How To Be a Successful Actor: Becoming an Actorpreneur Only £1.99 For One More Day

acting, acting advice, how to be an actor, how to be a successful actor, hollywood, castings, auditions, casting directors.How To Be a Successful Actor: Becoming an Actorpreneur has been included in Amazon’s Kindle Countdown Deals and for one more day is only £1.99. How To Be a Successful Actor: Becoming an Actorpreneur, written by Frost Magazine’s editor Catherine Balavage, has received a number of good reviews including three five-star reviews on Amazon UK and another brilliant four-star review on Amazon US, even though it has only been out for two months. The below review is from acclaimed author Margaret Graham:

A triumph for Balavage, and a necessary tool for anyone considering an acting career. By Margaret Graham

Balavage has written a well balanced exploration of how to succeed as an actor. I am an author, not an actor, but having read How to be a Successful Actor, I feel the two precessions are closely allied. Balavage clarifies the positives and negatives of the profession, and then proceeds to walk us through the ups and downs, giving anyone interested in becoming an actor the tools to maximise their chances.

The basic ingredients, it seems to me, are to utilise common sense and good manners. After all, you will be meeting the the same people on the way up, and then, when times are hard, to be nice out there..

But more than that, we are led by the hand through the nitty gritty of whether to train, or not to train, the virtues of hard work in the face of lack of progress, the need to be glad of any chance to gain experience, and exposure. She explains the need to acquire the necessary skills through classes, and the value of networking.

As I also advise my writing students, Balavage advises actors to watch and analyse their craft, on stage, radio and screen. She emphasises the need for actors to BE their characters, to acquire accents, to keep fit. She moves on to marketing, to the virtues of mobile phones and the internet for spreading the word about YOU,

There is humour: remember to avoid the stunt co-ordinator’s elbows, there are detailed tips: what to do if your mouth dries up (read the book and find out) , there are a forest of useful addresses.

No wonder it took Balavage 4 years to write this book, because she includes a plethora of interviews with experts in the field. What comes across is that Catherine Balavage considers an acting career to be a project, one that needs to have: a firm foundation, on-going development, marketing skills, research, realistic self-belief, and a hell of a lot of luck. This book needed to be written. It was Catherine Balavage with her clear sighted view of the profession who needed to write it. Bravo!

This one is from actor and casting associate Clea Myers:

Fantastic & Essential Guide By Ms. C. Myers

This really is an excellent guide book into the terribly difficult, but potentially rewarding life of an actor. Balavage tackles the often ignored questions that surround the inexperienced and/or young person who wonders what the best road to take is? She starts with the basics that encompass questions about whether to train at drama school (and thereby find the money to do so), or go another route by getting involved with fringe theatre and/or film school films. Throughout she weighs up the pros and cons in a highly informative and intelligent manner that are also highly credible as she is writing from first-hand experience. Her own entrepreneurship into film-making is included and offers fantastic tips and empowerment, to what is often a dis-empowering profession. She also demystifies the perceived ‘glamour’ of working as an actor and says it how it is. A good wake-up call for those out there that crave instant fame!

Her approach is wholly professional and fundamentally knowledgeable: she interviews working actors, alongside well-known casting directors who give an insider-view into what is required to get ‘ a foot in the door’. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in becoming an actor.

Crime writer Penny Deacon called it the ‘Best advice available’ in her review and American actor Tom Shafer gave it a wonderful review and said it was a great companion piece to Bonnie Gillespie’s acting bible, Self Management For Actors in his review below.

An excellent guide for the entertainment professional By Thomas Shafer

I found this book to be an excellent companion to Bonnie Gillespie’s ‘Self-Management for Actors’, which I am also currently reading. The first half of Catherine’s book does a excellent job of distilling a seminar’s-worth of material into a manageable bit. The second half, the interviews, felt more conversational. What was clear, the recommendations made in the first half came, in part, from these interviews. This is an excellent technique, since it reinforces the validity of the recommendations as having come from entertainment professionals who have achieved a perceived level of success. (I like that the definition of “success” was open for discussion, since it can mean different things to different people.)

