Thursday, September 23, 2010

Here are some important tips that can really help us to help you!

When booked for a job, often the talent stress out because they do not hear from the client or Craze until the night before on the details of the job. This happens a lot because in many situations they do not know exact times until they finish the previous days shooting.
Trust us, if they contact us we will let you know ASAP! Please make sure to keep your phone close and check your email. Please be patient and understand it is not that they are not organized but that things don't always go perfect because of so many variables they have to deal with.

This is just part of the business but if you are patient things usually work out.
Craze never wants there to be rescheduling or date conflicts but it is out of our hands when it comes to this area.

Do not call your Agent after each audition asking if you were hired or have received a call back. The Agent will immediately call or email you once we are notified if they want to book you.
Sometimes it can take a few days for the clients to book the talent sometimes many months so always keep your sides just in case. There are times when we are working on dozens of projects and waiting on hundreds of possible bookings. If we let every person know when they did not receive a part all we would have time for is contacting our talent and we would never find new jobs or be able to book the jobs we are doing at that time.

Many National and some local Clients take more than 30 days time to pay you, even when your agent bills them with a 30 day voucher.
We hate it as bad as you do, (we all have bills to pay). Often they have 2-4 clients they bill to get you paid (art directors, photographers, ad agencies, casting directors or the actual client), so it can take sometimes 60-90 days or more.

We will do everything in our power to collect, but it has always been that way and it will probably never change with the big national companies. Clients are aware they get a lot of people work so if you or Craze harasses them too much the client will just use someone else or another agency.

We want to get you your hard earned money and our success rate is over 98 Percent! Remember, we will email you the day the check clears so you can pick it up. Please don't bug us because it does no good, we have a great billing system and stay on top of all our invoices.

If a client asks you what your rate is, say, "call my agent" or you can call Craze and let us know and we will negotiate it for you and get legal contracts for you. That is our profession and we will make sure to get documents signed if needed and get you the best rate possible for that type of project in our market. Usually clients that do not want to initially go through agents and deal directly with the model or actor will either never pay or low ball you or work in a very unprofessional manner. If there budget is small we still know how to get the most money possible for you. Remember, you are responsible to let the agency know about these projects and pay your commissions. It does you or us no good letting us know after you have done the project!

Our goal is to help nurture, educate and establish you in our markets so that we both can have a fantastic long term relationship and continue to grow. Generally having a successful career in our business takes time, hard work and patience. We hope this helps you to understand the business a little better.

Thanks for your loyalty and hard work,
Craze Agency

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Craze Agency: Models and Actors don't play the blame game!

Craze Agency: Models and Actors don't play the blame game!

Models and Actors don't play the blame game!

As an actor or model you will be dealing with many types of hiring clients such as Photographers, Casting Directors, Art Directors, Talent Agents, Talent Managers, Film Directors, Producers, Ad Agencies, and Networks etc.
Many models and actors feel that one or all of the above is preventing their success?
Constantly the Actor, Model or Entertainer deal with a lot of unknown factors such as; why don’t things happen quicker in my career? Who is slowing down my career? Why didn’t I get the role when I performed excellently? Why am I not going out on more auditions?
In order to for you to get to where you want to go ask yourself these questions.
1-Do I need to update my pictures/resume/reel.
2-Perhaps I should go to a casting director workshop to get one-on-one time with that casting director.
3- Maybe I should ask my agency for directions on what to do next. Have I recently auditioned for my agent?
4-Maybe I need to do something different about my technique and look at what various modeling and acting classes have to offer.
5- Maybe the old hairstyle or look I have is not working now.
6-Perhaps I should be marketing myself differently.
7-Maybe I need to realize that I do not look the same as I did at 18 as I do at now and apply for the age appropriate jobs.
8-Do I truly understand how the business works?
9-Am I staying involved and proactive or am I just sitting back and waiting for things to happen?

Instead of working on the things you can control many actors and models play the blame game.
Example: That Casting Director just doesn’t really like me or, that person is just racist/sexist/ageist and unwilling take a risk, or all the clients want are tall, skinny models etc.
It's natural that we sometimes make false assumptions; it protects us when we feel weak and unable to change, whether because of financial conditions or lack of motivation.

Over the years it seems the really successful talent will take a hard look at themselves first and try not to play the blame game very often.

So have some courage and look at some of the things you can change!

Here's how to be pro-active.

Reel- Commercials, Feature Films, Student Films, Independent Films, Webisodes, Runway shows. Get a get reel of your work made with a professional reel company. Get it reviewed by your agent and get it published.

Pictures-Have your agent advise you to keep the ones you have or to get more accurate updated or flattering pictures.
Resume-Keep it updated and give it to your agent.
Coaches-- Do you need referrals to acting coaches? Ask your Talent Agent, Manager and friendly Casting Directors. How often are you practicing? Your competition is probably daily.
Casting Director Workshops-You get one-on-one time with a casting director who can tell you straight whether you're terrific or need work. You will learn their particular style that they prefer when casting talent.

Test Shoots-Build your portfolio with professional test shoots from reputable photographers. Have your agent assist you in putting together your portfolio.

For more advice call the Craze Agency 801-438-0067 or go to www.crazeagency.com