Do acting showcases work?

Do acting showcases work. Lately, I've had quite a few students or prospective students come to the studio and asking me if we provide showcases, to which I say, "No, we don't." because I don't believe they're a part of the new economy, the new acting world. I think that uh for kids, it makes sense. If you are a child actor or learning, yes, your parents that are paying for classes want to see some culmination. I think that the agents and managers and some casting people will come out to see children, young talent, because they're brand new and that's what they need. They want to see how do they handle under pressure. But for the most part, I don't know any showcases that work for adults. And you can let me know in the comments if you disagree with me because I'd be really wonderful to know that. It would be wonderful to know that. I think a play is a wonderful showcase. Go and do a play. [laughter] Go and shoot your own material, find something, write a script, get creative. Those can be a showcase for you. But with managers, agents, reps, because that's usually why people want to do a showcase. They want to see tapes for the they can watch so many. They don't want to necessarily on a Friday night drive from the valley to downtown LA and go and watch a showcase somewhere or come to the west side unless they really know that there's somebody that's very special in that. So, I think it makes the actors feel good that you're having a culmination event. One caveat that I will have for that is most college programs, if you're graduating with a degree in theater or film and television production, they'll have a showcase at the end that managers and agents and people will casting people will come to watch, but that's a very specific thing to typically a 4-year program. So, find ways to create your own showcase that you can showcase yourself. What are the scripts that you want to work on? What are the things that you want to write? Do a play. Will people come out and see it? Maybe not. But it'll be experience. You'll get work. You'll get to work on stage. I think that's a fantastic way to spend your time rather than looking for a studio that might promise you a showcase where people come to see it, but does that mean that they'll do anything for you for it? There is a it's gone a little more underground but a little bit of a payforplay culture sometimes where you pay to do a scene for certain casting or assistance or agent assistants will come and watch you. They tell you repeatedly it's no guarantee of employment that you're not getting anything other than educational benefit from that. But of course, you probably wouldn't participate in that unless you thought there was somebody who would give you something for that. So trust your gut on these things. But even for those, it's experience. Go out there, have some fun, learn something, but don't expect to get discovered in a showcase. And maybe I'm wrong. I was watching the wonderful God of War with Jason Mamoa and the actor who plays Kamehahha was discovered by Jason surfing on the beach. So I don't think they would have found him in a lot of times people will contact me if they're looking for something in other acting studios of course if they're looking for something specific. They need somebody who speaks Mandarin who's 65 years old. I don't have that person at the studio currently, but they might reach out for something like that. But a general showcase, I don't see that being beneficial in the ways that you want it to be beneficial. At least not today. Put yourself on tape for something. There's much greater chance that those people will watch that. When crews and productions are looking for something very specific, they might go to a dance studio. If they're looking for specific dancers for something, Jason Mimoa for the wonderful chief of war found the actor who plays Kamehahha at an outrigger canoe race in Hawaii. So, and outrigger canoe probably the most amazing sport on the planet. Maybe my husband does outrigger canoe. Maybe. So being involved in things, especially if you want to do a western, knowing how to ride a horse, good idea. Well, they might contact a a stable. If they're looking for somebody who knows how to ride a horse, they might look for something like that. Showcases to me are very different from class. Every once in a while I'll have somebody in the industry, director, writer, manager, agent who want to sit in on a class of mine. It depends on what's going on whether I will allow it or not. If an actor says, "Oh, my agent wants me wants to sit in on class." I can pretty much guarantee you the the actor will be the worst they've ever been because they want to perform. They want to show everybody that they know what to do. So performance is not what you want to be getting out of an acting class. You want skill set. You want to be able to have all of that raw material for auditions and for when you're on set. So the idea of performance is different skill set than the acting class. Even though ultimately of course you are studying acting to be able to perform, but something that will culminate in eight weeks to show what you've learned in class. I just I don't see it. Do a self tape. When you are ready to do what you came here for, come and see us for a class in person or online and I will see you next week. Oh, it wasn't surfing out rigger canoe. Okay. Well, I got to be specific about that.