Did you know that the United States officially has an Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator?  It’s true. Obama appointed her, the Senate approved her, and her name is Victoria Espinel. It is all part of the 2008 Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act.  To simplify things, let’s just call her the Copyright Czar. Her job is to make it rougher for anybody who wants unauthorized digital copies of movies and television shows.

 

This is not going to work.  Legal prohibition cannot stop the development of technology, nor can it block the marketplace.  If people have the digital ability to make copies, then they will make copies.  If the government conducts showcase trials of a few downloaders, the problem will only shift offshore. The 10,000th digital copy of a movie is going to be just as sharp as the first copy, and nobody will care who first got the ball rolling or where they were living when they did it. 

 

Prohibition has not stopped alcohol sales, drug traffic, undocumented immigration or porn. Online gambling is against the law in most states, and here is how much good that does: http://offshoreonlinecasino.net/.  If there is a demand for a product or service, regardless of what it is, criminalizing it will not matter. The entertainment industry should get behind a revision of copyright law that reflects the reality of digital technology. Then they should figure a way to charge a reasonable fee for copies.  Like iTunes does, for example.  Most people will gladly pay for a copy, but they won’t pay more than they think the copy is worth.  And creating a Copyright Czar won’t change a thing.

 

Chicago-based SAG/AFTRA member Kathy Corday is one smart cookie, and we can all profit from her counsel.  This girl understands how to sell yourself, how to win friends and influence people regardless of what business you are in. She has written a pocket-sized 134-page book entitled The Networking Field Guide: Essential Social Skills for Business, and I recommend that you order a copy.  It costs only $13.95. At the end of the day, success in business as well as life is going to come down to the kind of relationships we build.  That is what is cool about Kathy’s book.  It is all about how to cultivate those relationships.  Good stuff!

 

The scene study workshop meets at The Acting Studio, 10 West Hubbard Street #2E, in the Loop.  That is located half a block west of Hubbard and State streets. Hours are 7-10:30 on Thursday nights. It is free to audit once, and you can start at any time. Tuition is $135 per 4-week month.

 

I am available for private coaching in Chicago. $75 per hour.

 

Apr 10th    Anime Arte - new school! (Pachuko, Hildago, Mexico)

Apr 23rd    CGCom White Conference (Montreal, Canada)

May 4-7     FMX 2010 (Stuttgart, Germany)

 

New actors ought not be overly influenced by the example of Neal McDonough.  Neal is the actor who was recently fired from his lead role in a new ABC-TV show entitled Scoundrels because he refused to do kissing scenes. He explained to the producers that he is a devout Catholic who takes his marriage vows seriously and therefore can’t kiss anybody but his wife. These are the same producers responsible for Desperate Housewives, so they quickly replaced him. I have a hunch Mr. McDonough is a born-again non-kisser because it is virtually impossible that he could have arrived at this point in his career without ever having kissed anybody.  Regardless of his rather amusing situation, which I presume we’ll be hearing more about in due time, there is an object lesson here for a new actor.

 

What is the moral and ethical line across which you will not step? Nudity? Acting in a commercial for a political cause that you don’t personally support? I had a student once who balked at blasphemy, also citing religious reasons.  He and I had a conversation in which I explained to him that it is not okay to re-write Eugene O’Neill and Arthur Miller so that the characters don’t cuss. The actor cannot impose his own personal standards on the character he is playing. If he does that, it isn’t even acting in the traditional sense. It is something similar to acting. 

 

The drama is based upon stories about the great mating dance of life. As such, it will occasionally involve a kiss or two. It also will occasionally involve stealing, killing, cheating, brutality and even perversion. The human tribe includes all kinds. There are people you want to have dinner with or marry, and there are those you cross the street to avoid. An actor’s job, according to Mr. Shakespeare, is to hold the mirror up to nature. He didn’t say anything about sanitizing nature prior to holding up the mirror. He didn’t say that the actor should hold up the mirror to only the church-going parts.

 

Acting is not only fun, it is an honorable thing to do with your life. As an actor, it is part of your job description to study human behavior without wearing blinders. An actor must never deny in herself the potential to behave like the character she is playing. Just because you are playing, say, a prostitute (Nuts), that doesn’t mean you have to do some hooking on your way to the theatre or movie set. Just because you are playing, say, a murderous man (Richard III), that does not mean you have to actually do the deed in real life. Acting is pretending. ("Advanced pretending," as Academy Award-winner Jeff Bridges put it in a recent interview.) The audience understands that the actor onstage is pretending, and the actor knows that the audience knows. Everybody pretends together. That's why they call them plays! 

 

Let’s go back to Neal McDonough for a moment. I wonder what he is worried about regarding the kissing scenes? Surely, he is not concerned that he would become actually aroused, right? If he got for-real turned on, then his wife and his priest would have something to be truly concerned about. The audience does not want to see an actor overwhelmed by his own emotions. To improve a bit on Meisner’s definition of acting: “Acting is behaving believably in pretend circumstances for a theatrical purpose.” The “theatrical purpose” part of that definition is essential, and I have never understood why Meisner left it out. The actor behaves believably, but he is in control. The theatrical transaction between actor and audience requires pretend.  The actor operates in an arena of emotion, but he must never be in danger of allowing those emotions to actually take over.

 

For an actor, the occasional kiss comes with the turf the way E-minor comes with the turf for a musician.  Whatever floats Neal McDonough’s boat is okay with me. But if you have in mind beginning an acting career that does not include kissing, I strongly recommend you make an appointment with a career counselor.

 

Until next month ...

Be safe!