I’m no longer updating this blog by have a very active PODCAST that is covering much of the same material I once covered with this blog. The big difference is that I’m focusing on interviewing actors and other creatives in the film business who are writing, directing and/or producing their own projects. Join me at ACTORS TALK PODCAST !

If you like what you hear…it’s an audio only podcast at this time…please subscribe in iTunes and leave a review. THANKS!

Wow, I can’t believe I haven’t posted here since June 27, 2011! What’s been going on and what is next?

If you’ve been a frequent visitor here you probably know that I don’t usually put up audio posts. Time for something new! Time for a lot new, actually.

Here’s the deal. After six years of maintaining this blog, I’ve decided to shift focus, change gears, punt.

I began this blog in September of 2005 thusly:

Hello to anyone who may stumble upon this feeble effort.

I’m just setting up this blog and hope to ‘meet’ some fellow actors, or those interested in either the craft or the business. Feel free to ask questions…as long as you understand that I will feel free to answer honestly.

So with this inauspicious beginning I went through six years of sharing my take on the actor’s life, on this actor’s journey. And I was fortunate to ‘meet’ a large number of fellow actors during my time here. And I hope I was able to offer reasonable and helpful answers to the many questions I have received from fellow journeymen/women who were just beginning or trying to begin an acting career. Fielding those emails and endeavoring to respond with something that could be helpful was the most enjoyable part of maintaining this blog.

But now I think it’s time to strike out on a slightly different course. Over the past several months I’ve become more and more interested in the idea of producing a podcast, really a series of podcasts, related to acting and filmmaking.

I hope you will join be at the brand spanking new, ActorsTalk Podcast.

The podcast format will allow me to do several things: first it allows me to stretch some creative wings a bit. I’ve had most of the equipment necessary to podcast sitting around, used infrequently for voice over auditions. So, I had a good start on that front.

Secondly, it will allow me to bring in other actors, writers, directors, casting directors, agents, producers, union reps, etc. for interviews. That part is very exciting to me and I think these interviews will be very beneficial to all of us actors. I’ll also have the opportunity to interview filmmakers about casting opportunities and/or about the process of making independent films. Potentially good stuff there!

In case you’re interested in how this transition began here’s the short version:

Several months ago, while searching the internet for some information on a video camera, I came stumbled upon a fellow named Cliff Ravenscraft, the Podcast Answer Man. Cliff had done a video review of the camera I was considering and in the process of looking around his site I saw a video of his regarding how he got into podcasting.

Actually, I thought some of the things Cliff shared in this video were so important for a group of filmmakers to hear that I asked Cliff for permission to share a short clip with a filmmakers group on Facebook. The clip concerned Cliff’s approach to podcasting and how his faith informs his podcasts in a subtle yet meaningful way.

Cliff has an infectious passion for podcasting and before long, I was spending more more time at his web site looking over the outstanding training materials he has there (much of the information if free!!) and of course I began downloading some of his podcasts.

2011 has been a disaster of a year! I lost both my brother and sister within three weeks of each other in February and my mother-in-law passed away in early June. Several friends have also lot parents this year. On top of that, it’s been a very bad year professionally.

So, the whole podcasting thing has come along at a time when I need something new and positive and fun upon which I can unleash some creative energy.

So there you have it. This will likely be the last blog post on still Acting after all these years…at least for a while. I will maintain the site as there is a lot of good information in the archives and I want to keep that available for those who might benefit from it.

I’ll still be blogging at the new site Actors Talk Podcast , but primarily I’ll be working on podcast episodes.

THANK YOU so much to all those who have visited this site over the past six years. I’ve shared a lot about my own journey, including my wife’s battle with breast cancer, and other real world things that have nothing and everything to do with acting.

Please join me at the new venue. I’d love it if you’ll subscribe to the podcast in iTunes or put the podcast on your Google reader or wherever you listen to podcasts. Please take note of the Comment Line at 512-660-7160. Feel free to leave me a question or comment. I’ll be reading those during some of the podcasts and responding.

