HOW TO HANDLE THE HURDLE TO HOLLYWOOD - By Kenny Kassel

Kenny Kassel is the owner of Kenneth I Kassel, Inc. Which is a company that acts as a consultant to both the fitness and entertainment industries. Beauti-Fit Talent is part of Kik, Inc. And is the agency of the physically elite. He is also the business manager of Don "The Dragon" Wilson, who is the greatest kick boxer of all time, and the star of 26 action films, including his newest one "Sci-Fighter"

Here's a simple how-to for those fitness athletes who want to break into the entertainment industry.

If you have been busting your gut in the gym building a physique that you want to rock the world with, but you are not sure how to do it, read this carefully. It could be your ticket to fame and fortune, but I have good news and bad news for you. First the bad news. It is a very hard way to make a living. There is lots of rejection, and there is stiff competition for just about every job you will ever audition for. You will also have to go to 3 or 4 callbacks before you get every gig you ever get. You should know that the vast majority of women who try to get into this business will not stay in the business. Does this discourage you? If you REALLY want to get into the entertainment industry, it should not. You see, most of them really give up long before they have a chance to be successful. Even those who do make it, do not make it overnight. It will take years of painstaking work and discipline to succeed. You have to apply the same discipline that you do to your fitness goals. OK, now are you ready for the good news? There are many thousands of successful actors and models in the US. Now, let me qualify that by saying that you don't have to be a movie star to be considered successful. There are many whose niche is as a character actor, or playing young mom types in commercials, or those who get into doing stunts.

THE FIRST STEP
The first step is getting great pictures. You will need a fantastic headshot in either black and white or color. They need to be 8 x 10 inch. Your resume goes on the back of your headshot. You should also get what is known as a comp or zed card.
This is a card, usually 8 inches long by 5 inches wide that has your head shot on the front, and on the back will have 3 or 4 other photos that show you in your best light. I would suggest a bikini shot, a shot in a workout outfit, a business shot in a suit or business outfit, and one other shot of your choice. Also listed on the back should be your height, hair and eye color, dress size, and measurements. Your name should be on the front with the headshot. NEVER put your home phone number on it. You can put your e-mail address, the number of your agent (Next Step) or a voicemail number. If you intend to pursue this for a living, I recommend that you get a voicemail number, which can cost as little as $10 a month, and a post office box, which costs as little as $40 per year for a small box. You will give your cards to hundreds, if not thousands of people, and you don't know where it could end up, so you don't want to have people you don't know, knowing your phone number and/or address. Your photos are crucial. If your pictures are not VERY good, you will never get a gig. It's that simple. The first step is that they look at your pictures. If they are not wowed by them, your card will go right into the rejection pile.

THE SECOND STEP
If you really want to get into the business, you have to have clear-cut goals, be prepared by taking acting classes and constantly working on bettering yourself, so that you can be an asset to any project you might be considered for. The best way to find jobs is to find a good agent. There are all different kinds of agents. Agents who specialize in finding work in film and television are called Theatrical agents. Commercial agents find work for you in commercials. Print ad work is found by print agents. Most agencies specialize in one area, but have agents in all areas. These agencies are called "full service" agencies. Most agencies find new talent by periodically having "open calls" which means at a designated time and date, they will take appointments to see potential new talent.

When going to an open call, you should bring photos, comp cards, and samples of your work if you have done jobs previously. Agents can assist you in finding a good acting class, and they will solicit work for you. Union affiliated agencies (affiliated with Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) receive something called Breakdown Services every day, which has listings of all the auditions there are that day. A breakdown is a description of the characteristics that are required to do the acting or modeling job. An example of an acting breakdown is: female between the ages of 25 and 29 blonde hair with a slim body to play a young mom. Agents will receive a fee of 10% of what the job pays. Your agent can collect your fee for you, deduct his 10% and then issue you a check for the balance. A good agent is one of the most valuable tools you can have to succeed in the business, along with great pictures and great energy.
When you are approached, you should always refer the person to your agent so that he or she can do their job. Managers are needed to guide your career. You don't need a manager unless you already have a successful career. Managers receive a fee (usually between 10 and 20%) of everything you earn. That is why you only need one once your career starts to take off. Good managers can do many things for you. They should work with your agent, to make sure that you are getting the right gigs that suit your talent and abilities. They can also help with publicity, and with contacts with producers. They can also help you with financial matters.

