Getting into the Entertainment Business as a Fitness Model

Part 2

By Kenny Kassel

(With some assistance from Ray Cavaleri of Cavaleri & Associates in Burbank, Ca.)

The Set of "Nemisis 3- Time Lapse" (1994) Actor: Norbert Weisser ("Schindler's List" " Road to Wellville") Ursula Sarcev, Sharon Bruneau, Debbi Muggli and Melissa Coates.

Now that you have decided that you really want to explore the opportunities in the entertainment business, and have found a good agent who really believes in you and your abilities, it's time to get focused and busy. Now if your goal is theatrical and/or commercials, you will want a union afiliated agent, who is franchised with SAG (Screen Actors Guild) or AFTRA (American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) There is also non-union work, but the pay is much lower, and being non-union limits you quite severely. If you are only going to do print ads, then you may want to find an agent who specializes in print ads. There are no unions in print advertising. If your desire is to become a film or television actor, please do not make the mistake that so many models have made in the past. (This includes fashion models and fitness models) Yes, we know that you are beautiful, or you would not have been a model in the first place. However it is not enough to just have the looks. You MUST have the proper training to be able to perform on camera. You have to work on your acting ability by taking acting classes. Even academy award winning actors continually work on their "acting chops" by working with a private coach or taking advanced classes with a good teacher. Your agent should be able to recommend a good acting class for you. There are also trade publications that have advertisements for acting classes. When calling a teacher, talk to them and ask if you can attend a free class. There are acting classes for all levels of skills, from beginner to advanced classes where you might have to actually audition to get into the class.

AUDITIONS

Set of "Sci Fighter"(to be released)(2003) Starring Don "The Dragon" Wilson. Standing: Cynthia Rothrock, Tommy Thorvilson, Debby Leung, Misti Yi., KK, Timea Majorova, Tiffany Remley, Don Wilson, Bill Gottlieb (exec. Producer) Nicole Rolollazzo, Kristy Robbins, Christine Bannon-Rodriguez. Seated: Art Camacho (Director), Brenda Kelly

Going to auditions can be a nerve-wracking experience, but if you have done your homework and are prepared, you will have the confidence to pull it off. The more you do it, the more comfortable you will be. If you are auditioning for an acting part, you will probably received a small portion of the script called the "sides" either from your agent, or from an online service that provides this service. The sides will be the scene that you will be performing for your audition. If it is a commercial, then it will be the copy of the ad you will be performing. You will be asked to "slate" or state your name and your agent, or agency that sent you. After taking direction from whoever is running the audition, you will perform the scene or commercial to the best of your ability. What is important is to make sure to take direction well. That means to listen carefully to what the casting director tells you for what they want from your performance. You want to be confident in your performance. One of the things that you don't want to do is to keep apologizing if you make a mistake. Generally in the audition process, if the casting director likes your performance, that does not mean that you got the job. It probably means that you will get a second callback, and you will audition again, perhaps with one of the other actors. If that callback goes well, the casting people have narrowed the field down to a few people left, and the final audition will be for the director, and the producer, and possibly the writer. Depending on the situation, you could be called back 4 or more times before you get the part. Now that you got the part or the commercial, we will get into how you will be compensated.

GETTING PAID AS AN ACTOR OR COMMERCIAL ACTOR

Set of "Sci Fighter"(to be released)(2003) Debby Leung, Timea Majorova, Julie Ames, Nicole Rolollazzo, Kristy Robbins, Brenda Kelly, KK, Tiffany Remley, Misty Yi, Kelly Mulligan.