If you do leave a comment or a question, please leave at least a first name and some specifics about your experience, your location, etc. so I can better craft and answer for you.

Till we meet on Actors Talk Podcast, God bless and keep you. Thanks for helping me along this actor’s journey.

The 82nd Texas legislature may have cut the film incentive package from $60 Million for 2 years down to $30 Million, but at least they found time to make sure that talent agencies in Texas no longer have to be licensed or bonded. What a stroke of good luck for Texas talent. (That was sarcasm)

Believe it or not HB3167 which takes effect on September 1, 2011, abolishes state regulation of talent agencies and personnel services.

For some reason interior designers are also lumped into this mix, so Lord knows we all need to be on the lookout for any new Interior Design Talent Agencies that may spring up in River City.

Ah…so what? So talent agencies aren’t going to be regulated. Is that a really big deal?

It is if you’re an actor, particularly a novice actor or the parent of some little Johnny or Jane who wants to get into the actin’ bidness.

With no licensing and no bonding required for talent agencies, expect an influx of rip off ‘agents’ who will steer new comers and wannabes to ‘their’ photographers, ‘their’ demo reel or ‘slate’ producers, ‘their’ acting coaches or ‘schools’ etc. And don’t forget the ‘upfront fees’ that the scammers often charge.

Want to sign with the XYZ Modeling and Talent agency, well there’s a signing fee of $100, $300, $500, or more and you can say your little budding star has an agent. The uninformed and the desperate won’t know that no legitimate agent charges an upfront fee to talent. PERIOD. They’ll just know they ‘have an agent’. Uh…NO. They have a new dependent. They just can’t claim him/her on their tax return.

And what about the commission charges?

SAG and AFTRA mandate that an agent can take no more than 10% of their actor’s earnings. Already, in our market it is common for the non-franchised agents to take 15% or more from their non-union talent. What happens when these new agents that will be drawn to this market decide that talent must pay 25% or more? If the talent doesn’t know any better, they may think these are standard industry practices. They are not.

Having ANY agent is better than not having an agent at all isn’t it? NO. Having a BAD agent, particularly a bad agent who is also a crook, is much WORSE than having no agent at all.

If you or your youngster is signed with one of the scam agencies, then you only THINK you have representation. You’re not only wasting your money, you are wasting precious time that could be spent getting professional representation and career guidance from a legitimate agent.

You’ll be waiting for audition calls that never come. And let’s not even get into the really seamy side of the business that can involve the ‘casting couch’ in an ‘agents’ office or worse, the stone cold creeps who are just looking for a way to get close to your kids. Think I’m overstating? Think again.

Unsuspecting and ill informed talent, particularly the young and their parents, could end up signing contracts that bind them to these agencies with contractual language that goes well beyond the terms allowed by SAG and AFTRA franchised agency agreements and well beyond the norms for the existing and ethical non-franchised agencies.

Can this seemingly bonehead move by the legislature have a silver lining? I think it might.

As a longtime member of SAG (Screen Actors Guild) and AFTRA (American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) I HOPE that existing non-franchised agencies that are running ethical operations will strongly consider franchising with the guilds.

It is in the interest of these agents to separate their operations from the scum suckers that will surely hit the market. Those of us who are already here and active know who the good agents are. But the lines will begin to blur in the eyes of the public and the new comers to this market. And it won’t take that long.

At this time all of the SAG and AFTRA franchised agents in Texas are in either Dallas or Houston. We have no franchised agents in Austin. We are lucky because we have some of the best agents in the state in our market. We have some great, ethical, hard working, non-franchised agents in Central Texas but I’m hoping the time has come for them to step up and franchise with SAG and AFTRA.

Agents who are able to advertise their operations as being SAG and AFTRA franchised will offer the public and their talent rosters assurance that these agents are REAL talent agents and not just moneypits.