As an American reading this book, I did find some UK-centric resources and references. But, in this era of global Internet access, I found just as many that were valid for US readers. I was able to take this in stride and see this as a valuable tool in my self-management as a working actor.

Thanks, Catherine, for writing this excellent guide.

What are you waiting for? We are not biased, it is an excellent guide and an essential for any actor.

How To Be a Successful Actor: Becoming an Actorpreneur is available here.

 

 

Bro Bonding: # Trips to Take With Your Best Bros

When it comes to deciding where to go with your bros for a weekend getaway, bachelor party, or full on vacation, there are plenty of bro-inspired places to choose from. From thrill seeking adventures with your best buddies to drinking the night away in some of the wildest cities in the country, finding the best dude destination isn’t difficult as long as you know where to look. In order to take the guesswork out of planning the ultimate guy trip, here are five destinations that are sure to please your buddies.

New Orleans: The Big Easy for the Boys

They don’t call it The Big Easy for nothing, because not only is New Orleans one of the most laid back cities for a group of guys looking to have a good time, it’s also a breeze to plan. If you’re looking for things to do in NOLA, just hit the streets and let the city be your guide. Whether you bar hop or restaurant hop, there’s no end to the bro activities.

New Orleans is known for its carefree spirit, which is evident in a city where Mardi Gras is an everyday event. While you and your bros journey through the city, make sure you hit up some of the bars on Bourbon Street. When the night is over and the sun is coming up, grab a coffee and beignets at Café Du Monde and get ready to do it all over again.

Montana Trout Fishing With the Fellas

There’s no better way to bond with your best buds than trout fishing in Montana’s Sapphire Mountains. Fly-fishing goes down in bro history as the ultimate form of manly expression, and when you throw in a riverside cabin, a couple of beers, and your guy squad, good times are sure to follow.

When you and the boys have cast the last line and are ready for some grub, cleaning and cooking all that delicious trout over an open flame will really make the bonding experience complete.

Las Vegas is Bro Central Station

No bro getaway list is complete without mentioning Sin City. That’s right, Las Vegas is a guy bonding rite of passage that’s perfect for something as simple as a weekend getaway or the perfect bachelor party. Whether you’re looking to gamble the night away on slot machines or eat yourself silly at the world-renowned buffets, Vegas is ready for you and all your buddies.

If the late night scene is more your group’s speed, then there are tons of nightclubs to choose from, like Marquee and The Joint. Even if you and the wolf pack don’t leave The Vegas Strip, there’s never a dull moment in The Gambling Capital of the World because Las Vegas Boulevard is packed with casinos, clubs, restaurants, and just about everything else a group of guys could want.

Guys Gone Wild in Costa Rica

Kicking it beachside is a great way for a group of guys to spend their dudes only vacation, which is exactly why Costa Rica is the perfect destination. The food and accommodations are unbelievable as well as affordable, the water is warm all year long, and the surf is always up.

There’s more than 700 miles of coastline on the Caribbean and Pacific sides of Costa Rica, which means you and your bros can rent a secluded beach house, then eat, drink, surf, and party like royalty without bothering a single soul.

Bonding Over the White Water in the Grand Canyon

If your bros are adrenaline junkies who get a thrill out of thrill seeking, then look no further than white water rafting in the Grand Canyon. Sound crazy? That’s because it’s a crazy good time and one of the best bonding experiences on the planet.

Although it may sound intense, there are a number of guided rafting tours to choose from that are anywhere from two to twenty days long and include breakfast, lunch, dinner, and camping along the raging Colorado River. There’s no better way to spend a few days with your bros than rafting full throttle through the walls of the Grand Canyon.

When you and the guys are ready for a getaway that you’ll never forget, try one of the dude-approved destinations above.

3 Ways Your Environment Increases Your Risk of Pneumonia

With the winter months quickly approaching and the atmosphere varying from state to state, pneumonia is an issue that plagues the minds of many different people. A lot of individuals have no idea what it is, how they get it, or how they can fix it.

