Getting Started. Again.

[IcyDicy]

Firstly, I'm a 17-year-old male college student in Gloucestershire, so I'm not a mum, let alone a pushy mum, but this forum seems like the best place for good information and support so I'll stick with it.

Basically, I used to do weekly acting classes and I also had an agent. It was a good run at the time as between the ages of 8-11, I got 5 television jobs including a main speaking role in Casualty. When I joined secondary school, I took on a load of sports, so I ended up dropping drama and with that my agent, as it was a joint thing. Obviously now I regret that, seeing as acting is something I love doing and the only thing I've done in the way of it is GCSE Drama.

Next year I am hoping to go to University, a few of my choices mainly being around London. I am now looking for to get another agent, I can't go back to my old one as I'm to old now, but I've been looking at a few other alternatives and I've come across a few good ones such as Mark Jermin, A&J etc, and am a little unsure where to go from here.

I don't live in London, but would be willing to travel for interviews/auditions. What should I do? I've already emailed a photo and CV to a few agencies, but apart from that I really don't know what to do?

Thanks to anyone who had the patience to read this.

Oh and also, what do all these 'DD' acronyms stand for?

[janine]

hi, & Welcolme to NAPM!
If you are waiting for agencies recently applied to then how about signing up to some of the casting sites(www.mandy.com & http://www.talentcircle.org ) for example are free sites ,with casting opportunities, which may help you to build up your cv, there are plenty of other sites but they do charge.Also keep an eye on screenterrier as they sometimes release casting calls.
Im afraid i cant help recommend agencies as we dont like anywhere need you & my daughters only 7, but other members will give you this info I'm sure.
DD stands for darling daughter, Ds is darling son & so on ( never used them myself though)
Good luck to you though !!

[doris]

Hi IcyDicy

As Janine says, a good thing is to build up more experience while you look for an agent. Ideally, you need to add to your CV to show your commitment.

If you haven't already looked into local youth theatre/drama groups then you could search via http://www.nayt.org.uk/ or ask at your nearest theatre. Your drama teacher might have some contacts.

There a several national opportunities that you could look into, depending on your interests -
National Youth Theatre http://www.nyt.org.uk/
Youth Music Theatre http://www.youthmusictheatreuk.org/
National Youth Music Theatre http://www.nymt.org.uk/
etc

Why not speak to your old agent and ask for their advice - you may not be too old. You must have had something going for you to get those tv parts so you never know!

Screenterrier has a page that lists agencies for young people. The Spotlight directory is comprehensive I believe.

Good luck with getting back into it all - it takes a lot of determination but you are experienced in the audition process so that is a good start.

doris

[janine]

Ha! Just re-read my post & i meant to say, we dont live anywhere near you. Must have been tired!

[pg]

Hi there

Great advice you've already received! Just a few thoughts to add: I'd second the idea of contacting your old agent for their ideas/advice - they may have contacts with other agents for when their clients "out-grow" their own agency.

You are entering quite a different part of the "business" now - as an adult, more or less - and I do think you are likely to find a different outlook from agents. Most agents will expect their adult clients to be available to work at the drop of a hat (this won't necessarily apply to extras agencies, so you might want to consider looking into this side of the business as a side-line during studies). Unless you look very young for your years, you will now be in competition with a much larger pool of people, many of who will have been to drama school or will have been working in the profession for a few years. You may find a reluctance to take you on if you are not aiming to work full time as an actor (not that this ever really likely, but I guess you know what I mean!). Opportunities come up so seldom that agents may not be interested in taking on an actor of your age who is only available in school or college holidays when there will be others who are available 365 days a year. I'm not saying they won't take you on, just that you might find it tough, though your professional experience when you were younger will be a very useful "hook" which might mean they will take a second look.

If you are serious about trying to earn a living as an actor, you may want to consider drama schools (http://www.ncdt.co.uk gives some useful background and details of where to go for further information). It's also worth looking at this post on stagetalk which gives a very articulate alternative view:
http://www.thestage.co.uk/stagetalk/vie ... =45#p82981

I would also recommend reading one or all of the following books as they give quite a good overview of how the business works and this may help you to make a judgement on where you want to go from here:
An Actor's Guide to Getting Work - Simon Dunmore
So You Want to Tread the Boards? - Jennifer Reischel
Make Acting Work - Chrys Salt
Actors' Year Book - Simon Dunmore and Hilary Lissendon (you can get second hand copies from earlier years very cheaply on Amazon - well worth getting for general information contained, even though some of the contact details might be out of date).