These non-agents will accomplish at least one thing.

They will take talent that are mostly at the beginning of their careers and they will sidetrack them into classes and substandard training; they will stall their growth at the very time when they need to be learning and improving by leaps and bounds to really compete as professional actors.

Make no mistake that the Agents In Name Only know all the tricks of the trade. Some of them will even SEEM to be legit. But they will cut corners and cross lines that can’t be crossed by responsible, ethical talent agents.

What kind of protections does SAG offer to member actors?

Non-union actors do not have the protections offered to members of SAG and AFTRA. And now they have a much harder road to travel to receive help from the state of Texas. Ready to get in line at the Attorney General’s office?

Here are some of the areas covered by the SAG Agency Department:

the interpretation and enforcement of SAG’s Agency Regulations and Contracts, [a/k/a Rule 16(g)]
responding to performers’ questions and concerns about their agency relationships
investigating member complaints
interacting with agents, attorneys, casting directors and other designated performer representatives on all topics
mediating disputes between agents and members in order to diffuse conflicts before arbitration becomes necessary
maintaining working relationships with talent agent organizations (e.g., ATA, NATR), as well as other industry labor organizations (e.g. AFTRA)
advising members on the terms and conditions of onerous general service agreements (or “GSAs”) outside of SAG’s jurisdiction
keeping abreast of new legislation relating to agency matters
consulting and assisting SAG staff across the country on agency rulings and policy; maintaining an “Actors To Locate” service for potential employers seeking to hire SAG members
and facilitating arbitration between members and agents, when necessary.

A word to SAG Eligible Actors

Hopefully the fact that the state will no longer offer agency licensing and bonding protection will encourage experienced, eligible actors to help strengthen the Texas SAG and AFTRA membership and join. You are already benefiting from the SAG and AFTRA contracts without paying any of the freight that helps establish the wage minimums, working conditions, producer pension and health care contributions, residual payments, etc.

If deregulation results in more franchised agencies in Texas and encourages experienced, eligible actors to take advantage of the protections offered by SAG and AFTRA membership, then maybe, just maybe it will have been a better move than it seems right now.

My IMDB Page My Facebook Fanpage.

After the second or third time I was told by a casting director that actors’ STARmeter rankings are taking on greater importance in the casting process, it finally made an impression. Sometimes I’m slow like that.

While researching ways to maximize my IMDB ranking, I stumbled onto a new web site that looks very promising.

NOTE: The information below is ONLY FOR ACTORS. Non-actors or anyone without an IMDB page will find this information of no use.

The site is called ActorLikes. The premise of the site is to take what most actors normally do, send our IMDB page link to casting people, directors, friends, acquaintenances, etc. one at a time, and put the process on this steroid called SOCIAL NETWORKING.

What if a group of actors agree to visit my page if I in turn will check out their IMDB page and LIKE it? Sounds kind of like a play on what we’re already doing on Facebook. We suggest links to films, shows, actors, etc. Having a consistent flow of pageviews and likes should increase and hopefully, stabilize, IMDB STARmeter rankings.

This has much more appeal to me than paying ‘some guy’ $40 a month to have his server farm hit my IMDB page. I can help another actor, they can help me.

So let’s get started. Here’s a link to my ActorLikes page. Please use this link to get there ’cause I get some kind of bonus points if you do. I don’t get any money. The site is FREE.

There is some tweaking you need to do once you join the site and start LIKING other actor’s pages. Be careful about filling up your wall (and your friends news feeds) with multiple IMDB links. I had to catch onto this after I got started. You can remove the post from your wall, but the link will remain under one of your INFO sections. As long as you have the link publicly visible, you’re good to go.

For those who might want to know a bit more about the IMDB STARmeter rankings and how they work, read on. Otherwise, hit me up on ActorLikes and my Facebook Fanpage Hit the LIKE button at the top of the Fan Page even if we are already Facebook friends!

