Biography Help

Posts Tagged ‘cinema’

If you’re interested in starting an acting career, you’ve likely heard that it requires an abundance of hard work and know-how; but what is it, specifically, that you need to know? Industry professionals agree on several essentials for starting an acting career, some of which are listed here:

Learn from others. This is a broad directive that ranges from talking with working actors, to studying their techniques on television and cinema, to visiting their websites and other outlets. As with any profession, those starting an acting career can best learn from those who have done it themselves. Where can you meet working actors? More on that in a moment.

Learn basic business skills. Yes, acting is indeed an art; but it is certainly a science as well, and business skills are an important part of the formula. Starting an acting career requires marketing your craft through a variety of strategic methods; writing a résumé, promotional materials, and website text; and a specific knowledge of how to choose an agent or manager. Finally, there’s auditioning – which, according to many acting professionals, is perhaps the most important business skill of all.

Choose an acting school. Want to meet working actors? The best place is to do so is in an acting class in Los Angeles, home of the television and film entertainment industry. Choosing an acting class that is attended or taught by working actors is key, as you’ll be learning from individuals who are doing what you aim to do as a professional. Often, you can learn by simply observing; however, asking questions regarding their journey can be beneficial as well.

If you’re concerned about being intrusive or taking up too much of an actor’s time, one solution is choosing an acting school that offers sanctioned opportunities to learn from actors. For example: At Stuart Rogers Studios in North Hollywood, acting classes are offered alongside audition classes, interactive workshops, and business skills training. In New York, studios that offer similar opportunities are likely to be available.

Get some experience. Anywhere! Community theatre groups are tried-and-true stomping grounds for aspiring actors; those who aim to work in cinema are known to test the waters as extras and walk-ons. However, even in these initial stages, the guidance of an experienced professional can be positively invaluable. Again, this is where choosing an acting school that offers varied classes and interaction opportunities is an excellent idea.

Yes, there is a lot more to learn; but by following these guidelines, your efforts at starting an acting career can go further, yield more results – even be more enjoyable. And as any professional knows, career enjoyment is a key component of long-term success.

Why we should give a damn about Victor Fleming

Victor Fleming directed two of the greatest films ever, The Wizard of Oz and Gone With the Wind. Yet he has rarely been given credit for their success. As the first critical biography of him is released, Philip French reassesses the legacy of the combative and intruiging director who created film magic with Judy Garland, Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh Seventy years ago, on 15 December 1939, one of …

John Gielgud – An Actors Life : docu + interview (1988) 1/8

Question: Can any one help me with Actress & Model, Cue Shepherd Biography?

Answer: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1883022/

this is the best database there is for movies and actors.

just type in Cue Sheperd and all registered data should be there

Arts, Media & Culture News with ‘tude

This was the full-page ad in today’s New York Times, on page 29. The ad marks the 40th anniversary of the WAR IS OVER! campaign, which was launched by John Lennon and Yoko Ono on Dec. 15, 1969. Click the image or this link to watch the video of the launch.

Susan Hayward Arts and Entertainment Bio Clip/Part 2

Recently I had the privilege of being invited to a test screening of a locally made film here in Chicago and the first question I asked myself after painfully watching it was as follows–

“Who in their right mind decide to play Baccarat with hundreds of thousands if not a million or so dollars on this doomed film”?

After doing a little investigation I realized that sometimes when daddy or mommy want the kiddies to do more with their lives than bitch and moan about a new BMW, they have to write them a check no matter what to fund their Hollywood dreams.

Well that’s the problem. There is no more “Hollywood” infrastructure that is linear and everything is based on doing a lot of homework and having a solid sales team in place before you make the film.

These filmmakers unfortunately, did not do theirs.

Fresh out of film school they automatically broke every rule by believing the first script they write should be made regardless how horrible it is. Now, I am not knocking down film makers, I am just saying its 2009 and you don’t make films that seem to have a subject matter best for a 1992 Chuck Norris meets Jeff Fahey film (If anyone even remembers Jeff Fahey, I’ll owe you something–not sure what)

Anyways, with a B.A. in film and bad script, they did what a lot of first time film makers and producers do. They cast actors that they are fans off, and not actors that can help sell a film.

