The Entertainment Industry in Hollywood is Changing.

I’m back from Los Angeles, having posed for new headshots with Shandon Photography, dropped in on a class with Rob Brownstein at An Actor's Space, and addressed a few concerns about changes in the industry. One concern I’ve had since moving from California has been that I might be losing out on major auditions that only post for LA.  Am I? No. I was called back on one big-budget film audition that specified a local hire, but by and large casting will look at an audition tape and if they want you they will fly you in. Yes, there are still student films, micro-budget indie films, non-union work, and commercials still not using A.I., but that won’t support most actors. Even worse news, the jobs actors take to support themselves in that high-cost-of-living LA environment are disappearing too. And it’s not just actors stressing, it’s also those working back of camera in production.

 

All of that has resulted in forecasts of doom for the film industry, like this one, Why Hollywood is Facing a Very Unhappy Ending, from Bloomberg Original Content on YouTube, which has some good data.  But what isn't covered are content issues and an examination of new content that is succeeding. Faith-based series, like The Chosen, that have gotten better and better over time. Taylor Sheridan's many excellent series on rugged Americans, like Landman and Yellowstone. Guillermo del Toro's remake of Frankenstein was wonderful. We're buying it on DVD.

 

There is still an audience for film and series, Hollywood is simply missing the mark on stories.  One thing that is driving the uptick on YouTube viewing, for example, is that you can access hundreds of great old movies and TV series. The popularity of this kind of vintage content comes up in Amazon Prime data as well, where half of the most watched shows are 20 years old and older, and may be one reason Amazon is showing a gradual uptick in viewing. Old movies and TV are popular.

 

Why is that? The old movie moguls loved movies, understood their audience, and pitched films to the broader culture. Studios placing priority almost solely on bottom line profits, as they seem to do today, is a poor way to run a business. Another bad move is that first-run, chain theaters, faced with a downturn in viewers due to poor content, kept raising prices to keep their profits up without asking what their tickets, popcorn, candy, and cokes cost the average family of four. The result is that they just killed their business faster.

 

Here's what Hollywood screenwriters have forgotten: for a film to be a "classic" moneymaker requires three things:  1) Characters you recognize and root for who survive the plot, i.e. don't kill off the hero.  2) Universal values that audiences around the world can relate to: courage, honesty, honor, responsibility, a sense of duty. You can have nasty villains, but the hero/heroine has to have those values or who do we root for? 3) Hope over despair. Not a "happy" ending with everything resolved. A hopeful ending. Gritty reality we can get on the nightly news.

 

Think of the films that fit these criteria. Casablanca, The Best Years of Our Lives, Gone with the Wind, The Big Country, Star Wars, True Grit (John Wayne version), Galaxy Quest, Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Rocky, and many, many others, including a little film that's a personal favorite, Shona Auerbach's 2004 indie gem Dear Frankie. These are the kinds of films people watch over and over. I watched the comedy, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, three times in the theater and then bought it on DVD. It is worth noting that despite having no major stars, Greek Wedding is one of the most profitable films, budget to box office, on record, grossing $369 million worldwide on a budget of just $5 million.

 

So, is Hollywood doomed? Well, consider this: only a few years ago the experts had it that hardcover book publishing was done. Everyone had an eReader. Young people had too short an attention span for books. Today the book publishing industry is thriving, with the global market projected to grow from $156.57 billion in 2025 to $215.89 billion by 2033. Yes, part of this is audiobooks and digital content, but stand-alone bookstores are also seeing a resurgence, driven by new business models. New independent bookstores are opening. There's more community engagement and an interest in shopping for books you can hold in your hands. So much for the experts.

