Monday, March 31, 2008

Postage Hike May 12, 2008

Postage rates are increasing on May 12th, which means your headshot mailings will likely cost 3 cents more than they do now. In some cases $0.83, in some $1.00, depending how heavy your submission is (e.g., do you use a mailing label or hand write the address, do you include a cover letter, etc.) and postcards will likely cost one cent more, $0.27 each. After the rate change, you may want to have the post office weigh your mailing to double check the cost.

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this posted by David August at 11:26 AM - 0 comments -  

Sunday, March 30, 2008

SAG and AFTRA Bargain Separately

From sag.org, and an email sent to members about two hours ago:
The AFTRA representatives declared that they will not negotiate jointly with SAG on behalf of the TV/Theatrical Contract, including their Exhibit A.
SAG President Alan Rosenberg said, We remain focused on negotiating the best terms for actors covered by the TV/Theatrical Contract. We spent weeks working with our fellow actors in AFTRA on joint proposals to improve the lives of all working actors. AFTRA's refusal now to bargain together with us and their last-second abandonment of the joint process is calculated, cynical and may serve the interests of their institution, but not its members.
And from aftra.org:
AFTRA's leadership believes that our union must devote its energies first and foremost to working on behalf of performers, and not waste any more time assessing whether our partner is being honest with us. With this in mind, the AFTRA National Board today voted overwhelmingly in favor of suspending Phase One, and negotiating the primetime television contract on our own. We are now prepared to move forward and negotiate a strong contract for our members as soon as possible.
Will producers divide and conquer, or have to fight a two front war?

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this posted by David August at 1:13 AM - 0 comments -  

Monday, March 24, 2008

Calling Services

For extra work, many actors hire a calling service to simplify tracking down work. There is some information about calling services in LA on backgroundbeat.com. I don't know how reliable the information is; caveat actor.

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this posted by David August at 8:03 PM - 0 comments -  

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Government and Directors

But if the government is not to intervene, how will we, mere human beings, work it all out?
I wondered and read, and it occurred to me that I knew the answer, and here it is: We just seem to. How do I know? From experience. I referred to my own-take away the director from the staged play and what do you get? Usually a diminution of strife, a shorter rehearsal period, and a better production.
The director, generally, does not cause strife, but his or her presence impels the actors to direct (and manufacture) claims designed to appeal to Authority-that is, to set aside the original goal (staging a play for the audience) and indulge in politics, the purpose of which may be to gain status and influence outside the ostensible goal of the endeavor
(by David Mamet from Village Voice).

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this posted by David August at 10:19 PM - 0 comments -  

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Working for Free

Seth Godin discusses, in his post the thing about 'free,' that [t]he fascinating thing is that it often doesn't matter if you're paying or being paid... it's the transaction either way that changes the posture of the person you're working with. I can vouch that how I'm treated on set is fundamentally better when I'm being paid something (even one cent) than when I'm there for free.

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this posted by David August at 1:31 PM - 0 comments -  

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Talent Agencies Act - California Labor Code 1700

There is a version of the Talent Agency Act (California Labor Code Section 1700) on a state website, but there are also various other online versions of Section 1700, in case the state moves it and you need to read up on the law covering talent agencies. It may answer some questions about how agencies are supposed to behave, especially Sections 1700.23 to 1700.47.

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this posted by David August at 11:35 AM - 0 comments -  

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

ActorsAccess and ExtrasAccess Down Tonight

According to memos posted on the sites today, both Actors Access and Extras Access, Breakdown Sevices' actor submission sites, will be offline tonight starting at Midnight for maintainence for a few hours. So if you try to use them then, they won't work.

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this posted by David August at 9:19 PM - 0 comments -