If you are an independent filmmaker in the UK or you’re an actor involved in low budget films you need to mark March 18th 2010 in your diary.

A meeting is taking place in London which could potentially revolutionise the way low budget and indie films are made in the UK and change the landscape forever.

The following text is reproduced from the TV Watercooler website:

In the wake of the recent London Dreams case, which retrospectively awarded an unpaid intern the National Minimum Wage for the hours she worked on a feature film, there has been much debate within the industry about the effect this decision will have. Does the verdict represent the long-overdue protection desperately needed by the industry’s most vulnerable workers, or the death of creativity and collaboration which often provides a stepping stone for those who are new to the industry? Should it be viewed as a victory or a disaster..?

In order to discuss both sides of the argument, BECTU’s Writers Producers and Directors’ branch brings you:

A Debate about Low Budget Collaborations and the National Minimum Wage

Please join us on Thursday 18th March at 7pm, at The University of London Union, Malet Street, London, WC1E 7HY (nearest tube stations: Goodge Street & Russell Square), and make your voice heard!

The proposition:

Working for free is the only way for new entrants to get a foot in the door of the film and television industry but… are you shooting yourself in the foot?

The meeting will be Chaired by Steve Overell of The Work Foundation. Jess Search from Shooting People; Martin Spence, Assistant General Secretary of BECTU; Chris Jones, author of The Guerilla Film Makers Handbook and Benetta Adamson of the TV Wrap campaign, will be among the key speakers to address these issues. The event will take the form of a parliamentary-style debate with prearranged speakers setting out their point of view in support of, or opposition to, the motion. The audience is invited to actively participate throughout the debate.

The aim:

We hope that this event will kick off a process leading to an industry wide charter endorsed by BECTU, Shooting People and other interested parties setting out how microbudget films can flourish while staying on the right side of the law. We really hope this will be the beginning of an end to the confusion and misunderstandings surrounding what does and does not constitute a collaboration.

I’ve covered my thoughts on the subject in two previous posts - National Minimum Wage To Kill UK Low Budget Films and NMW & Low Budget Films - A Solution? so I won’t go over old ground. Sufficed to say that I will be there and, if you have any interest regardless of which side of the fence you sit on, I urge you to be there too.

* Mind you, he also said “I am the walrus, goo goo g’joob” so maybe he was something of a mentalist

Post from: Mikey Bee

The Future Of UK Independent Film: Have Your Say

The debate over National Minimum Wage and low budget filmmaking took an interesting turn a couple of weeks ago when Shooting People launched a survey of its members to see whether or not they supported working for less than NMW. Many critics of SP who had previously accused the organisation of ignoring the issue subsequently ridiculed the poll for being biased and poorly worded. My favourite response from the TV Watercooler website was “its a bit like asking all shoplifters what they think of conditions in retail“.

And you know what? They’re right. Whilst I applaud Shooting People for raising the issue to its membership, the poll itself doesn’t really get to the crux of the issue and that’s the fact that any low budget film or fringe theatre production is potentially breaking the law by not paying its cast and crew National Minimum Wage.

Rather than go over old ground or look at whether it’s fair or not, I thought I’d have a look at the two sides to the argument, a potential solution, why the unions (BECTU and Equity) would not support the proposal and the reasons why they should.

Background

Contrary to what some people may think, the National Minimum Wage Act is nothing new. It’s been around since 1998. Campaigners have been fighting for NMW within the entertainment industry pretty much ever since. As recently as July last year Equity activist, Clive Hurst, tried unsuccessfully to get the actors union to enforce NMW on fringe theatre productions. (Guardian article - The Stage article - Equity policy statement)

Why this has become the hot topic in the independent filmmaking community over the last few months is because of the BECTU supported landmark case which saw an Employment Tribunal rule in favour of an art department assistant who had been engaged on an “expenses only” basis and order the film producer to pay the crew member over £2,000.