 

Studio corporate MBAs look for tax incentives and audience, the latter of which has meant pitching to teens, who have other entertainment options, and ignoring older viewers who grew up with the movie-going habit.  They also try to engage multiple segments of the market in the same film or series – for example: gays, minorities, feminists, old folks, (and recently) men addicted to porn (ugh) - with the result that they satisfy almost no one and ultimately offend/irritate/turn away many.  Creatives look for great storytelling, beautiful cinematography, real actors, and a budget that can easily turn a profit, even when filmmakers focus on one specific audience. And you can make those kinds of movies almost anywhere. Production is getting lean.

 

An unhappy end? Well, actors still need to figure out new strategies for getting hired while located outside of California, but I'm hopeful. I think we're on the verge of a renaissance in filmmaking. Stay tuned.

 

 

BACK IN LOS ANGELES. FOR A TIME.

It’s been a long time since I’ve been in Los Angeles. My goals as an actress have never wavered, but something was wrong with my approach and until I figured it out I felt I was just spinning my wheels. Terribly frustrating. When I left four years ago I had just done a commercial package for Rocket Mortgage and a meaty guest role on The Young & the Restless. Then Covid hit and everything ground to a halt.  Even when the industry tried to soldier on it meant showing up on set in the equivalent of a haz-mat suit, which I wasn’t emotionally prepared to do.  When it finally seemed like film and TV production was starting to return to normal, the unions went on strike. Then the fires. Even now returning to normal seems farther away. There are fewer productions and auditions than before all this happened. Now the talk is of Artificial Intelligence eliminating acting jobs. 

Wyoming Traffic

And yet, suddenly it felt like the time to come back to LA and get prepared.  New headshots. More classes with actor/director Rob Brownstein at An Actors’ Space. I can’t point to any positive news or anything that has noticeably changed for the better, just a gut feeling. I pay attention to gut feelings.

So, here I am. My husband and I had planned to be home in Wyoming for the holidays, but circumstances and good neighbors willing to keep an eye on our place brought us sooner. I’m dodging traffic and relearning my old routes. Bette Davis, when asked how to get to Hollywood, once famously said, “Take Fountain,” and I do, for old times’ sake. I’m thankful that Laurel Canyon was

LA Traffic I-5

spared the destruction as I like all its winding turns through the hills. I love the quirky shops and billboards I pass in West Hollywood, and the cool, clear air that comes with winter.

One thing that is different is me. Four years in the peace of a small mountain town has changed my perspective. I’ve stepped away from rage-bait news online. I focus on what I have control over and let the rest go. Like my Wyoming neighbors I greet everyone with a smile, even here in LA where people on the street sometimes try to avoid eye contact or, faced with the stress of the big city, snarl over trivia. The other night in class I was doing an explosive scene with another actor, and when asked to give it emphasis by thinking of someone I disliked intensely – someone in the news, or in my life – I realized I couldn’t think of a single person. There was no one I stewed over, no one whose actions kept me awake at night.

I think what Wyoming has given me is contentment, and that brings better focus on the things that matter. We shall see what the next few months bring.

 

 

 

 

Has Hollywood Turned a Corner?

We close book on 2024.  Overall, it has not been a good year. Film/TV production in Los Angeles is reportedly down 40 percent, affecting those both in front and behind the camera.  Many people are unemployed.  I continue to get a few auditions each month, but typically for small productions and commercials calling for stereotypical grandmothers.  I have to assume there's no shortage of those in Hollywood.

One area that does appear to be doing well are faith-based productions (Angel Studios in Provo, Utah; The Kendrick Brothers; Dallas Jenkins at Loaves & Fishes Productions, and others) to the extent that even major studios are now asking for faith-based scripts.  

Then there's Taylor Sheridan, who is soaring with films and series like Landsman, Yellowstone, Wind River, 1888, and others that promote American values and American history in a positive way. 

Have we turned a corner?  Will Hollywood recover? Actor Neal McDonough showed up in a Fox News interview this morning sounding very upbeat.  I hope he's right. 

