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Introduction | |
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About This Book | |
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How to Use This Book | |
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Conventions Used in This Book | |
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Foolish Assumptions | |
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How This Book Is Organized | |
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Icons Used in This Book | |
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Where to Go from Here | |
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Figuring Out the Business of Acting | |
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Opening the Door to Show Business | |
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Understanding the World of Acting | |
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What You Need to Succeed | |
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An attention-grabbing head shot | |
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A five-star acting resume | |
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Polished talent | |
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Taking Your First Steps in Show Business | |
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Marketing yourself | |
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Finding your first ally: An agent | |
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Showcasing your talent: Auditioning | |
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The Many Ways to Make Money as an Actor | |
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Managing Money (A Little or a Lot) | |
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Knowing What to Expect from an Acting Career | |
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Discovering How Show Business Really Works | |
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The Business of Show Business | |
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Taking It "From the Top"--It All Begins with an Idea | |
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Selling an Idea | |
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Producing a Script | |
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Going into Production | |
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It's Showtime! | |
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Cleaning Up in Post-Production | |
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Distributing the Product | |
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From Agents to Unions: Introducing the Movers and Shakers of Show Business | |
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Producers: The Champions of Every Project | |
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Directors: The Bosses on the Set | |
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Writers: The Idea Makers | |
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The Studios: The Ones Who Make It All Possible | |
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Financing a project | |
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Marketing and distributing a project | |
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Casting Directors: The Gatekeepers | |
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Agents: Your Door to Show Business | |
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Personal and Business Managers: The Guiding Forces Behind the Scenes | |
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Actors: The Talent in Front of the Spotlight | |
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Unions: An Actor's Best Friend | |
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The Screen Actor's Guild (SAG) | |
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Actors' Equity Association | |
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American Federation of Television & Radio Artists (AFTRA) | |
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Packaging and Marketing Yourself | |
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Making a Great First Impression with a Head Shot | |
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Introducing the Head Shot: An Actor's Calling Card | |
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Examining Variations on the Standard | |
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The commercial head shot | |
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The theatrical shot | |
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Creating the Perfect Head Shot | |
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Hiring a professional photographer | |
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Picking the right look | |
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Making the most of your photo session | |
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Getting Your Head Shot Ready | |
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Adding (or eliminating) borders | |
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Including your name and contact info | |
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Choosing a finish for your head shot | |
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Duplicating your head shot | |
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Publicizing Your Head Shot with a Twist | |
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Distributing Your Head Shot | |
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Avoiding Problems with Head Shots | |
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Is that really you? | |
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Your head shot doesn't match your personality | |
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Don't be "cute" or "funny" (or naked) | |
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Technical problems: You look great but your head shot still stinks | |
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Creating a Five-Star Acting Resume | |
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Tackling the Basics of Creating a Resume | |
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Identifying the Info to Include | |
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Your name, union membership, and contact information | |
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Your physical description | |
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Your acting experience and education | |
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Your knowledge of special skills | |
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Avoiding Resume No-Nos | |
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Examining Sample Resumes | |
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The beginner's resume | |
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The intermediate actor's resume | |
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The veteran's resume | |
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Customizing Your Resume for the Part | |
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Training to Improve Your Acting Skills | |
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Mastering the Art of Auditioning: Taking Classes | |
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Benefiting from an auditioning class | |
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Advancing your auditioning skills | |
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Improving Your Performing Skills | |
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Stand-up comedy workshops | |
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Improvisation classes | |
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Speech and accent coaching | |
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Singing and dancing lessons | |
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Developing Physical Fitness Skills | |
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Improving Your Unique Skills | |
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Taking Your First Steps into Show Business | |
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Getting Seen by the Industry: Promoting Yourself | |
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Looking for Your Own Work | |
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Use the actors' unions | |
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Network to stay in touch | |
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Scan trade publications | |
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Browse the Internet | |
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Contact casting directors on your own | |
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Advertising Yourself | |
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Showcasing Yourself | |
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Finding and Working with an Agent | |
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Getting the Ball Rolling | |
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Discovering potential agents | |
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Contacting potential agents | |
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Calling for an appointment | |
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Interviewing with a Prospective Agent | |
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Preparing for your interview | |
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Arriving for your interview | |
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Conducting yourself during your interview | |
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Ending the interview | |
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Signing On with an Agent | |
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Working with Your Agent | |
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Staying in touch | |