Since that point there have been many, often quite heated, discussions over how this Tribunal affects the future of fringe theatre and low budget filmmaking.

In the red corner you have the bulging eyed, frothing mouthed supporters who say that every production should pay at least NMW on every project…and in the blue corner you have the bulging eyed, frothing mouthed supporters who say that their right to make films is being taken away.

They’re both right. And they’re both wrong.

Red Corner

You have activist groups like the Sweat Team and individuals like Clive Hurst who are fighting to stop the exploitation of people within the entertainment industry and want NMW to apply to all productions whether low budget films or fringe theatre. You also have the actors and crew members who believe that not being paid for their labour demeans or undervalues their creative talent.

Any attempt to stop the exploitation of, in some cases, young and vulnerable people is something which should be applauded. This industry attracts sharks and charlatans who profit at the expense of others. There can be no excuse for not paying cast and crew when you’re lining your own pockets with the proceeds of their hard work and I fully support efforts made to expose the dishonest outfits who rip people off.

Equally I support my fellow actors when they say that there is no excuse for projects where crew members get paid but actors don’t. I also, to a certain extent, go along with the notion that working for nothing undervalues you as a performer.

However I cannot support the idea that all low budget films or fringe theatre must be forced to pay at least NMW or they can’t be produced. I outlined my reasons in the previous post and subsequent discussion so won’t go over them again.

I question the way in which individuals or groups are targeted by those in favour of a blanket enforcement of NMW. It seems that anyone who is not paying NMW is considered a legitimate target regardless of whether there is an agreement in place regarding deferred payment or profit share. I also don’t know what the legal position is on publishing private emails on public forums but, regardless, I find the practice reprehensible.

It’s one thing to go after the crooks and con artists who exploit the system, it’s another to tar everyone with the same brush and publicly demonise them.

Blue Corner

You have the aspiring directors or producers who just want to make a film or groups of actors who want to put on a fringe theatre production. Whether it be as a hobby or as part of the early stages of a fledgling career or the collective work of experienced professionals looking to fill the gaps in their diaries, these people simply want to do what they enjoy doing and, in many cases, have paid a lot of money to be trained to do.

They’re outraged that a blanket enforcement of NMW will take away their freedom of choice to produce a show or work for no/low pay. There is some confusion over whether NMW applies to low budget productions (see comments on the SP poll) and a feeling that creativity is being stifled by legislation from the nanny state.

Well I’m afraid you’ve only got yourselves to blame.

The way many low budget filmmakers go about their projects is, frankly, laughable. How can you expect to be considered professional when you’re not insured, ignore health and safety regulations, think that a curled up cheese sandwich constitutes lunch and then ignore requests for DVD copies of your film months after it was shot?

The advances in digital technology and the ever increasing use of the Internet as a distribution mechanism now mean that it is possible for anyone with a half decent camera to make a film and get it seen. That doesn’t mean that you can cut corners and put peoples lives at risk in your quest to make a film for £4.50.

Just because you believe you can make a film for nothing doesn’t mean you should.

Facts

• The National Minimum Wage Act is not going to go away.
• Groups like the Sweat Team and individuals like Clive Hurst are not going to go away.
• Despite my tabloidesque headline, low budget films and fringe theatre productions are not going to go away.

Moving Forward

Part of the problem at the moment is being able to distinguish between the productions which deliberately flout the law like the one which resulted in the Tribunal hearing and those which genuinely fall into the realms of the low budget independent filmmaking. This equally applies to theatre productions whether they be classed as fringe or profit share.

A potential option discussed on my previous post was reviving the old ACTT Workshop Agreement (download copy here courtesy of Ben from the Sweat Team) which enabled union members to work for less than industry rates on non-profit ventures. Richard Hartley also raised the issue of forming a co-operative, limited company partnership or voluntary organisation to make your film to remain within the realms of NMW law.

