Resources

Please note that we are not affiliated with any listings on the resource section. We list them only as a service.

Classes
Private Coaching
Indie Student Films
Monologues
Must Read List
Great Websites for Actors
Resumes & Website Service
Demo Reels
Photographers
Requirements for Headshots
Mass Production of Headshots
Taped Audition Requirements
Videographers for Taped Auditions

A Note on Training: We believe in training. A violinist practices every day, not just the day before a performance. We expect you to work your acting muscle every day in class, rehearsals, on set, practicing monologues, etc. On that note, here’s a list of companies that teach in our industry.

Georgia Area Classes

Celebrity Actors Studio (Atlanta) • Website: www.celebrityactorsstudio.com

Nick Conti's Professional Actor's Studio (Atlanta) • Website: www.proactorsstudio.com

Your Act (Atlanta) • On camera classes • Website: www.youract.tv

North Carolina Area Classes

C&J Audition Workshops (Charlotte) • Website: www.cjcasting.com

Film Actors Studio (Charlotte) • Website: www.filmactorsstudio.net

South Carolina Area Classes

PURE Theater (Charleston) • Ongoing class all ages • Website: www.puretheatre.org

South of Broadway Theatre Company (Charleston) • Website: www.southofbroadway.com

The Have Nots (Charleston) • Improv class • Website: www.thehavenots.com

Actors Theater of SC (Charleston) • Classes for all ages • Website: www.actorstheatreofsc.org

LA & NY Coaches who also teach in the Southeast

Kirk Baltz (Los Angeles) • Website: www.actorsintensive.com

Anthony Vincent Bova (New York) “Eric Morris System” • Website: www.bovaactorsworkshop.com

Private Coaching

Gaylord Parsons (GA) Tel. 770.837.5102

Kirk Baltz (LA) Tel. 323.467.8492

Eric Dente (NY) Tel. 212.501.2825

Sharon Graci (SC) Tel. 843.345.1090

Rodney Rogers (SC) Tel. 843.723.4444

Greg Tavares (SC) Tel. 843.853.6687

Chris Weatherhead (SC) Tel. 843.588.9636

Indie Student Films

"Indies" usually offer no pay, but are good for camera practice and resume building.

Atlanta Performs (Atlanta) • Website: www.atlantaperforms.com

Casting Carolina (NC & SC) • Website: www.castingcarolina.com

City of Savannah Film Office (Savannah) • Website: www.savannahfilm.org/news.cfm

Monologues

The Movie Monologue Page • Website for Film & TV monologues • Website: www.whysanity.net

Must Read List for Actors

Two good books to read before or after you start acting:

The Street Kids Guide to Having It All, by John Assaraf
Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway, by Susan Jeffers

Acting books:

How Not to Audition: Avoiding the Common Mistakes Most Actors Make, by Ellie Kanner & Martin Flynn
Audition: Everything An Actor Needs to Know to Get The Part, by Michael Shurtleff
How To Get The Part, Without Falling Apart, by Margie Haber
Acting the First Six Lessons, by Boleslavsky
No Acting Please – “Beyond the Method”, by Eric Morris & Joan Hotchkis
Irreverent Acting, by Eric Morris
A Challenge For The Actor, by Uta Hagen
How to Audition, by Gordon Hunt
The Casting Directors and the Casting Process, by Keith Wolfe
Breaking into Commercials, by Terry Berland
The Art of Acting, by Stella Adler
A Dream of Passion, by Lee Strasberg
The Great Acting Teachers and Their Methods, by Richard Brestoff
The Open Door, by Peter Brook
The Empty Space, by Peter Brook
Threads of Time, by Peter Brook
Respect For Acting, by Uta Hagen (and anything else by her)
The Actor's Eye, by Morris Carnovsky / Peter Sander
My Life In Art, by Stanislavsky
Strasberg Method, by Laurie Hull
The Way of the Actor, by Brian Bates
Method Actors, by Steve Vineberg

