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From: Nishbeth G
To: advise@karateangels.com
Subject: Michele: acting
Hey Michele:
I'm a 14 year old girl and I have read all
the...um...'document' you put on. It really helped but I
have a few questions...."du'h!' ^^;;
Fisrt: Once I um... You mentioned that practicing
martial arts its the best way to get started so lets say
I do what then? continue until I get the black belt? but
then?? I live on Puerto Rico and my mom and dad would
let me travel if I'm sure of what I want. I want to be
an actress so I will take your advice and start as a
martial artist. But Afterwards what do I do?? How do I
audition?? Since I live in puerto rico I don't have news
obout auditions for hollywood movies or any movie!
Please do write back!! It's my dream to become an
actress!
Sincerly yours
Nishbeth
________________
Dear Nishbeth,
First things first, do you want to be an actress or a
'action actor'? If you want to be an actress, you do not
have to learn martial arts. Martial arts is one of the
best ways to make your way in to action movies, as a
stunt person or action actor. Actors do not have to be
in M.A to be in regular movies that do not have lots of
stunts or chases.
If you only want to act, follow the article I wrote for
the web site about taking classes and doing theatre. I
know there is stage in Puerto Rico. In fact I know an
actor from that area who does not do any martial art.
His name is Henry Darrow (Delgado). He was the first
Latino actor to play Zorro and was a series regular on
the television show High Chaparral. He can still be
spotted in film and doing guest spots on television. He
started with stage work and radio and worked his way up.
He rarely did his own stunts and even once sent a
'dummy' up in a plane in his place. Martial arts are not
a requirement to act...but they sure help if you want to
do action films and stunt work.
If you want to do action acting, you don't have to
become a multiple degree black belt but it is better if
you train for a long time. Most stunt coordinators will
want you to be very capable of all the moves, and be
able to take their direction. That can be hard for the
over trained person at times because they want to do the
'strike or hit' the real way, when the film camera
requires cheating angles to look right on film. So be
ready to adapt.
Once you have gotten some stage work in your area you
will start to meet other actors and hear about bigger
projects. It will take some time but you are young.
Don't forget they make television shows where you live.
Soap operas are a good way to make a living and build a
resume to move on to larger things. Commercials can pay
a lot of bills if they get run a lot. Start in your area
and worry about moving to a bigger market once you have
learned a few skills and know more about the industry.
Everyone should buy the book "Hollywood 101"
by Frederick Levy. It is a good book about the film
industry. I do not know if it translated to Spanish, so
you may have to translate it yourself. Best of luck and
keep us posted.
Michele
From:
billl
Sent: Monday, January 09, 2006
To: advise@karateangels.com
Subject: Michele
Michele, I collect autographed photos of people
in movies and would like to add yours to my
collection, i have al-ways wanted to be a stunt
person, but could never travel great distances
for long periods of time, iam a
professional Firefighter right now, but my hobby
is collecting autographed photos and if you
could send me one i would appreciate it and I
don't expect it for free please let me know how
much you would have to have for a sexy shot of
you.
Thank you,
Bill
Bill,
This site has a ton of children and teen agers
on it and was made for them. I do not take those
types of photos. I am a character actress and
most of my photos are normal or in character
make up and wardrobe. If you had not requested
such a photo you might have gotten one but the
fact you asked for that type of photo on a site
devoted to children is exactly why I will not
send one. As if the children in our world are
not exposed to too much already.
Any kids reading, you do not owe anyone a photo
of this type. You should never take a photo of
this type unless you are over 21 and it is your
choice only. The fact this person offered to pay
me for it also scares the heck out of me. This
is not normal in the film world. If someone
wants an autographed photo they normally ask for
just that and they do not ask for a certain type
of photo. Keep this in mind as you grow up and
work the industry.
Those types of photos are not needed to make a
name for yourself.
Bill, you made me mad asking for such a thing on
a site devoted to kids. Don't do it again or I
will leave your email address visible for
Parents and they can contact you about asking
for something like this on a site for kids and
teens. Be extra glad you did not do this in
person! An apology should be sent to this site
right away by this person.
Michele
(Kids
and Parent note: I would
have left this off the board but I thought it
would be a good chance for all the younger folks
to learn how to NOT allow someone to make them
uncomfortable as this person just did to me.
Parents tell your kids to watch out for key
words and to NEVER give in to a stranger asking
for inappropriate contact of any kind even in
photo form.)
From:
Frank
Sent: Monday, January 09, 2006
To: advise@karateangels.com
Subject: Michele
Hi,
Just wondering as a full time professional
martial arts instructor in the
Shotokan karate discipline and limited acting
experience. Living in the UK
and training in a discipline for over 23 years.