One of the proposals put forward by Clive Hurst was to re-define any unpaid work in fringe theatre as “amateur”. I’m assuming here, and I’m sure Clive will correct me if I’m wrong, that this was not meant to be a derogatory label but, moreover, in line with the fact that amateur dramatics shows are exempt from NMW (although nobody has been able to tell me why this is the case).

There’s possibly some mileage in this although a label of “semi-professional” would perhaps be more palatable to those card carrying members of the union who are performing in the production

Putting labels to one side, creating a clear distinction between the can’t pays and the won’t pays can only help all those concerned. As a performer or crew member you know from the outset which category the production falls into and as a campaigner or union you know which productions to target. No more being unknowingly exploited. No more friendly fire.

Proposal

A cross-union agreement ratified by HMRC which encompasses all low budget films, fringe theatre, student films and amateur dramatics productions. The agreement would cover areas such as working conditions including health and safety, contractual rights and obligations, issues like Working Time Regulations, provision of DVD copies and such like. It would also cover the issue of production company status (i.e. co-op, collaborative, non-profit, commercial, etc.), funding and disbursement of profits.

Simplistically you would register your production with the organising body in order to receive certification, seal of approval or similar. By registering you are then legally bound to fulfil certain criteria such as following H&S guidelines, WTR, etc. and be liable for the payment of at least NMW to all contributors once the production hits a defined level of profit. As a registered production you may be asked to produce accounts to back up your financial statements.

By making the process as simple as possible there would be no reason why any legitimate production would not register. As a performer or crew member you are working on a project safe in the knowledge that you’re not being exploited. Sites like Shooting People, Casting Call Pro, Talent Circle and Mandy would have no excuses accepting non-certified productions. Fringe theatre productions and low budget films could continue to be made and organisations like the Sweat Team would have legitimate targets to concentrate their efforts on.

It’s a win-win.

Why BECTU and Equity Would Not Support The Agreement

Both unions have worked for many years to put in place agreements with the major TV and film networks, theatre production companies and such like to establish minimum rates of pay and working conditions for their members. Equity have previously released a guideline entitled Low Pay/No Pay Work In Film & Television (log in required) and they already have in place an agreement for low budget films, although the figure they use for “low budget” is <£2m. I’m sure BECTU have probably done the same for their members.

By being seen to align themselves to deferred payment, profit share or no payment projects, both unions could argue that it diminishes their negotiating power with the larger commercial organisations and, to an extent, they’d probably be right.

On top of this you have the costs of administering a system like this, the drain on resources and, perhaps, the fact that its scope falls outside of the fundamental constitution of the union itself.

However…

Why BECTU and Equity Should Support The Agreement

The industry is going through massive change at the moment and this is due, in part, to a new generation embracing digital technology and the ability to produce and distribute content in a way that wasn’t possible a few years ago. This is married to the fact that budgets are shrinking because the consumer now wants their product for a fraction of what they previously paid. A speaker at last years Power to the Pixel event in London referred to it as “The Age of the Free“.

Ever since the end of the closed shop, the requirement or necessity to be a union member has lessened. I know plenty of professional actors who are regularly employed on fully paid projects who are not Equity members. They don’t see the point in joining.

By putting in place the benchmark, by providing the official seal of quality, by supporting the flourishing independent fringe and filmmaking community, both Equity and BECTU would make themselves more relevant in the second decade of the 21st Century.

In Conclusion

Like Richard said in one of his comments on the previous discussion, I don’t want to see the industry legislated into the ground. All of us involved in this long running debate are creative people. We don’t want to be spending our time filling in endless forms

Equally I don’t want to see people being exploited by unscrupulous individuals who are in the industry just to make a quick buck.

A BECTU sponsored meeting is planned for March 18th in London to discuss the issues faced by low budget filmmakers and fringe theatre producers. I urge all those concerned to attend. This is genuinely an opportunity for those involved in the community to help shape its future.

