How To Break Into Movies, Television & Commercials; Kids In the Tv Commercial Biz

The lure of the camera continues to draw many hopefuls, young and old, toward the American version of Mecca: Hollywood, CA. But, as How to Break Into Movies, Television, & Commercials emphasizes, it's a good idea to build a solid foundation in Your Town, USA before making the trek to glitz gulch. Hosted by Kim Fields (Living Single), the program is higher on style than content, with endless diagonal shots of interview clips with an agent, manager, casting director, and director, all of whom explain their role in the actor's career, and underscore the importance of personal persistence and a strong sense of professionalism. The program briefly covers trade magazines and photos, before following actress Julie Phillips to an audition. Oddly, the video is actually being sold as a "free bonus" to a 50-page manual of the same name, which has a state-by-state listing of talent agencies. How to Start a Career in Television, Movies & Commercials (VL-1/94) is more informative though rougher looking. Still, this is much better than Information Hollywood (VL-10/91) or How to Break into Acting (VL-11/93). Recommended.Kids in the TV Commercial Biz, presented by Vernèe Watson-Johnson, an award-winning actress and owner of an acting school for children, is a warm and winning guide to the basics of television commercial acting for children. Supported by a group of child actors, including her own children, Watson-Johnson points out what commercial producers are generally looking for (children who are small for their age, twins, kids with loads of personality, etc.), and covers the topics of pictures, agent interviews, work permits, auditions, callbacks, stage directions, and more. The kids do warm-up exercises for the vocal cords, tongue-twisters, improvisation, mime, and skits involving one, two, and more children. A good complement to How to Get Your Child Into Television, Movies & Commercials, this is aimed more at kids than at parents. And Watson-Johnson makes an especially good point early on: illiteracy and acting don't go together; stumbling over the words on cue cards is not the best way to land a choice part. Highly recommended. (R. Pitman)