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Sent: Monday,
October 20, 2003
To: advise@karateangels.com
Subject: Michele
Hi Michelle
would you please help I would like to get
information on getting making resumes for acting
been involved with martial arts for 7years did a
small part in art Camacho’s movie have done
several things and really want to get involve I
have major passion to do this on screen please
help
Dear
Noelle,
In
order to make a resume for acting you will have
to follow a special format. The traditional
actors resume is not like any other resume you
might make so the format IS important.
Producers, directors and casting people are
conditioned to it and read it faster that way.
The sag.com web site keeps examples. When you
research it notice the 3 column formatting. You
always list the show in the first column, the
part or characters name in the second and the
third column depending on the medium (i.e.
stage, film, tv, etc.). If it is stage we list
the directors name or theatre name, if it is
film we list the director, and for TV either the
directors’ name or the network (i.e. NBC, TNT,
etc), and never put an age range on your resume.
Let them decide how old they think you are. Your
name is always the largest font and at the top.
Include height, weight, hair and eye color plus
a spot for representation. NEVER put your home
address or home telephone number on a resume.
Resumes often float around and you do not know
who might end up with your private information.
Use an answering service, mobile number and a
P.O. Box for mail. You can include a little more
contact information in a cover letter but never
on the resume. I hope that helps some. Email
again if you need further assistance. (PS. Art
Comacho is a wonderful guy).
Sincerely,
Michele
Sent:
Wednesday,
December 31,
2003
To: advise@karateangels.com
Subject: Hi!
I have been
acting in plays
for a long time
now. I have
taken dance lessons
for 10 years and
I sing. I REALLY
want to act
professionally. I
NEED help! I can
never find
auditions! I
need to find
some information.
Do you know any
sites with
audition
information???? PLEASE!!
Acting is ALL
that I think
about, I need
some help! Thank
you!
Please
email me
Thanks!
Dear
Mollie,
It
sounds like you
have been
working hard on
building a
resume. Good for
you. There are
some sites about
auditions but it
is better to get
one of the
oldest and best
books on
audition
technique if
you’re not
able to study
with a coach or
get in auditions
to practice.
Michael
Shurtleff wrote
a book on
audition
technique back
in the 1980’s
and it still
holds up today.
Very few actors
have not read it
or heard of it.
Most bookstores
have it or can
order it, plus
you can find it
online. Not to
mention you can
go to theatre
auditions in
other areas
where they
don’t know you
and want to see
you audition for
practice.
You
will have to
keep one thing
in mind. At this
point you sound
like a person
who is headed to
Broadway. Stage
and film
techniques are
very different.
The audition is
not all that
different but
the acting style
is. Train for
the style of
work you want
down the line.
Stage acting is
too big for
camera and
camera acting is
too small for
stage.
Break
a leg and email
back if you need
more help.
Sincerely,
Michele
Sent: Friday,
November 07, 2003
To: advise@karateangels.com
Subject: Michele
2 Questions:
Hey, i just moved to LA, i do have an agent as
far as the acting goes, but as far as martial
Arts I’m looking for a private instructor to
work with me. i have a kung fu background and
was wondering if u knew of any or how to find a
quality Kung fu instructor to work with (if they
r or have been in the entertainment industry
that would be great too but just finding a
quality instructor would be great for now, I’d
pay of course)? Thanks
Since I’m not exclusive to my agent i was
wondering what u think the best way to get
involved in action movies is? (Extra work,
website, etc.)
Thanks...
Dear
Dave,
Getting
in action films mean lots of networking to get
your feet wet. Get your name in with stunt
coordinators who use Kung Fu to start. They will
be more open to you to begin with. Ask about
interning for them and setting up stunts as
apposed to doing them. Most stunt coordinators
want to work with people who will follow their
lead and chosen safety precautions. If you show
a willingness to learn from the ground floor up
they are more likely to move you over to the
stunts themselves once they trust you. It all
boils down to safety and trust for action actors
on set. Taking time on this matters most.