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Following your agent's advice | |
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Sharing audition information with your agent | |
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Leaving Your Agent | |
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Reasons to leave your agent | |
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How to leave your agent | |
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Auditioning | |
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Looking at Types of Auditions | |
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Going to open casting calls (cattle calls) | |
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Attending casting auditions | |
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Preparing for an Audition | |
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Planning for the audition | |
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Deciding what to wear | |
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Arriving at the Audition | |
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Impressing a Casting Director | |
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Auditioning: What to Expect | |
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Speaking your lines | |
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Minding your auditioning manners | |
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Making your exit | |
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Preparing for the Next Audition | |
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Sending out thank-you cards | |
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Evaluating yourself | |
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Getting on with your life | |
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Hoping for the Best that Can Happen: The Callback | |
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Dealing with Rejection | |
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Scoping Out the Markets | |
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Acting in Film and Television | |
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Landing a Job | |
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Film and Television Acting Versus Theater Acting | |
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Fine-Tuning Your Performance on Film | |
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Playing to the camera | |
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Acting consistently with different takes | |
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Successfully acting scenes out of order | |
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Hitting your mark | |
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Recognizing different shots | |
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Dealing with close-ups | |
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Performing on a Set | |
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A typical day on the set | |
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What to do when your scene's done | |
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Participating in Post-production: Looping | |
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Gaining Experience and Exposure by Working in Different Markets | |
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Options in the film market | |
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Options in the TV market | |
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Acting in Commercials | |
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Understanding How a Commercial Gets Made | |
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Preparing for a Career in Commercials | |
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Taking a class or workshop | |
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Studying working actors | |
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Hiring a commercial agent | |
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Auditioning for a Commercial Role | |
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Fitting the part | |
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Preparing your part | |
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Handling yourself during the audition | |
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Recognizing Commercial Patterns to Improve Your Performance | |
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The slice-of-life commercial | |
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The spokesperson commercial | |
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The dialogue-less commercial | |
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Understanding the Market for Commercials | |
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Acting in Theater | |
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Mastering Your Skills Onstage | |
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Gearing Up for a Theatrical Career | |
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The academic route | |
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The pounding-the-pavement route | |
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Auditioning for Theater | |
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Familiarizing Yourself with Stage Types | |
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Proscenium stages | |
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Thrust stages | |
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Arena stages | |
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Rehearsing for a Play | |
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Read-through | |
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Blocking with stage directions | |
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Scene work | |
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Work-throughs | |
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Run-throughs | |
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Technical rehearsals | |
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Dress rehearsals | |
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Working in Different Markets | |
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Performing Without Being Seen: Voice-Over Acting | |
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What You Need to Succeed in Voice-Over Acting | |
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What's that you say? Speaking clearly | |
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Polly want a cracker? Voice versatility | |
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Testing...testing: Playing to the microphone | |
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Training for a Voice-Over Career | |
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Finding Voice-Over Work | |
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Preparing Your Demo Tape | |
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Including all the right stuff | |
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Laying down the tracks | |
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Recording subsequent demo tapes | |
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Getting an Agent | |
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Auditioning for Voice-Over Work | |
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Getting Paid as a Voice-Over Actor | |
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Working as an Extra | |
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Delving into the Glamorous World of an Extra | |
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Recognizing types of extras | |
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Getting work as an extra | |
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Examining a day in the life of an extra | |
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Appreciating the Advantages of Being an Extra | |
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Investigating the technical business of show business | |
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Studying the acting side of filmmaking | |
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Networking with fellow actors | |
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Making a little (emphasis on "little") money | |
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Advancing Your Career Beyond an Extra | |
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Getting Your Kid into Show Biz | |
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Considering the Commitment | |
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Does your kid really want to do this? | |
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Do you really want to do this? | |
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Setting goals for you and your child | |
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Exploring the Acting Options | |
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Print ads | |
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TV commercials | |
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Film and TV shows | |
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Theater | |
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The Business of Child Actors | |
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Getting started as a proud parent of a child actor | |
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Procuring the paperwork | |
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Watching out for your child's welfare | |
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Restricting time on the set | |
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Educating on the set | |
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Managing all that money | |
