Some fantastic links to point out:
First, a list of plays with 6 or more characters, and 5 or more roles for women is here. Lots of links, lots of opportunties.
Next, an OT article with a lot of resonances for the theater field is Courtney Stanton's 'How I got 50% Women Speakers at my tech conference' Take a look! (and thanks Alicia Coombes for the link).
Also, if you've seen a show or are working on a show with performances in May, send me that info so it can be included in the May Counting Actors post. It's not too early to send in things for June too! How to send is here.
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Sunday, May 20, 2012
On working for free
If you really think about it, working for free is the wrong name. When we don't get paid, we're actually working for less than free - because we spend money on gas and/or transit and/or tolls; we might wear our own suit on the indie film and then have to get it dry cleaned afterwards; they might ask us to get a certain hair cut, or the character really needs to wear lipstick and eye shadow that we'd never wear in our civilian life. So, we end up losing money in order to participate in the project!
So, why not ask (or negotiate) for compensation for these expenses. You're donating your time and energy, so maybe they can pay for your bridge tolls, or create a clothing allowance, or give you a make up store gift card in return. When a stipend offsets your total expenses, then you're actually working for free.
Set a bar for yourself. It can be scary, and you may feel like you're limiting opportunities for yourself. In the long run though, dropping those free projects will allow you to be available when projects that offer compensation for your time and energy come along.
However, if you do choose to work for free or less than free, have a very good reason to do so. I have worked for free or less than free when it: 1) gave me the opportunity to meet people in the position to hire me for future work 2) allowed me to learn or practice a new skill related to my acting 3) would result in me getting some amazing new marketing materials for myself - photos, footage, etc. 4) promoted a cause or organization that I strongly believed in.
Value yourself and others will see your value.
So, why not ask (or negotiate) for compensation for these expenses. You're donating your time and energy, so maybe they can pay for your bridge tolls, or create a clothing allowance, or give you a make up store gift card in return. When a stipend offsets your total expenses, then you're actually working for free.
Set a bar for yourself. It can be scary, and you may feel like you're limiting opportunities for yourself. In the long run though, dropping those free projects will allow you to be available when projects that offer compensation for your time and energy come along.
However, if you do choose to work for free or less than free, have a very good reason to do so. I have worked for free or less than free when it: 1) gave me the opportunity to meet people in the position to hire me for future work 2) allowed me to learn or practice a new skill related to my acting 3) would result in me getting some amazing new marketing materials for myself - photos, footage, etc. 4) promoted a cause or organization that I strongly believed in.
Value yourself and others will see your value.
Friday, May 18, 2012
#TBACON takeaways
Due to my usual juggling of jobs, I wasn't able to get to the conference until after the keynote speaker had finished, and I didn't get to stay for any programming after 4pm. The TBA Chatterbox blog has a post with several different perspectives on the conference, and comments on many things that I wasn't able to attend.
The first thing I was able to attend was the Season Selection and Local Acting Landscape panel. I wasn't sure what this would really address, but it turned out to be a glimpse into the mind of people who make casting decisions. There was some terrific discussion around how they all talk to each other ALL THE TIME. They are constantly having conversations about 'do you know any actors who fit this specific type that I should be seeing?'. My take-away - always go to the audition, and focus on the relationship you're building over time, not just whether or not you got this part this one time. The other topic they really delved into was when actors are dealing with multiple offers. My take-away here was - be as honest as you can, and involve the casting director in the conversation as early as possible. It's much worse to drop a show when it's already in rehearsal than it is to leave prior to rehearsals starting. Also, they're dealing with this conflicting set of emotions - some frustration and hurt because you've created more work for them in having to recast, but also a lot of excitement for the actor who is making a big leap with his or her career. Two more takeaways - make a facebook connection to casting directors, and keep letting them know what you're doing. Your headshot and resume may be on file in their book, but their book isn't their brain - connecting w/casting directors will keep you in their brain.