The Benefits of Filming on Location

The three years that saw much of the United States, and the world, under heavy restrictions due to Covid-19 fears prompted many people to examine ways of working remotely, including actors. The move to taping auditions opened up new opportunities for working actors, who figured that if U.S. studios can fly in British, Australian, and Canadian actors - and not just the big stars - they can certainly fly in American actors from Texas, Connecticut, Idaho, or any other state. At least that's the theory. Lots of talent out there.

I've been thinking about this and the many benefits of filming on location, because an article turned up today in Cowboy State Daily that discussed the many classic Western films with stories set in the beautiful mountains of Wyoming, - Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969),  Cat Ballou (1965), Unforgiven (1992) and Shane (1953) to name a few.  Wyoming history is full of people and events with dramatic potential: the Johnson County War, the Wagon Box Fight, the building and impact of America's Transcontinental Railroad, the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang, and the more than 5,000 women ranchers at the time it was admitted to the Union in 1890. Still, only Shane was actually filmed in Wyoming. (See Andrew Rossi's full article at Cowboy State Daily)  

Understandably, it can be costly to haul cast and crew to a remote location (although that hasn't been a problem for New Zealand.)  Bollywood has found a way to significantly cut costs on Indian films by developing effective techniques for shooting in natural light, which can save a ton on set-up time and production. If you're a filmmaker that is worth studying, as it is being adopted by some directors. (The 2015 film The Revenant, with Leonardo DiCaprio, for example, was shot in natural light.)

Weather can be a problem too. Rocky Mountain living, for example, comes with cool and unpredictable weather spring and fall. Stories set in that location would logically show that, but weather can make for continuity issues if you're shooting over multiple days. Also, weather hasn't prevented John Linson and Taylor Sheridan's wonderful series Yellowstone from being filmed in Montana and Utah. Sheridan's terrific film Wind River does show a few clips of Lander, Wyoming, although principal photography was in Utah, a long way from the Wind River and Wind River Valley of Wyoming, an area that has a very distinctive topography. I suspect that the tax incentives offered by so many other states, like Georgia, are the primary consideration, and the Wyoming legislature is loathe to follow the herd on that one.

But I have to wonder what price filmmakers can put on authentic scenery, which can add so much to the look of the finished film?  Director George Stevens was a stickler for authentic locations. Here's the trailer from Shane, which he shot near Jackson, Wyoming, at Grand Teton National Park.  It would be hard to find this kind of grandeur anywhere else - clean haze-free air, dazzling sunlight, breathtaking mountains pushing up from a level plain. The film was nominated for six Academy Awards at the 1954 Oscars, including Best Picture, Director, and Screenplay.  It won for Loyal Griggs' stunning cinematography.

And yes, I wish they still made trailers like this one. 

 

Acting Tips: Consider Your Roles Carefully

In an earlier post, I cited Helen Mirren’s take from her online Masterclass on what makes a great script and a great role. It was wonderful advice from a consummate pro, and worth reading over and over. Now that we’re going back to work (and without hazmat suits!) actors are more than ready to work as a team with other professionals to create something wonderful. The industry continues to evolve. Netflix, Paramount, Amazon, and other studios are creating series for streaming that are imaginative, big budget, and exceptionally well-done. Big stars are starting their own production companies and turning out thoughtful films with great stories. Just look at the top Oscar contenders.

It’s worth remembering, however, that, unlike decades past, anything an actor appears in today will likely be posted online, including commercials, short films, and student films, so before jumping into a project, consider where you hope to go with your career, and what the impact of each role may be long-term.  

The following, for example, might need a second look before committing yourself to the project.

Films/TV with an obscene word in the title: Take a hard look at this one and ask yourself if seeing that title in your list of credits would embarrass you. Also, if it sets the tone for the entire film or series. 

