Once the bill is signed, Colorado will finally be back in the running for considerations by out of state filmmakers who have wanted and waited to return to our beautiful state.

The film BUSINESS is simply that.  A BUSINESS.  The bottom line decides projects.  Not locations.

Now that we are once again competitive financially, are you ready artistically?  If you have not been studying or working, you need to be in a workshop!  There are plenty to choose from and I suggest you audit several, pick the best one for you and GET READY!

CLICK HERE to ask about the Rohrering Success On Camera Workshops now in its 30th year.

Write, Produce and Act in your dream character and perform live for our next showcase.  Ask me how.

 Acting Lessons – Finding your Acting Coach & Workshop

Part Ten of Ten     REPRESENTATION

Have you heard the age-old warning, “Do not put the Cart before the Horse.”

Practically every actor I know wants representation and that is great.  (wait for it)  WHEN you are READY!

Agents are not paid until you are paid.  (Reputable agents, anyway.)  Agents you pay before you get work are not agents that are endorsed by the craft, its unions or its members.

So, how will you know when you are ready?   Understand first of all that if an agent decides to represent you, they need to know that you are marketable or attractive to the market.  Also, an agent needs to know you know what it means to be “signed”.  Basically, it means that ANY job you get acting should be screened and approved by the agent who signs you.  What you don’t know really can hurt you!  (In many ways!)  Look at their job from their perspective for one minute.   If your entire income depended on how many texts, emails and phone calls you were to make every day of the week with no real open or closing time to your work day; that no matter how hard you worked, the income was not guaranteed and you were paid ONLY when the actors you represented actually landed the job, whom would you care to work for?

You need to be able to be available for every audition the agent sends you on.  If you are unwilling to show up, why are you surprised when you don’t get called again? (Please read the previous paragraph again.)

You need to be working and skilled.  You’re an actor, so ACT!  Getting started, there are student films and opportunities at every corner nowadays!  If you don’t know that, I must tell you that you need to get busy and LOOK.

It is essential that you are in a workshop with a coach you trust to give you the straight talk.  Direction, advice and skills that are specifically designed and applicable directly to you and your skill level, always challenging that level to be raised effectively and measured.  If you don’t care for the coach with who you are working, look for another!

After you have studied and prepared long enough and carefully enough to then seek representation, make as many appointments with as many agents as are willing to see you.  If you have trained and worked successfully, you have showcased, you have demo’s and you are equipped to effectively attract agents!   You should be in the position to pick and choose.  If you are not,  look first at yourself and not to the agents.

Contact me  if you wish to discuss further.

Part Nine of Ten     CREDITS

It is a widely known fact that Marlon Brando’s coach, Stella Adler and he were having a torrid love affair.  When working closely with someone who opens pathways to emotions that have either never been opened or have been sealed shut for long periods of time, the tendency is to confuse emotional gratitude with other, more physical reactions.  I will not take the position of judging what others do or have done in this regard.  I will however, point out to every serious and goal oriented talent, that you need to get very clear now, on where you want to go, what you want to do and create a plan of action on how you want to get there.  (Review #1-#8 of this 10 part series)

In shopping for an effective and beneficial acting coach, I hope you will consider far more than whatever physical or emotional attraction you may have or feel towards that instructor.

Anyone professing to be anyone in the industry, will be listed on IMDB.  (Internet Movie Data Base)  Many of us have never taken the time to back log credits prior to 2005.  So, I will say that just because a person’s IMDB listings are not extensive, does not necessarily mean they did not do what they claim.  There are ways in which to confirm simply by tracking down producers, clients etc. from the resume or biography from which they claim is theirs.

The point here, is an acting coach should be someone who is giving you credible, honest and experienced direction in the filed of study you are interested in.  A coach who has only a few credits and a few years of experience is not (usually) a very good choice, when there are always much more experienced and stronger resources for the guidance you will be needing.

Contact me if you wish to pursue this discussion further.

Part Eight of Ten     THE EAR PROMPT

Being proficient with the Ear, is absolutely essential for two main reasons.

First and most important to most of us, it pays the bills

Secondly, modern day productions work on tighter and tighter budgets both financially and time wise.

For actors who choose the craft as a profession, they realize not every role nor every day of production will be Shakespeare, Tennessee Williams or even your best friend’s latest short subject.  You will be willing to sell cars you would never care to drive, creams, toiletries and lotions you would never use and politicians you would never vote for.

These productions are often spokesperson roles that are designed to inform, educate and or sell products and or services by an expert.  That expert is you.  I describe in detail, my first job of using the Ear in my book, Listen, Feel, Respond.   Briefly, I was hired while working another industrial job  and learned how to make 3x my normal daily rate without even having to memorize!  I was hooked.

My second job leads me to my second point.  How you can shoot 25 pages of technical stand ups all in less than 6 hours on a shoestring budget.  Use the Ear!

