Kick Off The New Year With www.EliteCastingNetwork.com

www.EliteCastingNetwork.com Is Helping Members Kick Off The New Year With Hollywood Stars & Top Modeling Agencies.

HOLLYWOOD - Star Search Casting, the industry's leading casting website, is kicking the year off with opportunities to star in major motion pictures alongside some of Hollywood's biggest stars. In just the first week of 2008, casting directors have posted auditions for projects starring John Travolta, Ashton Kutcher, Nick Cannon and Joss Stone. With more than 2,000 casting opportunities listed on the website, today's aspiring dancers, singers, models and actors are well on their way toward stardom.

Star Search Casting is used by some of the industry's leading casting professionals to cast major roles in major motion pictures, network and cable television, music videos concert tours and other lucrative productions in the entertainment industry. For aspiring entertainers who are pursuing a career in acting, dancing, singing or modeling, SSC provides opportunities to audition and book premium industry jobs even without the help of a talent agent or manager. Star Search Casting not only provides actors, dancers, singers and models access to top notch roles, but also access to a talent consultant and tons of additional resources.

The possibilities are endless on www. StarSearchCasting.com. Each day SSC helps aspiring actors, dancers, singers and models get closer to reaching their dreams. Devika Lal of Las Vegas is signed with EMG Talent and recently wrote the website's staff to share her own success story just one week after signing up.

"Already I've received eleven modeling offers and three auditions for feature films. I will be traveling to Canada, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and shooting a fashion campaign for So Las Vegas magazine," says Lal. "I also received a response from Elite and Ford Modeling Agencies."

In addition to acting, singing, modeling and dancing opportunities, Elite Casting Network also advertises stage tech and crew positions, as well as equipment rental, property location and industry event information. The website has developed a reputation for providing a one-stop-shop for industry executives to post all of their production needs.

No other website caters to aspiring actors, dancers, singers, models, casting professionals and industry executives like Star Search Casting. For more information on life-changing roles and opportunities available visit http://www.EliteCastingNetwork.com today.

How To Tell Your Parents You Want To Be A Model

If you’ve decided that you want to be a model, but don’t think your parents will be thrilled – you’re not alone. It can be difficult to tell your parents that you want to pursue a career in the entertainment industry, especially if you think they’d rather you embark on a more traditional career path.

Here are a few tips for sharing your new dream with your parents and getting their support!

• Come up with a list of reasons why you’d make a great model. And don’t just focus on the physical. Height and a strong looks are great reasons, but a desire to travel, cultivate contacts in the fashion industry and be on the cutting edge of industry trends are good too. Really spend some time brainstorming and be creative!

• Research the industry so that you’ll be prepared to answer any questions your parents may have. It’s important that you’re able to discuss both the pros and the cons of the industry so that they know you’ve looked at your chosen career from every angle – not just the most glamorous aspects of it.

• Come up with a plan for how you intend to break into the industry to illustrate your ambition and initiative. For example, joining Star Search Casting is a great way to begin getting exposure and start regularly researching opportunities in fashion and entertainment. That shows genuine interest and dedication.

• Set up a day and time to talk to your parents and present the information to them professionally and maturely. And don’t do all of the talking. Be sure to give them an opportunity to voice their concerns and ask questions. Don’t worry! By being prepared, you can help to steer them away from any negative perceptions they may have about the industry, or your chosen career path.

Ready to explore some really great casting opportunities for models? Visit http://www.StarSearchCasting.com. By making a list of all of the opportunities you find that would be perfect for you will also show your parents that you have a really great chance at succeeding in the industry!

How To Protect Yourself And Your Ideas

Many actors have gone on to have successful careers as writers, producers and directors as well. It’s almost a natural progression in the industry. Matt Damon and Ben Affleck even won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Good Will Hunting, a script they wrote together.

If you’re an actor and you’ve decided to also try your hand at screenwriting – congratulations! It’s a big undertaking and I wish you the best of luck. More importantly, I want to encourage you to make sure your ideas and your drafts are protected. Often novice screenwriters will share their ideas with others to get feedback, which is a great idea and essential to producing well-written project. However, whether you have a treatment or a fully evolved script, it’s important to have your work copyrighted and registered with the Writers Guild of America before you share your ideas, or your script with anyone.

Recently a Elite Casting Network member interested in pitching a television show to a major network posted his idea to the forum to get feedback from other members. Ideas, concepts, treatments and scripts that haven’t been registered – especially if they’re good ones – are extremely vulnerable. You never know when someone may decide to take your idea and pass it off as their own. And unfortunately, this does happen in the industry.