Serious distortions of history or well-known literature, especially the historical events of a country or culture that is not your own. Examine these on a case-by-case basis. Screenwriters often alter reality to create a story. They have to, because lives are not set up as literature, and a work of fiction is typically too long to put on screen. Screenwriters can make a known work better, and often do, but if the story line really goes off the rails, see if there are balancing benefits, like the chance to expand your range with a very different type of role.

Fanning the flames of political divisions: Look past your current social circle and ask yourself if you’d be seriously alienating half of your potential audience right off the bat.

Raising awareness films: This is a trend that started with serious cultural issues (The Lost Weekend, Gentlemen’s Agreement, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner), went on to disease films (pick your illness) and really can’t be justified at a time when information on any topic can be easily researched online. Nothing wrong with raising awareness, it’s just been done and done. 

The role is a caricature/stereotype with no backstory. A film doesn’t have to include throwaway roles (watch Casablanca, where even the background actors are interesting), but for actors - early in their careers especially - this kind of role is frequently what is offered. There’s no motivation indicated for the character, they just are. The role may even be described in the audition script as “a typical ______.” If you feel you really need a credit or the money, take the audition and try to make the role interesting. 

Commercials: There’s good money to be made doing commercials, but remember that because there is no credit roll at the end, commercials can come across as reality, not acting. They can impact how you are regarded for roles in other types of projects, or cast a certain light over a long and illustrious career (think Jane Powell and June Allyson, big stars of the 1940s/1950s who became known for commercials promoting eldercare products). Fit, glamorous, sophisticated, clever, funny? Go with it.

Extraneous dialog intended to stretch a 45-minute plot into an hour and a half. Read the full script. You’ll spot it. If your character has a few good scenes and you’re likely to get a usable clip, it may still be worth your time. 

Last, and probably most important, you wouldn’t want your children/parents/significant other to ever see you in it: From time to time we see trends in films where certain elements are added simply because the director CAN and not because it makes for a better film or furthers the plot. This was especially notable from the late 1960s into the 1980s when directors got carried away with obscene dialog, bathed the screen in blood spatter, explored degraded lifestyles, etc. Actors happily went along, because it felt arty, or at least naughty. 

Okay, we get it.  But it’s rather hard to be naughty these days. It’s all out there.

Acting Tips: What Casting Directors REALLY Want in a Self-Taped Audition

The ability to self-tape auditions has opened up many more opportunities for actors in recent years. With casting directors looking nationally and even internationally for just the right face and voice to fit each role, actors can be based anywhere and many are now moving out of Los Angeles and New York to more family friendly places with less traffic and urban stress and a much lower cost of living. As long as there's an airport nearby, you can still work in this business.

But when self-taping first became an option, the out-of-pocket expense could be considerable. Actors were told that taped auditions needed to be perfect or they would just get tossed. Invest in a high-end video camera, we were told, and box lights for three-point lighting. Avoid LED lighting that made you look green. Set up a room (or at least a wall) with a blue-grey background for best skin tones. Get a professional reader to help you. Hire a taping studio if necessary (at $150 a pop). All of this involved learning how cameras work and technical things like "white balance," which tripped me up more than once, even when hiring a camera operator for the taping. 

Fortunately, the reality of life (and especially the experience of the past two years) has toned down the demands. Actors might be working on location, on holiday, or otherwise away from home when an audition call comes through. Optimal taping conditions are not always available, or necessary as it turns out. The best actor for the role shines through, even if the tape is less than perfect. So don't break the bank investing in expensive equipment.

SAGAFTRA has videos on YouTube where casting directors are asked what they REALLY need from you in a self-taped audition. All are valuable, but some are quite long. The video below hits the high points in a reasonable amount of time, and I must say I was relieved to see that my instincts from years ago were correct. There is no such thing as a "perfect" audition. Casting needs to hear you and see you; they don't need your tape to win an Academy Award. 

Here's what I learned:

SLATES

Breakdowns will usually include instructions for the slate. If not, submit your slate separately from your audition and do this:

Give your name, height, and current location. 