At the age 35 is it too late
to pursue a career in acting in marial
arts movies and based where I am
what is the best way of apporaching this in the
UK
Regards
Frank N
www.actistaff.com
Frank,
No it is not too late. As a matter of fact if
you read the numbers on who works in the film
world, men over 40 work more than any other
group. White men most, then black men, then
women come in the mix. The fact you are in your
middle 30's gives you time to learn a few film
tricks before you jump in. The older you get the
more you will work. Keep in mind Harrison Ford
was almost 40 before he really started to make
any name for himself and Wilford Brimley (sp?)
was 50 when he started acting.
The truth is there is no such thing as too late,
only not patient enough. It takes time no matter
what age you start so if you can handle that you
should be fine. Let's be honest, you are a
person of great discipline or you would not have
the background you now have. Take it an apply it
here. You can get up with stunt people in your
area. Sheffield studios is there and Equity is
the union. You should be able to get lists of
stunt actors from the union but I would not be
surprised to find out you have a few contacts
already because of your background. Use any
contact and ask questions.
Plus, you are not far from Italy and Cinne Citta
Studios. They are filming all the time there and
it is not too far for you to travel some.
Research any martial arts movie made in the UK
in the last 5 years too. That will give you the
names of the people who are working the most in
your area now. Find them, send them a photo and
a resume with a cover letter telling them of
your MA background and your interest in MA
films. Please do get some camera acting classes
under your belt because it will make a huge
difference once you get on set!
Let us know if we can help more.
Michele
From:
Tony
Sent: Saturday, January 07, 2006
To: advise@karateangels.com
Subject: Michele
Hi Michele,..my name is Tony tjioe,
First
I'm very impressed with you advices and
responds. I'm not sure if I wanted to be in the
movie, but, I was a 2 time National TKD champion
in Indonesia.. (It was the only 2 tournaments I
have participated in, both in Junior and senior
level, i was honored for the best Taekwondoin
too..)the reason I'm writing to you is I
think have a pretty good taste of what a Martial
arts movie should look like..
I tried to write to Jean claude Van Damme, abt
what he could do to make his movie better, i
havent yet got the respond. Well, let me explain
to you what i wrote to him...
I told him his moves are too choppy, he uses
1,2,3,4 ...count on most of his moves, instead
of 1,2-3-4,5..or 1,2,3-4-5, or any kind of
combinations in that manner. All his moves
looked like he's waiting for his opponent to
finish his/her attacks and then he made his
moves.. Second, he has already struggle from the
very beginning of his movie.. (it got better at
his lates movies...)I believe, the audiences
prefer to see their Idol to stay strong as
he/her until necessary reasons.. not when
he just came up on the screen fighting extras
who were just there for minutes..My point is, we
need to see him showing off his strenght before
he actually find his match..His face expression
when he took the hit was too painful too watch..
he should be able to show that the pain was bad,
but,he should have been like.. "Hey I'm the
man here, i can take it. that aint shit, give me
more..."
On his acting part, he needs to be in the movie
where there're at least couple of good actors,
to bring his acting up a bit.. C'mon we all know
that he's a cocky one,if he witnessed someone
who's doing a good job playing the part, he'd
want to top it..someone like late Pat Morita (in
Desert Heat) ,he(Jean) actually acted pretty
decent in that movie, i would tell you what Jet
Li has done wrong in his movie ,if you want me
to.....(let me know if you like to know what i
feel abt his movies..)Okay, i think I said enuff..
but, can you tell me where i would i fit in the
industry?
I appreaciate any respond,thx!
TT
Dear Tony,
Have you ever thought about reviewing MA movies?
You seem to have a lot of good ideas and
thoughts on how fights should look on film too.
Ever thought about learning to choreograph
fights for film?
I will tell you why you may never get a reply
from Jean Claude. First, no one likes a stranger
telling them they did everything wrong. Next
time try pointing out what you like about his
work and maybe only one or two thoughts on what
he did wrong. Personally I do not care for
watching him in films because it is public
record he has hit the women in his life. I will
not support any human who attacks weaker people
for no good reason. He may be well trained to
fight but he has no idea of what Bushido means.
Until he makes a public apology for hitting
women and gets help for it I will not watch his
work.
In his defense as far as film is concerned, all
of his moves may not be his own. Keep in mind
there is a director there often telling the
actors what he wants to see and not what the
actor wants to do in all cases. There is also a
key stunt person telling him what needs to be
done. Keep in mind that camera angles have to be
cheated and rarely does anyone make real contact
so it is all in the camera set up. Then add the
edit in the mix.
