Boot Camp

One of the ways I supplement my income (shocker! writing a book about the acting business doesn't pay the bills) is by editing demo reels for actors. I came up with the idea when I needed to get my own demo reel made and found that people wanted to charge me upwards of $75 an hour to get it done. So, I've set up an affordable practice from my home office where people bring me their footage and I cut it for a flat rate of $150. I get some pocket cash, actors don't break the bank to get their reel, la, la, la... everyone is happy.

I'm telling you this not to solicit clients (okay, that'd be fine too) but because I am so steaming mad at the number of people who take advantage of actors with exorbitant fees and even more expensive promises, and I want to make sure I make a full declaration of how I conduct business before I tell this tale. 

One of my clients came to me needing an update to his reel. He had attended a Hosting Bootcamp - a weekend seminar taught by a "hosting expert" (whatever that means) at the cost of $500. At the end of the seminar, you get to do two minutes in front of a green screen. However, if you want the footage, you have to pay an additional $20 for a DVD (they cost fourteen cents wholesale, I know). The DVD he ended up with skips in places, and they won't send him a new one, he has to drive out to Santa Monica and get one. Plus, he told me that the "Hosting Expert" spent a majority of her time talking about politics, not teaching hosting.

Now, for $500 you could buy a camcorder and stand in front of a green wall and make all the hosting tape you want. And from what he tells me about the class, they didn't learn anything. Her class boasts about teaching you to read copy. (Um, read it, and look at the camera, and have a personality.) There comes a point where I just want to scream at people, if you can't figure out how to do something like this on your own you should probably NOT BE IN THIS BUSINESS.

It's everyone's fault. The actors who think they need the footage so badly that it's worth the money, that they'll learn that one little secret that will suddenly boost them to stardom. (There is no secret, there is only subjectivity). The ethically corrupt "experts" who teach these high priced classes - I figure this woman must make at least $10,000 a seminar. And guess how she's not making that money? Hosting her own show.

Yes, there are expenditures, but please be wise about the ones you choose. Spending half of your rent on a weekend, learning to read a cue card, that's not going to get you anywhere. Instead, stay home that weekend and watch Ryan Seacrest host the Idol on your Tivo and figure out what he's doing that's so good, because people love that guy. Get a little innovation. Because if you don't have that, who on earth is going to trust you to host their show.