Breaking into the Biz: Getting Started in the Most Competitive Industry on the Planet
2:00 pm-3:30 pm – Room C998
It's often said that an acting career is a marathon, not a sprint, but how do you take the first step? This lively discussion will cover the crucial early decisions that all aspiring actors face--and how to avoid falling into common traps. Beginning an acting career takes more than a pretty face and a few pictures. Come listen to our energetic and entertaining panel debate the most important steps actors should take to launch their careers--whether they're new to the business or just stalled on the road. Moderated by Jackie Apodaca, Actor, Teacher, Senior Columnist, Back Stage.
Speakers:
-- Paulo Andrés, Manager, RPA Entertainment
-- Tony Martinez, Talent Agent, GVA
-- Francene Selkirk, Commercial Casting Director
-- Tineka Becker, Casting Director, Middleton Casting
SPEAKER BIOS
Paulo Andrés, Manager, Rothman/Patino/Andrés Entertainment
Paulo Andrés has been a talent manager for over eight years, handling actors across the board, from developmental clients to series regulars. Starting out as a performer himself, he graduated from St. Edward's University with a degree in directing and moved to Los Angeles. In 1993 he joined the Actors' Network.
Quickly realizing that he had found a great thing, he committed himself to its growth and expansion. In 1996 his devotion culminated in full partnership, and his dedication to each member and his knowledge of the business transformed the Actors' Network into a leading organization for the working actor.
Paulo's desire to assist actors in their careers eventually became his driving passion, and he transitioned from actor to personal manager. In February 2002, he opened Network Talent Management, where he served a small group of working actors. Quick successes led him to develop key relationships. In June 2004, he formed a partnership with Kurt Patino and opened Link Talent Group. On May 1, 2008, with great anticipation, they merged with Rachel Rothman to create Rothman/Patino/Andrés Entertainment, expanding their company to include production development.
Paulo proudly served for four years as board president of Common Ground in Santa Monica, Calif., the only HIV/AIDS community service center in Los Angeles' Westside. He currently serves on the board of Century of Compassion, an organization dedicated to making this century the most compassionate and peace-filled time in human existence. He speaks across the nation on the business of acting to actors who plan to move to Los Angeles. In 2009 he cycled for his third time, 545 miles from San Francisco to Los Angeles, in the annual AIDS/LifeCycle fundraiser. He has also run five marathons.
Some of Paulo's clients include Peter Riegert, Shalim Ortiz ("Heroes"), Marlene Forte ("Tyler Perry's House of Payne"), and Ethan Erickson ("Melrose Place"). His hugely successful commercial client Chad Brokaw is well-known as the lovable "Chad the Alltel guy." Paulo has a knack for discovering and developing young talent, like client Nick Thurston, who stars in the soon-to-be-released film "White Irish Drinkers" opposite Stephen Lang and Karen Allen.
Tony Martinez, Talent Agent, GVA
Tony Martinez is a graduate of the film department at the School of Visual Arts in New York. During his 20s, he worked as music-video producer for high-profile groups like the Black Crowes, Danzig, Run-DMC, the Beastie Boys, and many others. After moving west, Tony was accepted into the agent training program at Paradigm.
Since then, he has worked at several respected companies; he's currently the senior agent at GVA Talent Agency. Over the years, he has represented series regulars on shows like "Desperate Housewives," "30 Rock," "CSI," "Heroes," "Criminal Minds," "Terriers," "V," and "Lost." Tony is also the author of "An Agent Tells All," about the business of acting.
Francene Selkirk, Casting Director, Shooting From The Hip Casting
Francene Selkirk has been a casting director in television and commercials, an actor, and a commercial producer. In the last 20 years, she has had her own casting company, Shooting From the Hip Casting, and has cast commercials for such award-winning directors as Tom Kuntz at MJZ, Chris Smith and Renny Maslow at Smuggler, Peter Care at Bob Industries, Philippe Andre at Company, and James Haworth at Untitled Films.
Most recent successes are Old Spice, White Gold, Geico, USPS, FreeCreditScore.com, and many more. She works with advertising agencies such as Wieden & Kennedy; J. Walter Thompson; Ogilvy & Mather; Mendelsohn Zien; Goodby, Silverstein & Partners; Saatchi & Saatchi; DDB; Young & Rubicam; TBWA; Chiat/Day; Hill Holiday; and many more. Over the last nine years, she has been working for half-hour television improvisational comedies for Comedy Central, Bravo, Fox, Oxygen, and NBC.
She cast comedy sketches for "Talkshow With Spike Feresten" and "The Wanda Sykes Show" for Fox, as well as "The Naked Trucker & T-Bones Show" on Comedy Central. Other projects include Bravo's improvisational hit "Significant Others" and "Free Ride" for Fox. Francene has lent her talents to a variety of projects, from dramatic music videos to hard-hitting PSAs to interactive Internet games. It's never a dull moment at Shooting From the Hip.
Tineka Becker, Casting Director, Middleton Casting
Tineka Becker spent the first 10 years of her professional career as a theater actress and director in both Chicago and New York. Since moving to L.A. to pursue a career in casting, she has been fortunate enough to work with some of the great feature casting directors.
With Burrows/Boland Casting, she worked on Peter Jackson's "The Lovely Bones" Robert Zemeckis' "A Christmas Carol," with Jim Carrey; Steven Spielberg's "Tintin" Paul W.S. Anderson's "Resident Evil: Extinction" and "Death Race" Albert Brooks' "Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World" Stephen J. Cannell's "The Greatest American Hero" and numerous other features. With Francine Maisler & Associates, she worked on "Moneyball," with Brad Pitt, and James L. Brooks' "How Do You Know."
Her work with Middleton Casting includes Chris Weitz's "Twilight: New Moon" and Tom Ford's directorial debut "A Single Man" as well as the upcoming films "Little Fockers," with Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro; Doug Liman's "Fair Game" (the Valerie Plame story); John Singleton's "Abduction," starring Taylor Lautner; and Tarsem Singh's "Immortals," to be released on 11/11/11, among others.
She cast the family-themed short film "Alex's Halloween," starring Jane Lynch, which has won numerous awards and has been included in a variety of film festivals, including the Chicago International Children's Film Festival, the Los Angeles International Children's Film Festival, and the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. She also cast the short film "Dharini," which screened at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival.
Jackie Apodaca, Actor, Teacher, Back Stage Columnist (Moderator)
Jackie received her BFA in acting at U.C. Santa Barbara, with high honors and distinction in the major, and an MFA in acting from the National Theatre Conservatory. She has worked in theater for more than 20 years, with companies such as the Roundabout Theatre Company, the Denver Center Theatre Company, Summer Repertory Theatre, Venice Theatre Works, and the Elephant Theatre Company, which produced her first play, "My Only Hopeless."
Jackie is the producing director of the critically acclaimed Shakespeare Santa Barbara, where she has directed "The Taming of the Shrew" and played Helena in "A Midsummer Night's Dream," Viola in "Twelfth Night," Mistress Page in "The Merry Wives of Windsor," and Beatrice in "Much Ado About Nothing." She is also a resident artist at the Uprising Theatre Company, where she directed "How Our In-Laws Ruined Our Wedding."
Jackie spent several years as the head of production for Modern Media, a Los Angeles–based commercial production company. She has produced several indie films and has appeared in numerous commercials. Currently, she teaches acting, directing, and production at the UCSB.
She is a senior columnist for Back Stage, for which she has been writing The Working Actor, the paper's signature advice column, since 2003.