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  • All Blogs/ Entertainment Industry Insights: Sep. 08 2020 | Up-To-Date Actor

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125+ Projects Resume Casting - Financial Assistance - Audition Tips - Women in Film

By Abigail Hardin, September 08, 2020

Eye978
I hope you had a great Labor Day weekend!

Labor Day normally marks the end of summer, back to work, and back to school. This year it feels more like, back to normal-ish??? Believe it or not, in many ways the industry is back to it. In the past two weeks, there have been over 125 projects resume casting in the U.S. and Canada. 40 of those are in NYC, 50 in Los Angeles, 20 in the South East, and 25 in Canada. This was the focus of our Actors Connection Free at Three workshop last week. We had a great time talking about these markets coming back and hammered away on how to use this time to get informed and be empowered. It can feel hard to stay focused in such a still uncertain time. But as many of us are still gifted the ease and luxury of working from home, I encourage you finally check some basic career building blocks off of your to-do list.

What are your 10 shows that you are right for? Have you watched an episode of each one? Who casts them? Do they have an upcoming networking event? What is the world you are normally cast in? Who are the agents you would love to work with? If you got an interview with them tomorrow, what are the top five questions you would ask them? If you got that series regular audition tomorrow, who would you coach with?

These are the questions you should be able to answer without thinking. If you are unsure of the answer to any of them, set aside some time, do your research, make your lists, and write them down! Being prepared is the first step to feeling confident. If you're feeling lost and overwhelmed by this, let the Up-To-Date Actor help you. Try filtering projects with your keywords to track down some TV series that you might not have heard of before. Add them to your targets so you keep track of them. Filter through Agents & Managers who are currently looking for talent. Add them to your targets so you can be notified of any upcoming networking event they have scheduled. Lastly, the industry can feel really daunting - like a gated community that you are locked out of. The more you research and read about upcoming projects, the more a part of the entertainment world you will feel. You will be on the inside looking out.

We're experimenting with a new email format, instead of grouping articles by Film, TV, and Theatre we are grouping articles by topic. So many articles relate to each other regardless of which area of interest they pertain to. As always when we update a feature, we would love your feedback. Let us know if you like this new format or preferred things the old way. We hope that changing the format will make these long weekly briefings a little bit more mobile-friendly and better able to quickly digest. You can still find the list of new projects added at the end of the email.

So, I hope you were able to enjoy some sunshine, rest, and relaxation this weekend. Now let's get back to it and get ready for a great Fall season! 🌞💥🍁🙌

Production Resuming
Film

As stated above, production is ramping up, with many productions calling "Action!" starting next week. This is the end goal we've been foreseeing over the past weeks. Film permit applications rose 40% in August over July as location production restarts in the Los Angeles area amid COVID-19 restrictions, FilmLA reported Thursday. Since it resumed operations in mid-June after the pandemic forced the film and television business to essentially shutdown in March, FilmLA has received 1,127 film permit applications from 829 unique projects. Daily intake averages around 27 applications per business day and overall activity levels have stabilized at 44% of what FilmLA would expect under normal summer conditions.

Naturally many people have safety concerns and are still unclear on what production will look like post-pandemic. The U.S. has been one of the last countries to resume production, primarily due to the continued high number of cases and lack of unified government response. Because of this many of the now-in-place-guidelines in the U.S. have been adapted from protocols other countries have adopted. Variety put together a two-part look at countries across the world and how they are handling safety, insurance, travel bans, etc. As this pandemic has shown us, we are a global community and we are indeed a global industry.

TV

Speaking of looking to global markets for how to resume production the right way, Uruguay was the first country in Latin America to resume shooting following COVID-19 shutdowns on May 11. Since then, productions both domestic and international, have resumed shooting. "We've succeeded in finding the golden balance between economic activity and sanitary prudence," Roberto Blatt, director of Uruguay's Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual explained to Variety. "This is vital because very few countries, if any, have achieved that balance."