Edit in a full body shot and a profile shot. 

Most important, "perform" your slate with some flavor of the role for which you are auditioning. Don't do it "in character" necessarily, but if your role is big city gangster, don't slate with a toothy grin like you're selling breakfast cereal. Keep it consistent with the role and let your personality come through.

THE READER

Get another actor to serve as your the reader if possible, but anyone will do in a pinch. Even if all you have available is your non-actor mother, have the reader get into their role and act it out so that you have something to react to and play off of. It will improve your performance.

When you edit your audition tape, don't open with the reader's voice, even if it appears that way in the script, unless the scene calls for a big reaction to their words at that point.  Otherwise edit it out and open with your first line. Also, make sure your reader isn't too loud. Move the reader farther from the camera mic if necessary to lower their voice level. Your voice and face are all that casting wants to see.

LIGHTING

For auditioning at home, the old rules are still good. A ring light on a stand is nice to have or box lights and three-point lighting if you already have them set up. Ditto a nice video camera. 

Otherwise, at home or away from home, a small rechargeable ring light that clips on your mobile phone camera is fine. Many models and prices are available, but all have similar reviews so shop around. You shouldn't need to pay more than $20 for a serviceable light. Look for built-in options on light levels and color tones. 

Whatever you have in the way of equipment, look for a location that is already well lit. Bathrooms are often good. The small ring light alone won't give the best result in a dark room.

SOUND

No loud distracting noises in the background. If you're picking up a hum from equipment running somewhere you can usually reduce it or eliminate it altogether during editing. Anything louder than a hum - police sirens, baby crying, door slamming, etc. - means you need to tape the scene again, so be aware of noises and make sure you have alternate takes.

Outdoors sound can be tricky, especially if it's windy. Find a quiet, sheltered spot. Use a lapel mic (always good).

If you have a designated audition space at home, make sure there are enough acoustic elements - upholstered furniture, rugs, acoustic panels - so that your sound doesn't bounce and echo. I've even hung blankets.

TAPING

Your face should be at eye level with the camera and your eye line as close to the camera as possible without looking directly into the lens. Tripods make it easy, but you can also put your mobile phone in a coffee cup on a stack of books - whatever works to get the height and angle.

LOCATION

At home, again the old rules apply. A blank, blue-grey wall will give you the best skin tone. 

Away from home, look for a simple background. It doesn't necessarily have to be blank, but it shouldn't include distracting views or patterns. In the video, for example, they mention shooting against a log cabin. Simple, horizontal lines. 

Soft light, if possible, when shooting outdoors.

EDITING

Yes, edit. Early on in this process, I can't tell you how many times I exhausted myself trying to get a clean take on a long script. Edit your best shots together, but don't worry about making it look like you went to film school. Casting gives no extra points for fancy packaging. They want to see eyes, intention, and layers of character.

Submit one take, or no more than two.  Casting directors have a LOT of tapes to view and, yes, they watch ALL of them.

So that's basically it. Self-taping is here to stay and the benefits to actors are enormous. True, you can't get a correction as in a live audition (although you may be given one in a call back), but you're less nervous and you show casting only your best take.  

Most important, since casting directors will be looking at ALL taped auditions, they see many unknowns that they never would have seen otherwise....and maybe that will be you.

So relax and give it your best shot.  Here's the full video:

Acting Tips: Analyzing Actors at the Top of their Game

One of the most dismaying things I find about many young performers is how seldom they study veteran actors in classic film and television. (I would add theater to that, but the drawback to stage work is that the nuances in a performance are too often lost in the distance between the performers and the audience.) 

Many years ago, I watched a young actor do an emotionally charged drama-class scene and remarked afterwards that he reminded me of Richard Widmark in the 1947 film Kiss of Death where a crazy-acting Widmark pushes an old woman in a wheelchair down a flight of stairs. Who's Richard Widmark? the actor asked, whereupon the instructor blanched and said, "That's like asking, Who are the Marx Brothers!" (The young man looked baffled at that too.)