Even more don’t know just how easy it is to succumb to pneumonia-associated mortality. If you get down the nitty-gritty, even fewer people have knowledge that there are several key factors within their environment that can cause them to fall ill to the lung-wrenching ailment. Here are a few things that contribute to your higher risk of pneumonia within your environment.

Bacteria

When bacteria contaminates the lungs by infiltrating the sinus cavities and finding its way down the esophagus and into the bronchioles, they can cause massive amounts of swelling and discomfort. Because the body is responding to a foreign invader, it creates a substance we know as puss to try and force the bacteria out of the afflicted area. However, when this puss is inside of the bronchioles, it can cause a major problem with hardening. That hardening of the bronchioles is known as pneumonia and there’s a number of bacterium that can get inside of the lungs and cause a serious complication like strep.

You may be wondering how you could get strep. If you have a child that’s of school-going age, or you work in a heavily populated environment, the chances of you contracting strep is very easy. It’s a bacterial infection that can be spread through saliva, or by that person simply coughing and/or sneezing on you. Stay away from infected people to minimize your chance of getting it.

Allergies

Yes, your sneezing, coughing, sniffling, runny nose, and redness are all due to your allergies. Your body is simply looking for a way to expel randomly roaming agents that are far from dangerous. However, your body’s way of trying to expel them can cause you more trouble than it’s worth.

By simply inhaling dust particles, pollen or other things that cause problems for many allergy sufferers, you can trigger your body’s response system, resulting in the swelling of the tiny nodes within your lungs. By the swelling of these entities, your body can cause you to have allergic pneumonia. This type of pneumonia comes in three different categories: acute, subacute, and chronic.

If you’re having an acute attack, chances are you’re too close to the aggravating agent. If you’re having an acute attack, you’ll start to feel like you are getting the flu in the worst type of way. The best way to help stop this type of attack is to move away from the allergen.

Perhaps you’re suffering from a subacute attack; chances are you’re going to feel like you have the flu and then some. You’ll start coughing up mucus and other wonderful juices from deep within your lung cavity. This is an issue that needs to be addressed by your doctor to keep yourself from sliding into the chronic category.

If you’re chronic, you’ll find yourself with myriad other symptoms including weight loss. If this stage has been reached, you need to completely remove yourself from the allergens and talk to your doctor on a regular basis to monitor your lung health.

The best way to avoid this is to minimize your exposure to any allergens that you might see or think of. You can also purchase an antihistamine to keep your body from attacking itself over something presumably harmless.

Smog

Most of us live in big urban areas, so we’re no strangers to the endless black mass of cloudy pollution called “smog.” However, this cloud can invade your home and infect you and your loved ones. If you have an issue with the quality of air in your home, you should immediately assess the easiest thing to change: your air filter. Breathing in contaminants from the outside can cause you to have a serious upper respiratory reaction.

If these contaminants have somehow managed to find their way into your home via the air intake filter, open doors, open windows, etc. then you need to find a way to cleanse your homes air immediately. Constant exposure to smog can act as an irritant within the lungs and cause the bronchioles to inflame and the body to start the production of puss. Look into getting a new air filter or investing in an air purifier in order to keep you and your family safe from these invisible attackers.

 

How to Come to Terms With Addiction

Struggling with an addition can be a very isolating process. However, it’s important to remember that you’re not alone. Estimates suggest that somewhere between 15 and 30 percent of Americans will struggle with alcohol or drug dependency during their lifetime. Read on to discover how to come to terms with your own addiction and take steps towards recovery.

Admit That You Have a Problem


Image via Flickr by Alan Cleaver

The first step towards recovery is admitting that you have an addiction in the first place. This can be challenging, especially in the case of social drugs such as alcohol. However, there are some key signs to look for.