On the face of it, the two camps are diametrically opposed but I don’t believe they are. Whilst I question some of the methods used by certain individuals, I do believe that there’s an awful lot of common ground here. By working together and putting in place a set of guidelines or an official agreement we can not only encourage a more professional approach to low budget productions but also ensure a safer, fairer deal for everyone involved.

Post from: Mikey Bee

NMW & Low Budget Films - A Solution?

Uruguayan filmmaker, Fede Alvarez, posted his low budget short film Ataque de Panico! (Panic Attack) on YouTube last month. The film cost $300 to make.

According to an article on the BBC website, he uploaded the film on a Thursday and by Monday he’d received offers from Hollywood studios to make a feature film. He’s now signed up a deal with Sam Raimi to make a $30m Hollywood movie.

I wonder what would have happened if Panic Attack had been made by a UK filmmaker. Would the UK film community congratulate him or castigate him?

If you read some of the comments on my previous post or the resulting discussions on Shooting People (requires log in), there are plenty of people who think Fede Alvarez wouldn’t, or perhaps more importantly, shouldn’t have got this opportunity in the UK. There are people who would dismiss Mr Alvarez as nothing more than a hobbyist or enthusiast. There are some who would hound him for making a film without paying everyone.

So, the way I see it, the next generation of UK filmmakers needs to fall into one of the following categories:

1. Be called Tarquin and have a father who drives a Jaaaaaaag
2. Live in Uruguay

Happy Christmas!

Post from: Mikey Bee

From YouTube to Hollywood

In 2008 over 20,000 feature films were made worldwide but only 516 had a theatrical release in the UK of one week or more. (source: UK Film Council). As an independent filmmaker the chances of your film getting a theatrical release in the UK is pretty much zero. DVD sales have been dropping annually since 2002 and the number of UK distributors for indie films has dropped during the recession as firms go to the wall or merge.

With the Film Council announcing a £25m cut in funding it all looks pretty bleak for the UK indie filmmaking community, doesn’t it?

Well the results of a recent employment tribunal are only going to make matters worse.

The tribunal in Reading ruled that expenses only engagements are illegal and National Minimum Wage should be paid to all workers engaged on an expenses only basis. HMRC can impose a fine of up to £5000 to those companies who fail to pay their workers at least NMW.

So where does that leave UK indie films like Colin, the zombie movie which was shot for £45? Will this decision lead to the end of low budget filmmaking in the UK?

On the face of it, any film that has utilised actors or crew on an expenses only basis has been breaking the law. Even offering a token payment of £50 is below the current National Minimum Wage and could land the film producer with a nasty fine from the tax man.

The HMRC (HM Revenues & Customs) penalty was introduced 6 April 2009 and can be applied retrospectively so any films made before April ‘09 could still be fined for not paying NMW.

The current NMW is £5.80 per hour for anyone over the age of 22 but you also need to add on holiday pay at 12.07% so the actual figure is £6.50 per hour.

Let’s look at a micro budget film with a cast of five and a minimal crew (I’ll use the crew breakdown from The Guerilla Film Makers Movie Blueprint) with a 10 day shoot. The chances are for a feature length film you’ll be working your butt off for those 10 days but let’s make the numbers easier by calling it a 10 hour day (yeah, I know, I know but stick with me…).

So we have 5 x actors, a writer/director, producer, PA/Assistant, DP, Assistant Camera, Gaffer, Set Designer, Make Up/Costume, Sound, Runner/Driver, Stills Photographer and someone to do the catering. That’s 17 cast and crew who are working for 10 days.

The wage bill for the two week shoot would be £13,260.

We’ve also got to consider not just the shoot date but the pre and post production times too. Using the example from the Movie Blueprint book, the total number of days to make this micro budget film would amount to 1085 over a 52 week period. Assuming 10 hour days that equates to a wage bill of £84,630.

