Blog Stage - Acting in Film, TV, Theatre - Backstage

Techies and Cinephiles

The seventh annual International Fest of Cinema and Technology—Los Angeles (Dec. 5–9) is a touring festival designed to find the best undiscovered and overlooked projects and screen them to general audiences, as well as to industry professionals. Categories include features, shorts, documentaries, animation, music videos, and experimental. Deadline to submit is Sept. 15, 2008; entry fees are $25–$60. Visit www.ifct.org for more information.

Broadway Websites: What Will They Think of Next?

We almost overlooked a brief story from last week's New York Daily News, about the increasingly intricate websites being developed for Broadway shows, because, well, it didn't really seem like news at all. "The Great Web Way: Broadway sites to behold" mentions a handful of upcoming Broadway musicals with an entertaining online presence, including A Tale of Two Cities, Billy Elliot, and 9 to 5.

From the New York Daily News:

For a smile, go directly to www.9to5themusical.com, the Web site for 9 to 5, the Musical, coming to Broadway in the spring. There's a clip of creator Dolly Parton, singin' "It's called 9 to 5 and it's openin' on Broadway. That's right, 9 to 5 with a matinee on Sunday..." There's also a link to Parton's personal tour schedule. That's the thing about the Web, it doesn't work just 9 to 5, it goes 24/7.

The Web "doesn't work just 9 to 5, it goes 24/7"? That's hilarious.

'20at20' Offers Two Weeks of Off-Broadway Discounts

In the spirit of New York's "Restaurant Week," select Off-Broadway shows will offer discount tickets for two weeks only, beginning next week. "20at20," a biannual celebration of Off-Broadway theatre, offers $20 tickets at the box office 20 minutes before showtime.

"20at20" runs Sept. 2 through Sept. 14, offering audiences a chance to see multiple Off-Broadway shows for less than the cost of a single Broadway ticket. Over 20 shows are participating, including Altar Boyz at New World Stages, Awesome 80s Prom at Webster Hall, Fela! at 37 Arts, My First Time at New World Stages, The Fantasticks at Snapple Theater Center, and more.

For more info, including a full list of the 2008 "20at20" Off-Broadway shows, visit www.20at20.com or call (877) 4-20at20 (420-2820).

East Meets West

The East West Players is accepting applications for its 10-week intensive playwriting workshop scheduled for Sept. 13–Nov. 22.

The workshop will include innovative writing exercises, in-class readings, and studying of contemporary texts to motivate the creative process. The workshop will culminate in staged readings of the finished products with professional actors and directors at East West Players’ David Henry Hwang Theatre.

Workshop fee is $400; scholarships are available. To apply, email EWP literary manager Jeff Liu at [email protected].

For more information, visit www.eastwestplayers.org.

Growing Pains

Impact Theatre in Berkeley, Calif., is seeking comic 10-minute, unpublished plays for its ninth annual Impact Briefs Festival (May 1–June 6, 2009). This year’s theme is “puberty.” There is a $50 flat fee paid for performance rights for each chosen play. Deadline is Nov. 1, 2008; no submission fee or limit on how many plays each applicant can submit. Email submissions to [email protected]. For more information, visit www.impacttheatre.com.

Lost in Translation

Casting directors Fiona Weir (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince) and Debra Zane (X-Men Origins: Wolverine) are slated to cast Lost for Words, a romantic comedy, starring Hugh Grant and Ziyi Zhang.

Danish director-writer Susanne Bier (Things We Lost in the Fire) will direct. The script was penned by Dan Mazer (Borat) and Jamie Curtis (Spice World).

Shooting is scheduled to begin in September in China and London.

Historic L.A. Theatre Closing? We’ll see about that.

For those of you who have never been to the Stage Door Theatre in Agoura Hills, Calif., try to visualize an old, 50-seat theatre tucked into the rolling, majestic hills of Agoura. The theatre’s seats might be a bit faded, and the dressing-room ceiling might need repainting, but it has been my home for the last three months.

Does Klondike Not Want to Sell Women Their Ice Cream Bars?

What would I, Miki Yamashita, do for a Klondike bar? 

Well, after seeing their new appallingly sexist ad campaign, the answer is:

NOTHING, bitches!

East-Coast Casting Highlights - 8/28/08

Every week Back Stage publishes hundreds of notices -- casting notices, entertainment-industry job notices, and calls for submissions to talent contests and film festivals. Back Stage is the premier resource for actors, dancers, singers, comedians, and all performing artists -- plus those talented individuals working behind-the-scenes, including writers and crew -- looking for quality opportunities.  BackStage.com's casting database includes all of the notices from  the  popular Back Stage East and Back Stage West  publications, plus hundreds of additional items.

EAST COAST:

Below are a few highlights from this week's East Coast notices, compiled by East-Coast Assistant Casting Editor (ACE) Sri Gordon:

SAG, AFTRA, Advertisers Extend Commercial Deal

SAG, AFTRA and the Joint Policy Committee, the bargaining arm for advertisers, agreed to an extension of the unions' commercials contracts, which were set to expire at the end of October. The new deadline is March 31, 2009.

This is the second extension of the contract in two years. The original three-year deal, set to expire in October 2006, was extended by two years so that the parties could hire a consulting firm to study the impact of new media on advertising. The study was conducted by Booz Allen Hamilton, but the details have not been made public.