Addicts become consumed by their vices, generally at the expense of their professional and personal lives. They notice they can tolerate greater amounts of alcohol or their drug of choice, and often experience withdrawal symptoms if they have used it in a while. They also find curbing their habit is difficult. Are these characteristics sounding familiar to you? If so, it’s probably time to admit that you have a problem.

Assess the Impact of Your Addiction

Coming to terms with your addiction requires you to understand that it doesn’t exist in isolation. Carefully consider your behavior and the way it’s affected the people around you. This process is likely to be painful, but confronting the damage your addiction’s done will help you start doing things differently.

Remember that even though you’ve hurt your nearest and dearest, these people love you. You have a responsibility to them and to yourself to turn your life around.

Recognize That You Can’t Beat This Alone

Addiction isolates drug and alcohol abusers from friends and family members, but these loved ones are crucial in recovery. Reach out to those people who’ve been there for you throughout your life and spend time with supporters rather than enablers.

Also consider looking outside your immediate circle to professional help. This can be confronting, but therapists and staff at rehabilitation facilities are trained to guide addicts towards recovery. Drug or alcohol detoxing at 12 Keys or a similar treatment center can put you on the path towards sober living and minimize your chances of relapsing. Joining a support group can also help you share your experiences with others who understand.

Realize Why You Became an Addict

People don’t usually become addicts for no reason. Many addicts suffer from psychiatric disorders. Many have struggled with economic or emotional hardships, or both. As you start overcoming your addiction you’ll look more closely at your life and discover what void your vice filled for you. Analyzing your life in this way can be challenging, but it will also help you discover what you need to bring to your life to survive without alcohol or drugs.

Embrace the Future

Addiction can be a lonely place that seems impossible to get out of. However, to see only such negativity is not completely coming to terms with addiction. Many people beat their addictions, and with hard work and perseverance you can be one of them. Coming to terms with addiction involves coming to terms with the potential of a brighter future.

At times coming to terms with your addiction will be challenging and confronting. However, once you do you can take steps towards overcoming it.

4 Ways Mad Men’s Don Draper Would Use a Smartphone

The technology of the ’60s was nothing compared to what we have today — I mean, they were just inventing the first answering machines — and Don Draper was not impressed. He called technology a glittering lure and hinted that they were mostly just for show.

Still, it’s interesting to see how Don Draper would use the technology of today for his life in the ’60s. Read on for the four ways in which Don Draper would use a smartphone’s convenience.

1. As a Normal Phone


Image via Flickr by Tim G. Photography

Okay, okay, I know this one isn’t groundbreaking. But let’s face it — Don Draper has never experienced the simple, taken-for-granted convenience of owning a cellular or portable phone. Just think, with a phone by his side, Draper could call a taxi instead of driving drunk. Countless lives could be saved.

2. As a Camera/Slideshow Viewer

Like in his carousel photo gallery presentation, Draper has to have an itch to go back, a yearning for the nostalgic, a longing to “travel the way a child travels.” He could store photos of his terrible parents for those moments where he wants to drink and forget, or he could keep stock in all the women in his life.

In between his multiple extramarital affairs, a smartphone would allow Draper to love his kids from afar. Just how he wants it.

3. As a Way to Work Without Going to Work


Image via Flickr by mezclaconfusa

Of course Don Draper loves his office — who wouldn’t? But he sometimes likes to venture out. He takes long breaks that have nothing to do with work and everything to do with mistresses, but maybe with a smartphone, he could stay focused and enjoy the flexibility he feels he deserves.

Working away from your office, or workshifting, is one of the great features of a series of newer smartphones. The new BlackBerry smartphones, for example, claim to reinvent the idea of enterprise mobility management. Draper could have the whole creative team from Sterling, Cooper & Partners working simultaneously.

Perhaps Draper can take advantage of this technology while sitting in a booth alone, sipping a lonely scotch, while getting some work done on his newest ad campaign.

4. As a Note/Idea Saver

The popular app, Evernote, is available on pretty much any platform of computer and smartphone. This app allows you to save ideas from most websites, as well as jot down notes of your own. After you save the notes, it’s extremely easy to access from any device, including smartphones. It’s all right there on the cloud.