Just for your information - I'm an actor/director who entered the profession very late (in my 40's) and I have two children aged 23 and 20 - one is a professional actor, one is studying opera. We all have direct experience of how tough it is!

Good luck!

[IcyDicy]

Hi there

Great advice you've already received! Just a few thoughts to add: I'd second the idea of contacting your old agent for their ideas/advice - they may have contacts with other agents for when their clients "out-grow" their own agency.

You are entering quite a different part of the "business" now - as an adult, more or less - and I do think you are likely to find a different outlook from agents. Most agents will expect their adult clients to be available to work at the drop of a hat (this won't necessarily apply to extras agencies, so you might want to consider looking into this side of the business as a side-line during studies). Unless you look very young for your years, you will now be in competition with a much larger pool of people, many of who will have been to drama school or will have been working in the profession for a few years. You may find a reluctance to take you on if you are not aiming to work full time as an actor (not that this ever really likely, but I guess you know what I mean!). Opportunities come up so seldom that agents may not be interested in taking on an actor of your age who is only available in school or college holidays when there will be others who are available 365 days a year. I'm not saying they won't take you on, just that you might find it tough, though your professional experience when you were younger will be a very useful "hook" which might mean they will take a second look.

If you are serious about trying to earn a living as an actor, you may want to consider drama schools (http://www.ncdt.co.uk gives some useful background and details of where to go for further information). It's also worth looking at this post on stagetalk which gives a very articulate alternative view:
http://www.thestage.co.uk/stagetalk/vie ... =45#p82981

I would also recommend reading one or all of the following books as they give quite a good overview of how the business works and this may help you to make a judgement on where you want to go from here:
An Actor's Guide to Getting Work - Simon Dunmore
So You Want to Tread the Boards? - Jennifer Reischel
Make Acting Work - Chrys Salt
Actors' Year Book - Simon Dunmore and Hilary Lissendon (you can get second hand copies from earlier years very cheaply on Amazon - well worth getting for general information contained, even though some of the contact details might be out of date).

Just for your information - I'm an actor/director who entered the profession very late (in my 40's) and I have two children aged 23 and 20 - one is a professional actor, one is studying opera. We all have direct experience of how tough it is!

Good luck!

Funny you should mention it, I actually do look quite young for my age and would most likely have a playing age of 14-17. My old agent actually lives in America now, so my old agency is all new people and they probably wouldn't have a clue who I am.

As of now and the next few years, I am not looking to make my living as an actor, it's more something I want to work at over the next few years by getting an agent and going for auditions, and then re-considering what I want to do after Uni. So for now I'm trying to figure out how to get or at least apply to get an agent.

Thanks for all the replies.

[pg]

It sounds as though you know just where you want to go, which is great!

After reading your post, I would definitely recommend getting Actors' Yearbook (and possibly a copy of Contacts if you haven't already got it). Actors' Yearbook lists lots of agents and also, very usefully, tells you what they are looking for and how they prefer to be contacted. Make sure your photo captures your "youthful" look!

Best of luck.

[IcyDicy]

It sounds as though you know just where you want to go, which is great!

After reading your post, I would definitely recommend getting Actors' Yearbook (and possibly a copy of Contacts if you haven't already got it). Actors' Yearbook lists lots of agents and also, very usefully, tells you what they are looking for and how they prefer to be contacted. Make sure your photo captures your "youthful" look!

Best of luck.

Oh thanks, I'll definitely look into that. As well as my CV and a cover letter, I have applied to a few agencies with a decent portrait-sized photo of myself. The only thing is is that it is not a professional headshot, does this matter?

[pg]

It depends what the photo is like to be honest. You could take a look at photos on Casting Call Pro and see how yours compares. It's probably not worth spending loads on a professional photo at this stage. The important things are that it's recent, full face, fairly tightly cropped head and shoulders, no distracting background and that it's clear and really looks like you!

[IcyDicy]

It depends what the photo is like to be honest. You could take a look at photos on Casting Call Pro and see how yours compares. It's probably not worth spending loads on a professional photo at this stage. The important things are that it's recent, full face, fairly tightly cropped head and shoulders, no distracting background and that it's clear and really looks like you!

Ah that's okay then! It's seems to have worked as I c
Got called out of the blue by an agency, who then changed their minds when I told them where I lived, despite my address being clearly stated on the CV I sent them.

I also have an audition for the lead in the Under The City Lights film.