Agents receive a minimum of 350 pictures a week. Casting directors the same unless they are casting a project–then the total could be a thousand or more. What is going to make these business savvy professionals stop as they flip through these hundreds of photos and consider your picture?
Before they even consider your resume and experience something about your picture must grab their attention. Continue reading
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Bliss was a short film made long ago by the filmmakers brining you Stages. It really has nothing to do with the article...except that following Bliss led us to doing lots more amazing work...
Bliss (noun): Complete happiness. I like the sound of that – COMPLETE HAPPINESS!
What gives me complete happiness is teaching. I can’t go a day without teaching. If I am not teaching I fill the void by writing. Teaching is truly my passion. It’s my bliss.
What is your bliss? What gives you complete happiness? What is that something that when you are doing it your world seems complete? Whatever it is, do it. Don’t deny yourself your happiness.
Sometimes, even David Stott gets scared...he is producing his first feature film, with support from many of us at StageSuccess. You can support him by liking it! (Click pic above!)
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
That is probably the most famous quote of the twentieth century. It was proclaimed by president Franklin Roosevelt at the beginning of World War II. Never were truer words spoken.
Fear has been described as an acronym: False Evidence Appearing Real. Translated, fear is the result of the unknown or perceived. Giving into fear creates a roadblock to any and all goals.
Fear surfaces our insecurities: What if Iʼm not good enough? What if I fail? What if there are others better than I am? What if I donʼt have talent? What if…?
Letʼs eliminate from this exploration of fear the words “What if.”
Or a better question: why do I continue to teach?
[Editor's spoiler: It's about the student.]
The answer is simple: I have to. It’s in my genes. Here is a short “teaching” autobiography.
When I was thirteen and taking dance class my teacher saw me helping a younger child with the opening routine in her beginning class. Continue reading
Set a new goal. Choose an action you can take that you are in control of, and can work towards…big or small. And then begin.
By Axel Avin Jr.
How many time have you heard these phrases and ones like them mumbled by your friends or even yourself?
As actors, there is a lot of support for the idea that our careers are in the hands of other people. This idea is one that I personally struggle with. Like many actors, I have spent Continue reading
By Adam Hill
Recently I had the guilty pleasure of viewing, for the first time in many years, Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. What a delightful experience.
I especially got a kick out of the seven little men and their joy of life. In particular was their daily march off to work. They sang as they strutted through the forest “Heigh-Ho, Heigh-Ho, it’s off to work we go!” Arriving at the mine wasn’t the end of their enjoyment only the beginning. While there they “whistled while they worked.”
Acting is work. It is a job. It is true that acting is an art, but who ever said that art wasn’t work?
For those of you interested in a career in acting, it is important to remember this. Acting Continue reading
By Joy Farmer-Clary
One of the simplest and most profound ideas from the great Greek philosophers is from Socrates, who recommended that we “Know thyself.” What phenomenal advice for us actors!
Knowing thyself is useful on many levels: we need to study our physical and vocal instruments, analyze our thoughts and feelings, and attempt to understand our motivations in our own lives. Only in this way can we fully craft the complex lives of the characters whose stories we tell.
Unfortunately, many actors fail to apply knowing themselves to getting the most out of their training.
Let’s face it, training is expensive. When you are spending precious time and money on your training, how do you ensure that you are getting the maximum benefit from it? Know thyself.
By Josh Adler
We are a nation of procrastinators, my friends. Or maybe I’m the only one who avoids completing the most pressing task in any particular day by bouncing from one project to another. My guess though is that most of us circle around a task that looms deep within our very beings as seemingly impossible.
This process has it’s own productiveness for me, however. I seem to get everything else but that one little black spot finished: my house gets cleaned, I work out, follow up on correspondence, brainstorm for five other projects, even re-organize my dishes. Yet, how can we pierce through the peripheral obligations and tackle the responsibilities that are often most essential to moving ahead in our careers? Continue reading