With Evernote, Don would be able to capture those wild epiphanies he has in his everyday life — you know, the ones that usually result in a brilliant presentation that leaves the client (and the audience) in awe, thinking, “I want to be like that guy. Minus all the negative stuff.”

Don Draper could benefit from a smartphone, even if he would first try to resist the temptation. Just think of how much safer the roads would be after one of Draper’s many happy hours.

Top 4 Ways You Can Make a Difference by Recycling

You already know the reliable clink and clack of a bottle thrown into a recycling bin, but do you know the environmental impact? It’s hard to talk trash without getting down and dirty. Waste has real and lasting effects on the environment, but so can you. Here are the top four ways you can make a difference by recycling:

4. Cut Costs

The importance of recycling

The importance of recycling

 

Image via Flickr by Jdhancock

Businesses can save big when it comes to office recycling. Small changes can make a huge impact on the life of your business, as well as the life of the planet. Some of the most common waste products including cardboard, paper, and plastic come to landfills directly from companies. In fact, the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs for UK determined that commercial and industrial waste in England alone is an estimated 47.9 million tons.

Encourage your employees to not only reuse paper when possible and (as a company) resell it. For example, The University of Washington medical Center in the US saved $110,000 in a single year by cutting landfill costs through recycling and reselling paper and cardboard.

3. Conserve Energy

Energy conservation isn’t about simply turning off lights when you leave the room. Waste already causes a considerable energy deficit through transportation and incineration alone; however, the same items that create the deficit can also be used to fight it. It’s possible to recycle organic waste products such as vegetable oil and even corn.

Recycled organic waste can power everything from cars to kilowatts. Corporations can save as much as 11 million kilowatt-hours of electricity every year via vegetable waste.

2. Save Space

No, not outer space, although, we’ve already learned how pollution affects the atmosphere here and beyond. Consider the gravity of garbage. The UK alone has around 2,000 landfills. Only 75% of them still accept waste, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t taking valuable land.

The more trash we create, the more space we consume. Often times, it’s also land that can no longer be used due to toxic trash like used batteries and other consumer electronics. You can save space by recycling all sorts of things. Common products like bottles, boxes, and cans aren’t the only reusable materials. Consider and compare mobile phone recycling and other electronics recycling programs.

1. Reduce Pollution

You can recycle and reuse simple household items like aluminum to minimize mining pollution. According to National Geographic, “mining and refining virgin aluminum also produces greenhouse gases as well as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, two emissions associated with acid rain.” So, the next time you cook your famous pot roast, consider rinsing and recycling the aluminum foil.

Now that you know how you can make a difference by recycling, it’s time to get creative with ways to recycle and reuse. Share your favorite recycling tips in the comments below.

How to Explain American Football to a Foreigner?

For some reason, foreigners seem to have a hard time understanding American football. This might have something to do with the fact that they have another name for soccer — football — and they play an odd version of the sport called rugby. Whatever the reason for the confusion, here is a simple explanation of American Football for all to understand:

What’s the Purpose of it All?

How to Explain American Football to a Foreigner

How to Explain American Football to a Foreigner

 

Image Via Flickr by alschim

Foreigners often think of football as an unorganized, yet complicated mess of a game where there is more starting and stopping and player swapping than they care to understand. That’s because they’re relating it to other team sports, such as soccer. The best way to get a handle on American football is to take everything you know about sports and throw it out of the window. Imagine you’re from Mars and you’ve come to earth because you have Tampa Bay Buccaneers tickets but you don’t know a thing about the sport. A weird concept, but let’s roll with it.

The aim of the game is to get the ball into the opponent’s ‘end zone’. This can be done by running it in there or passing it to a player in the zone. There are 11 players on each team and the game is split into 15 minute quarters with a sudden death 15 minute period if the scores are tied at the end. Each team is allowed three time outs per half.

How the Heck Does the Points System Work?