So what the heck is the STARmeter, how are the rankings calculated and why should actors who don’t have multi-million dollar incomes, a posse and a harried PR flack care?

Here’s how IMDB explains things:

HOW ARE RATINGS CALCULATED? ” IMDbPro uses proprietary algorithms that take into account several measures of popularity for people and titles. The primary measure is who and what people are looking at on the public IMDb.com website.”

WHAT DO THE RANKNGS MEAN?: “Plain and simple, they represent what people are interested in, based not on small statistical samplings, but on the actual behavior of millions of IMDb users. Unlike the AFI 100 or Academy Awards, high rankings on STARmeter and MOVIEmeter do not necessarily mean that something is “good.” They do mean that there is a high level of public awareness and/or interest in the title or person.

So how does all this impact the everyday working (and often not working) actor? It means that you need people looking at your IMDB page on a regular basis to boost your ranking and to keep it from dropping into a black hole. And for most of us actors, the STARmeter ranking can fluctuate wildly over time, often over a short period of time.

My personal STARmeter ranking has gone from as low as 5,716 (pretty darn good) to as high as 630,618 (ouch). These ratings fluctuations in my case are from 1998 – Present. As of this writing my ranking is 40,065 (okay, but not great). This is where I should ask all readers to hit my IMDB page, cause I need some STARmeter love.

Given the apparently increasing importance of the IMDB and IMDB STARmeter rankings in the casting process, it behooves actors to at least monitor their IMDB page. The ActorLikes site looks like a tool that most actors will want to consider.

Easter Sunday seemed like a good time to check out Soul Surfer at the local cineplex. Before I spend a few minutes wandering in the wilderness of my own messy thought process, let me say up front that Soul Surfer is a good movie. It works. Remember I said that.

Now on to the wandering…

As a Christian, an actor, a lover of film and one who has seen more than my share of exceedingly BAD films made by well meaning people with a sincere desire to ‘spread the word’, I admit I have some qualms every time I take a seat to watch a film publicized as a ‘Christian Film’…whatever that is…or a film heavily marketed to the churchified.

Far too often, in the past, that meant that the audience was in for a heavy handed presentation with at best marginal tech work, amateurish acting and directing and with writing that cared much less about telling a story than it did about presenting an extended four spiritual laws tract in a painfully slow and obvious fashion. (There have been some grand exceptions that were heavily marketed to church groups such as Chariots of Fire, The Mission, The Passion of The Christ and a few others but they are few and far between.)

So it was that I purchased a ticket to Soul Surfer after reading many positive comments online. Frankly I didn’t trust all of the comments on Facebook and other sites because a lot of them were clearly from people with a strong Christian viewpoint. What’s not to trust? Christians, God bless ‘em, have long supported film and video projects that for lack of a better word, suck stink suck. Put your hand over your face bad sound, bad camera work, bad lighting, bad acting, bad directing and most of all, bad writing.

What got my attention and got me to part with my hard earned cash for Soul Surfer? The STORY. The producers and distributors have done a good job of making sure the public knows at least three things about this film: 1. It’s about a pretty blonde surfer who 2. loses an arm to a shark attack and 3. lived to deal with it. And they’ve done that in a way that hasn’t been cheesy or exploitative. What I knew of the story was so strong that I was willing to risk being disappointed once again. I also knew that the cast was filled with solid professionals whose past work I have enjoyed, even admired.

With that bit of background so you can see where this audience member was coming from when the theater lights dimmed, here’s what I thought of Soul Surfer.

Relax, the word ‘suck’ doesn’t appear below.

Soul Surfer benefits greatly from being a true story and really, a sports story. Sports stories are usually about triumph and redemption or triumph and tragedy. Quite apart from any aspect of faith or religion Bethany Hamilton’s personal story is compelling, dramatic. Doesn’t get much better for the story than to have a pretty, young, talented athlete on the cusp of stardom getting attacked by a shark, does it?