After lunch, I went to the Diversity on Purpose panel, I'll confess to a combo of nerves about my upcoming panel and a little bit of the post-lunch spaciness. I didn't get a lot out of this panel. Diversity is a huuuuge topic for one hour, but the points here about diversifying the audience, not just the actors on stage was well taken. Also, the many forms of diversity that exist - not just ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, but what about age, political affiliation, religion.
My last event of the day was my personal MAIN EVENT - the Gender Parity panel. Panelists AJ Baker playwright and founder of 3 Girls Theater, Rebecca Ennals of San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, also an independent director and Marilyn Langbehn, another independent director who also works in the Cal Shakes marketing department were all fantastic, and I'm so grateful to them for their contributions. After about 30 minutes, we began a group discussion with the 30-40 women and 3-4 men who were in the room.
Some takeaways for me: How to change the perceptions in the general population so that women's stories become human stories is a big one. Also I was surprised that a lot of people who were there weren't familiar with things like the Bechdel test and who the Guerilla Girls are. Rebecca Ennals spoke about her experience of watching women audition at the TBA generals with monologues along the lines of 'why doesn't he like me?' or 'how can I get him to notice me?' and coming out of that with an idea to create a monologue database of empowered female characters. Marilyn spoke about creating change from within - coming to a company as a freelancer, and then suggesting to that company plays by women and/or roles for women for future productions.
Mostly I was struck by the fact that we can all be agents for change. We need to read women's writing, get to know the plays with roles for women, and the women directors and women actors so that moving forward we can advocate for each other when the opportunity arises.
The first thing I was able to attend was the Season Selection and Local Acting Landscape panel. I wasn't sure what this would really address, but it turned out to be a glimpse into the mind of people who make casting decisions. There was some terrific discussion around how they all talk to each other ALL THE TIME. They are constantly having conversations about 'do you know any actors who fit this specific type that I should be seeing?'. My take-away - always go to the audition, and focus on the relationship you're building over time, not just whether or not you got this part this one time. The other topic they really delved into was when actors are dealing with multiple offers. My take-away here was - be as honest as you can, and involve the casting director in the conversation as early as possible. It's much worse to drop a show when it's already in rehearsal than it is to leave prior to rehearsals starting. Also, they're dealing with this conflicting set of emotions - some frustration and hurt because you've created more work for them in having to recast, but also a lot of excitement for the actor who is making a big leap with his or her career. Two more takeaways - make a facebook connection to casting directors, and keep letting them know what you're doing. Your headshot and resume may be on file in their book, but their book isn't their brain - connecting w/casting directors will keep you in their brain.
After lunch, I went to the Diversity on Purpose panel, I'll confess to a combo of nerves about my upcoming panel and a little bit of the post-lunch spaciness. I didn't get a lot out of this panel. Diversity is a huuuuge topic for one hour, but the points here about diversifying the audience, not just the actors on stage was well taken. Also, the many forms of diversity that exist - not just ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, but what about age, political affiliation, religion.
My last event of the day was my personal MAIN EVENT - the Gender Parity panel. Panelists AJ Baker playwright and founder of 3 Girls Theater, Rebecca Ennals of San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, also an independent director and Marilyn Langbehn, another independent director who also works in the Cal Shakes marketing department were all fantastic, and I'm so grateful to them for their contributions. After about 30 minutes, we began a group discussion with the 30-40 women and 3-4 men who were in the room.
Some takeaways for me: How to change the perceptions in the general population so that women's stories become human stories is a big one. Also I was surprised that a lot of people who were there weren't familiar with things like the Bechdel test and who the Guerilla Girls are. Rebecca Ennals spoke about her experience of watching women audition at the TBA generals with monologues along the lines of 'why doesn't he like me?' or 'how can I get him to notice me?' and coming out of that with an idea to create a monologue database of empowered female characters. Marilyn spoke about creating change from within - coming to a company as a freelancer, and then suggesting to that company plays by women and/or roles for women for future productions.
Mostly I was struck by the fact that we can all be agents for change. We need to read women's writing, get to know the plays with roles for women, and the women directors and women actors so that moving forward we can advocate for each other when the opportunity arises.
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