£85k and we haven’t even started to look at money for camera hire, lights, costumes, make up, locations, transport, expenses and catering costs. Suddenly our micro budget film isn’t looking so micro any more…

As a further example, filming on Colin wouldn’t have made it as far as lunch on Day 1 if it was just Marc Price (the director) and Alastair Kirton (the star) both getting paid National Minimum Wage.

So what does all this mean to the low budget filmmaker, student films, the fringe theatre producer and even the local amateur dramatics group?

As an actor myself I should be embracing the rules and regulations. I’ve done plenty of expenses only gigs in the past so it’s nice to know that I can get paid at least a few quid an hour for working on a student film but I also sit on the other side of the camera and can see that strict enforcement of NMW regulations will kill low budget productions in the UK.

I’ve debated this over at Casting Call Pro in the past and was shot down in flames by many of my fellow actors. Their argument was that the production company should find the money to pay all of the cast and crew before committing to the project. As my example above shows, £85k is a lot of money to pay out in wages on a project that statistically is unlikely to get picked up for distribution.

Getting funding to make a film has always been pretty tough and with the cut to the UK Film Council budget it’s only going to get tougher. In most cases the low budget filmmaker will be either self-financing or looking at some kind of equity deal and that’s only if he can find anyone with spare cash willing to invest during a recession in a business that is on it’s arse thanks to a drop off in sales and an increase in online piracy.

The fact is that, in the vast majority of cases, filmmakers will simply not have access to the kind of figures we’re talking about here and if NMW regulations are rigorously enforced they won’t be able to make their film which means everyone is left sitting around scratching their arse because there are no more film projects to work on.

Post from: Mikey Bee

National Minimum Wage To Kill UK Low Budget Films

photo credit: Nogwater

Now I know the title of this blog is “The occasional ramblings of an out of work actor” but I’ve really taken the piss, haven’t I? No posts since April? Shocking behaviour…

There’s no real excuse, to be honest. Sure I’ve been busy with stuff but not so busy that I should neglect you - my solitary reader. I know you’ve been checking back every day to see if I’ve updated. You probably thought the RSS feed was borked or something, right? I feel so totally connected to your IP address. It’s like an old familiar face to me. There you are. Every day. Hoping I’ve updated the blog.

I love you mum.

So what’s been happening that’s kept me away from the keyboard? Well sadly it hasn’t been any acting work. This has been the worst year I’ve had in the business. Pinewood recently announced a 55% drop in first half profits and a lot of the TV companies have slashed their budgets by 30-40% so I put the lack of work down to the fact that less is being made. The bigger names in this game are taking on work they would have previously rejected so less is filtering down the food chain.

It’s easier than thinking I’m unemployable.

The zombie comedy movie I’m involved in had a pre-release screening in August. It was a great night catching up with all the cast and crew as well as seeing the film on the big screen. Here’s a short video of the night. I’m the bald guy standing by the door at 0′43″ sweating like a biatch.

We’re busy remastering the film, getting a new trailer done in preparation for release as well as negotiating the minefield that is music clearance. I’ve touched on it before but getting everything tied down to get tracks in your film is a ball breaking job. Still, it’ll be good to finally get the movie out there after having worked on it for so long.

I’ve been writing a screenplay for a vampire movie I want to make but my enthusiasm has been tempered by the realisation that there’s a good chance it won’t get made for a while. Even paying everyone at union minimum rates the budget would be nigh on impossible to raise for a UK indie and it’s not really feasible. I’m still going to finish it off but then maybe look to sell it and let someone else make it. Dunno. Haven’t decided yet.

The other idea I have knocking around my head is for a web series. As far as I can see there are no decent UK based web series out there; everything is US based. Maybe the UK guys aren’t as proactive at marketing as our American cousins but I’m not seeing a UK series as high profile as The Guild, for example. I’ll probably write more about this sometime soon.

Talking of The Guild, I watched every episode back to back the other day. All two and a bit seasons. My eyes hurt at the end of it but it was so good that I couldn’t help myself. I’ve also now got something of a crush on @feliciaday. She makes my winky go funny.