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Helping Your Child Deal with the Ups and Downs of Show Business | |
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Managing Your Money as an Actor | |
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Don't Get Ripped Off! Avoiding Con Games, Scams, and Self-Destruction | |
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Identifying the Elements of a Con Game | |
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The hook: baiting the suckers | |
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The line: exploiting your trust | |
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The sinker: taking your money | |
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Exposing Common Show Business Con Games | |
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Fake screen tests | |
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Phony agents | |
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Shoddy photographers | |
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Worthless acting schools | |
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Sleazy casting directors | |
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Useless 1-900 casting hotlines | |
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Meaningless beauty pageants | |
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Shady get-rich-quick schemes | |
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Dealing with Dishonesty | |
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Potential problems with non-union productions | |
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Unscrupulous business managers | |
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Casting and networking parties | |
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Missing residuals | |
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Protect Yourself: Beating the Con at His Own Game | |
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Being Your Own Worst Enemy | |
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Dealing with drug abuse | |
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Separating sex from show business | |
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Dealing with alcohol addiction | |
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Curbing excessive spending | |
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Avoiding criminal activities | |
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Handling emotional and psychological problems | |
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Working to Pay Your Bills Until You Hit It Big | |
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Deciding Between a Full-time and a Part-time Job | |
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Getting temporary work | |
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Getting full or part-time work | |
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Working for Yourself | |
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Getting a Job That Pays You to Be Entertaining | |
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Teaching traffic school | |
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Performing on the street | |
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Amusing patrons at an amusement park | |
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Entertaining the kiddies | |
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Catering to the acting crowd | |
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Working in a film or television studio | |
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Perusing scripts for payment | |
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Winning big on a game show | |
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Do a song and dance in a casino | |
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Performing on a cruise ship | |
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Acting in an interactive play | |
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Becoming a professional reader during auditions | |
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Getting "extra" time in the studio | |
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Managing Your Finances | |
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Handling Your Money | |
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Saving it! | |
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Dealing with income texes | |
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Digging yourself out of debt | |
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Investing your earnings | |
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Living Well Without Going Broke | |
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Dealing with housing expenses | |
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Eating cheaply | |
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Buying clothes | |
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Deciding When to Quit Your Day Job | |
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The Part of Tens | |
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Ten Myths of Show Business | |
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Show Business Is Closed to Outsiders | |
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It's Who You Know, Not What You Know | |
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Only the Young and the Beautiful Get Work | |
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You Have to Move to L.A., London, or New York to Succeed | |
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Plastic Surgery and Body Implants Get You Work | |
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You Have to Sacrifice Your Principles | |
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You Can Break into Show Business by Taking Off Your Clothes | |
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The myth of posing nude | |
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The myth of sleeping with someone famous or powerful | |
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The myth of appearing in adult movies | |
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You Can Be "Discovered" and Made into a Star | |
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The Right Agent/Manager/Coach Can Get You Work | |
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Show Business Will Destroy You | |
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Ten Traits of Successful Actors | |
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Respecting Other People's Time | |
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Planning Ahead | |
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Being Flexible and Adaptable | |
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Being Professional | |
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How a professional actor behaves | |
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Acting professionally with your agent | |
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Acting professionally with casting directors | |
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Acting professionally on the set | |
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Being Yourself | |
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Being Well-Groomed | |
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Being Persistent | |
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Avoiding Mind-Altering Substances | |
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Being Willing to Learn and Improve Yourself | |
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Believing in Yourself | |
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Ten Tips for Improving as an Actor | |
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Mastering the Art of Auditioning | |
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Knowing How to Audition and Act for the Camera | |
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Auditioning for the camera | |
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Acting for the camera | |
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Expecting the Unexpected: Improvising | |
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Developing a Sense of Humor | |
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Overcoming Stage Fright | |
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Understanding Human Psychology | |
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Developing Your Voice and Improving Your Body | |
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Your voice | |
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Your body | |
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Maintaining a Reliable Source of Income | |
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Avoiding Guaranteed Failure | |
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Staying Sharp | |
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Ten Ways to Act Just for the Fun of It | |
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Join a Community Theater Group | |
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Become a Storyteller | |
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Join an Improvisational Group | |
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Volunteer at Your Local School Drama Department | |
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Put on a Play for a Charity | |
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Appear in a Student Film | |
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Work as an Extra | |
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Volunteer at Your Local Museum | |
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Appear on Public Access TV | |
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Produce Your Own Show on the Internet | |
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Index | |