A teleprompter requires an additional crew member to operate the prompter and limits the talent’s ability to move and deliver anywhere but directly into the lens. This translates to more production cost and less production value.

An ear prompter allows total freedom for the talent as well as the camera and fewer crew members.  A win – win situation for everyone above and below the line costs.

Your experienced coach should be able to demonstrate and coach you on handing the equipment and knowing the process all within one hour.  The rest is up to you on how you become familiar and effective in the use of the ear.  Once you become comfortable and able to record and deliver the copy smoothly, your coach should then be able to test for delivery, usage and additional skills that will have you looking and sounding like an expert in whatever subject and even language you are asked to perform.

Contact Me for an introduction to THE EAR

Part Seven of Ten     THE CLASSROOM

This may well be the most controversial entry in the series.  Or at least the one you may take the most issue with.  I would like to know your thoughts.  Be sure and click the Contact Me if you wish to share your feedback.

1.)   Just because you act, does not necessarily mean that you can teach or coach.

2.)   Just because you think you can teach or coach does not necessarily mean that you can.

3.)   Contrary to the popular belief, spending just a weekend with anyone does not make you an expert in anything.

4.)   Like very young children, most actors are attracted to beautiful and shiny objects and people with big smiles and handfuls of candy.

After more than 30 years in this business, I have observed and learned volumes with regard to how the amount of money you spend does not correlate to the amount of education or success you receive.

Actors who have come up through the community theatre programs and then begin their career coaching may not be the best choice.  May I suggest you check references for work performed.

I have experienced so many people with tremendous experience and well developed skills on stage and on camera, who have no business teaching or coaching.  Their style is such that unless you can copy or learn how and what they do, they have no idea how to address what skills, talents or developmental skills need work or how to work those abilities in you.

When industry is down, suffering and slow, the professionals whom you were at one time completely unable to contact are now offering workshops and seminars.  Why?  They are not working.  Believe me, I am not judging or even suggesting this is not good.  Just be clear that because you spend 8 hours in a classroom with someone and 15 minutes in front of that person that they will think of you for every project that ever comes up in the future.

Do you want to develop the skills and the craft of acting?  Or would you prefer to stroke your ego with simply doing what you already know how to do and get the continued praise and admiration of watching yourself “act” in scenes that are poorly written, or poorly chosen with no real structure.  Look for individualized instruction that challenges you to learn lessons you were unaware of.  Having read every book on Meisner, Stanislavski, Hagen and Adler is a terrific foundation and premise for development, but what does it all mean in translating thought, feeling and emotion to the camera?  Will your coach adequately translate and define how you need to hear, feel and express it?  Beware of production classes masked as Acting instruction.

Contact Me.

It was a bag of mixed emotions that was opened immediately following the close of the workshop.   Joaquin Trujillo, Darius Ellis and Troy Alan all helped me remove the air conditioning unit that was purchased as a gift by my students, late last summer and we carted out the last of the electronic equipment.  Darius spoke plainly of his appreciation that this space; this location was one in which his mastery was developed as well as having met and worked with many gifted and internationally recognized professionals.   Troy in his ever giving and talented strengths as a contractor was able to expertly remove the A/C unit and patch the gaping hole even though he had promised his lady he would be home much earlier.  Joaquin and I loaded my son’s pick up and shared a toast that closed the end of another era.

My humble thanks goes out to every one of the nearly 150 students with whom I coached in that classic, screening room; once used to screen dailies for some of the now classic films and tv shows.  To the many professional actors, writers, producers, casting directors and talent of the film and television universe, I offer a special word of thanks and the hope that you will all return to my new location at The Denver Center for the Performing Arts.

Good Bye, Denver Studio Complex and good Life to the new construction and rebirthing of what is to be a home to many residents of Denver.

CONTACT ME to learn more.

It is with very mixed feelings to leave the studios that produced the likes of Perry Mason, Father Dowling, and hundreds and hundreds of other national and  international commercials, features and even local industrials and pilot projects.  Soon, these classic stages and the screening room where my workshops have been held the past 4 years, will become one of Denver’s newest condo’s, housing the ever-growing population of those looking of housing near the light rail and downtown.

The good news is, my friend, Debbie O’Laughlin  brought in the world-renowned team of Ben Vereen & Debra McWaters of  New York’s Broadway Theatre Project, to heat up the space in which I will be now, conducting my on-going Actors Workshops and  continuing to teach my Listen, Feel, Respond method of acting.

I am very anxious to be a part of The Platypi Studios and look forward to the exciting days ahead at 1245 Champa Street in the thrilling Denver Center Performing Arts Building.

Please Contact Me to schedule your free Audit.

Part Six of Ten     PROFESSIONALISM

Without writing the normal 300 to 400 words, there is simply no substitute for this one word in any actor’s search and development for success; Professionalism.

Even if you have never been paid to act, ever been given the chance to have a speaking role or maybe you still have not decided if the arts are for you . . . the one word that describes what you must have, or at least act as if you have for success in any field of choice is (have you guessed it yet?)  Professionalism.

