I have such wonderful news! Today I met with Donna Coccodrilli of Accents Modeling and Talent Agency in Bethlehem, PA. Donna contacted me on Tuesday, April 19, on my way into NYC for my showcase at Don't Tell Mama's to tell me I came highly recommended by Rebecca Tropeano Pieper-Bohun of Musik Makers. Sweet!
Donna explained to me that she is looking to expand her modeling school with the addition of an acting program. So we set up a meeting. Within the first half hour I knew I wanted to work with this woman and build an acting program one can only dream about.
Donna has access to agents and NYC professionals (which I happen to fall under that category since I do my fair share of performing in NYC.) The program will be very structured and curriculum driven. It will offer students and opportunity to explore theater, film, TV, and commercials. It will build their public speaking skills. It will offer dance and movement, monologue work, scene work, group skits, and a big showcase at the end of the eight weeks.
Now, I urge you all to come and check the school out on May 7th 1-3PM. All the instructors will be showcasing their own talent to show students they are going to get nothing but the best as their instructors.
If you attend the open house your name will be entered into a drawing for a scholarship for the inaugural acting program. All you have to do is show up!
The first acting program will run May 18 - August 6. Every other Saturday from 10:30am - 4:30pm.
Nunsense is still running at Pines Dinner Theatre in Allentown, PA where I am playing the role of Sister Hubert. Here is an excerpt from the show: We run Wed, Thu, Sun matinees and Fri & Sat evenings. There are dinner/show packages AND show only tickets. So come on out and have some fun with a bunch of nuns! Also, on Tuesday, April 19th I sang at Don't Tell Mama's in NYC for Seth Bisen-Hersh's 150th Showcase Celebration featuring all original pieces by Seth. I was blessed to have my husband with me that night to support me and also in attendance were Mim Paquin-Robinette and Samantha Morris, two of my biggest fans! Sam also brought her beau, Rich. I was so lucky to have 4 people cheering me on. I was smack dab in the middle of a great line-up of songs. My song that Seth chose for me is titled 'Love Me For Me' and here is the video from that night.
I can't tell you how much I love this song. Seth has an entire store of sheet music of his original tunes. You can check them out on his website.Check out some pics of Mim, Sam, and I at Bamboo 52 in NYC for post-show sushi! Yummers.
Now, the business of me came across this article by co-founder of The Savvy Actor, Kevin Urban. Kevin is a great guy running a very successful business in NYC for actors AND acting himself. Enjoy the article. It's great.
Getting paid what you deserve [savvy actor]
As actors, we need to believe in our worth and price ourselves accordingly by asking for what we want. I was reminded of just that when my agent sent my check for a print job that I booked. The check was nice, but it could have been a lot nicer…if you know what I mean. At the time, I decided that I was not going to discount my services.
This particular shoot was in Philly and the actual client was not there, but a rep from the advertising agency was. While waiting for hair and makeup, the client called and said that he’d like my head to be shaved for the shoot.
At first, I was like no way. I’m not shaving my head. They should’ve specifically cast a bald actor or at least let me know at the casting call. While I was thinking it over, the photographer came up to me and said “Ask for what you want and make it worth your while.” HUH! I started to seriously consider it. It was a print job so my agent would get 20% commission. I was already making $3,000 for the job. My agent was going to get $600 and figure 28% would also go toward taxes.
As I started to think about my price, I also started to think about how long I would be bald and how being bald would affect my business. I’ve been bald before and I know that it would take at least two and a half months for my hair to grow back. In that time, I wouldn’t be able to audition for commercials because I wouldn’t look like my headshot. $10,000 was the number that jumped in my head. I figured that I would need at least $10,000 to change my look because taxes and my agent’s commission would eat up a significant portion of the money. I also wanted to cover my expenses for the two and a half months that I wouldn’t be auditioning.
Once I settled on my price, I called my agent, told her the situation, and that I would do it for $10,000 plus the $3,000 I was already getting. My agent was so supportive and agreed – $10,000 was the “absolute minimum” because she couldn’t send me out until my hair grew back. My agent called the ad executive and told them my number. They got back to their client and he countered with $7,000. I said no. I did the shoot anyway – with a hat on.
At $7,000 I would have had to pay my agent $1,400 making my cut $5,600 before taxes. Financially, the money would have been nice, but all in all, I would’ve had to have taken 3 months off from auditioning or get new headshots. Neither option really made sense. Don’t get me wrong, it was hard to turn down the money, but it was the right decision. More importantly, I really didn’t want to shave my head. I knew that it would grow back, but I wouldn’t have been happy for two months while waiting for my hair to grow back and not auditioning. I put a number on what I was willing to accept and stuck with it even though the money they offered was nothing to sneeze at. I was willing to walk away rather than take the lesser amount and devalue myself.
In an industry where there is a need to please others in order to work, it’s easy to discount our services because we want that work! I’d like you to consider “Asking for What You Want and Need”. You may ask for it and not get it, but you’ve got to value yourself. Hey, I didn’t get the money I asked for, but I’ve got my hair. Overall that makes me happier than if I’d taken their offer.