Each year the Writers Guild of America registers more than 55,000 pieces of literary material. In the event that someone tries to pass your idea off as their own, having your material copyrighted and registered serves as legal evidence that the idea is yours and can be used to pursue the matter in a court of law. You do not have to be a member of the Writers Guild of America to have your work registered.

To register your work with the Writers Guild of America, visit www.wgawregistry.org. To copyright your work with the United States Copyright Office visit www.copyright.gov.

Once you’ve protected your work, visit http://www.EliteCastingNetwork.com and get feedback from other members on your project.

How To Cry On Cue

You’ve landed a great dramatic role, but you have to cry on camera. What do you do? If you have trouble crying on cue, that doesn’t mean you’re not a great dramatic actor or actress. Trust me, some of your favorite celebrities who have been in the business for years still have trouble getting the tears to fall.

Here are a few tips to help you make the most of your big dramatic moment. Try a few of these and you’ll be sobbing in no time:

• Think back to a sorrowful time in your life. For some actors, simply finding a powerful impulse for crying works like a charm.

• Open your eyes wide and resist the temptation to blink. Exposing your eyes to the air using this tactic can help your eyes begin to water.

• Cut up onions or wave the fumes from eucalyptus oil near your eyes just before your scene.

• Use eye drops.

• Is there a scene in a movie that gets you every time? Bring your IPod or portable DVD player and watch a sad scene right before your big performance.

• Study other scenes where actors have cried convincingly on camera. By mimicking their body language, facial expressions, and vocal cues, it may help you to get the tears flowing when you need them to.

Be sure to practice these methods before your performance in front of a mirror to make sure you appear authentic. If you’re still unable to cry, try the scene a different way. Instead, have the character attempt to fight back tears, which can be equally compelling onscreen.

For a list of dramatic roles currently being cast, visit http://www.EliteCastingNetwork.com today!

The Cutting Room Floor

You’ve auditioned for 20 roles and you’ve finally booked one! Hooray! You show up on set to shoot your scene and when the project is released, you gather all of your friends together to watch your Hollywood debut. But wait a minute! The television episode or film comes to an end and your scene is missing. What happened? Oh no! You may have been a victim of the cutting room floor.

This happens more often than you may think. The cutting room floor is a term that refers to where footage ends up when the director and editor decide not to use it in the final edited version. (These days all editing is done using computers, so the footage doesn’t actually end up “on the floor” anymore – but you get the idea.) Many new actors who experience this are often devastated. It can be a huge letdown to have worked so hard to finally book your first role and then not have it immortalized on screen. But don’t let it get you down. Just because your scene wasn’t included doesn’t mean that the director didn’t like your performance. The project may have been running long requiring some scenes to be cut to fit within time constraints. And sometimes once all of the scenes are shot, the director may decide that some scenes are no longer as relevant to the story.

Even though your scene may have been cut, there’s still a lot that to be happy about. First off, you booked a role and not only are you now a working actor but I’m sure you probably met a lot of really great people in the process. Secondly, these days when most films are released on DVD, footage that was not included in the final edited version is often available to watch in the Extras section. So you can still see your performance and you can still use the footage on your reel!

Most experienced working actors don’t get upset if their scene gets cut. They know that it’s part of the business and they know it’s only a matter of time before they book another role. So are you ready to book your next job? Of course you are! Visit http://www.StarSearchCasting.com today and check out our casting notices. I bet there’s a role of a lifetime out there with your name on it!

Scam Watch – Spotting Bad Business, Rip Offs, Scams & Frauds

These days aspiring models must be especially diligent when considering opportunities in the fashion and entertainment industries. Models all over the world come across tons of emails, newspaper ads, and industry professionals who make all kinds of promises on a daily basis. Eventually it can become extremely overwhelming and difficult to determine which opportunities would be beneficial to one’s career and which ones should be avoided.

There are three circumstances models must try to avoid at all costs: bad business, rip offs and scams. Let me explain the difference:

BAD BUSINESS

While it would be ideal if all agents, photographers, stylists, makeup artists and designers were top-notch professionals with a vast knowledge of the industry and a solid track record – unfortunately that’s simply not the case. You will be approached by many professionals in the industry who are inexperienced, or who simply don’t have the talent or aptitude required to help you achieve your career goals. For example, an agent who negotiates a bad deal for a client may not necessarily be trying to rip off his or her client. Sometimes it’s simply a case of an inexperienced agent who doesn’t have a good grasp of the industry. Regardless, it’s bad business. And bad business can be bad news for a model’s career. To avoid being the victim of bad business, be sure to ask for several referrals before signing contracts or paying hefty sums of money.

