Customer Reviews

How to Be a Working Actor: The Insider's Guide to Finding Jobs in Theater, Film, and Television

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The book has it all. How to get an agent. Examples of Resumes, headshots, and audition scenes. Simply put it lives up to its title.

This is my personal acting bible! It includes everything you need to know about the acting biz! From a price list of everything you will need to move to N.Y or L.A, to creating your resume! This book deserves 5 million stars!

Look no further. This is the book that tells it like it is. You can spare yourself years of needless mistakes by taking the advice in this book to heart. Take it from two of the industry's top professionals...the important information every actor needs to succeed. This book could mean the difference between pounding the pavement and signing the contract!

Just moving to NYC, Los Angeles, or Chicago? Don't even think about starting out in the acting world with out reading Mari Lyn Henry's & Lynne Roger's book. It's the bible of the Acting Biz and can save you much time, money, and pain. It has it all... everything from headshots to getting an agent. Don't make a move unless you own it.

I am a well trained, working actor. Books that have truly helped me get to where I am are K Callan's "The New York Agent Book" and Brian O'neil's "Acting as a Business". Far more specific and useful. This book is general, and offers no new information.

I read this book when I first decided to risk a career in acting several years ago. It was very helpful in that it covered all the basics (and not-so-basics) that I would need to learn: terminology, career steps, pitfalls, different industries and cities. I still occasionally refer to it.

Yes, it is a little outdated now, and I would imagine it's more useful to those in LA or NYC with its heavy focus on TV and film, but I appreciated the little section on acting in Chicago. All in all, its breadth makes it a good investment.

FYI, for Chicago actors (bless your hearts), be sure to pick up "The Book," published by the trade paper PerformInk. A great (and necessary) resource guide to acting in Chicago.

When I bought this book, it was after leaving my college's theater department to move to Chicago. While the advice the book offers is remarkably down-to-earth and well-researched, it focuses almost exclusively on New York and LA, including listings of businesses and contacts.
The book offers... good advice that it almost makes New York a tempting place to go, just because I now feel I know the ropes before even auditioning.
As for Chicago, it's briefly mentioned with the attitude it's little more than where you'll have your layover as you fly to your sitcom audition. With such laser focus on just two cities, it becomes difficult to distinguish the general advice from the specific. With a little effort, you should be able to sift through the dropped names to the heart of the material.
The book's greatest strength is probably the gentle disillusionment it nudges its readers with. It removes the ideallised view of theater and replaces it with the truth; that it's hard work. Portfolios are hard work, auditions are hard work, shows are hard work. It helped me get it through my head that I wouldn't be auditioning against 4 other people for a role in a week-long run of a play after graduating, but more likely against about 400 other people, all my character type, for a long-run gig or national commercial. Yet despite all the discouraging realities, the authors have so much good advice to give that you'll feel you know what you need when the time comes.
So if you're looking at New York theater, or NY/LA commercials, you NEED this book. If you're doing a tour, or hitting Chicago, Orlando or Atlanta, it will make for some good reading. And it looks impressive to your office-job friends when they see it on your shelf next to the Best Monologues of 1999.

Every actor should have this book!!! Its the "how-to" guide for every artist. It ranges from getting an agent/manager, to auditioning, to children that act. It even includes resume and headshot examples and provides you with helpful websites and other resources. This is a great book to add to your collection!

'How to Be a Working Actor' is divided into three sections: Nuts & Bolts, The Breaks, and Script Analysis.

Even after being in "the biz' for a few years, I found the first 217 pages (Nuts & Bolts) to be super helpful and informative. It suggests some of the most effective ways to create an actor resume, flattering colors and clothing types to wear to an agent interview, and the best books and guides to read to find work. It also explores ways to create a website, average wages for various acting jobs, and the differences between NY, LA and other cities (when I read this book I didn't want to move from NY to LA because of "parking", but when I did make the move I found out it wasn't that bad!)

This book features tips from casting directors and talent agents, and, like Michael Bofshever's 'Your Face Looks Familiar: Journey of a Working Actor', anecdotes from professional actors.

Maybe I shouldn't be writing this stellar review, when I'm an actor myself, looking to hone my skills and career abilility like the next person. But I believe the universe gives back, and there's a role out there for all of us.

This book is very helpful for anyone seeking to land an audition - once inside the door, your own talent will carry you......or not. The book helps you get a foot in that doorway.