To act as a professional is to act with respect.

Start with an attitude of gratitude and you will discover that whether you have thousands of hours or hundreds of seconds under your belt with experience, everyone you have worked with or will work with will be anxious to help and work with you.

Talent may take you a long way, but longevity is born with attitude.  Positive, supportive, caring, dependable and responsible.  Think about it.  Who in your life that is proud, boastful, unreliable, deceptive and demanding, is someone you enjoy being around? Much less, someone you would care to be with every day?

Last week, I spoke of goals. Assuming you have developed a clear set of goals to achieve, you are now aware of skills, tools and actions you need to focus on in order to work towards success.   When you have a defined plan of action to achieve your goals, you will be too busy to expect more from others than you would expect to deliver to others.

By doing success directed actions, success minded persons will take note.  It is no secret that success breeds success, so consider the alternative that the opposite breeds . . . (yep, you guessed it, but this series is about SUCCESS.  Not the other thing.)

So, having written the 300 plus words you thought I would spare you, let’s summarize.  If becoming a professional is your goal, begin by acting professionally.

Of course, as always, if you wish, you may . . .

Contact me.

Next Week:  Part 7  - The Classroom.

An actor without Goals, will be easily led, swayed, cajoled and otherwise convinced their destiny is in the hands of others.

Think of your journey as an actor, like the journey of a transoceanic ship.  Before you leave port, you will check your navigational charts, which will guide your path to your destination. By the way, look out in the direction you will be traveling.  Can you see your destination?  Of course not.  It is too far away.  You will check for weather both current and forecast and you will chart your course within the given currents and shipping lanes to protect your ship, its cargo and to conserve as much fuel as possible.

You set out for your journey to your destination and all is well.  Clear skies, calm seas, wind in your hair and you marvel at the thought of leaving all you know for new land, new adventures and the thrill of moving forward on this liquid expanse.  The land you knew has since faded from view and now you are committed.  All’s well as they say.

Suddenly, the skies darken.  An unexpected storm.  The calm sea is now a maelstrom of growing waves, turning into enormous swells.  You turn the bow, sharp, port to starboard and begin the stomach churning roller coaster ride of traveling almost straight up and then straight down over each swell.  Suddenly, a problem!  The ship is not turning.  A large groan and metallic clunk is heard.  The ship has lost its rudder!  You are in peril.  Without a rudder to guide the path of the ship, the ship will be tossed and thrown wherever the sea will take it.

So many artists have that as their experience.  Justifying their path as unique, unchartered or the need to be “different”, the artist cannot be trudging the same path as others. That is not the problem.  The problem is they have neither studied the craft, nor have they checked the engineer’s log.  Had they done so, they would have discovered the recommendation to replace the worn hinge of the rudder.

Goals are the rudder of your ship.  They guide and define where you want and hopefully, will, arrive, end up and what you will achieve.  Goals empower.  They give freedom and substance to your dreams.

Need help with setting your goals?

Contact me.

The timing of this entry could not have been better to point out the importance of contacts and connections.    Today I spent the entire day working with Tony Award winner, Actor, vocalist and dancer, Ben Vereen, as well as Broadway choreographers, performers, producers and industry professionals.

Debra McWaters, Co-Artistic Director and President of The Broadway Theatre Project, directs and choreographs for Broadway and stages of the world.  She was introduced to me by my good friend, Debbie McLaughlin, who has known and worked for Ben Vereen, (the other Co- Artistic Director of BTP) for 30 years.  Debra McWaters introduced the choreography to the studio full of dancers, followed by the direction in art by Ben Vereen, accompanied by Randy Reeman and photographed by Dave Westin and was covered by Channel 9 Reporter, Kirk Montgomery’s news team.

Today’s workshop needed an accompanist, a videographer and a studio in which to hold the event.  Debbie called me and I took care of the rest.  I will be moving my weekly workshops into the Platypi Studios at The Denver Performing Arts Complex, and the space was perfect.  The boyfriend, to a former student, six years ago has since become a nationally known pianist (Randy Reeman) and I called him to play for the auditions.  A great cine-shooter, Dave Westin also showed up upon my beck and call to record the events of the day.  Dave & I  have worked together on projects for many years.

Today, I met many new faces of the future of success, while nurturing and feeding the names of those already on the walk of fame or at least in lights on Marquees and programs around the world.

Simply put, this blog is a reminder that if you are not in a workshop, classroom or in some way on a regular basis, working the craft you want to succeed in and with, you will have a very difficult time being discovered.

Choose wisely, the seminars and workshops you choose to attend.  Quite often, the loudest and most expensive are the least helpful.  The professionals who are working and are the best at what they do, are usually the ones who want to pass on their knowledge and appreciation for what took them a lifetime to perfect and will do so in a caring and conscientious manner.

Contact Me

Next week – Part Five of Ten: Goals.