So what else has been going on? Well I closed my old online marketing and search blog. I’d kinda got bored writing about the topics so decided to put it out of it’s misery. Still up for sale if anyone wants it My cricket blog is still alive but barely. Despite England winning the Ashes I wasn’t too enthused to update it much over the summer.

I think I’m suffering from a serious dose of meh.

This might have something to do with my impending 40th birthday. Everyone says life begins at 40 so perhaps I’m subconsciously not starting anything I won’t be able to finish in time.

Rambling now. Will stop. Just wanted to let you know I was still alive and I figured that if I didn’t write a blog post soon that I’d have to scrub ‘blogger’ off my list of part-time activities on my Twitter profile…

Post from: Mikey Bee

Holy Crap! I’ve Got A Blog?

Demons DVD - Image courtesy of Amazon

Despite all the recent furore over Amazon (search results for Amazonfail), I’ve been a happy customer of theirs for many years. You can buy anything on Amazon. It’s like an online Woolworths without the pick ‘n’ mix.

One of the things I really like about Amazon is the recommended products feature. Every time I log in they try to entice me with a list of DVDs or CDs that they think I’ll like based on stuff I’ve bought from them in the past. On the whole the products they recommend are pretty accurate.

However today Amazon failed. Forget all that business about dropping adult material from their searches, today Amazon thought that I might like to buy Demons on DVD.

WTF? Demons single handedly put the turd back into Saturday!

I loved Philip Glenister in Life On Mars and Ashes to Ashes but even he couldn’t save this utterly apalling show. His ridiculous American accent has made him the Dick Van Dyke of a new generation.

The dialogue was full of more cliches than the Arsenal left backs family Christmas dinner, the effects more special than a convoy of Sunshine Variety buses and the acting of the “guest stars” suggested that they’d rather be somewhere else. Like most of the viewing audience.

I know after my recent outburst that I should be grateful that ITV drama actually made a program that attempted something different from the norm. Fuck it, I should be grateful that they actually made a program at all but watching it made me feel angry. It just felt like a massive waste of budget. They could have spent that money commissioning projects from the wealth of undiscovered talent we have in the UK.

So needless to say, Amazon, you’ve disappointed me. You’ve failed. We’ve been together long enough for you to know that I’d rather stir fry my own testicles than buy this pile of shite. I still love you but start showing me some recommendations that’ll have me reaching for my credit card rather than just reaching.

Post from: Mikey Bee

Demons - Amazon Fail!

photo credit: clspeace

So here it is. After literally days of planning, the new Mikey Bee blog is launched on an unsuspecting and, more than likely, an uninterested public. The irony of launching my new blog on April Fools Day is not lost on me but at least I’ll remember the anniversary, right?

Why another blog? After all, according to Technorati, there are 133 million blogs already out there. Does the world really need another one? Probably not but, since I’ve got nowhere else to have a brain dump I figured that here was probably as good a place as any. Besides, I’ve bought the domain name so why not?

I’ve kinda covered what the blog is about in the ever so informative About page so, rather than cover old ground, I’ll let you read that first and then you come back to me with any questions.

Finished? OK, so let’s crack on.

If you’ve been reading my stuff on Twenty Steps you’ll already know that this blog was in the pipeline. In fact you’ll recognise two of the posts included on this new site. If you’ve not been reading Twenty Steps then get your arse over there now and have a gander at my 2+ years worth of crap insightful posts about online marketing, blogging and search.

If the topics sound drier than a nuns chuff, fair one. It’s because they are which is why I decided to start up another blog which gave me free rein over what I published. Despite the advice of the various self-proclaimed blogging experts, MikeyBee.com is going to be about random topics and I’m not going to follow any publishing guidelines.

In a lot of ways this blog is probably going to be the most personal thing I’ve ever done online. Bearing in mind that I’ve been publishing content on the internet for 10 years under various alter-egos or pseudonyms, this is probably as close to “me” as it’s going to get. I’m not going to fanny around with protocol or pander to politically correct rhetoric, I’m just gonna write stuff and hit the PUBLISH button in WordPress.

