Author: Helen

AC Interview: Karen Workman, Part 2

Industry expert Karen Workman is the mom of three young actors and the author of Baby Steps to Hollywood. The term “stage mom” sometimes has a negative connotation but Karen single-handedly makes that label synonymous with teacher, student, life coach, cheerleader, adventurer, and fun-loving risk-taker. She wholeheartedly supports her children’s dreams and talents but her main objective is to nurture their health, well-being, and confidence as human beings independent of Hollywood. Karen regularly speaks at industry events and her book Baby Steps is an invaluable resource for parents of aspiring child actors. We were lucky to steal a few minutes from her busy schedule to find out what it takes for child and teen actors to find professional success as well as personal fulfillment in Hollywood.

We continue with the second half of the interview below. Read Part 1 of the interview here.

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Helen: Switching […]

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AC Interview: Karen Workman, Part 1

Industry expert Karen Workman is the mom of three young actors and the author of Baby Steps to Hollywood. The term “stage mom” sometimes has a negative connotation but Karen single-handedly makes that label synonymous with teacher, student, life coach, cheerleader, adventurer, and fun-loving risk-taker. She wholeheartedly supports her children’s dreams and talents but her main objective is to nurture their health, well-being, and confidence as human beings independent of Hollywood. Karen regularly speaks at industry events and her book Baby Steps is an invaluable resource for parents of aspiring child actors. We were lucky to steal a few minutes from her busy schedule to find out what it takes for child and teen actors to find professional success as well as personal fulfillment in Hollywood.

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Helen: Shall we start with your genesis story?

Karen: My husband Pete and I met as students at Victoria University […]

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AC Interview: Shannon “Max” MacMillan, Part 2

Shannon is a co-founder and the “industry brain” at Actors Compass. With 20+ years of experience in the acting industry and 10+ years as a web developer, she has built, reviewed, and consulted on hundreds of actor sites. The idea for Actors Compass grew out of a business workshop Shannon teaches to graduating acting students at various schools and theaters. A few weeks ago, Helen, also a co-founder and the “all-up-in-your-business brain”, sat down with Shannon to discuss all things Actors Compass.

Helen continues her interview of Shannon below. Read part one of the interview here.

Helen: I’m curious to know a little more about your background as a performer. Can you describe the trajectory of your acting career?

Shannon: I was a professional actor for a little over 20 years, primarily in New York and Los Angeles. I started performing onstage when I was four years old. My older sister […]

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AC Interview: Shannon “Max” MacMillan, Part 1

Shannon is a co-founder and the “industry brain” at Actors Compass. With 20+ years of experience in the acting industry and 10+ years as a web developer, she has built, reviewed, and consulted on hundreds of actor sites. The idea for Actors Compass grew out of a business workshop Shannon teaches to graduating acting students at various schools and theaters. A few weeks ago, Helen, also a co-founder and the “all-up-in-your-business brain”, sat down with Shannon to discuss all things Actors Compass.

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SAG-AFTRA Foundation Discusses Best Practices in Creating a Reel

Many of you pro actors out there may already know about this great resource but the SAG-AFTRA Foundation offers a great library of videos designed to give you a leg-up on the business side of acting. The videos include topics like how to perform in a horror film and the ins and outs of SAG-AFTRA residuals. A standout video is a panel discussion about best practices to keep in mind when creating an actor reel. The panel consists of theatrical agents and associate casting directors so heeding its advice will ensure that you present the best of your talent and experience so that you’ll get noticed by the people who matter most.

The video is just under an hour but it’s really worth a look. Set aside some time, pour yourself some coffee, and take notes. You’ll thank us later.

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We’ve Launched!

It’s alive! It’s alive!

The Actors Compass Dashboard and Customizer

After four whirlwind days of designing, programming, and general goofing off on constant repeat while subsisting on coffee and beer (and flank steak and tacos and pizza and pie and — we could seriously go on and on), we’re so proud to launch Actors Compass! Our debut version of Actors Compass is FREE and totally unique in the market of actor website tools. Want to see how it works? Visit our Demo!

This scene between Shannon and Grant could be 11am or 11pm (except you can see the sunlight through the blinds)

The Actors Compass retreat was a complete success. We worked super hard, laughed a lot, and broke out into random nonsensical song-and-dance routines for four awesome days. Yes, you get to make up your own log weekend when you freelance, people. It was pretty epic to see all of our hard […]

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