They also did so without enlisting the help of a foreign sales agent to tell them, okay–if you use these actors, you’ll get so and so dollars from Burma and Ivory Coast.

Worse, the lead actors they used, one of them was a season regular on a cable series with no name recognition, the second lead was a great local actor who no one has heard off outside of Chicago, and third lead was an ex-name actor who was in the film for 5 minutes that they are giving top billing to.

And they didn’t even use legal counsel but downloaded forms off the internet.

Recently when one of the producers told me they did not get into Sundance, I suggested perhaps they call up one of the top 3 agencies in Hollywood  to help rep the film (no matter how bad it is), instead of them playing lottery and filling out applications for every film festival that calls themselves a film festival.

His response was looking and acting like he was going to cut my throat if I dare give him advice.

Heck, I even gave him the names of a few foreign sales agents to help him sell the film and he looked at me like i was the anti-christ of his dreams and negative.

Okay, so what’s the lesson of the day?

The film festival and distribution channels are very very tight so getting a return on equity on an indie film is next to impossible if you don’t do the homework.

So, here goes

1. Pick a script that can be sold internationally, even if it does not get into major film festivals.

2. if you have investors, make sure you have a private placement memorandum that gives them their Section 181 benefits and sales of state film tax credits as part of the ROI on equity.

3. get a brand name entertainment attorney to help validate your existence

4. get a producers rep and/or foreign sales agent before you cast film

5. Get actors that people in Greece or Byelorus can recognize (unless you can get a domestic theatrical deal ahead of time and not worry about having stars be in your film)

6. Plan and prepare a nice way for online distribution so you can get at least 100,000 people downloading your film at 9.995-19.95

And off course, pray, eat, love, hug a tree, chant, and hope the stars are aligned for you to succeed.

QUENTIN TARANTINO: The ‘Inglourious Basterds’ Interview with Kam Williams

*Born in Knoxville, Tennessee on March 27, 1963 to an Italian father and a mother of Irish and Cherokee extraction, Quentin Jerome Tarantino took a most unorthodox approach to showbiz.

An Interview With Hollywood Actor Walker Edmiston

Question: can someone tell me about bollywood actress malaika arora?

does anyone have a biography or background information on her?

Answer: Model turned VJ turned Actress and Ramp queen who is 5′5″ tall, sexy, Malaika Arora was born on 23 Aug. She always wanted to be a model since her childhood and She always loves being in front of the camera. She is a big hit on the small screen. She came into the glamorous world at the age of 17 when some of her photographs shot by lensmen ‘Suresh Natarajan’ fortuitously fell into the hands of ‘Suma Varghese’, then Society magazine editor. The first cover back of Society in April ‘93 set the ball rolling for Malaika. The somewhat notorious MR coffee campaign attracted a lot more attention than Malaika had bargained for. The main bonus of course was in being teamed with model-actor Arbaz Khan whom she is now married with and having a baby boy born on 9th November 2002. Malaika’s best ad campaigns includes ‘Pearl Pet’, ‘Bare Necessities’, ‘Mafatlal’, ‘Benzer’, ‘Tanishq’, ‘Tribhuvandhas Bhimji’ and ‘De-Beers’. Meanwhile, the tube beckoned and she came on “MTV hostess” stage, to present ‘Club MTV’ and ‘Loveline’. While a big hit on the small screen came with her presence in the music video ‘Gur Nalon Ishq Mitha’, and her big hit on big screen Dil Se came with the famous number “Chhaiya Chhaiya”. After that she has seen in Sanjay Gupta?s Kaante as Sunil Shetty?s love interest Soon she will be singing in a forth coming music album. Details are awaited whose music album it is going to be. Other than that she may launch a cloth range in her name and also plans to open a restaurant.

Sally Denton: Nixon showed the sexist way

Sarah Palin feels singled out as the victim of sexist smear tactics by the “liberal” media and rivals in the Democratic Party. But such tactics have been around since the first woman entered politics. And in one of the great political ironies in contemporary American history, the dirty tricks she so abhors are the brainchild of an infamous operative from her own party.

Tamanna -A Short Biography of A Beauty Queen Part-1