It is not hard to imagine that many a young person’s dreams for a career in entertainment has been squelched due to the recent financial crisis in the U.S. Student loans are diminishing with strict credit requirements, parents no longer have money to pay for expensive schools costing upwards of $30 to $80 grand per year, yet the industry calls for experience and education. On the other hand, alternative programs like the Film-Connection, are less drain on the budget and also put real practical education in the hands of students for an affordable amount. Even Yahoo had a news story on vocational education today, stating it can "provide individuals with the skill sets they need to pursue careers in high-wage, high skill occupations." These jobs are competitive, and the Entertainment Career Connection’s “learn by doing” method works, by getting a student’s foot in the door for places that can actually hire them, even while they are still taking the course. Here's a new Acting Program in Los Angeles .
The Entertainment Career Connection, Inc., offering certificate programs in all aspects of film making, radio broadcasting and audio engineering, just announced its new Film-Connection film acting mentorship program, offering the most comprehensive private acting training on the market. No other program combines both the truly rigorous craft of an acting program and one-on-one training with an industry professional.
This course is available only in Los Angeles and New York, the company has partnered with the Joe Anthony studios to teach its new film acting course. In addition, the company announced a complete re-design of its Film-Connection film school alternative website.
This industry is notoriously unforgiving to the unprepared. So how actors train is critical to their success, and often makes the difference between those who find work and those who don't. This particular program combines both a rigorous acting craft program with one-on-one, results-oriented career-coaching sessions and an intense curriculum. The bottom line -- it can lead them to generating opportunities rather than waiting for the phone to ring.
According to Jimi Petula, the founder and CEO of Entertainment Career Connection, "Making it as a working actor isn't just about being at the right place at the right time. When opportunity knocks you are either prepared to seize it or not, and if you are not ready you will blow it."
During tough economic times, students in any entertainment field need value for their money. No other program combines both the truly rigorous craft of an acting program with one-on-one result oriented career coaching sessions, so students will have a better chance of working upon graduation."
Anthony's Los Angeles acting program students learn to imaginatively create the world of the story in a way that truly resonates for them as an individual, allowing them to go into any professional situation such as a casting office, on the set or in a rehearsal to do their job with a sense of wonder instead of dread or fear. It is in this state of mind that they are free and able to live authentically and express truthfully -- from "action to cut" while doing their job.
Anthony's practical approach to acting involves strengthening the three specific muscles an actor needs to be truthful and authentic: imagination, or the ability to make fictional circumstances real; empathy, which is the essential ability to be sensitive and vulnerable to circumstances, and; concentration, as opposed to the circumstances of the set.
Students engage in six-month $8,450 program series. This includes both written lesson and in-person coaching concepts focusing on a curriculum of both career coaching and the craft of acting.
The curriculum includes: Getting Started Business Basics, Cold Reading, Monologue, Taking Action, Scene Study, and Launching Your Career.
Visit http://www.film-connection.com/, http://www.radioconnection.com/ or http://www.recordingconnection.com/.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Monday, October 13, 2008
The Economic Downturn's Effect on Filmmaking
Historically, during bad economic times, it is the entertainment industries that flourish - presumably, because people want to forget about their financial woes and drown themselves in happy distracting entertainment. Going to the movies is a good way out. And today, films are more accessible and available via NetFlix, video stores, and now online, meaning it doesn't break the bank no matter what age you are, or how bad off things are financially.
Here is another interesting tidbit. Fifteen years ago, the Sundance Film Festival got 500 submissions. This year, they received 5,000. Virtually all of these are privately financed films. Yet Mark Gill, who recently addressed an audience of film making professionals at the Los Angeles Film Festival, sited that Disney has gone from releasing 47 films in a year not too long ago to putting out only 12 films this year. Many of the “independent” branches of the studios have either been shrunk or dissolved altogether.
Gill also said, “If you want to survive in this brutal climate, you’re going to have to work a lot harder, be a lot smarter, know a lot more, move a lot faster, sell a lot better, pay attention to the data, be a little nicer, trust your gut, read everything and never, never give up.”
Yes, the competition is tough, and economics are making things challenging, but it is also a time where creative people can learn and seize their full potential, both now and later on.
