of them at http://howtomodel.com/blog.html

Aaron_Marcus.jpg (97 Kb, 74 downloads) Aaron Marcus Head Shot

Hey MrBradley, ya I'm atually planning on moving there at the end of the year. I went down to start checking out neighbourhoods, seeing where things are, try out a workshop or two to see what those are about. What a different vibe that here in Toronto! I could smell the opportunities! ha!

quote:

Originally posted by Tomster:

Who are the best agents in Chicago?

Simon Casting, P+R Casting and O'Connor casting are the three biggest casting agencies in Chicago.

Claire Simon casts mostly studio features, television/pilots and regional theater.

P+R casts mostly indie features, a few studio features and commercials.

O'Connor casts mostly commercials.

As far as talent agencies, I'm with Marisa at Paonessa Talent Agency (PTA) and she knows how to get on the phone and pitch for her talent.

There's also Innovative, Stewart and Gray Talent Group. A lot of Chicago heavy-hitters are on the roster at Stewart. Gray has a great sampling of younger talent and some seasoned vets. Innovative used to be a big voiceover company but has since expanded to film, tv, and commercials. In addition to Shirley Hamilton, Bigmouth and Lilys. Those are all the ones that I know.

quote:

Originally posted by Tomster:

Where to buy plays?

Not sure about buying plays, no real drama bookshop, but the Harold Washington Library on State street in the Loop has one of the largest selection of plays I've ever seen. Stuff from way back.

quote:

Originally posted by TorontoActress:
Hey MrBradley, ya I'm atually planning on moving there at the end of the year. I went down to start checking out neighbourhoods, seeing where things are, try out a workshop or two to see what those are about. What a different vibe that here in Toronto! I could smell the opportunities! ha!

Oh yeah it's insanely busy out here always. Even the best classes. I wanted to take classes in Canada but there was just nothing there really. Even coming to LA for a year or two would be great for your resume if you got in the right classes and wanted to take it back to Canada with you, a lot of people do that in all types of their work.

Dutchman, I'm from O-Town. Do we know each other?



Mae

quote:

Marisa at Paonessa Talent Agency

Marisa is wonderful. I love that office.