To
locate a Kung Fu instructor in your current
location should be easy but finding one with a
film background will require a little homework
on your part. You have multiple options to
research. After you find the instructors you can
call and ask them if they have worked in or with
action films. Keeps notes on what they say and
then go to the web and type in imdb.com. This is
a film web site that keeps lists of major films
and the names of those who worked on them. Some
martial arts movies may not be listed. You can
check Leonard Maltin’s film and video books to
verify film titles. It may take a bit more work
to verify that instructor worked on the project
unless you go rent the video. Look for them in
scenes or in the credit roll at the end.
Enjoy…you
are in California which means there are plenty
of options. Keep your eyes open, network like
crazy and let us know if you need more help.
Sincerely,
Michele
From:
Natalie
Sent: Sunday, May 25, 2003
To: advise@karateangels.com
Subject:
Hi!
I have been
taking karate for years, and I love it, and I
thought that that was what I wanted to do for a
job. Considering that I'm only 14, I change my
mind constantly, but I really have a passion for
karate. A few months ago, my school suggested
that I do acting because I only had sports as my
electives. I starting and I loved it. It was so
amazing. But I also still love karate. I don't
really know if I should perssue my acting, or my
karate. It's such a hard decision, because I
know that if I try hard enough, I can succede at
either one of those. If anyone has any
suggestion please e-mail me: sweetpeangm@aol.com.
Thanks!
Natalie M.
Natalie,
Why only do one? Why pick? You are young enough
to keep working on both. This way you can be
prepared to act, do stunt, or be an action
actor. It will give you an edge to have a larger
background. Since it takes time and you cannot
go on your own until you are 18, now is the time
to let mom and dad haul you to all the lessons
and the after school rehearsals you can handle
without letting your grades slip. It will be
hard, but by the time you are 18 and going up
against others who just started…you
will be way ahead of the pack! You will have
time to build a resume in acting that makes you
proud and a stand out to casting directors,
especially when they see the MA on your special
skills segment of your resume. So my suggestion
is to not pick one because you sound able to do
both. Become a double threat to anyone going up
against you in the future. Take this time and
don't forget to thank your parents. I promise
you they will be very exhausted taking you
everywhere. If finance prevents doing both…I
would do school shows while taking MA classes.
You can still do it all without having to pay
for two sets of lessons. It may take some
juggling and coordinating, but if you learn how
to do that now…you will
be hard to stop down the line! Best of luck to
you and let us know if we can help more.
Sincerely,
Michele Seidman
KarateAngels.com
From:
Brooks
Sent: Friday, May 09, 2003
To: advise@karateangels.com
Subject:
Agents and Stuff.
Hi,
I am a martial arts actor out here in Hollywood
and I was wondering if you have any names or
ideas on agencies (or managers) that specialize
in representing martial artists. I am not
having a ton of luck finding them. Any
help would be greatly appreciated. If
you're interested in seeing some of my stuff,
check out my website: www.brookscrouse.com
If you get there and try to look for
gowhitedragon, that second site is not up yet.
Sorry.
Anyway, thanks in advance for the help.
Dear
Brooks,
I am not aware of any agents that I am sure
handle MA actors only. There are some in
California that work with 'specialty' talent.
That includes MA, sports, wrestling and other
things used in film that are not legit acting.
Pick up the Ross Report and the LA Casting and
Survival Guide and look for agents who say they
are seeking 'specialty' or athletic types. Then
send out headshots and resumes to every one of
them. Most listings will tell you where to mail
things and if they allow you to do a follow up
call. Many will not take your calls and you will
only get a letter back saying no or we would
like to meet with you. Some may call to set up a
meeting but few allow you to call in. The expect
you to use the mail and wait. Yup…they
expect you to wait even if it is just for a
rejection letter. Take heart…an
agent may say no this month only to call in
three months because they got a phone call
looking for someone just like you. The more you
get your name and face out there the better.
