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What is the showcase's union status? || I'm going to be out of town during some of your rehearsal period. Should I still submit? || I want to do the showcase, but I don't have $500. What are my options? || Can kid actors participate in this showcase? || How many industry guests do you think will show up? |
| What is the showcase's union status? |
| While we
want submissions from actors of all union status (and are
especially interested in co-star level actors looking to "bump up" to
guest-star, actors hoping to connect with better-matched agents
and/or managers, actors ready to display their primary type to the
industry, etc.), the production itself is
non-jurisdictional
(as industry showcases are a hybrid... play meets general meets sketch
show meets networking mixer. Heck! Think of it like a live screen test
with a bonus after-party). Even though we want union actors, we can't really classify it a union project, because we're not doing an Equity play or anything like that. But don't worry, our production team is filled with union-loving, rule-abiding types. We'll take good care of you. Promise! |
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| I'm going to be out of town during some of your rehearsal period. Should I still submit? |
| Go
ahead
and submit
anyway. We'll decide whether the dates are going to be a
deal-breaker once we've had auditions and are closer to knowing what
our final cast is going to look like. Some folks will be able to make
arrangements that work with our director's schedule, others will not.
We're generally pretty
easy-going, as long as you're not missing final dress/tech. Now, if you're going to be out of town during the showcase performances April 22nd and 23rd, don't bother submitting. We'll be doing another showcase in 2010. Come back to us for that one, if you'd like! |
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| I want to do the showcase, but I don't have $500. What are my options? |
| We're
pretty flexible. We've put together a few creative financing
options (er... sounding like a car dealership there) and paying in
installments is fine. And in case you're thinking, "Hey, that's a lot of money," here's a little breakdown of how it all stacks up. The $500 per performer covers two performance nights at the Colony Theatre (plus required insurance), catered pre-show and reception (with booze too), parking for industry, industry kits (including the editing of compilation DVDs of actors' demo reels), really cool programs, web promotion, mailings to industry to get folks out to see the show (plus our time for making the calls to our contacts, getting their butts in the seats), salary for our professional director and tech crew, renting rehearsal and meeting space, and--probably some of the most valuable stuff--the Self-Management for Actors marketing material/consultation prep for each actor participating (for which Bonnie Gillespie charges $150/hr. in her consulting business). Showcase fees are non-refundable. We did a lot of research on industry showcases before putting this one together. Most charge around $300 for one night (and some go all the way up to $800 for four nights in smaller venues). We thought $500 was a good middle-ground. We're not looking to get rich... just pay for production expenses without going out of pocket. We wish we could do a "totally free" showcase like the network diversity ones, but we don't have the corporate financial backing to do that just yet, so we're just gonna put on a great show that gets actors (doing their strongest work) in front of more CDs and agents than they could see by spending as much money on "workshop" events around town. Bonus: development execs, producers, directors, and showrunners come out to our showcases! We get you right in front of the decision-makers. |
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| Can kid actors participate in this showcase? |
| We talked about including kid actors in this showcase, but we decided that our showcase should be 18+ 'til we have a formula that we know works. After we get a few more shows under our belts, we'll look into producing a kids' showcase and targeting our favorite youth departments and CDs who primarily cast kids, in our industry calls and mailings. |
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| How many industry guests do you think will show up? |
| That's
a
great question! Generally, industry showcases are pretty well-attended
(and especially when the producers have strong relationships within the
industry, which is definitely the case here). And that means anywhere
from 50 to 75 casting directors, agents, managers, producers, writers,
and directors in the house per night. Of course, we can't guarantee who will show up--only that those who do show up will do so without having been paid to be there (so you can be sure their primary interest is scouting) and that we'll do our best to get the word out that we're showcasing the talents of the best actors we know in this town! At our first three 2007 showcases, we had a packed house each night and got amazing feedback from industry, including dozens of "have this actor contact my office" requests. In our new 2008 venue, our actors performed for over 450 people in just two nights (Each showcase!), and about 125 of those folks were full-on industry, there to scout! Our best endorsement is that industry pros who came to our first showcase came back for our second showcase and returned again for our third... and so on! Folks don't return if they're not getting what they want out of the experience. So, our "repeat customers" speak for themselves. In fact, if you'd like to read our glowing testimonials, just click here! Thanks! |
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