How could you not root for this girl? The true story elements of Bethany Hamilton’s prowess on a surfboard, the shark attack and her life afterward are pretty well known. This is strong stuff for a film story and in a way it was incumbent on the filmmakers not to screw it up. Not to worry, they did a LOT better than ‘not screw it up’.

That’s not to say the film is perfect. The filmmakers almost lost me early in the film when I thought they were going to go all ‘churchy’ on me, in a scene that introduces Carrie Underwood as Bethany’s church youth director. That was the one ‘on the nose’ moment when I winced a bit. The scene was thankfully brief. It sets up something for later in the film but it’s the one really weak scene in the film, in my opinion. But then a lot of the traditionally targeted audience will likely think there was way too little church stuff and way too much skin showing in all the surfing scenes.

The family’s faith was clear, to me at least, in more subtle ways throughout the film. For instance, Dad sitting and reading the Bible while Bethany sleeps resonated. No comment needed.

For the most part, I thought the filmmakers did what they should do: TRUST THE STORY. I did lose myself in the story and credit the solid direction by Sean McNamara and terrific acting all around, esp. the leads, AnnaSophia Robb, Dennis Quaid and Helen Hunt with strong support from Kevin Sorbo.

Quaid and Hunt really grounded the family dynamic in a way that was perfectly truthful and helps solidify Soul Surfer as a mainstream movie.

One example:

There was a wonderful scene in the hospital cafeteria. If you’ve seen Soul Surfer you might be surprised that I point out that scene, because it doesn’t appear to be a major scene in the film. But it’s a beautiful piece of writing, acting and filmmaking. What happens? Basically, the family has a near blowup in a public setting. What a great scene, showing a REAL family under pressure in a time of crisis. The tension, fear, uncertainty of the future were all there and it was all truthful. I have no idea if that scene ever really happened, but it was absolutely TRUTHFUL as it played out on screen. The Hamilton’s didn’t sit and quote Bible verses to each other or even join hands and pray, they acted like most people, even most Christians might act under similar circumstances. That kind of truth adds so much depth and texture to the film, it takes the audience deeper into the story. Kudos to director McNamara and his outstanding cast.

Soul Surfer thankfully rises well above the old ‘Christian movie’ paradigm. The tech credits are all first rate, the surfing scenes were very well executed, particularly considering the tech challenges of a one armed surfer. The actors are terrific and most importantly, the story never gets lost in the telling.

Non-believers can relax. You’re not going to get hit over the head with a Bible. But you will understand the source of strength for this remarkable family. Soul Surfer deserves an audience of people who just want to see a good film, believers and non-believers alike. That seems to be happening.

According to Box Office Mojo, studio estimates for this weekend (April 22-24, 2011) have Soul Surfer holding at No. 7, down from No. 5 last week. Box office is pushing $29 million on a reported budget of $18 million. The film is playing on 2240 screens, up 26 screens from last week.

I’ve had demos up on YouTube for some time now. And on my blog. And, heaven knows where else. But I haven’t had any video on Vimeo. Until now. For actors who are interested in the process, it was actually as simple as can be and the quality is, I think, better than YouTube. I’m using a free account, so don’t worry that you have to shell out some $$$ to get your video up. With the free account, it takes several hours for the video to be posted online…at least it did for me.

Why is it important to have your demo online? Well, more and more actors are being asked for links to their online demos when being submitted for film projects. Just makes sense to have your demo as available as possible. Next up for me is getting clips up on Actors Access and Now Casting. I’ve put that off as it’s a little more difficult when one isn’t located in Los Angeles. Here’s the current demo on Vimeo. Please take a look and let me know what you think.

Film Acting Demo Reel – Tommy G. Kendrick SAG / AFTRA from Tommy G. Kendrick on Vimeo.