The point is, there is so much you can learn by watching a master at work, and so much you lose if your only point of reference are action films and the last 10 years of television.

I was reminded of this the other night while watching character actress Beulah Bondi as Aunt Martha Corinne in "The Conflict," a 1974 episode of The Waltons, airing on Amazon Prime. Bondi was 84 years old at the time this was filmed, having played largely mothers and grandmothers (she played James Stewart's mother four times) over a 50-year career in some of the most memorable films ever made, including six that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. She was herself twice nominated for an Oscar as Best Actress in a Supporting Role and, at 86, she would win an Emmy for playing Martha Corinne in a later episode of The Waltons titled "The Pony Cart."

In this scene from "The Conflict," Aunt Martha Corinne is being evicted from the farm she came to as a bride and has lived in on the mountain for more than 50 years. Her husband Henry and one of her children are buried on the farm. The rhythms of the land are the rhythms of her life. Now the farm has been taken for public use by the federal government as part of a planned national park. After initially resisting eviction, she has finally conceded rather than see her family embroiled in an armed conflict. But she has not given up all control of her life, or her dignity. 

Watch Beulah Bondi totally immersed in her character.

What was so difficult about this role - and you also see it in the 1986 Oscar-winning performance by 60-year-old Geraldine Page in The Trip to Bountiful (Page beat out Meryl Streep/Out of Africa, Anne Bancroft/Agnes of God, Jessica Lange/Sweet Dreams, and Whoopi Goldberg/The Color Purple) - is that Bondi had to tread a fine line between being a stubborn and sometimes mean old woman and yet being terribly vulnerable to an overwhelming sense of loss.  

So notice how she and, one assumes, the director have choreographed this scene. This isn't Method or Meisner. Bondi never married or had children in real life; she was born in Chicago, not on a farm. Richard Thomas here serves only to get the scene started; she's not reacting to him. This is a thinking actress with a strategy. She has to exit the farmhouse, but with a pause to reflect on her life. The scene opens with her sweeping the floor of a now nearly empty room. The house will likely be torn down, but she's still in charge, tidying up the ends of her life, giving away the things she will no longer need. Still the matriarch giving orders, she will leave on her own terms.  

While sweeping, Bondi has been looking down at the floor (perhaps finding her mark?) To get to the memory of her dead husband, she needs a trigger.  She looks up at the doorway, the same doorway she entered as a bride so many years before, and makes a seemingly offhand remark about Henry's nature: he was shy with women. As she turns to the camera for a beautifully lit closeup, the memory then floods over her in vivid detail. Her eyes see her young husband, she smells the lilac and the Bay Rum. Her face softens with warmth and love. And then, in an instant, the memory is gone. She is again an old woman and so terribly alone, a tragic figure, but not destroyed.  She puts on her bonnet, takes a last look at the home that held so much of her life, and resolutely exits through the door, head high. 

In this moment on screen Bondi IS Martha Corinne, and she lives this memory. Consider how much each of her moves says about the woman she is portraying. It is masterfully done. A scene worth studying again and again (although I admit to choking up every time I watch it.)

Having been stereotyped early in her career (Bondi played old ladies from age 39 on), it may have been difficult to find roles with enough depth to make full use of her skills, but she was always the consummate pro. 

Watch this tribute to her from Turner Classic Movies. 

Also check out this wonderful behind-the-scenes look at Bondi in her later Waltons episode, "The Pony Cart," for which she won an Emmy.  Actress Judy Norton, who played Mary Ellen Walton, hosts this YouTube channel, and it's a treasure trove of information for actors and fans of this much beloved series. 

 

Take time to study veteran actors. Develop a love for classic film and television, if you're not there already. Some of the best actors in the world are walking encyclopedias of great performances on screen.  That is, in part, why they're so good.