If i had moved had to LA, America (from Australia) for an acting career.....?

Question

With all experience and education all done in Australia, how would this be an advantage or disadvantage.

For example if i had done this all in Australia:
- 25 years old, Male.
- 3 commercials
- 2 major guest spots on Neighbours or Home & Away
- 4 Short film [leading role]
- 4 Year course in dramatic art
- Legit agency

Would all this time/effort be a waste if i wanted to have a serious acting career in LA?

Much thanks.

Answer 1

I'm an LA Actor giving you the REAL DEAL!



You're already ahead of people starting out in LA.



Here are some tips to help you on your acting journey:



1.EDUCATE YOURSELF FIRST!



READ (check Samuel French, libraries, and bookstores):



*=If you're on a budget



Acting business:

*Acting is Everything: Gold Edition-Judy Kerr

*How to Be a Working Actor-Mari Lyn Henry and Lynne Rogers

*Self Management for Actors-Bonnie Gillespie

-How to Get Arrested-J. Wallach Michael and Paul Thurwachter

*An Agent Tells All-Tony Martinez

-One Less Bitter Actor: The Actor's Survival Guide-Markus Flanagan

-So You Want to Be in Showbusiness?- Steve R. Stevens

-Acting Truths and Lies (purchased at www.info4actors.com)



Acting:

*Book the Job-Doug Warhit

*Intent to Live-Larry Moss

-Acting for the Camera-Tony Barr

-Acting in Film-Michael Caine

-Acting Class: Take a Seat-Milton Katselas



Method Acting:

*Art of Acting-Stella Adler

*Sanford Meisner on Acting-Sanford Meisner

*A Dream of Passion-Lee Strasberg

-Actor's Art and Craft-William Esper

-The Power of the Actor-Ivanna Chubbuck

-No Acting Please-Eric Morris

-Respect for Acting-Uta Hagen

-Challenge to the Actor-Uta Hagen

-You Can Act!-D.W. Brown

-Strasberg’s Method-Lorrie Hull



Comedy

-8 Characters of Comedy-Scott Sedita

-The Sitcom Career Book-Mary Lou Belli



Improv

-Anything by Viola Spolin

-Steve Book on Acting: Improv



Auditioning/Cold Reading:

*How to Get the Part Without Falling Apart-Margie Haber

*Audition-Michael Shurtleff

-Secrets to Successful Cold Readings-Glenn Alterman



2.GET TRAINING!



Regardless of how "talented" you might be, you NEED training, PERIOD!



Best schools in LA:

Cold Reading/Auditioning

-Margie Haber

-Brian Reise

-Amy Lyndon



Commercials

-Hey, I Saw Your Commercial!

-Chris Game

-Stuart K. Robinson

-Stuart Stone

-Killian McHugh

-Francine Selkirk-Akerman

-Carolyne Barry



Improv (All four are great)

-Groundlings

-Second City

-Upright Citizens Brigade

-Improv Olympic



Scene Study/Acting (It varies. Some schools are not for everyone. Chubbuck, Eric Morris, and Howard Fine are not for people who aren't fans of Strasberg or Uta Hagen (ie. affective memory and substitution.) Playhouse West, Joanne Baron/DW Brown, and Acting Corps are more Meisner oriented. Try to audit these places and make sure if they're for you or not.



-Doug Warhit

-Kimberly Jentzen

-Beverly Hills Playhouse

-Howard Fine

-Stella Adler

-Ivanna Chubbuck

-Joanne Baron/D.W. Brown

-Tom Todoroff

-Playhouse West

-Aaron Speiser

-Acting Corps

-Eric Morris



Comedy:

-Scott Sedita

-Lesly Kahn



3. Get GREAT headshots



Here's is a good place to start:

http://bbs.backstage.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/8011031/m/110106342



4. Build Your Resume and Reel Doing Student films and Indie Films. Also do plays to build your acting experience.



Sample Resume:

http://i707.photobucket.com/albums/ww80/ELDORADO59/scan0002.jpg



How to make an ACTING resume:

https://answersrip.com/question/index?qid=20091011203729AAkQetj



The ONLY LEGIT Online sites that you can find jobs on your own through:

ALL SITES NOT LISTED BELOW ARE QUESTIONABLE!



-ActorsAccess.com

-LACasting.com

-Nowcasting.com

-Backstage.com



Free but proceed with caution:

-Castingcallsearch.com

-Mandy.com

-Craigslist



5. Get an Agent



To get an agent, you need to get GREAT headshots, a good resume, and training from the best. These are enough to get you a commercial agent at least. Getting a GOOD theatrical agent (Film/tv) takes longer. Most good theatrical agents won’t see you unless you’re SAG, have a polished resume, and a demo reel. Commercial agents are more lenient about that. What the best Commercial agents want to see on your resume are good commercial classes, improv, and cold reading.



You can get an agent multiple ways. Here are a few common ways:

-Mail in an unsealed manilla envelope with a CONCISE coverletter and headshot with the resume stapled on the back. If you have a demoreel include that too.

-Attend a showcase and impress them. By showcase I do not mean scammy conventions like IMTA, IPOP, Proscout, or Best New Talent. I mean legit ones like at Actor Connection, Reel pros, Network Studios, etc.

-Get a referral from a friend who is with the agency that you’re interested in



DON’T

-Email them unless they tell you to. IT’S UNPROFESSIONAL!

