The entertainment industry was very different when I started out in Hollywood as an agent’s assistant. Over the years, I’ve seen technology change the way both reps and actors work in a major way. Most of those updates have been good, but a few haven’t.
So join me for a brief history lesson on the recent past. Those of you under 30 will laugh in disbelief; the rest of you will groan as the painful memories kick in.
Let’s begin with headshots. You know what hasn’t changed? They’re still your number one calling card as an actor. A great photo will open doors, while a bad one will keep them closed. In the past, these were hard copies you could hold in your hands. If you were a dreamer, you could even practice autographing them. Actors would spend a fortune printing those things by the hundreds; then they’d spend another fortune mailing them to agents, managers, and casting directors.
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I’ve always pictured the landfills around L.A. and New York packed with millions of 8x10 headshots stacked in piles that reach to the sky. If this were a scene from a horror film, they’d come to life and enact vengeance on the CDs and reps who rejected them. Luckily, that madness (and environmental nightmare) ended about 20 years ago. Headshots are now submitted digitally in the blink of an eye.
When I moved to L.A., I was stunned by how jam-packed the freeways were. The traffic was endless. I soon realized that many of those cars were being driven by actors on their way to auditions. Back then, they were almost always held in person. That’s a lot of performers racing all over town like mice in a maze.
There were days when one of my clients would have a morning audition in Santa Monica followed by another in Burbank, which is about 30 miles away. To further complicate matters, sometimes a commercial agent would call to tell me that our shared client had a major callback that conflicted with one of the TV auditions I booked, and could I please change the time?
SAG-AFTRA Has Made Self-Taping an Industry Norm; Here’s How to Embrace It Today, the majority of auditions are submitted via self-tape. This means that producers don’t have to pay rent on a casting office and my clients can save money on gas. But there’s a major downside: The human element is gone. Actors used to build relationships with CDs by connecting with them in person, and they, in turn, were able to give live notes on their performance. That doesn’t happen when you’re recording your audition at home.
Eleven years ago, a relatively well-known DVD rental company called Netflix released a series that would “stream” to viewers on their computers—Beau Willimon’s “House of Cards.” Its premiere signaled the first rumblings of a seismic shift that would change the world and create endless opportunities for everyone in the industry.
I wonder what’s coming next: Cranial implants that allow you to record auditions mentally? Holographic signals that send content right to your brain? And what about artificial intelligence? Does its widespread use herald the beginning or the end of something we don’t yet understand?
From my perspective, it’s all good as long as I get my 10%.
This story originally appeared in the Sept. 5 issue of Backstage Magazine.
