Actors needed

Iowa City - Interested in a unique acting experience? Megan Werner Gerhardt is putting together a research project that requires four actors - two male and two female. One of each gender needs to clearly look "young" (say late 20's or so), while the other 2 need to clearly look "older" (think gray haired).

The actors would be asked to "teach" a 15 minute class that would be taped. The script would be identical across actors, and to the extent possible, every thing other than age and gender should be as consistent as possible--non verbals, "teaching" ability, etc. We are going to ask students to rate each "class" on a number of dimensions, and are interested in seeing if Generation Y assesses age as an asset or detriment in a professor, and whether this varies by gender.

If you're interested in this experience, email Megan at gerharmm@muohio.edu.

Actors needed for staged reading of ‘Invisible Man’

Iowa City - Union and non-union actors are being sought for a staged reading of a new adaptation of Ralph Ellison’s seminal novel Invisible Man. An honorarium of $100 will be paid to each cast member. The book won the National Book Award in 1953. Oren Jacoby has adapted the novel for the stage, and director Christopher McElroen is preparing for the world premiere of the play, set for early 2012 in Chicago, with an extended residency at the University of Iowa. The staged reading is part of that residency.

Auditions will take place on Monday, November 7 at 6 p.m. in Shambaugh Auditorium, located in the UI Main Library. The reading will be performed on Saturday, December 3 at 7 p.m. in Shambaugh Auditorium.

Those who are cast must be able to attend the majority of rehearsals. Rehearsal dates and times are:

November 28, 1-6 p.m.
November 29, 1-6 p.m.
November 30, 11-3:30 p.m.
December 1, 3-8 p.m.
December 2, 11-4 p.m.
December 3, 4-7 p.m., with public reading to begin at 7 p.m.

McElroen is seeking: Three African American males ranging in age from mid-20s to late-50s; two Caucasian males ranging in age from mid-20s to mid-50s; two African American females ranging in age from mid-20s to mid-40s; and one Caucasian female ranging in age from mid-20s to mid-30s.

Actors are asked to prepare a two-minute monologue of their choosing. Those with questions may contact Hancher Executive Director Chuck Swanson at 319-335-1133.

Acting opportunity

Cedar Rapids - We received word that ACT is writing writing script for an ACT Online training program. They expect to do video tryouts around mid-May in Cedar Rapids. They are looking for female actors, 18 to 26 year old, who have taken either the ACT or SAT for college entrance. Please email chuck717@mchsi.com for more information.

Casting Call for "Spread" MTV Pilot

Iowa City - Bluebox Limited Films is casting lead and supporting roles for an upcoming pilot to be shot in Iowa City. E-mail spreadcasting@blueboxlimited.com with your name, contact info, headshot and resume by February 21.

Details available here.

Acting/Model Job Opportunity

Annette Rohlk, Marketing Manager at Leepfrog Technologies, contacting our blog asking for help in getting the word out about their actor/model opportunities. They occasionally hold photo shoots and use those images for their website and collateral materials. They also occasionally hold voice recordings for training videos. They are currently gathering a casting list of potential actors/models. The photo shoots are held during working hours, Monday-Friday. They are looking for actors/models of all ages (18+), gender and ethnicity.

If you are hired for a shoot, the pay would be $25/hour. The photo shoots tend to last anywhere from 2-6 hours. They may or may not need you for that entire span, and they try to take your personal schedule in mind when setting the schedule for the day. They are asking for some general information at this time so that we have a base to work with as well as a current picture. (It does not have to be a professional image.) Some of you may have worked for them in the past; please still reply with your information. The next photo shoot will be held in April 2010 (day & location TBD).

If you would like to be included on our casting call list please email the following information to arohlk@leepfrog.com:

Name:
Gender:
Email Address:
Phone Number:

And please send a current photograph.

If you have questions, call 319-337-3877 or email the address above.

Leepfrog is a software company located in Iowa City and has been serving the Higher Education, Medical Centers, Travel Agencies, Manufacturers and other businesses for 15 years. You can find more information regarding Leepfrog Technologies by going to their website: www.leepfrog.com.

Acting Opportunity

KGAN TV (Channel 2) need actors to play paparazzi at a preview party for the fall season.