As I mentioned in another email...most agents
are not set up for just martial artist. There
are a few that handle 'action-actors'. Pick up a
copy of the Ross report and The LA Casting and
Survival Guide. Between them you should be able
to locate an agent that does handle some
specialty stuff. That is your keyword in this
search "specialty". That is what most
agents label it in their listings. For the most
part there still seems to be no agents who only
handle martial arts actors. Many get their work
by constant networking at MA events and with
others who do the same work. Unlike legit film
the martial arts film is a special animal all
it's own. The rules that work for regular film
do not for MA film. The stunt coordinator or
sensei on set makes the final calls so try to
meet as many sensei's who do film and all the
stunt coordinators you can find. Once they know
your work and feel they can trust you on all
safety issues...your in. Being female may even
work to your advantage since so many in MA films
are men. Hope that helps and email back if you
need more information.
Start there and let us know how that goes.
Sincerely,
Michele Seidman
KarateAngels.com
Sent:
Thursday, May 15, 2003
To: advise@karateangels.com
Subject:
wanting an agent
hi my name is toni fitzgerald I am 11 years old
and would love to be in a lany type film, soap,
play or show of any kind. If anyone is
interested you would deffinetly get a quote off
my drama teacher and some of my primary school
teachers, anyone I know and who knows me, knows
I am a good actor and knows its my dream to be a
real one. If it is any addition I can sing
really good to, you can again ask my drama
teacher, my summer school teachers, my primary
school teachers and other people I can not say
so please read this and if your interested in
being my agent please send me a message back and
I will be more that pleased. I come from
liverpool in england in the uk.
from toni
Dear Toni,
I admire this much spunk from a person so young.
Keep this up and you will go far. A little bad
news...I am no longer an agent and have not been
one since 1996 or so. I cannot be your agent. It
would be hard even if I was still an agent
because most agents only work with talent who
are in their community. You and I have an ocean
between us. Start doing some research on filming
in you area...or the next major city that might
have people do this kind of work. Plus, it will
be good to do theatre outside of school to make
your resume bigger. This will impress agents
that you have worked on shows outside of school
because they know how difficult it is to do the
shows and do school work. They will admire your
work ethic.
You will need your parents help because it is
not legal for an agent to meet with anyone under
18 without a parent or guardian there to look
over and sign the contracts. Your parents will
come in very handy if you let them! Best of luck
and I will keep my fingers crossed that you make
your way in to the biz.
Sincerely,
Michele Seidman
KarateAngels.com
From:
Joshua R
Sent: Sunday, August 03, 2003
To: advise@karateangels.com
Subject:
Martial arts movie acting
My twin brother and I just won two World
Championship titles at the Las Vegas
Internationals in June. Do you know of any
talent agents that deal specifically with
martial arts? Can you recommend anyone?
Josh and Jeremy Roarty "The Wonder
Twins"
Dear Josh and Jeremy,
I have heard a rumor that there is an agency
opening up in New Jersey that will only handle
martial arts talent. No one has been able to
confirm if they are good or not yet so I
hesitate to give out there information. There
are some agents in California who handle what
are called "action actors' (those who
combine athletic skill and acting). I have no
clue if you or your brother do any acting so it
makes it harder to point you in the right
direction. However, with two titles won in Vegas
I would guess you and your brothers names are
already getting known.
Now would be the time to call any contact you
have ever made in movies or martial arts films
and ask them to introduce you to a few people
while you hold these titles. Use every
networking skill you have and get your names out
in your area and the West coast. This should get
the ball rolling. Let me know if I can help
more.