That said, one also might wonder how this economy has effected the film school business, or those interested in programs at recording schools or radio schools for that matter. Because their mentorship programs are so reasonably priced, the Entertainment Career Connection's alternative film schools are really valuable, because people actually get jobs after they complete the programs - 74 percent to be exact. And, there has been a big increase in those taking the company's courses since January 2008. Student registrations in film, radio and recording are running about 160 percent over January 2008 -meaning the increase in the number of people who want to learn how to be a film director, or sign up for an audio engineer program or even those who want to learn to be a sports announcer, has been substantial.
Here is another interesting tidbit. Fifteen years ago, the Sundance Film Festival got 500 submissions. This year, they received 5,000. Virtually all of these are privately financed films. Yet Mark Gill, who recently addressed an audience of film making professionals at the Los Angeles Film Festival, sited that Disney has gone from releasing 47 films in a year not too long ago to putting out only 12 films this year. Many of the “independent” branches of the studios have either been shrunk or dissolved altogether.
Gill also said, “If you want to survive in this brutal climate, you’re going to have to work a lot harder, be a lot smarter, know a lot more, move a lot faster, sell a lot better, pay attention to the data, be a little nicer, trust your gut, read everything and never, never give up.”
Yes, the competition is tough, and economics are making things challenging, but it is also a time where creative people can learn and seize their full potential, both now and later on.
That said, one also might wonder how this economy has effected the film school business, or those interested in programs at recording schools or radio schools for that matter. Because their mentorship programs are so reasonably priced, the Entertainment Career Connection's alternative film schools are really valuable, because people actually get jobs after they complete the programs - 74 percent to be exact. And, there has been a big increase in those taking the company's courses since January 2008. Student registrations in film, radio and recording are running about 160 percent over January 2008 -meaning the increase in the number of people who want to learn how to be a film director, or sign up for an audio engineer program or even those who want to learn to be a sports announcer, has been substantial.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Second Life and Educational Trends in Filmmaking
Have you ever heard of 'Real Life Education in Second Life.' This group is made up of people who are interested in the educational possibilities of Second Life where they say there are more than 400 universities and 4,500 educators participating in the Second Life Educators List (SLED). They are learning how to leverage the benefits of learning in a virtual world in order to assist the students of today.
In the photo: Second Life students role-play a courtroom scene hosted by Peggy Sheehy in Teen Second Life. How cool is that?
One article written by a professor of computer science at Colorado Technical University named Cynthia M. Calonge says, "the benefits outweigh the risks associated with venturing into a virtual world educational platform. For me, the virtual world is my preferred learning and teaching environment."
This method combined with a mentorship program may be the best way to learn in the future. As students learn and participate in social networks, such as our own Entertainment Connection Media Warrior network, they will benefit as they learn the importance of promoting themselves online, while they take our Film-Connection course where they can learn how to be a director.
Today, blogs are becomming a way of life. Everyone's on MySpace, FaceBook, and now Twitter, so imagine the magnitude of virtual classrooms? It would be one way to learn the bookwork in a fun and inspiring way, then go work with your mentor in the real world, at a real job, in training.
The author of The Extreme Future, James Canton, said that one of the top ten industries of the innovation economy is, "8. Education and Learning. The creation of immediate, portable, transferable, on-demand knowledge sources on a scale equivalent to the Library of Congress."
Well, virtual life is not far away as everything is transferred over to the Internet via Web 2.0. watch for 3-D on the Web in Web 3.0.
In the photo: Second Life students role-play a courtroom scene hosted by Peggy Sheehy in Teen Second Life. How cool is that?One article written by a professor of computer science at Colorado Technical University named Cynthia M. Calonge says, "the benefits outweigh the risks associated with venturing into a virtual world educational platform. For me, the virtual world is my preferred learning and teaching environment."
This method combined with a mentorship program may be the best way to learn in the future. As students learn and participate in social networks, such as our own Entertainment Connection Media Warrior network, they will benefit as they learn the importance of promoting themselves online, while they take our Film-Connection course where they can learn how to be a director.
Today, blogs are becomming a way of life. Everyone's on MySpace, FaceBook, and now Twitter, so imagine the magnitude of virtual classrooms? It would be one way to learn the bookwork in a fun and inspiring way, then go work with your mentor in the real world, at a real job, in training.
The author of The Extreme Future, James Canton, said that one of the top ten industries of the innovation economy is, "8. Education and Learning. The creation of immediate, portable, transferable, on-demand knowledge sources on a scale equivalent to the Library of Congress."
Well, virtual life is not far away as everything is transferred over to the Internet via Web 2.0. watch for 3-D on the Web in Web 3.0.
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