A touchdown is awarded when a team crosses into the end zone with the ball or it’s thrown or collected by a player in that zone. It’s worth six points.

A field goal is scored when a player kicks the ball through the goal posts. This is usually attempted after the third down and is worth three points.

An extra point can be earned by kicking a field goal after a touchdown has been scored, similar to a conversion in rugby. Two points can be gained if the team can successfully take the ball into the end zone instead.

Safety is when a defensive team is able to tackle an offensive player in their own end zone. It’s worth two points.

What’s All This Business With Attack and Defense Teams?

Why have one set of players when you can have two or three? You may feel slightly confused when the game is halted and then an entirely different set of men run out on the field, but it’s completely normal. There is a separate set of players for offensive and defensive plays. There are only 11 players on the field at one time from each team, but a squad is made up of 45 players of all shapes and sizes that have special roles during the game. Attackers are there to get the ball downfield and score points, while the defense is there to stop the opposition from doing just that.

What Else Do I Need to Know?

The most important thing to know, other that what you’ve already learned, is that an attacking team has 4 attempts to move 10 yards further down the field. If they are unable to do so, the other team gets possession of the ball. This is the reason that most people get confused when watching. If the attackers are unable to progress 10 yards with the ball in their hand, they lose the play, which is why a kick is often resorted to after the third down.

Now that you understand the basic rules of American Football, there’s no excuse for sitting in the stands and making silly comments!

 

4 Steps You Should Take the Moment You Get Into an Accident

Accidents happen in a tenth of a second, and just like that, they can change your world forever. After an accident, you can count on being physically shaken up, mentally stressed, and perhaps in shock.

But what you do in these critical moments after the accident determines how fast (and how well) you recover financially, and physically. It can even save you from a nasty lawsuit. So, commit these steps to memory and you’ll be totally prepared when an accident happens!

Check Yourself After You Wreck Yourself

Steps to Take After An Accident

Steps to Take After An Accident

 

Image Via Flickr by Pargon

Check yourself for injury. Touch your face, arms, legs and body to see if anything hurts, and visually check yourself for signs of bruising, cuts, or even broken bones. Remember, if you’re in shock or if adrenaline is flowing, you may not feel pain right away.

Write down all your injuries, even if they seem minor. Some minor injuries (like back and neck pain) can intensify the next day, or over a matter of days. Immediately call for medical help if you need it. Do not wait to call an ambulance, and do not opt to call the police first. Your health and the health of the other person involved is the most important thing. And even if you don’t see a doctor immediately following the accident, make sure you visit one as soon as possible.

Secure the Accident Scene Right Away

Secure the scene so you don’t cause another accident. If you’re able and your car is driveable, move to the shoulder and away from traffic. If you can’t drive the car, turn on the emergency flashers or set out road flares to warn oncoming traffic.

Once the scene is secure, call the police and report the accident, even if it’s a minor fender bender. Call local city or town police if the accident is in the city or on a municipal road. Contact the state police if the accident is on the highway or interstate. Police will make an official report, and this will protect you from any false claims made by the other driver after the accident.

Document and Photograph the Wreck

Document the accident yourself.  Note the time of day, traffic conditions, and describe how the accident happened from your point of view. Snap pictures using your cell phone or digital camera for your own records. This will help when you file your claim.

Next, write down the other driver’s license plate number, full name, address, phone number, driver’s license number, and vehicle registration. Make sure to copy the other driver’s insurance information from their insurance ID card. Keep all of this information together, so you have it handy when you contact your insurance company.

Hire a Lawyer if Necessary

If you have serious injuries and need medical treatment, find a lawyer. Insurance companies are notorious for offering cheap settlements, and refusing to pay for everything. Search for injury attorneys online and find a good in the area the accident occurred. For instance, if your wreck happened in Carrollton, search for Carrollton personal injury attorneys.

Always follow these steps after an accident, and you’ll get back on the road safely and securely in no time at all.  Are there any other steps you would recommend taking immediately following an accident?