RIP OFFS

There are a lot of people in the industry who will try to take advantage of you, especially if you’re unfamiliar with how things are done in the industry. Have you heard of photographers who charge enormous amounts of money for horrible photos or agencies that require money up front? These are some of the rip offs that models must be aware of. What’s unfortunate is that many of these scenarios are not necessarily illegal. Therefore once you’ve figured out that you’ve been ripped off, you may not have any recourse for legal action. To avoid rip offs, be sure to check with consumer protection agencies like the Better Business Bureau to find out which businesses and agencies are reputable with no records of complaints.

SCAMS

Scams, including the counterfeit check scams that we’ve discussed recently, are not only illegal, but they can be very dangerous. Scammers are relentless when it comes to luring models, actors, dancers and singers. We uncovered a scam based in Nigeria back in August. The scammer claimed to be affiliated with Essential magazine, which was completely false. We’ve recently discovered that the same scammer is still using the same methods and aliases to target new victims. To avoid scams, do not give your personal information to anyone whose identity you’ve not verified.

For more information on the latest scams, rip offs and bad business practices, log in to www.EliteCastingNetwork.com.

Casting Directors Are Thrilled With The Talent Discovered On www.StarSearchCasting.com

In 2007 casting directors and agents contacted Star Search Casting members more than 400,000 times. They are discovering new actors, models, dancers and singers every day and they are thrilled with the talent they’ve found!

HOLLYWOOD – Star Search Casting has one of the largest databases of new talent on the Internet, making it an ideal source for casting directors, talent scouts and other industry professionals in search of new singers, dancers, actors and models. With over 245,000 members located worldwide, casting directors are discovering the best new talent in every region for some of the industry’s most exciting upcoming projects.

When Shelli Misoyianis began the casting process for the film Afflicted Hearts, she turned to Star Search Casting to find a cast that would bring life to her heartwarming script. She posted her casting call on the website and was blown away by the results. “I have gotten a TREMENDOUS response to my casting call for Afflicted Hearts,” said Misoyianis. “I want to thank Star Search Casting for putting me in contact with SOOOOO many great people.”

Star Search Casting doesn’t just help casting directors find the best singers, actors, dancers and models for their projects. The website also caters to the specific needs of casting directors and the demands of the industry, thus facilitating an easy, efficient online talent search which is especially critical in the fast-paced, frenzied entertainment industry. Founded by entertainment industry executive Jonathan Parker, Star Search Casting understands the needs of industry professionals firsthand and ensures a world class experience for all entertainment industry professionals who use the website.

Star Search Casting is FREE TO USE for industry professionals. The website’s advanced technology allows casting professionals to save dozens, even hundreds of talent profiles in a customized folder and with one click, send an email to every actor, dancer, singer or model they’ve saved in their folder. Additionally, the Talent Search tool allows casting professionals to fine tune their selection, and get prospects who are perfect for the role they’re casting by allowing them to search by multiple attributes. Casting professionals are consistently impressed with how diverse the Star Search Casting talent database is. They know that whether they are looking for actors, models, musicians, vocalists, specialty acts, dancers or extras, they are sure to find the perfect aspiring performer for the job.

Casting directors and other industry professionals interested in posting a new Casting Calls, or searching for the next big star will be thrilled with how easy their job can be when they use Star Search Casting. For more information visit http://www.StarSearchCasting.com today and let the website speak for itself!

Independent Or Major Label? Which One Is Best For You? Pt 2

Yesterday we began discussing the differences between deals with major labels and independent labels. Many solo artists and bands will have to spend some time carefully considering their goals and their priorities in order to make an informed decision on which type of label is best for them. Here are a few other issues to consider when deciding whether you’d like to sign with an independent label or a major label.

Ownership of your music

Ownership is one of the primary determining factors that contribute to a solo artist or band’s decision to sign with a major or independent record label. When signing with a major label, the label generally retains ownership of the masters in exchange for financing the expenses associated with producing the album. Some independent labels however allow artists to maintain ownership of their masters.

Advertising and marketing your music

Independent labels often don’t have very large budgets for advertising and marketing, which means that you’ll need to work diligently to promote your album yourself, outside of the label’s efforts. Lack of advertising and marketing resources can be a huge barrier to revenue when signing to an independent label.

