The FMS Newsletter - July 2024
"It's not the will to win that matters-everyone has that...
it's the will to prepare to win that matters".
Paul "Bear" Bryant
Yeah, I'm harping on making time to practice again. But Megan and I have been watching a lot of self-tapes, and there is so much to tell you.
ONE: PRACTICE AS IF THE ROLE IS COMING.
You hear it all the time, 'Things are slow.' Which means there isn't a surplus of
jobs' out there'. So, I know that actors feel a lot of pressure. Not just about doing a good audition and getting the job, but personally and socially.
So many actors feel they must get this job to prove to someone, themselves, and their relatives, that they are right to pursue this work and walk this path. With so much pressure to do it perfectly, some completely fold. Others audition like they are afraid to screw up on a witness stand. So, let's keep talking about the audition process and the business in general, shall we?
This business of ours isn't a party that you arrive at and then say, "Voila! You're there!" It's a strange stroll on a path that is on a razor's edge toward a party that you can hear but often can not see.
That path is often out there for the world to see comment on and judge. It is a demanding path that asks you to be inceitful, well-informed, but not to be 'the smartest guy in the room", It asks you to be fit, but not vain. It asks you to be a self=-promoter, but not braggadocios. Extremely driven but hot obnoxious. The path asks up to walk the razors edge.
Add to this that so many people, both in the industry and out, speak badly of actors and our profession all the time. A surprising number of actors also think of this career as can be hard not to think of this industry as a worthwhile path.
TWO: LEARN TO FEEL GOOD ABOUT WHAT YOU DO.
You might dedicate more time to the practice and development of your skills and your career if you deeply felt better about it. That is was an important career and. Not a Hail Mary pass to self worthiness. I think that is the greatest and noblest and can be the heartiest profession in all of the civilized world.
We spend so much of our hard-earned money and our very limited time on entertainment each month. So no matter what anyone might tell you, it must be an important thing.
We humans don't just like stories, we need stories. Before writing words down, storytelling using voice and action is how human beings pass down essential information. It was far more than just entertainment; it was far more than simply escapism. Stories are important. They help us ask ourselves who we are. They pose problems for us to solve, sharpening our survival skills. A good story is often a good thought experiment.
Thought experiments are necessary things. So it’s important … the ‘What if….?”
What would I do if apes ruled the world and human beings were put in cages?
What would I do would I do if there was true love for somewhere out there?
What would I do if there was really magic in the world, and I had it in me?
"What would I do if I needed to get rich to prove to a girl that I was worth her time?"
Did that stimulate your imagination at all?
Stories are important. And we need people to tell us those stories. Every character in every show has his or her own story to tell that supports the greater saga of the story in which that character lives. Every role has a story.
SO BACK TO THE AUDITION…
Every audition an actor gets is a chance to explore a story.
Every audition is the "What if". That Stanislavsky talked about. 'The Magic If", he
called it.
And rather than look at an audition as a test to see ifs you're good enough, or an oral report in front of the class, allow yourself to go down that magical path of 'What if?" Not 'What do they want?" But rather….hmm what if…..
HERE'S SOMETHING TO PRACTICE…
Now go explore .. go play….leave the camera running. This will excite a casting director's mind more than you know. Because yes. Even an audition falls into the form of entertainment…falls into the form of a story.. if you let it. I mean, for real: who wants to watch a spelling bee? Or someone gives a report in front of a group of hostile classmates. Yet, that is what it can feel like. So don't. Try to get it right. Ask.. What if…?
If you practice this, you just might find that you might be more creative and more relaxed in an audition. Think of it as a chance to explore the path again, rather than a destination or an end product. It's a work in progress, a journey. A path that we get to watch you on. Rather than a stage, a platform on which you are being judged.
So that when a director gives you an adjustment you don't think I did it wrong, buts it as the directors saying . Walk the character down this path and see what happens.
Practice this at home, and take it into your audition. Hopefully it will make you feel more free and less like you're in front of the class in grade school or being cross examined on a witness stand.
And that brings me to…..
MORE ON CASTING
The American Academy of Dramatic Arts closed it's west coast doors recently. It made me sad. The teacher's there told one of it's former students that the demand for training is just not there anymore. I guess more and more people think acting is easy..and they don't need to train and keep on it.
And it shows.
We have watched more self-tapes since the last newsletter. As a casting director, I can tell you that you are rooting for every actor who walks into the room. Excited to see open and watch every self-tape. I can't overstate the low-quality of the self tapes on average are.
Outside of the technical points.. People just don't prepare. Then, someone does the work and stands out. Maybe the director doesn't choose them for the role. Maybe they are not right for the role, but we remember them for something else.
I'm not telling you this to complain to gossip.. I'm saying. In an already difficult business. This is, can be your advantage: your competition doesn't practice.
I hear people say. "I'll bring it on the day".
I wonder if that's is what Patrick Mahomes says when he doesn't worry about training or watching game tapes. I wonder if he thinks.. "Nahh I'm good enough. I'll bring it on the day". I'm sure he would, if he wasn't busy practicing and watching game tapes.
You may already be great, like Mahomes... but imagine what you'll find if you practice and dig. Dig for truth... dig for greater creativity and inspiration.
So let us observe a moment of silence for the passing of the school that gave us Spencer Tracey and Katherine Hepburn, Paul Rudd, and Jennifer Coolage, Clevon Little, Ann Bancroft, Gena Davis and John Cassavettes. The West Coast campus of the American Academy of the Dramatic Arts.
AT THE STUDIO
We are proud to say that we won Best Director Narrative Short Film at the Marina Del Rey Film Festival this past month. It was a very fun festival to be at. Also, KILLING HOPE is now a Finalist in the Dubai Indie Film Festival! Again, we tell you this to inspire you to take action.
Our latest films, RAW DEALS, THE WRITERS ROOM and THE PSYCHODYNAMICS OF MODERN THEORIES OF ACTING are in the last
stages of post production.
Our first documentary, CHOICES, has just started talks with development people.
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