Sincerely,
Michele Seidman
KarateAngels.com
From:
Michael
Sent: Thursday, September 18, 2003
To: advise@karateangels.com
Subject:
Michele
I just happened to come across this site and
would like to find out some information
reguarding trying to get my daughter in the
correct direction for maybe possible acting or
as an extra in martial arts. She is now 10 years
old, very talented and active in both school and
Tae Kwon Do.... soon to have her black belt and
wants to pursue further with ninjitsu and akido.
She loves to act out and be the center of
attention... as she has many awards for
competitions and participation with her Martial
arts school and they love to have her every
chance they get, even offering her lead roles in
demonstrations ( she is also on their demo team)
Any Information would be greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
Michael Charles Ramer, Jr.
Dear Michael,
It seems you are already on a good path for your
daughter. The most important thing for her to do
at this point is more acting background. It
sounds like she is very well set up for MA but I
fear the demo's you speak of are MA related and
not just acting work. If she builds both resumes
she has a much better chance of getting work
doing both together, or apart. I always suggest
'Black Box' or "Studio' theatre because the
main stage theatre is best for those who want to
go to Broadway and not film. Look around your
town and see if there is an acting coach who
works with children. At her age it should be
simple basics and none of this sense memory
stuff. That is only for older actors and if any
teacher tries to use Method or Technique
training on a child…I
would not trust them. Children are very natural.
It is the adult who needs serious training to
remove blocks and walls we build as we age. A 10
year old has little to none yet.
It increase her odds of getting an agent and
parts if she has started to build a resume but
young children often get a chance to audition
with a small resume. It is expected for the
young ones to have limited backgrounds. In fact
many casting people prefer kids with little
stage and no pageant work at all. Those kids are
often over trained. Make sure to get her to read
out loud as much as possible and to work on
adding new words to her vocabulary. Sometimes
the scripts lines expect the children to act
more grown up and use bigger words. The earlier
you prepare her the better off she is.
Let us know here if you need more help. That
should keep you busy for a little while.
Sincerely,
Michele Seidman
KarateAngels.com
From:
Samuel Rivera
Sent: Wednesday, September 24, 2003
To: advise@karateangels.com
Subject:
I'm interested in participating in movies.
Dear Michele,
Hi my name is Samuel Rivera, and I am both a
martial artist and a gymnast. In reality I have
been doing martial arts since I was five (Now I
am 19) infact I won 2 juvenile Tae Kwon Do
championships in Puerto Rico. However my dream
had always been to be in the movies, I believe
it was the original Teenage Mutant ninja turtles
that first got me in to Martial Arts. But as I
grew up I watched all sorts of movies the Power
Rangers stick in mind the most (Since I watched
I dreamt with doing flips), I also admire the
acribatic talent in the Mortal Kombat movies,
Ray Park being my favorite Movie actor, but more
on that later.
My Tae Kwon Do teacher always used to tell me
that someday I would make it to the Olympic
trials, so we were training very hard but when I
was 13 my mother had been diagnosed with a
stomach condition that had to be treated in
pennstate medical center, so that sort of
screwed my Olympic plans. In here we didn;t have
a car so there was no way I could go to a Tae
Kwon Do school, but maybe it was fate that a
gymanstics school was close to me so I started
gymanstics at age 14.
In Martial Arts they never taught me flips but
in gymanstics I learned pretty quickly, which
was surprising to some of the coaches bacause I
am tall 5'-101/2" it was very difficult at
first even today I learn something every year,
but because of my determination to someday be in
movies I learned alot now I am a decent gymanst
and my flashiest trick so far is the Butterfly
twist which I learned from watching Ray Park in
different movies, but I am working on others. I
have a semester of Drama in college and while no
one ever taught me how to fall, I have learned
how to fall by myself as I usually practice
falling on the gym by myself. I also teach
gymnastics as part time job and finally I got a
car and went back to Tae Kwon Do.
I really don't want to start as the star even a
stunt doubling job would do it for me after all
that is how Ray Park started out. I want to know
how can I find agents, and how are agents
helpful in my case where I am not an established
actor or stunt double? Thank you for your time.