If
the editor is making final cuts he can make or
break the way an actor looks by choosing shots
that the actor did badly. I am not saying any of
this happened because I was not on those sets. I
am only mentioning how many factors can make or
break a way a film looks in the end. It is not
the talent alone that make a movie look good. I
have worked on films that the script looked like
crap but once shot and edited the film was
wonderful. You just never know until it is
finished and once it is done...it is done, good
or bad.
Hope that helps you figure out how filming works
a bit and make a choice for what you might do
down the line. Maybe you should look in to
editing!
Michele
From:
Emilmarti
Sent: Saturday, January 07, 2006
To: advise@karateangels.com
Subject: Michele
Dear Michele,
I was wondering if there are agents out there or
managers who deal with just Martial Arts Actors?
could you recommend me to any of them I would be
very grateful for your help.
Here is my website,
http://uk.geocities.com/emilmartirossian/
Thank you for your time,
Best wishes to you always,
Emil Martirossian
Emil,
I have heard of one or two agents that work with
MA talent but so far not one of those that set
up just for MA talent has managed to honestly
make any mark in the film world that I know of.
Most who claim to handle MA actors actually have
in house production companies and are looking
for cheap or free talent to help them make their
films come together. Now and then they actually
make a film but few make it to a theatre.
I
admit being involved in one such production
myself. In my own defense I was hired as an
actor and not a martial arts person and only
found out at the end of the film what was going
on. I got paid because my contracts were signed
before we started the film but others never got
their money and the film has not gotten a
distributor to this day.
Stick with regular talent agents and buy a copy
of the Ross Report from the Drama Bookstore in
NYC. They list all the agents and you can look
through to find who works with athletic talent.
Anything that says sports or specialty talent on
them should be the first people you send your
photo and resumes to. Start there and give us a
heads up on how that worked and if we need to
guide you further!
Michele
From:
Raza
Sent: Friday, January 06, 2006
To: advise@karateangels.com
Subject: new martial artist.
I have seen your web page. Let me
introduce myself. Name is Raza S***, I
live in a small town Redditch in England.
I have studied martial arts for years from
American kickbox, Muay Thai to Kung Fu, Choi
Kwang do. I want to come to Hollywood one
day, only to be a martial arts star. I
have not got much experience in acting however,
but you know martial arts is my sport.
This
is definitely the path I want to take for my
future, because I want to show my years of
experience to some of the world and make good
use of it. You mentioned in your web page,
at first you have to be a villian,. Hey I
am up for that. The only concern is I do
not know where to start. I mean no one has
ever taken this step from my city before and I
do not have any contacts around here that could
help me into your industry. I want to meet
the correct people, so I settle in to Hollywood
quickly rather then waiting for years and years
for some one to choose me. Could you give
me any contacts or even supportive advice at
this stage. It would help me so much.
raza
Raza,
I wish I knew your age because it would help me
guide you a little better. I am going to assume
you are young, at least below 20. If I am wrong
let me know because it will change a little bit
of the advise. First find out who teaches acting
for camera anywhere near you. Do not come to
Hollywood until you have had some acting classes
and even gotten some small film parts. If you
come to soon you could spend 5-10 years just
trying to get your foot in the door.
Now before you worry about the area you are in,
make sure to check for any college or university
near you that might have some film students
(maybe in Birmingham). You can be part of small
films and learn a few things first. This could
lead to better contacts in the UK too. I
know it seems weird to hear this but you are
only a few hours from London and they do make
movies there. That may seem some distance but
keep in mind all of the UK would fit inside one
state out of 50 here. Actors in the states are
used to traveling for work.
In
fact in the South Eastern US, actors drive 3-10
hours to audition because the work is so spread
out here. In California they drive and hour or
two just to go a few miles (horrible traffic
there), in NYC they travel by trains and subway
and depending where they have to travel from it
can take a few hours too.
I myself grew up in a state that had no movies
and not a single acting class at that time (now
they are a ton 20 years later). I did stage to
start. I built a resume and finally got an
agent. That is when I landed commercials and got
the part on the soap opera. I was 20 and started
doing stage at 12. It took me 8 years to get my
foot in the door. Keep patience as your best
friend and as Gregory Hines once said to me
"It is those who will not be
denied"...they make it. Don't let anyone
deny you and work your way here, pay your dues
and no one will be able to stop you.
Remember...I started in an area where no one had
done it before. I know it can be done!
Michele
Michele Seidman
offers private classes and consultations focusing on
camera acting, cold reading and the business of
show business. Private acting classes cost $30 per
session. Consultations for individuals interested in
acting or modeling, provide the proper information to
enter the 'biz.'
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