Also the DVDs:

Acting for Film, by Michael Caine
Looking for Richard, by Al Pacino

Great Websites for Actors

The Actor's Checklist • Website: http://www.actorschecklist.com

Atlanta Performs • Website: http://www.atlantaperforms.com

Backstage • Website: http://www.backstage.com

Mandy.com • Website: http://www.mandy.com

Variety • Website: http://www.variety.com

Resume & Website Service

Teresa Smith • Create and update resumes • Email: tssmitht@aol.com

Fish Net Creations • Custom websites for actors • Website: www.fishnetcreations.com

eData Design • Value priced websites • Website: www.edatadesign.biz

Demo Reels

Anthony Nixon • Email: antnixus@yahoo.com

Ed Reynolds & Via Productions • Email: reyvia@aol.com

Nick or Ros Smith • Email: milktreading@hotmail.com

Photographers

Georgia Area

Kelsey Edwards (Atlanta) Also in LA • Website: www.kelseyedwardsphoto.com

Jackie Goldston (Atlanta) • Website: www.jackiegoldston.com

George Gill (Savannah) • Website: www.georgebyblue.com

North Carolina Area

Benjamin Segal (Charlotte) • Website: www.benjaminsegal.com

Troy Tomlinson (Charlotte) • Website: www.flamingchickenstudio.com

Patricia Roseman (Wilmington) Also in LA • Tel. 310.766.6011

South Carolina Area

David Despeaux (Charleston) • Website: www.daviddespeaux.com

Jörg Meyer (Charleston) • Website: www.jorgmeyer.com

Robbin Knight (Charleston) • Website: www.rkdp.com
James Connelly (Charleston) • Website: www.connellyphoto.com
Ed Reynolds (Charleston) • Email: reyvia@aol.com

Jillian Walzer (Charleston/Hilton Head) • Website: www.jillianwalzerphotography.com

Requirements for Headshots

Commercial shot: use a happy conservative look used for commercials, print and industrials.

Theatrical shot: an interesting, often sly look used for film and television.

* If only going with one look use a middle of the road look.

Shots must be in color – one headshot and one ¾ body length
Portrait (vertical) orientation is preferred over landscape (horizontal) orientation
Must use a make-up artist for teens and up
No jewelry, however small stud earrings are okay on females
Solid shirt or sweater; NO turtlenecks, logos, stripes, or prints
Females must show length of hair; don’t hide hair down back
Don’t cut off top of head; must see whole head
Pick interesting background lighting, not just solid wall
Background should be slightly out of focus, can be outside or inside shot
No shadows on the face at all please
No gums showing; practice in mirror if this is a habit for you
Take some with teeth showing and some without
If you wear glasses and don’t have contacts, you must wear the glasses in the picture.

Mass Production of Headshots

You will only need to get your headshots reproduced. We can submit your ¾ length headshot electronically. You should order at least 100 copies and send 25 to the office with your resume neatly stapled to the back. Keep the remainder with you when you go on auditions.

Headshots can be reproduced on photograph or lithograph paper. The choice is yours, although lithograph is often less expensive. We recommend you order your headshots in a matte finish. Why matte? Because most casting studios are indoors and use tungsten light, which makes it harder to look at glossy pictures. We also recommend portrait (vertical) orientation of your headshots and we find that most casting directors prefer portrait over landscape orientation as well. Headshots with borders are most common. However headshots without borders (called "full bleed") are acceptable.

The On Line Photo Shop (Los Angeles) • Website: www.theonlinephotoshop.com

The Pixel Pusher (Atlanta) • Website: www.the-pixel-pusher.com

Photoscan (Orlando) • Website: www.photoscanonline.com

Reproductions (NY & LA) • Website: www.reproductions.com (use rough border style #1 or #5)

Isgo Photo (Los Angeles) • Website: www.isgophoto.com

New Image Prints (Los Angeles) • Website: www.newimageprints.com

Taped Audition Requirements

Occasionally we are able to save you the time and expense of traveling to first round auditions by having you put yourself on tape. We will personally put you on tape for any project at our office – but those of you not able to come to our office for taping, need to be able to do it yourselves. Please follow the requirements below when sending your taped auditions.