So, I’m starting my new year just hanging out at home, watching some girdiron action and trying to take care of Mom following her fall last week. One of the ‘time killers’ I’ve enjoyed today is playing with a download of Adobe Lightroom 3, Alien Skin’s Exposure 3 and various free presets. Here I’m testing out a Kodachrome filter and another preset that uploads photos from Lightroom to a WordPress blog. This is just a test to see if the uploader works as advertised. The uploader defaults to a 300 pixel image unless/until I decide to donate to the author. The photo is a church in Dallas and I shot this one morning when I was in Dallas working on the defunct series LONE STAR.

I’m forwardg the following from the TXMPA. In the midst of the bad news of the cancellations of LONE STAR and MY GENERATION and the end of the line run for FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS, there is some possible good production news on the horizon.

If you’re not a member of TXMPA, join today. TXMPA is at the forefront of the success of the current Texas Film Incentive program which has helped generate $610 Million in new in-state spending.

Given the current budget shortfall that is in the news practically every day, the film incentive program will likely face a serious test in the upcomming legislative session. Hopefully, the powers that be will see the benefit of $610 Million dollars flowing through our economy and the fact that the program has accounted for 55,000 jobs for Texans over the past two years.

Here’s the missive from TXMPA:

CHASE – 8pm Mondays on NBC
THE GOOD GUYS – 7pm Fridays on FOX

While we mourn the untimely loss of FOX’s LONE STAR (shot in Dallas) and ABC’s MY GENERATION (shot in Austin) earlier this Fall, and also say a fond farewell to FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS (airing its final season now on DirecTV, and this spring on NBC), we’re proud to still have two Texas shows in primetime every week, and look forward to more on the horizon.

Currently, Lifetime is prepping a pilot for MEET JANE in Austin, and TNT is developing a remake of DALLAS. Meanwhile, CBS and CSI creator Anthony Zuiker are developing a new crime drama called DESPERADO set in San Antonio. Thanks to the incentives and our top flight crews, the word is out that Texas is one of the best places to shoot series television.

TV is great for Texas – the Dallas Morning News reports that even short-lived LONE STAR “pumped about $7 million into the local economy”. And it’s not just the big cities that benefit – read about how CHASE filmed at Trinidad ISD in Henderson County:

“This was a way to generate some good, positive things for Trinidad,” said TISD Superintendent David Atkeisson. “Obviously our focus is on books, but we also want to expose our students to experiences that might spur them on to future endeavors. The thing I was most impressed with was the professionalism and patience of the cast and crew working with our kids. It was a great experience.”

If you’re a fan of the writing of Preston Jones – and if you’ve ever seen one of his plays you must be – please make plans to attend the reading of his ‘lost screenplay’ BRADLEYVILLE, based on his plays that comprise A TEXAS TRILOGY.

Of course, longtime Dallas theater goers will remember that the trilogy of plays, THE OLDEST LIVING GRADUATE, LU ANN HAMPTON LAVERTY OBERLANDER and THE LAST MEETING OF THE KNIGHTS OF THE WHITE MAGNOLIA were originally collectively known as THE BRADLEYVILLE TRILOGY and they were originally produced in the old DOWN CENTER STAGE and in the KALITA HUMPHREYS THEATRE at DALLAS THEATER CENTER under the direction of the late PAUL BAKER.

So…it should be a very interesting and entertaining evening to hear the draft of Preston’s screenplay read aloud for what may be the first time. As a special treat former Dallas Theater Center actor RANDY MOORE is scheduled to be onhand to read the role of Colonel J.C. Kinkaid, a role he originated in the original productions of the TRILOGY plays.

Check out this animated video I created on the Xtranormal site and let me know what you think about actors who put SAGe on their resumes? Is it right? Is it ethical? Is it even legal? DISCLAIMER: No one at Screen Actors Guild participated in the creation of this video. This video was created by one SAG member, me. So if you don’t like what the video has to say, blame me not Screen Actors Guild. Got it?