Samuel Rivera
Dear
Samuel,
Oh boy you are going to love me. You have
several great advantages. Being smaller stature
means you can double for adults and teenagers.
Yet being an adult they do not have the same
laws binding them for work hours. This is a
major strong point in your favor. Now add to
that you have MA and gymnastics in your
background and you are someone to watch. This
means you can do MA and other stunts as well. Be
careful on self teaching falls and other stunts.
The problem would come up when you don't fall
the way everyone else is trained. Just don't
marry yourself to any self training and be
prepared to be told you did it wrong. Some stunt
coordinators might simply tell you to do it
there way, end of discussion.
Since your interest is mostly stunt and you are
willing to work your way to acting, consider
researching stunt coordinators in your area or
near by cities. Do not go to any stunt camps
that promise to get you work. Most never do.
Instead, offer to intern for free. Plan ahead
for this and save at least a month or two worth
of bills. You will do mostly grunt work and
little stunt at the start. Once they trust you
and know you are aware of 'their' rules on stunt
and safety they will let you do some of the
work. If you are good and reliable, they will
hire you in the future as well as pass your name
on to others. Again…because
of your height…you are a
hot find if you turn out to be good! Best of
luck and let us know if we can help more!
Sincerely,
Michele Seidman
KarateAngels.com
From:
Jeff
Sent: Tuesday, July 01, 2003
Subject: fighting
Hi um I am in a wheelchair I don't exactly want
to be in a movie but I want to learn the martial
arts moves of a movie star sandra hess aka sonya
blade I want to learn the moves in both movies
if possible i want to be safe u know shes got
cool moves I dont want a vidoe on that I want to
be taught by the same sensi (sorry if I spelled
that wrong) As sandra
Please thanks
Dear
Jeff,
Do you know who her coach is? Does she live in
your community? If not it may be difficult to
locate the right coach. Not only that, most
people who do martial arts in film have trained
with more than one person and in more than one
style. I am afraid I do not know who she trained
with. Maybe if you email us back with more
information we might locate who the sensei is!
Sincerely,
Michele Seidman
KarateAngels.com
Sent:
Monday, July 07, 2003
Subject: Re: fighting
look please write me back I am sick of being let
down
Jeff P.
Jeff,
I must warn you that your approach will make
people mad. Look at it from where I sit. I do
not know you and I am not the person who let you
down. Yet your email seems to be angry towards
me. Does that seem fair? Maybe if you try a
gentler style of communicating you might get a
better response. My mother often said "You
catch more flies with honey than you do with
vinegar". Please for your own future in any
business, review what you said to me above. You
alone make the choice of how you speak to
others.
This is meant to be honest and not mean. If this
were not for KarateAngels.com, and you were one
of my private students...I would have thrown you
out of my classes for speaking to me that way
and would have warned every agent and casting
director that you were difficult to work with.
That is how the real world works in any
business. The only reason I responded is that I
am here answering questions not only for
KarateAngels.com but to help people prevent
making major mistakes as they progress. This
email from you was a major mistake and most
people would have not even answered. So don't
get mad at me for being honest with you. Decide
what you can do to prevent making other people
angry before they even know you. Think carefully
about why anyone would help or hire a stranger
who blames sight unseen.
Sincerely,
Michele Seidman
KarateAngels.com
From:
Jeff
Sent: Tuesday, July 01, 2003
To: advise@karateangels.com
Subject:
fighting
I am in a wheelchair I dont exactly want to be
in the movie but I want to learn the same moves
as sandra hess aka sonya blade moves from both
movies if possible I want to be taught by a same
sensi as sandra but if u cant I will understand
but look I just wann feel safe! but if u deny me
this factor I will understand!