Talking of which, I have to thank the guys at WordPress for providing such an excellent piece of free software to allow me to spout bollocks express my opinions, thank Chris Pearson at DIY Themes for putting together such an awesome theme in Thesis and the propeller heads at ServInt for their brilliant service.

Meh! Sounds like an Oscar acceptance speech. Still, only fair to thank the people who made it possible, eh? Which brings me on to the next point. Disclosure. Now I could write a long winded post about disclosing any kind of affiliate links or business partners but, in truth, I can’t be arsed so, instead, I’ll simply quote ShoeMoney:

You should assume I have motivation for linking to everything on this page and will benefit from it somehow. You should assume I am no better then you are and your opinion has just as much weight as mine. You should question everything. You should come up with your own thoughts and opinions and not trust some stupid blogger.

The fact is that sometimes I will link to products, services or websites which reward me for introducing new customers. An out of work actor has to eat, right? However I can promise you that I won’t link to any product or service that I don’t personally vouch for. Fair enough?

As I said earlier, I’m not going to write every day. Some days I’ll have something to say, some days I won’t. Consider the blog to be an extension of my Twitter feed with more than 140 characters. If you enjoy that, I hope you’ll enjoy my new blog. Following on from my own advice, the aim is to follow the Four E’s:

• Educate
• Entertain
• Enlighten
• Empower

With any luck, I’ll manage to achieve at least one of these per post. I’m sure you’ll let me know if I’m miles off track

Don’t forget to subscribe to the RSS feed. You can keep up to date with my inane banter in your favourite feed reader or by good old fashioned email.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you like the look of the site. Feel free to leave a comment below.

Post from: Mikey Bee

Blog Launch

photo credit: Jeff Kubina

When you tell people that you’re an actor, one of the first things they’ll inevitably say to you is “Ooh..have I seen you in anything?”. By “anything” they’re normally referring to a soap opera or a commercial rather than theatre. Mention Chekhov and they assume you’re talking about the bloke from Star Trek.

After establishing that they swear they spotted you in the background of the Queen Vic, the next thing they’ll say is “Are you resting at the moment?” and this will normally be accompanied with the old inverted commas finger gesture to accentuate the word resting. You know the one.

At this point I either respond with

1. Physical violence
2. A diatribe about how I’m not actually resting but that I’m spending my waking hours trying to secure work. I’ve slept with 14 casting directors this month, my bums sore and I’m seriously considering mugging the Big Issue seller outside Tottenham Court Road station.

Sometimes I combine the two. I find it helps get my point across.

The fact is that nobody understands what it’s like to be an out of work actor apart from another out of work actor. People will sympathise with you and come up with “helpful” suggestions but, to be honest, the vast majority of folks have no idea of the shit we go through to try to secure work.

Anyone who gets into this game is setting themselves up for failure. If you have a problem with rejection, get into another game. In my opinion, 95% of the work is getting the work in the first place. Applying for castings, speculatively sending out your CV and headshot, networking, attending auditions, scouring the online and offline casting resources, ringing your agent.

One of the best pieces of advice I got when I was training was “get yourself another job”. The vast majority of actors are unemployed so you need to find other ways to pay your bills. You need a job flexible enough to allow you the time to attend auditions but you also need to pay the rent. Most actors I know balance two or three jobs.

So going back to the original purpose of this post, I wanted to share some advice with the non-acting fraternity out there who might have friends who are actors or, God forbid, who bump into me and do the “resting” finger thing.

• Do not suggest I get another agent. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a good agent? They are like rocking horse shit.
• Do not suggest I apply for The Bill. I already have. Many times. They have wallpapered the offices of the casting offices with my 10×8.
• Do not suggest I get a proper job. I will kill you to death if you do.
• Do not ask if I’ve looked in The Stage recently. I do not want to be a pole dancer or gay chat line operator.
• Do not suggest I do some am-dram to “keep my hand in”. The only place my hand will be in is your face if you say this.
• Do not suggest temping. I look shit in a skirt.