Tracking your record sales

While major labels will send you an accounting statement approximately twice a year to track your record sales, many independent labels allow artists to track sales in real time. This can be extremely helpful for a band that is heavily involved in their marketing and promotional campaign as they can gauge which marketing strategies have the biggest impact, quickly and easily.

In the end, signing with a major label means an opportunity to get your music out to a larger consumer-base, quickly. While signing with an independent label means you’ll probably have to settle for a smaller fan-base initially, with fewer sales, but you’ll maintain more control over your music.

Before you begin submitting your package to any label, make sure you call or email them to make sure that: 1) they accept unsolicited demos; 2) they are interested in your style of music; and 3) that you have the correct mailing address for their A&R department.

Visit www.StarSearchCasting.com and check out our Entertainment Resources section for record labels, distributors, producers, studios and more!

Independent Or Major Label? Which One Is Best For You? Pt I

It's a brand new year and you're ready to grab the attention of a record label and skyrocket your music career to platinum status. You've been working really hard and you've now put together your cover letter, demo CD, bio and an 8x10 photo of yourself in an attractive package. But which record labels should you send your package to?

There are a lot of options and a lot of labels. It's important that you decide what's important to you as an artist before you submit your package to labels. The priorities and goals that you establish for yourself will shape your decision in choosing to go after a deal with a major label or an independent label. Let me explain why

Getting the attention you deserve

As a new artist, it may be important to you to have someone hold your hand through the process to help you get acclimated in the industry. If this is a priority for you, a major label may not be the best way to go. Major labels often have so many artists that not only is it unlikely that you'll get personalized attention, but your project may get pushed to the back burner to focus on more established artists on the label. Independent labels often have smaller artist rosters, which means you get more attention and are less likely to be overshadowed by a more established act.

Distributing your music

If it's always been your dream to buy a copy of your first album at the Virgin Megastore on Sunset Boulevard or in Times Square, then you probably don't want to sign with an indie label. Major labels are more likely to get your music in major stores across the country, which can potentially mean more record sales if marketed properly. Independent labels however have a much smaller sphere of influence when it comes to distribution. Your music will probably end up in smaller stores, scattered throughout the country, or be sold predominantly online.

Royalties

Independent labels are often more flexible, and generous when it comes to royalties. Choosing to sign with an indie label can mean the difference between getting 50% of your royalties as opposed to 10-15%. At a major label, new artists don't have much leverage to negotiate these figures, as generally only 10% of new artists actually generate a profit on a major label. On the flipside, while an independent label may give you a higher percentage of royalties, they also tend to give away a lot of music as a marketing strategy - and as the artist you will not get royalties on these copies.

It may sound like a tricky business, but give it some thought and I'm sure you'll figure out which type of record label best fits your goals and priorities. Stay tuned for tomorrow's blog, when I discuss a few more of the pros and cons of both independent and major record labels. In the meantime, check out some of the record labels we have listed in the Talent Resources section of our site and look at the casting calls we have posted for singers, musicians, & bands at www.EliteCastingNetwork.com.

LEARN TO TALK LIKE A MODEL: Terms an Aspiring Model Should Know

Regardless of what career you pursue, it's very important that you familiarize yourself with that particular industry. Most industries use specific terminology in everyday business transactions that others outside of the business are unfamiliar with. If you're new to modeling, it's very likely that during a meeting with an agent, or your first day on the set of a photo shoot, you may hear words that you've never heard before. So let's get you up to speed with some of the terms that are commonly used in the modeling industry.

Day Rate
Your day rate is the amount of money you'll earn for a full day of work. The amount will depend on a number of things including your experience, popularity and the caliber of the client.

Editorial
Editorial work is any work that will appear in a magazine outside of advertising, such as photos accompanying a story about fashion or even relationships, as well as editorial spreads which are usually several pages long and showcase the latest fashion trends and designs.

P&G Child
This is an abbreviation for Proctor and Gamble child. Proctor and Gamble manufactures popular American brands such as Charmin, Luvs and Puffs. Over the years P&G child has become a generic term to refer to a child with an adorable, all-American look.

Resort Wear
A line of clothing that appears between fall and spring collections. The line is usually casual, and relaxed and can be worn in warm weather climates. Ralph Lauren's Blue Label is an example of a resort collection.

Tear Sheets
These are pages from a magazine, newspaper or other periodical that a model has appeared in. Models remove (or tear) these pages from the publications and include them in their portfolio.

Have you checked out the casting section of our website for new modeling jobs? Visit www.StarSearchCasting.com today!