Bye
Dear Jeff,
No one can deny you anything...not even me. Only
you can deny yourself. It is up to each of us to
figure out our own strengths and weaknesses and
to work with them so we cannot be denied. A
famous actor named Gregory Hines told me this
"It is those who will NOT be denied who
make it in this industry. It is up to you, not
everyone else to make it happen. Other will help
and guide but cannot do it for you. Only you
can. I addressed your question in your other
email.
Sincerely,
Michele Seidman
KarateAngels.com
From: Debbie
Kahana
Sent: Saturday, May 03, 2003
Subject: Advise
Dear Michele,
Ran across your site and thought you would find
what we do fills in another aspect of your wise
words. Check out www.stuntsareus.com
We're a non profit run by a 2nd and 3rd
generation stunt family (The Kahana's) Raised in
the Martial Arts circuit in the 70's and
teaching "action acting" as stunt
people. We focus on children.
Thanks for looking, nice article!
D. Kahana
Dear Deb,
Thanks for the nice email. I took a quick peek
at the site. Best of luck to you in all you do.
It is always great to see women out there
working in the stunt world. To think they once
put wigs on men. I am also glad to know that
someone with a background is focusing on the
kids.
Maybe they will add a link to your site if they
think it is viable!
Michele
From: Chris C.
Sent: Friday, March 28, 2003
Subject: career help
I've wanted to be a stunt double all my life and
I found your website and thought you might be of
assistance. I'm a 19 year old athlete who was
known throughout school as Krazy Chris for the
dares and bets I did for the thrill of doing
something that others would not dare to do. My
dream is to do this for a living no matter what
comes with it. I would like to learn stage
fighting to go with my stunts. That might help
my future career. I have a good start by
learning 3 forms of wrestling, a little jiu
jitsu, and currently learning capoeira. Any help
or information would be appreciated.
With thanks,
Krazy Chris
Dear Krazy Chris,
I think I would start by taking the krazy out of
your name. Most stunt men do not want people who
will do crazy wild stuff. If you want to
consider doing stunt work for film, please do
not try crazy thrills. Stunt men are very
serious individuals. They must be, the work
dictates it. Some days they have to do dangerous
stunts 10, 20 or more times in a row. They think
safety first and never do anything wild that is
not done with precision, timing and plenty of
safety devises. As a matter of fact, one of the
biggest stunt guys I know refuses to hire dare
devils. He says they are the first to get hurt
on set and that slows down production and costs
a ton of money.
Take this well...stick with more of the training
you mentioned. Keep adding to the different
disciplines and fighting styles. Seek stunt
people who hire fighters and martial artists and
try to intern for them. Find instructors who
have film or TV backgrounds so they can also
teach you continuity techniques and camera
techniques.
Again, if you want to do this for a
living...first consider dropping the 'krazy'
stuff and think safety and how to live another
day to do the work again and again. I promise if
you take this tact you will go much further in
stunt work.
Break a leg,
Michele
Sent: Saturday,
January 18, 2003
To: advise@karateangels.com
Subject: Actor
seeks AGENT please read
Hi Michelle.
My name is John Richardson I own a production
studio in Downtown Miami, I recently produced a
Martial arts Demo for a gentleman named Sang Koo
Kang. He is Master in TAE KWON DO his website is
www.sangstkd.com.
If you represent actors I would like to refer
this talented man to you . Please call him at
your convenience.
He is already in SAG and has choreographed and
acted in a few films . Most recently he had a
role in the movie Rush Hour 2 Directed by Brett
Ratner and starring Jackie Chan.
Basically he is looking for an Acting agent in
the Miami area where he resides.
Hi John,
I just could not use Dear John...lol. Sorry to
say that I am no longer a talent agent. I
stopped doing that in 1996. I wish I could help
him but not to fear...he is SAG and in Miami!
This is good. Miami is loaded with SAG
affiliated agents and they are easy to find
through the SAG web site at www.sag.com
. Since he has worked with some good names in
film...I am fairly certain a few agents would
love to have him in their files. That should get
the ball rolling!
Michele
KarateAngels.com
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