Best Los Angeles casting agencies?
I'm a non-union background actor but I am eligible for SAG. I cannot decide between LACasting or Extras Management. I've heard both are good but I'm not sure which one is best for me. I've also heard Extras Management is mainly for Non-Union stuff whereas LaCasting has Union stuff as well. I DO wanna join SAG, the only thing stopping me is the price. I've never auditioned but I'm thinking of doing so for small roles once I join SAG. I've never taking acting classes so that makes me feel like doing this is unfair. Acting isn't my career choice but it will help what I really want to do. I'm currently with Central Casting. If given the opportunity by all means I will take it.
Are actors eligible to collect unemployment in between acting gigs or during the down time...?
Remember that the actors making multiple millions are the cream of the crop. Very, very few actors make that kind of money. Most actors are out of work most of the time. The actors who make multiple millions aren't seeking work. Once you've hit that rank, as soon as you go looking for work, you find it. Generally, unemployment requires that you be actively seeking work; unemployment benefits are for those who can't work or can't find a job in their field, not those who simply don't wish to. Robert de Niro can't truthfully say that he was out looking for work but the jobs just weren't coming. Most actors, though, are in fact eligible for unemployment between jobs. But they have to be acting; the amount of unemployment you get is based on how much work you've actually done, and movie producers have to pay unemployment insurance to the government. The scale wages are actually pretty good when you're working (over $750 a day or $2,500 a week, last I checked) but most actors are unemployed most of the time.
Why do so many waiters and waitresses in Los Angeles say they are actors?
They are "wanna be" actors who have come to Los Angeles believing that moving here is all that is necessary to become a famous "A" list actor. Unfortunately that is NOT what happens. SAG (one of the actors unions) states that at any one time 90% of their members are unemployed, and the average actor earns less than $1000 a year. That's not enough to survive on so they are forced to take other relatively easy to get jobs, such as waiting tables. Many of these people are the ones who, if they're really lucky, only get a 6 second scene as an uncredited extra somewhere in the background of a movie, but can now call themselves a professional actor. That is why we (Los Angeles regular contributors) are constantly trying to explain to the hoards of those (usually but not always teenage girls) who ask "I wanna be an actor/actress" that coming here probably will NOT be a productive idea. Becoming a real, well known, professional thespian doesn't happen that way.
How much do one-line actors get paid?
of background acotrs/commercials. im just wondering if they even get paid, and if its enough. it seems stupid to pay someone $100 to stand somewhere, but to make it affordable for a large crowd $10-20 per person is really worth anyone's time.