Again, TV production is rampantly picking up speed. The impasse between U.S. studios and the British Columbia unions over safety protocols is starting to get resolved, with the local Canadian unions clearing a number of TV series to begin production there.

CBS TV Studios announced another batch of production schedules including new dates for NYC based series BLUE BLOODS, BULL, and EVIL; as well as SEAL TEAM, DIARY OF A FEMALE PRESIDENT, NCIS, THE UNICORN, and THE NEIGHBORHOOD all based in Los Angeles.

Nobody has seemed more prepared for post-pandemic production than Tyler Perry. All of the TV series filmed at his Pinewood Studios in Atlanta already operated on a 2-week production schedule pre-pandemic. Add in a few weeks for quarantine and it's almost like business as usual. Perry has successfully wrapped four series in two months. At what point does quantity equal quality? Let this sink in - BRUH, the most recent Perry series, filmed all 19 episodes in four days. FOUR. DAYS. 🤨 Perry certainly is doing something right, Forbes recently added him to their billionaire's list stating that Perry, who once was homeless, earned "more than $1.4 billion in pretax income since 2005."

Financial Assistance 💸

After months of government wrangling that stoked fears and job losses among writers, musicians, translators, and other independent contractors in California, Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a bill that modifies a previous law that attempts to determine just who is a contractor and who is an employee. The new, modified version of the law takes effect immediately and provides flexibility to such diverse employment fields as freelance writers, musicians, film support crews, and visual artists, who now can continue working as independent contractors.

The recently formed Costume Industry Coalition has launched a pandemic emergency relief campaign for New York City's pattern makers, cutters, stitchers, tailors, milliners, hand finishers, and other artisans who have seen their incomes vanish since the onset of COVID-19. The Coalition, which includes members from more than 50 New York City area costume businesses and artisans from stage, dance, television, film, opera, cruise ships, and concerts, has set a fundraising goal of $4.5 million. Between now and Sept. 25, the Coalition will match donations up to $100,000.

Hollywood Establishment VS. Streaming Poachers

Netflix filed an appeal on Tuesday in the on-going Fox employee-poaching lawsuit, arguing that Hollywood's traditional employment arrangements impede mobility and must be disrupted. Last December, a Santa Monica Superior Court judge ordered Netflix to stop poaching Fox employees, finding that the streaming service had flagrantly induced employees to break their fixed-term contracts. In an appeal to the 2nd District Court of Appeal, Netflix argues that it is taking on the "Hollywood establishment" by challenging the "unwritten rules" against competing for talent. Honestly, the whole lawsuit seems like it would make good streaming content. Maybe we'll see it played out on the silver screen in years to come.

Not Perpetuating Stereotypes

Still grieving, Chadwick Boseman's longtime agent Michael Greene gave his first interview following the BLACK PANTHER actor's passing to The Hollywood Reporter, where he revealed Boseman made it a priority not to pick roles that would perpetuate harmful or outdated Black stereotypes. One such project Boseman turned down was a slavery drama that would have had him star opposite Tessa Thompson. Both stars would find success in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Boseman with BLACK PANTHOR and Thompson in THOR: RAGNAROK. "I remember him and Tessa were offered a movie, it was about two slaves, and he was like, 'I do not want to perpetuate slavery,' " Greene wrote in an essay for THR. "It was like, 'We're not going to keep perpetuating the stereotypes,' and that's why he wanted to show men of strength and character."

Residents in Boseman's hometown of Anderson, South Carolina started a petition to replace a confederate monument with a statue in his honor. The petition is directly addressed to the mayor of Anderson, with clear demands. The group does not want the confederate monument to be destroyed but moved to The Anderson County Museum with an explanation of its history and reason for the location change.

Gender Neutral Awards

As we've reported in previous emails, there has been a large push by actors and celebrities to get rid of gender-based acting awards categories in various film festival awards ceremonies. The latest actor to add their voice to the cause is Bollywood star Ayushmann Khurrana. Following in the footsteps of Tilda Swinton, Cate Blanchett, and director Kornél Mundruczó, who have voiced their support for the change while at this week's Venice Film Festival, Khurrana told us: "Gender-neutral awards should become the norm. I wholeheartedly laud the Berlin Film Festival's decision to award gender-neutral recognitions and I hope all film festivals across the world and India follow suit."