With ITV cutting their drama budget by 40%, the Beeb chopping £400m from their budget and the big film studios all saying they’re reducing the number of films they’re putting out this year, the situation is only going to get worse so do yourself a favour. If you meet any actors over the coming weeks, remember my advice.

Oh and don’t do that finger thing either.

Post from: Mikey Bee

Frustrations Of Being An (Out Of Work) Actor

photo credit: zoyachubby

Over the last few years I have been considering moving to the US. Let’s face it, it’s the land of opportunity, right? As an actor and an entrepreneur, this is the place to be. However there have been several things that have stopped me from moving.

Firstly my parents. They’re not in the greatest of health and neither of them are what you might call frequent fliers. In fact I’m not even sure my Dad possesses a passport. It’s a mission to get them to leave the Isle of Wight so travelling 4000 miles is not really on the agenda.

Then we have my friends. Sure we’ve got Skype, MSN and Facebook to keep in contact but they’re all as broke as me so travelling to the US is not an option for them either.

I play cricket. I love playing cricket every Sunday in the summer and would miss it terribly if I moved to America. I know they have cricket leagues over there but, somehow, it wouldn’t be the same. I get a feeling that cut grass smells somehow different in the States. Besides, where can you get a decent cheese and cucumber sandwich in New York?

And that kinda brings me to the main reason for me not deserting these shores.

Yorkshire puddings.

Now I have it on good authority from my blog-friend Anna that they have Yorkshires in America but they’re called popovers over there and they serve them with butter.

WTF?

Yorkshire puddings should come complete with a roast dinner and lashings of gravy as standard. Cumberland sausages and onion gravy=bonus points. Big fat chips and a dollop of curry sauce=I’ll have your babies.

Serving them as an alternative to bread complete with butter simply doesn’t work for me.

So despite the fact that the country is rapidly going down the toilet, I will remain a UK citizen until such point that the former colonies reintroduce the Yorkshire pudding in it’s original state.

It’s your loss, not mine.

Post from: Mikey Bee

Yorkshire Puddings - The Food of Gods

photo credit: pasotraspaso

Whether you’re recording a podcast or looking for music for your short film or documentary, making your way through the minefield of music licensing can be a right pain in the arse. You’ve got recording/master rights, publishing rights, there’s the whole business of synchronisation and mechanical rights.

Slapping in your favourite tune without getting the rights cleared will see you hit with a hefty bill and the chance that your project will never see the light of day.

You could try to negotiate a good deal with the PRS or get a composer on board but the chances are that your budget won’t stretch to it so it’s good news that the guys behind iStockphoto, one of the best sites for royalty free images, have launched a new royalty free music service.

iStockaudio offers 30,000 royalty free and single production audio tracks. I’ve just been listening to some of the tracks on the site and have to say I’m fairly impressed. I’ve been to other production music libraries in the past and found most of the tracks pretty bland, cheesy and uninspiring but there’s a really good selection on iStockaudio.

Buying your music is dead easy and, depending on how you intend to use the music, pretty inexpensive. Rates start from £2 for stingers for web use (ideal for podcasts) up to £80 for full length tracks by indie artists for unlimited use on a single production (i.e. TV show or movie).

If you can’t find what you’re after there, I heartily recommend giving Audio Network a go. They’re more expensive per track than iStockaudio but you’ve got the option of buying a blanket licence for £195 which covers you for unlimited tracks on a single production so, in theory, you could score your entire movie for a couple of hundred quid.

There are other music libraries out there including an extensive production music directory on the PRS website but, in my experience, Audio Network and the new iStockaudio service look to be the most cost effective.

Post from: Mikey Bee

iStockAudio - New Royalty Free Music Service