THIRD STEP
Auditioning is a very stressful thing to do, especially when you are a new and unknown talent.
Some producers want the person auditioning to have the lines from their scene, or the commercial in the case of a commercial memorized so that you can rehearse it. Others prefer what is called a "cold reading" which means that they will give you the scene, but right before so that you are not given any time to practice or rehearse. This is particularly hard for an inexperienced actor. That is what will help build you confidence and character. If they like your performance, you will have a second callback. As they narrow the field down, you will get the third callback, which might be with another actor who is already attached to the project, and you might be auditioning for the director.
If this is not the final callback, that one will be with the director, producer, and possibly the writer, and the executive producer as well. Whew, better get to the gym after that to relieve some of this pressure. However, keep near the phone so that you are available when they call you to let you know that you got the job.

FOURTH STEP
Getting paid for acting is great, but sometimes it is complex. For acting jobs, if you are new, your salary for doing the gig will probably be SAG minimum or already set in the budget. SAG minimum is anywhere from $800 per week for a SAG Ultra-low budget film, to about $4000 per week for a regular SAG contract film. For TV shows, usually the guest star receives about $3500 for the week. You will also receive some residuals if the show airs again. If it is a union film, or show, they cannot pay you any less than what the SAG contract indicates. For commercials, there are National, Regional, and local commercials. For locals, you will normally get a flat fee, period.
For Regional and Nationals, usually you will receive a session fee for recording the commercial.

You will then receive a holding fee after a 13-week period if the commercial has not aired yet. You will then receive a residual check every time the commercial airs. Print ads are a bit different. They are also National, Regional, and local. The difference between them is basically how much the pay is. Obviously the National ads pay the most. You will receive a fee for doing the photo session and the second part of the pay is called a "buy-out." That means you cannot do any other commercials for that kind of product for a period of a year. So, if you have done a Budweiser commercial, you may not do any other beer commercials for a year. By the way, print ad agents get 20% as a rule rather than 10% for the simple reason that print ads are not affiliated with unions, and there are no residuals for print ads.

WARNINGS AND RED FLAGS
Before you jump off the fence and get yourself knee deep in the exciting work in the entertainment industry, here are a few things to watch out for. First of all, you need to ALWAYS check out people who give you a business card. They may not be who they are representing themselves as. There are as many phony people out there as legit ones. The legit ones will never mind the fact that you are checking them out. In fact, I always tell people to check everyone out, including me. If you have only honorable intentions then you have nothing to worry about. When someone starts hemming and hawing about giving you references, you best stay clear of them. There are also a lot of Internet scams where they get you to send money and they are going to audition you for this project or that.
NOTE: Nobody who is legit will ask you for money unless they are doing something for you. There are also agencies that have deals with photographers, where they tell you that you need to shoot with "their" photographer, they charge you $1000 and the photographer keeps half and the agency keeps half. If they do that with 1000 girls, they just made themselves a lot of money, and then they disappear. What you have to remember is that what they are doing is not illegal. It is not ethical, but NOT illegal, so you have no recourse against them. The other thing is to make sure that you carefully read any contracts, including model releases from photographers. (Even in the fitness magazines if someone gives you a card and tells you he shoots for a magazine, look to see if his name is listed in the magazine as a contributing photographer). If you do not have an agent, then get someone who you know who is a lawyer and have them check it out. There have been big stars who have had regrets when they were famous because some pictures that they did when they were unknown show up and they had no recourse because they signed a model release that allowed the photographer to do whatever he wanted forever with the pictures. Keep your eyes and ears open, and you could be the next big star.