Women in Film

Don't let the name fool you: Turner Classic Movies is redefining the parameters for "classic" films. Known for bringing the world of Old Hollywood filmmaking into viewers' homes for over 25 years, TCM  is now becoming a launchpad for showcasing diverse cinema — what it's always been and what it can be. After diving into the world of African American cinema and directors, as well as devoting time to showcasing disability in movies, TCM is casting an eye toward female directors. Their series "Women Make Film" is their most ambitious project yet: a three-month event aimed at promoting the work of women directors. Programming won't just highlight directors from America and Europe, but worldwide filmmakers, as well.

Regina King and the stars of her feature directorial debut ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI discussed the very timely picture that's inspired by a real-life 1964 meeting of friends Cassius Clay, Malcolm X, Jim Brown, and Sam Cooke. The events of the film take place the night that Clay (before he became Muhammad Ali) defeated Sonny Liston to take over the title of World Heavyweight Boxing Champion. At the Hampton House Motel in one of Miami's historically black neighborhoods, he celebrates victory with three of his closest friends. Asked about being a black female director and whether this film can help open doors, King said it could depend on the reception. "That's how things seem to work. If a woman gets a shot and does not succeed, it shuts things down for years to come. I am so grateful for our film to be part of the festival, but I really, really want it to perform well. There's so much talent out there. So if One Night In Miami gets it done here you'll get to see a lot more of us."

Day Job: Catching Sexual Predators

Over the past few years, actress Marisol Nichols has been juggling the demands of being an actor on series including RIVERDALE with a side gig as an undercover agent in the fight against sex trafficking. The latter is now being turned into a television series after Sony Pictures Television optioned rights to her story. In a recent Marie Claire article she revealed that for the past six years she has been hunting child sex predators. She has been working undercover with agents from the FBI, Operation Underground Railroad, and local law enforcement to serve as the "bait" for sting operations domestically and internationally. She has played the part of a parent pimping out a child, or, depending on what the situation calls for, the role of a child being pimped out to a guy who thinks he is about to have sex with a 12-year-old. Nichols, who is also set to star in Lionsgate's SAW reboot next year, has participated in numerous child sex stings around the world over the last few years, making her a real-life superhero.

Speaking of sexual predators, Jim Parsons recently shared his experience portraying a sexual predator in Ryan Murphy's HOLLYWOOD. In the Netflix series, Parsons plays Henry Wilson, the talent agent who launched the careers of stars like Rock Hudson. Vicious, vulnerable, calculating, and unpredictable, Wilson is a victim of his times, who ends up becoming a villain. A closeted homosexual tormented by the bigotry with which he's faced, he resorts to the life of a sexual predator, before attempting to make amends for his misdeeds.

There Is No Planet B 🌎

The BFI and BAFTA have joined forces to launch 'A Screen New Deal – a Route Map to Sustainable Film Production'. The report examines the systemic changes needed within film production in order to reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2050, in line with UK government legislation. The report focuses on five key areas: production materials, energy and water use, studio buildings and facilities, studio sites and locations, and production planning. It analyzes where the carbon footprint of a production is currently highest and where it can be reduced.

Audition Tips 🎥

If you are reading this and after five months of pandemic shutdown you still don't have your self-tape equipment, what are you waiting for?!?!? Self-tapes are not going anywhere, they are here to stay. But just buying the equipment is only the first step. Now that you have your set-up there are tricks to capturing your best performance. Check out this recent article from Broadway World and read their "eight role-winning tips" to the perfect self tape.

We stumbled across this 2018 interview with casting director David Rapaport of Rapaport/Baldasare Casting in Los Angeles. Rapaport talks about his experience casting numerous CW shows, breaks down the intense process of casting a new series from the very beginning, and differences between casting television vs film.

Tidbits & Odds-and-Ends