Big stars make big money when they perform in a film or television series, or when they are hired to do a commercial. Since you are a newcomer, much of the time, you will probably be working for a fee that is set in the budget of the commercial, film or show. If there is some room for negociation, your agent will negociate that for you. For commercials, there are local, regional, and national commercials. Obviously the local commercials pay the least, and the national commercials pay the most. Commercial actors can make anywhere from $25,000 to as much as $100,000 for a national commercial. Here is now it works. When you perform the commercial, you will receive a session fee. You will then receive a holding fee every thirteen weeks until the commercial is broadcast. Once the commercial starts to broadcast, you will receive a residual payment every time the commercial airs. This is where the money can really accumulate when a national commercial is successful. The great thing about commercials is that you will most likely work for only one or two days, and can still be receiving residual payments for months.
Print advertisements are also local, regional and national in nature, though how you get paid is different. Generally there are two parts to the payment. Being that you are a newcomer, most modeling fees will not be negociable, and if they are, your agent will do the negociation for you. You will receive a payment that will include a session fee for doing the modeling job, and then what is called a buyout. Generally the buyout is for one year.
The buyout means that you can not perform an ad for the same kind of product for that year. After that year, you are free to do other ads for the same product, or your buyout can be extended or re-negociated. Local ads may only pay a session fee without the buyout.
National and regional ads will almost always have a buyout. There are no residuals for print ads.
For theatrical jobs in film or television, once again, as a newcomer, you will most likely be working for SAG minimum salary, which could be anywhere from $800 to $4000 per week, depending on which SAG contract the production falls under. Once you develop a good track record as a reliable performer, you and your agent can come up with a day rate that you can get for work on a film. I know actors whose day rates are anywhere from $2000 per day up to $100,000 per day. Some actors get a set fee per film. There is generally a lot of negociation among successful working actors with producers. Many actors now are willing to take what is called a "back-end deal." That means they will take a reduced salary, or even SAG minimum for doing the work, but they will get a percentage of the box office sales of the film. This can be risky, but it can pay off in a big way, even for big stars. For example, Tom Cruise now gets $20 million dollars per film, but for Mission Impossible 2---he took a back end deal, and his cut of the pie ended up being $71 million !!! Of course Tom Cruise films almost always perform well at the box office, so for him, the risk is not as high. For television shows, as a new actor, you will most likely make about $3500 per week as a guest star on a series. There are also residuals that you will receive when the show airs again. There are many actors who have made a successful career out of being guest stars on television series, or in character parts in films.

SCAMS

Set of "Whatever it Takes" (2000) Bottom: Vickie Pratt, Sharon Moss. Middle: Erica Kern, Laurie Vaniman. Back: Diedre Pagnanelli, Don Wilson. PHOTO: Rich Saputo

Going back to what I said in the first part of this article, please remember that an agent should only make money off of you if YOU are making money. Anyone or any agency who asks you for money up front before doing something for you is scamming you. There are so many online operations now who have these scams set up. They have catchy lines offering that you might be a star. Just send us cash, and we will tell you if you have potential. DON'T waste your money. There are also people who scam people at local malls or at college campuses. They go up to you and tell you how beautiful you are and you should be modeling. They tell you that your photos are ok, but you need to go to their photographer, and it will cost you $800. The "agent" who approached you gets half and the photographer gets half, and all you have done is lost $800. There are so many web sites now that exploit people. If you shoot with a photographer, please make sure to have your agent or a lawyer check out the model release that the photographer wants you to sign.
Never audition for anything where there is a fee that is charged for you to audition. Most of these scams are done by people who are not doing something illegal, but what they are doing is immoral, and you do not want to waste your time and money on a scam. You have an agent, and it is his or her job to protect you from these scams. Make sure that you let your agent do their job..

Kenny Kassell has been a promoter of fitness and bodybuilding events since 1987, including the world reknowned Women's Extravaganza Championships (WSE). He is also president/owner of KIK, Inc. a multi-faceted company that acts as a fitness consultant to the entertainment and advertising industry. He also owns Beauti-Fit Talent Agency, a full service, licensed Model and Talent Agency that represents many of the best women in the fitness industry. Kenny also functions as business manager for Don "The Dragon" Wilson. You can reach Kenny at BeautiFit@aol.com