“It’s a market.”
Christian Barillas is not summing up Wall Street, but defining
the reality of the entertainment industry. With graduation fast
approaching, his class of MFA theater students is quickly realizing
that marketing ability is just as important as talent in an
actor’s path to success.
The UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television understands
this, and from May 9-10 will host its annual MFA Actors Showcase at
the Falcon Theater in Burbank. This is a student’s final
project before graduating and an opportunity for actors to showcase
their talent for industry insiders.
“It’s a short evening where each actor in our class
performs two scenes that show where we are really cast-able right
now,” said Kourtney Kaas, one of the performers in the
show.
Casting directors, managers and agents from around town are
invited to the performance, which is not open to the public. Like a
pitch festival or a student design exhibit, this is the
actor’s one night of pure promotion to show the industry what
the resume may miss.
Needless to say, it’s a pressure-packed situation.
“A big part of this is finding what type of actor you want
to be,” said Julia Willcox, another actor in the showcase.
“You can be as versatile as possible, but when it comes down
to it, it’s a business, and you have to market yourself as
in, this is what you’re good at and what you can be cast
as.”
Each actor performs in two scenes. Not only do the students have
to find routine that highlights their individual talents, but one
that will also equally favor their scene partners. Since the
beginning of winter quarter, the class has sifted through upwards
of 60 scenes in a search to find the few that offer performers the
perfect three minutes of stage time.
“We’re showing what we could be best cast as right
now. A big part of the whole process is finding out who we are and
how we think we will be cast, and finding material to let other
people see us in (those roles),” said April Shawhan, who
directed the showcase with Mel Shapiro.
While other graduate schools offer showcase programs,
UCLA’s location and department set it apart, Willcox said.
For example, schools like Yale and New York University host
showcases in New York and Los Angeles, while UCLA showcases only in
Los Angeles. According to Willcox, these graduate students plan on
being Los Angeles actors, regardless of whether or not they plan on
pursuing theater, film or television.
The theater department understands that film and television is
the life force of the Los Angeles entertainment industry. Although
these actors are graduate students in theater, they know that
marketing themselves for film and television is more practical than
trying to go straight onto the stage.
“I found people who were doing really well in New York had
a name from something they did in L.A. It used to be that New York
actors were sought out to be in film, but now TV actors are sought
after to be in plays. It is a more lucrative plan,” Willcox
said.
Knowing this, the students will also show a 22-minute film,
“‘Till Parole Do Us Part,” which was written for
and stars all nine of the performing actors and demonstrates how
their talent translates onto the screen.
“We chose material that shows what we could do in TV and
film right now. We’re in L.A.; we’re not doing any
classical theater or avant-garde, but showing how we are capable of
doing TV and film,” Kaas said.
It may seem ironic that after three years of closely studying
theater, the actors’ last project is a market-style showcase
rather than a sort of grande finale theater production. But for the
actors, after years of doing plays in the department, this is the
finale, the bridge between UCLA and a future in which their talent
will serve them as much as their business savvy.
“We did all the groundwork (for the showcase); we got all
the connections,” Willcox said. “It is very much the
business side we are preparing for.”