new projects, new system
Hello actors!
Erica Arvold here, sharing a WHOLE LOT of important information that I hope you will read through carefully, thanks in advance for spending the time! As we delve into several upcoming projects (including Season 2 of the AMC series, TURN: Washington’s Spies) we are streamlining and simplifying our casting process…and need your help!
As an overview, we use two (2) different electronic casting director resources for casting principal roles:
1. Our own Arvold Casting AgencyPro for Casting Directors electronic database
2. Breakdown Services
(1) AGENCY PRO (for all actors who live within 500 miles of Virginia): we want you in our database!
We constantly use our AgencyPro for Casting Directors electronic database to search for Mid-Atlantic and Southeast actors who have a residence in or physical address within a 500-mile radius of Virginia. This includes the areas of Atlanta GA, Nashville TN, and New York NY. We must keep our AgencyPro for Casting Directors electronic database confined to this drivable radius as most projects we work on are looking for “local” or “modified local” hires.
Please note: In general, modified local hire for principal (speaking) roles means within 500 miles of production and includes the following: mileage reimbursement, lodging and per diem on work days only; local hire means within 60 miles with no mileage, lodging or per diem). If you are in our database, we will email you our casting notices directly. These emails will include both the large projects (large projects are also often posted on Breakdown Services) and small projects that we do not typically announce to those outside of the immediate region in which they are filming. All projects are shared with everyone in our Agency Pro for Casting Directors electronic database.
We realize that some of you who have signed up for our AgencyPro for Casting Directors electronic database are based and reside in other areas such as Los Angeles, CA. In these cases, we would rather stay in touch with you via Breakdown Express. We will be removing those actors who are NOT located within a 500-mile radius from Virginia from our AgencyPro for Casting Directors electronic database on September 26, 2014. For more information on our AgencyPro for Casting Directors, please refer to our Arvold AgencyPro FAQs.
NOTE: If you do not permanently live within a 500-mile radius of Virginia, but have a functioning physical address that you use for regional projects, you may update your profile with this appropriate address by the end of the month in order to remain in our database.
**It is imperative that you update your profile and answer every single question COMPLETELY. Many times, we have actors in our database that do not have age, ethnicity, gender, etc. filled in. When this happens, you are NOT found when we do searches and therefore NOT CONSIDERED for a project. This is why it is so important that you fill in ALL INFORMATION on your profile. It also helps us to view your professional headshot as well as a snapshot of what you look like right now. If you have a FREE account (non-active) you receive space for two photos and one resume, and this is fine. You WILL be considered for projects if you have a non-active account. If you have a paid (active) account, you have the ability to upload more photos, a demo reel or voice over demo. Demo reels and photos are an asset to us when communicating with our client. Paid active accounts are never a requirement, but do add additional functionality to your profile. Bottom line: it is up to YOU to make this decision, and we consider EVERYONE in the database who has filled out all information whether they are non-active or active.
VERY IMPORTANT, Please keep reading!
If you want to remain in our AgencyPro for Casting Directors electronic database, please help us by updating your profile. For your reference, here is the link to the actor login page: Arvold AgencyPro Talent Login.
If you are experiencing technical difficulty updating your account, please contact AgencyPro for Casting Directors directly. Their support team can be reached at support@agencyprotalent.com and 800-480-4166 or 800-985-9147.
Please also take a moment to add ericaarvoldcasting@agencypro4.com to your email contacts. This is the email address from which AgencyPro for Casting Directors casting notices and audition invitations are sent to you, and we don’t want them ending up in your spam folder!
We are sending this letter to all actors in our AgencyPro for Casting Directors electronic database. If you have received this letter through another channel, and are not currently registered in this database, we welcome your application: Arvold AgencyPro Talent Application.
(2) BREAKDOWN SERVICES (for actors with agents, who only want to be considered for larger projects and actors in all geographic locations)
We use Breakdown Services mostly on larger projects, including projects that require immediate agent attention (via Breakdown Express). We rarely open the submissions to those without agents (via Actors Access). If you have an agent that is very active in the Mid-Atlantic or Southeast area, and you are confident you are being submitted for appropriate projects and roles, and only want to be considered for the larger projects we cast, you do NOT need to be in our AgencyPro for Casting Directors electronic database. Please make sure your agent knows to always list your base (city/state) in the notes section when submitting you so we can note that you are indeed a “modified local hire”.
BONUS INFO
As you can imagine with the many period pieces we cast, we are often looking to find actors who have British accents, other dialects and horseback riding and/or weaponry experience. If that is you, PLEASE be sure to check/make note of these skills in your profile. We are looking for you!
Lastly, we would love to offer you some resources to assist in accents and dialects (really, we want you to brush up as this comes up A LOT)…please see below and enjoy!
Links to assist with British accents:
BBC: Five Lessons That Will Help Sort Out Your ‘British’ Accent
3 Minutes to a Proper British Accent with Professor David Ley
The Audio Archive
The Speech Accent Archive – Resources
Open Culture: A Brief Tour of British Accents
Richmond, VA area dialect coach:
Janet B. Rodgers
Email: janetrodgers@verizon.net
Studio: 804-355-5305
VASTA Professional Index: Janet B. Rodgers
Oedipus Artist Spotlight: Janet Rodgers
Amazon: “The Complete Voice and Speech Workout: 74 Exercises for Classroom and Studio Use” by Janet Rodgers
Arvold Resources:
It’s worth taking some time to explore our Arvold Website to find out the latest news about Mid-Atlantic film, including Erica Arvold’s blog, information about our current and past production and casting projects, and news from the education department!
Our Arvold YouTube Channel contains a wealth of information for actors, including arvold: CONVERSATIONS, arvold: QUICK TIPS, and our arvold: ASK video series.
Thanks for your attention and assistance. Here’s to streamlining so we all have a simpler submission process!
Phew! And looking forward,
Erica