Send us the link to your QuickTime (.mov) file or Windows Media Video (.wmv) file in either standard TV resolution at 640x480 pixels OR widescreen DVD resolution at 720x480 pixels. Either resolution is acceptable as long as the quality is good. Keep the file size under 25 MB to allow faster download for us and the casting directors. Email the link to your audition using YouSendIt.com to info@coastaltalent.com. Do not attach the audition file to the email.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Do not use the black fade in and out feature, add heashots or titles. This makes editing difficult for the casting directors when they put together their tapes for the studio to view all the actors' auditions. You should never see black on your tapes at the beginning or end of your auditions.

It is important to do the following:

Film in front of a light colored, solid wall or backdrop. NOT A BLACK BACKGROUND.
Lighting must be good enough to see the color of the actor's eyes – this is our # 1 problem!
No logos or busy patterns on clothing. Bright solid colors work best.
Sound must be clear.
Have an ACTOR reading opposite from you in a low tone so as to not overpower the actor.
If taping a role with more than one scene, tape all the scenes together to include the slate on the same file.
One good take please. Only do a second take if absolutely necessary.
SLATE - At the end of the take, have the actor stand, pull back for a full body shot, and have actor state their name, agency, role and height.

Taping Instructions for PC users

A full version of Windows Movie Maker comes installed on most new Windows based computers. In order to use the program your computer has to be operating Windows XP or newer. If you are operating XP and do not currently have Movie maker installed on your computer, you can get it by downloading the service pack for the operating system from Microsoft's website for free.

For additional help using Windows XP go to: www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/moviemaker/default.mspx

For additional help using Windows Vista go to: www.windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/ec3fff68-e53c-4168-ae74-8557325e57e21033.mspx

Taping instructions for Mac Users

1. Open iMovie.
2. Select File, and Import from Camera or Import Movies if importing from card.
3. An individual QuickTime file will require a new project. Select File, new project and name accordingly.
i.e. John.Doe.DrSpock.CT.mov (Actor First Name.Actor Last Name.Character Name.CT for Coastal Talent.File Extension)
4. For ratio, select Standard 4:3
5. Select clips from bottom and drag into new project.
6. When finished go to Share. For QuickTime file, select export as QuickTime, choose at least broadband Medium (640x480) and Save onto desktop.
7. Drag file into Mail.
8. In the To box, type our e-mail address, info@coastaltalent.com. In the Subject box, type your name, show name and the role. If you want to preview the movie before you send it, double-click the attachment and the movie will play.
9. When you’re ready, click Send.

For additional help using iMovie go to: www.apple.com/support/imovie/

Videographers for Taped Auditions

California Area

Mills Allison (Los Angeles) • Email: millskentallison@hotmail.com

Dino Ladki, CSA (West Hollywood) • Website: www.audition-tape.com

Robert Campbell (North Hollywood) • Website: www.quicknickel.com

Georgia Area

Creative Studios of Atlanta (Atlanta) • Email: creativestudiosofatlanta@yahoo.com

Jackie Goldston (Atlanta, North Atlanta) • Email: jackie@jackiegoldston.com

Kelly Casting (Atlanta) • Email: kellycasting@gmail.com

Chip Lane (Savannah) • Email: firstcityfilms@comcast.net

Anthony Nixon (Atlanta) • Email: antnixus@yahoo.com

Anthony Paderweski (Savannah) • Email: contact@anthonypaderewski.com

Gaylord Parsons (Atlanta) • Email: gaylordparsons@yahoo.com

New York Area

Shawn Passwaters (New York City) • Email: shawnpasswaters@hotmail.com