Kevin Urban is a professional actor/singer and career coach with The Savvy Actor who aims to share his entrepreneurial vision by empowering clients to achieve their dreams. While in college, Kevin in love with the syllabus. The syllabus allowed Kevin, A graduate of Elizabethtown College with a BA in Communications focusing on PR, Marketing and Theatre, to stay on top of grades, perform and swim competitively. As an actor, Kevin has performed since the age of five, working in Theatre, TV, Film and Commercials. www.kevinurban.com
********Now, this article is one of many I've read on this subject and it's not the first time this subject has come up in my life. I have conversations with many close friends about knowing my worth. My friend Kelly and I would have hour long conversations about knowing how to put a price on my worth. She is a tutor and as her tutoring business grew, so did her worth. She was able to put a minimum price on her tutoring and she doesn't back down. Another dear friend, Mim, and I have gone back and forth about me accepting things for free or on verbal agreement. Now, being new in the business I accepted things for no pay to get my name out there and network. I'm still relatively new but I'm also becoming more and more established. Recently I have had the opportunity to set a price to my worth and not back down. And it's rolling along. And it feels good. So, never devalue your worth.
Now for the biggest announcement of all! My company Star of the Day Event Productions is officially on the map. I have started to put together a staff, board, FB page, and so on. The creative team has already met to go over the first full-scale children's musical and work on rewrites and talk about the music. We have already posted auditions for the table reads in June. We are getting all the paperwork together to file to be a non-profit organization. We are also organizing the materials needed to get the birthday business up and running for the summer! We are looking to book a series of performance workshops both in PA and NYC. We are looking for investors for our children's musical so we can tour with the show around the east coast. We are hoping to set sail come the fall! It's all so exciting. We are looking for a logo and soon a website. I have teamed up with Greta Kleckner, another professional actress living in PA. She is helping with the music arrangements for the shows as well as a full-time member of the staff when all the paperwork is in and accepted. Star of the Day Event Productions will also provide professional musical entertainment for corporate parties, fairs, festivals, weddings, etc. We are full scale entertainment company ready to make you all the Star of the Day. Upcoming.....
- April 30th - Teaching a 1 hour Speech and Diction class at Accents Modeling and Talent agency
- May 7th - OPEN HOUSE for my new acting intensive at Accents Modeling and Talent Agency from 1-3PM. Bethlehem, PA
- May 13th - Career Day presentation at Nazareth Area High School
- Now - May 29th - NUNSENSE!
- June 10 - August 21 - HAPPY DAYS! The Musical!
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "Commitment leads to action. Action brings your dream closer." ~Marcia Wieder
Kirsten Alm
eida received her B.A. in Theater and Speech from Wagner College. For twelve years, Kirsten doubled as a professional fundraiser for a large non-profit arts organization and an actor, director, choreographer, and playwright. She is currently performing for the Pines Dinner Theatre 2011 season as Sister Hubert in 'Nunsense' and Mrs. C in 'Happy Days The Musical.' She has performed in more than forty shows all over the U.S. She spent four months touring the country with the Omaha Theater Company's production of 'The Little Engine that Could' as the Red Dress Doll. She performed nearly 80 performances in 36 states. In New York City, Kirsten was part of the cast for the award-winning 'Skin Deep' by Mary Lynn Dobson (Fringe Festival winner 2009) which has won top honors from the 2010 Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Short Play Festival and originated the role of Lavender Blue in the eerily funny 'Professor Von Awesome's Traveling Caravan of Cautionary Warnings.' Kirsten appeared in the U.S. premiere of 'Scandalous! A new musical based on the life of D.H. Lawrence' in New Orleans and appeared at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in the World Premiere musical 'The Butterfly Project' which raised money for children's cancer research. Other credits include Children of Eden (Mama Noah), Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat(Narrator), Hello Dolly!(Minnie Fay), Beauty and the Beast(Silly Girl & Madame de la Grande Bouche), The Sound of Music(Mother Abbess), Annie(Star-to-Be), Oliver!(Widow Corney), How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying(Rosemary), My Fair Lady(Featured Dancer), Promises, Promises!(Featured Dancer), Nunsense I & II(Sister Leo), Gypsy(Tessie Tura), Guys & Dolls(Featured Dancer), Back to the 80s(Debbie Cox), Seussical the Musical(Gertrude), Snoopy!(Sally Brown), Pippin(Featured dancer), Carousel, Godspell, Little Shop of Horrors(Chiffon), and many more.
In film/tv, Kirsten has appeared in the upcoming comedy 'Big Guns', 'Three Chris'', and filmed the independent short 'Westfield' with Clocktower Productions. She has also appeared in two episodes of 'The World's Most Astonishing News'.
She has also appeared as a guest artist with the Newark Boys Chorus and Triad Ensemble and the Spotlight Cabaret with Allentown Public Theater. She was a founding member of the Boonton Parks & Recreation Theatre Company for young performers where she not only directed and choreographed the shows for the company but also acted as lead fundraiser, costumer, lighting designer, marketing director as well as scenic and props designer. Kirsten also taught dance for the recreation department to children ages 7-12. Kirsten has also dabbled in play writing for children's theater. Her twisted version of "The Three Little Pigs" (a musical from the Big Bad Wolf's perspective) was produced at Playhouse 22 in East Brunswick, NJ.
Kirsten teaches drama classes at the Civic Theater in Allentown, PA to grades Pre-K through 4. She also is the Program Coordinator/Facilitator for the "Reading with Cat in the Hat" literacy promotion program where she tours to at-risk communities and performs as the Cat in the Hat. Kirsten also offers an audition class to high school students which helps students audition confidently. Her effective teaching style is requested by groups in PA and NJ and NY.
She is also the owner and operator of 'Star of the Day' Event Productions. A one-of-a-kind full service entertainment experience.Audio Video Facebook Twitter Website Email