-Call unless they tell you to. ALSO UNPROFESSIONAL!

-Walk in and ask for a meeting. UNPROFESSIONAL THREE!

-Sign with them if they ask for upfront money, make you take new photos with THEIR photographer, or take THEIR classes. Agent’s ONLY make money when you do. Agents usually make 10% on film/tv and commercials and 20% on commercial print.



Here are some agencies that are more open to taking developing actors:

Top Youth Agencies:

CESD

Osbrink

Coast to Coast

Abrams

Daniel Hoff

Amsel, Eisenstadt, and Frazier

Savage



Top Commercial Agencies(*=definite winners):

KSR *-Alicia Ruskin

Abrams *- Mark Measures

CESD *- David Ziff or Adrienne Berg

Diverse *- Wendy Morrison

Coast to Coast * -Hugh Leon

Daniel Hoff * - Daniel Hoff

Commercial Talent * - Neil Kreppel

Commercials Unlimited - Richard Reiner

Innovative Artists * - Marcia Hurwitz or Cher Van Amburg

Independent Artists- Jenine Leigh or Laura Fogelman

Bobby Ball-Mike O'Dell

Flick Commercials- Tina Kiratsoulis

DPM - Daniel P. Mulheran

DDO - Marlene Sutton

Venture IAB - Noel Palm

Sutton, Barth, Venari * -Pam Sparks

Arlene Thornton and Associates - Tracy Mapes

Pantheon * -Patricia Dawson or Pierre Gatling

Beverly Hecht -Teresa Valente-Dahlquist

Don Buchwald and Associates *- Kristy Dax

M. Greene and associates - Jim Lighte

AKA * - Doug Ely

Amsel, Eisenstadt & Frazier -Gloria Hinojosa

Brady, Brannon, and Rich * - Judy Rich or Pat and David Brady

Brass Artists - Jack Ianacci

Aqua - John Kolinofsky

Special Artists Agency - Alexandra Gucovsky

Amatruda, Benson, and Assoc. -Kimberly Gola

Angel City - Gwen Davis

BiCoastal - Greta Hanley

Clear Talent Group - Tim O'Brien

Lemon Lime - Robin Harrington or Chaim Magnum

LA Talent - Pam Loar or Mike Casey

LW1 - Sean Robinson

Mavrick - Brad Diffley

Momentum - Garry Purdy

NTA*- Nancy Luciano



Up and Comer Commercial Agencies:

-Talentworks (Emily Hope from ACME is here)

-House of Representatives (Top theatrical agency that now has a commercial department)

-Sovereign (Top theatrical agency that now has a commercial department)- Annalisa Babich

-Hollywood Select Talent-Mike Sutton of Baron Entertainment is there.



Theatrical Agents (Minus the Big 4 (William Morris, UTA, ICM, CAA) and the B Agencies(Gersh, APA, Paradigm, Innovative) who do NOT take beginners) :

Buchwald

Abrams

David Shapira and Associates

Diverse

Domain

The Glick Agency

GVA

IFA

Kazarian Spencer (KSR)

Metropolitan

Michael Greene and Associates

Pakula King

Peter Strain

SMS Talent

Sovereign

Stone Manners

SDB Partners

Talentworks

AEF

AKA

Chasin

Coast to Coast

Daniel Hoff

Defining Artists

Gage Group

Geddes

Hervey Grimes

Henderson Hogan

House of Representatives

Osbrink

Pantheon

Privilege

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

I'd say take a look at someone's career path from Neighbours or Home and Away, and compare notes. For instance, figure out how long it took Isla Fisher to get to "Confessions of a Shopaholic" from Home & Away. Work out what she did in Australia before leaving for the US, and how long she stayed in the US before she got that movie role. (Or even, had she been elsewhere, like the UK, beforehand) Other examples: Guy Pearce, Russell Crowe, etc etc. (Isla was just at the top of my head for being recently put in the spotlight due to her 'debut' in the above movie)



I'm just guessing, but I think you'd need a lot more on your CV before being able to be successful in the US. Although your background is nothing to sneeze at - you're certainly ahead of most of the wannabes that ask about getting into the US industry. I suspect that you'd be reasonably able to obtain an agent in the US; but would have a huge hill to climb in order to compete with all of the American (and other nationalities) actors who are already established.



... But I'm sure someone from the US will have better insight than I :)

Answer 4

Your best bet would be to have your Aussie agent use his/her connections to try and get you meetings with agencies in LA. But you have to also be realistic - LA is full of Aussie actors who never made it stateside due to increased competition. Look at someone like Kym Wilson who was a successful commercial and television actress in Australia on shows like A Country Practice, McLeod's Daughers and Heartbreak High, then moved to LA more than 10 years ago and still hasn't been cast in any US productions - despite being friends with other Aussies like Nicole Kidman and Naomi Watts who have been able to make it in the US

Answer 5

The experience and education would not be a waste at all, it can follow you anywhere. You will lose the visibility that you already have, and theres no way to bring that over with you. You should talk to your current agency to see if they have any partners with LAagency'ss. Because they can help get you a foot in the door over here!



best of luck

Answer 6

hi if you go to America can you tack me as well i don't like liveing in the uk no mor

Answer 7

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Answer 8

it would take a while. here in L.A. its all about connections dude so get them.