The details: September 9th, from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm at the Cedar Rapids Arts Museum. No pay, but they will feed you!

They need 30 to 50 people.

Contact Shaun Hynes at shynes@sbgnet.com or 319-395-9060.

Paid Improvisational Acting Opportunity

UI - We received this notice of a paid acting gig. Check it out!

Professors Jay Christensen-Szalanski and Lon Moeller of the College of Business are making another collection of ten videos for a digital book on management. They will pay $75 per hour for acting talent, provide prominent listing of the talent in the book credits, and provide talent with a digital of the video. Filming will occur in April and early May. If you are interested please read the following and contact Jay-Christensen-Szalanski@uiowa.edu.

Pay = $75 for one hour per actor/actress to a maximum of three people per scene. You will be paid in cash at the time of the filming.

Task: Portray a problem that you or someone you know experienced in any business setting (see examples below). Talent will be responsible for developing a rough script of the scene. We will help you develop the characters during the filming session. Improvisation skills are important since the dialogue will be mostly improvised not memorized. We are interested in conveying a candid “news” feel rather than a staged Hollywood feel. Typical scenes will be about 4 minutes long. Filming usually consists of 3 takes that are completed in one enjoyable hour. We prefer that you arrange for the other talent in your scene. However, let us know if you have an idea for a scene and need a partner, or if you want to act in someone else’s scene. Depending upon the scene we can arrange for the setting to film in. However, we will pay an additional $30 if you can arrange for your own setting.

Some sample scene ideas:

Supervising a problem employee (e.g. lazy, unfriendly, obnoxious, gossipy).

Working with a problem co-worker or someone who just doesn’t fit in.

Working for an undesirable or unappreciative boss.

Encountering a difficult customer.

Encountering a useless bureaucrat.

Complaining to an employee about a flawed product or service that they provided you, the customer.

Paying Acting Gig

UI - Professors Lon Moeller and Jay Christensen-Szalanski of the College of Business are making a digital book on conflict management. It will include several short video and audio segments that will be used in the book either as exercises for the reader to evaluate or to exemplify the text.

They are looking for actors and actresses for both types of segments. They will pay $40 for one video hour per actor/actress and $15 for one audio hour per actor/actress. They will also list the talents’ names in the acting/voice credits in their book. If you are interested please read the following and contact Jay-Christensen-Szalanski AT uiowa.edu.

Video Segments. Filming will start in 10 days and end in late May. The acting talent can portray any conflict situation from the list below. You create the scene but the entire sequence needs to be 20-90 seconds long. We are interesting in capturing examples of “everyday” conflict in which at least one of the individuals is very emotional (e.g. guilty, angry, frustrated, defensive, fearful, etc). It will be a single-camera shot that focuses on facial gestures and voice. We are seeking segments that will have more of an impromptu “news” feel than a rehearsed dramatic production.

Each segment will include an additional 15-30 seconds of narration (recorded later by the book’s narrator) to set the scene and give background information. We will be bringing minimal equipment and thus the location you use can be as small as a dorm room or of a single person on a phone. Alternatively, we can select a location in Iowa City. We expect that set-up and time for 3-4 takes will all be completed within 90 minutes with talent being paid for a minimum of one hour. Please send a 1-2 sentence description of the proposed scene to Jay-Christensen-Szalanski AT uiowa.edu, who will respond within 24 hours. Talent may only appear in one video segment but may also participate in the audio segments listed below.

Conflict Topics For Video Segments

• • employee vs. supervisor
• • patient vs. health care provider
• • customer vs. store employee
• • co-workers
• • family members
• • roommates
• • union representative vs. manager
• • teacher vs. parent of a student
• • emotional person is not saying what is really bothering her/him
• • listener misunderstands what is really bothering the emotional person.

Audio Segments (no memorization) - In two weeks the authors will be circulating an additional list of short scripts (5-15 lines). They are seeking people with expressive voices that can effectively convey different strong emotions. No memorization is required. The entire session will last one hour and will occur on campus. We provide the recording equipment. Pay is $15 for one hour. Participants in the video segments are also eligible to participate in this activity. If you would like to receive a list of parts when they are available please contact Jay-Christensen-Szalanski AT uiowa.edu.