Wednesday, July 26, 2006

YouTube Shops/Saves a Pilot

The defunct WB comedy pilot Nobody's Watching showed up on YouTube.com about a month ago, and has now been "discovered" by NBC. The network is expected to announce today that it has ordered six scripts and will create a series of viral videos to promote the show, says Variety. The videos could be seen on the internet as early as this fall. The pilot stars Paul Campbell and Tarran Killam as two fans of sitcom TV who end up in a reality show
(from Cynopsis). First part of the Nobody's Watching pilot on YouTube, and more info in this article.

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Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Equity 99-Seat Plan Updates August 15

New changes include easy-to-read document layout and two producer categories. Actors' Equity Association has announced changes to the 99-Seat Plan, which will take effect August 15, 2006. More than 1150 shows are produced under the 99 Seat Plan each year
(from actorsequity.org).

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Tuesday, July 18, 2006

The CW Announced Its Launch Schedule

CW Network combines the networks that were the WB and UPN (for more info, read my previous post about Content Wraps or the January CNN story).

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Monday, July 10, 2006

Explaining Your First Milestones

It will be hard to explain your first milestones to friends and family back home. They are waiting to see you on TV or on the big screen. It is hard to explain how a 2nd callback for a job you didn't land was the highlight of your month and a very valid reason to celebrate. I remember one year my proudest moment was at an audition for a really slutty bar maid on a new TV show. It was written for a Pam Anderson type. I thought, "I can never pull this off. I just don't have the sex appeal. I feel stupid. No one is going to take me seriously." But, I committed to the role and gave the best audition I could. I didn't get the job. I didn't get a callback. But I conquered my rambling, fear-driven brain and went balls out on the audition anyway. That was a huge milestone for me - but hard to explain at Christmas. A year later I booked the role of a trashy prostitute in a little indie movie called Employee of the Month. In the past I would have turned down the audition thinking that I would embarrass myself. But after that earlier breakthrough I felt confident. The success is not always in getting the part but in the seed that is planted
(from Jenna Fisher's MySpace blog - she plays Pam Beesley on 'The Office').

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Friday, July 07, 2006

Humor: Hollywood Vocabulary

Hollywood Dictionary

VERBS
To "schmooze" = befriend scum
To "pitch" = grovel shamelessly
To "brainstorm" = feign preparedness
To "research" = procrastinate indefinitely
To "network" = spread misinformation
To "collaborate" = argue incessantly
To "freelance" = collect unemployment
NOUNS
Agent = frustrated lawyer
Lawyer = frustrated producer
Producer = frustrated writer
Writer = frustrated director
Director = frustrated actor
Actor = frustrated human
COMPOUND WORDS
High-concept = low brow
Production values1 = gore
Production values2 = explosions
Entry level = pays nothing
Network-approved = has made them money
Highly qualified = knows the producer
FINANCIAL TERMS
Net = something that apparently doesn't exist
Gross = Michael Eisner's salary
Back End = you, if you think you'll ever see any
Residuals = braces for the kids
Deferral = don't hold your breath
Points = see "Net " or "Back End"
COMMON PHRASES
You can trust me = You must be new
It needs some polishing! = Change everything
It shows promise = It stinks rotten
It needs some fine tuning = Change everything
She got great press = She'll never live down the embarrassment
I'd like some input = I want total control
It needs some honing = Change everything
Call me back next week = Stay out of my life
It needs some tightening = Change everything
Try and punch it up = I have no idea what I want
It needs some streamlining = Change everything
It's all up on the screen = You'll never find the money I embezzled
You'll never work in this town again = I have no power whatsoever

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Sunday, July 02, 2006

Going to Network

One actor's account of 'going to network.'

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Saturday, July 01, 2006

Actors and the Internet

As it has for professionals in all fields, the Internet has become an invaluable resource for performers to land jobs and make connections seemingly overnight. The proliferation and popularity of inexpensive Web-only series and 'mobisodes' (content created for mobile devices) has been a boon to nonunion actors. The Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists have also recognized the importance of online media, making negotiations for residuals from content rebroadcast on the Web and mobile phones a priority.
Some actors aren't simply waiting to be cast in 'webisodes' and shorts. Many are using sites such as YouTube and MySpace to post their amateur films, reels, and résumés, and even to audition for roles being cast across the country. This course of action is already starting to work for Stevie Ryan, an Orange County, Calif., actor who has posted almost 30 self-made videos under the name 'littleloca' on YouTube and MySpace. In the shorts, Ryan plays Loca, a Southland Latina gangsta girl blogging her life. Loca has become such a fixture on YouTube that other users post video replies to her and even parodies of her shorts
(from backstage.com).

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