Clark Jackson:
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Actor Showcases in New York

1/25/2013

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Looking to get cast in a NYC showcase to attract agents/casting directors? Here are a few pointers to book the showcase and to be sure you’re working with the right people:
  • Do your homework. Be sure the theatre company, acting group, etc., you’re auditioning for is reputable. Look them up online and be sure they’re reviewed by some the better-known showbiz outlets (Backstage.com, etc.).  Talk to your friends and colleagues about the company, and find out the general opinion of their work before signing on. If you know a casting director, ask them if they’ve attended or would attend a showcase put on by this company.  As a professional actor whose worked extensively in NYC, my job as an actor showcase coach is to guide you in deciding if a company is reputable and worth your time and energy.
  • Know the brand you’re connecting with from the beginning.  Does the company or group you’re auditioning for do the kind of work you’re interested in? Is there likely to be a role or roles that align with your type? If you have an awesome monologue that does a great job of selling your assets, but those assets aren’t likely to be valuable to the folks you’re auditioning for, then Houston, we have a problem. As part of your showcase audition preparation, I’ll go over what audition material will best align you with a company’s brand and is also right for who you are and what you bring to the table.
  • Choose challenging material that you love working on. Besides demonstrating that you know your type and how it fits into the showcase you’re auditioning for, part of the showcase audition preparation is finding audition material that is challenging and enjoyable. As your actor showcase coach I’ll discuss with you the skills you want to further develop and how specific material will push you to grow in those areas. 
  • Have fun. Auditors, whether they’re agents, casting directors, someone from a theatre company or an acting group, all want to see you having fun, relishing the moment of bringing the material you’ve chosen to life. The same goes for the showcase itself. As your acting coach, I’ll discuss with you if a particular showcase is the kind of work you’ll really enjoy working on were you to be cast. Fortunately, having fun is one of the most important things to shining as an actor! Until next time…

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Irene Ryan Coaching and Preparation

1/20/2013

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"The confidence, poise, and polish of outstanding auditions are the result of dedicated, concentrated rehearsal and astute coaching."

The above quote is from the Irene Ryan Scholarship Competition handbook. The Irene Ryan is an acting competition for college students offering two scholarships of $3500 each at the National American College Theater Festival each year in Washington, D.C., in addition to other awards. (You can find more information on the Irene Ryan Competition at the festival's website, www.kcactf3.org/ryan.htm).

In the meantime, I want to "unpack" the above quote about the Irene Ryans a little bit to get you started on understanding what it means to really prepare yourself to have an outstanding Irene Ryan audition:

  • First and foremost, know your type. As an Irene Ryan acting coach, it's my job to help you select material that is within your age range, your vocal range (especially if you're going to be singing), your emotional range, and within the scope of your movement skills. The Irene Ryan competition is about showing clear command of interesting and appropriate material, not reaching for something you can't quite grasp or that isn't really right for you in terms of your type.
  • You also want to choose audition materials for the Irene Ryan that have a clear beginning and that move toward a conclusion. Part of the Irene Ryan preparation process if to make sure you, along with the help of your Irene Ryan acting coach (me :) ) have chosen a monologue that makes sense as a self-contained piece. That said, you still may be able to connect separate lines of dialogue taken from a conversation between your character and others as long as it's edited or staged in a way that it's unnecessary to know what the other characters have said.
  • You want the kind of Irene Ryan help that increases your ability to make varied, specific, and bold acting choices. Another way to put it? Your acting coach should be capable of guiding you to use different tactics in pursuit of the overall task or objective of your character. A good Irene Ryan acting coach will help you avoid the traps of generalizing, emoting, or playing a single character "quality" throughout the piece.


In future blog posts from me, be sure to watch for more details on preparing an outstanding Irene Ryan audition. Please let me know your thoughts about what I've said here concerning how to successfully prepare for the Irene Ryan Acting Competition.


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How to Prepare for URTA Auditions

1/14/2013

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“Inappropriate selection of material and poor presentation techniques are the two most common faults in general auditions. Both areas demand objectivity, which is why an audition coach is essential.”

The above quote was taken from URTA’s Handbook for Actors and Coaches (bold letters included), a guide provided by URTA to help you and your coach prepare for your URTA audition. (Go to http://www.urta.com/ for more info on URTA auditions and how to download the Handbook for Actors and Coaches.)

In the meantime, as someone who is very much qualified to be your URTA audition coach, I want to “unpack” the above quote a little bit to get you started on what it means to get the URTA audition help you need to prepare yourself to have an outstanding URTA audition:  

  • First and foremost, know your type. As an URTA acting coach, it’s my job to help you select material that is within your age range, your emotional range, and within the scope of your voice and movement skills. This is about showing clear command of interesting and appropriate material, not reaching for something that you can’t quite grasp or that isn’t really right for you in terms of your type. Simply put, do what you do best!
  • The URTA audition time limit is three minutes, and that includes the time it takes for an introduction and transition between monologues. Your URTA audition coach should work with you to comfortably do everything you need to do within the allotted three minutes, and to make your introduction an interesting and likable part of your audition. Your audition really begins from the moment you walk into the room.
  • If possible, practice your audition in front of a few trusted friends so that you know what it feels like to do them before an audience, and can work with your coach to overcome whatever challenges come up when you’re being observed. Don’t wait until the actual audition to discover what doing them before an audience feels like.
  • You want the kind of URTA audition help that increases your ability to make varied, specific and bold acting choices. Another way to put this is that your URTA acting coach should guide you to use different tactics in pursuit of the overall task or objective of your character, and have those tactics be clear, interesting and specific. These tactics manifest in your physical behavior, your voice, and the energy you direct toward the other person(s) you’re imagining in the moment (more to be said later about making the other character(s) real and specific to you and the audience). A good acting coach will also help you to avoid the traps of generalizing, emoting, or playing a single character "quality" throughout the piece.


I’ll continue in greater detail with the elements of a well-prepared URTA audition in future blog posts. Please let me know your thoughts about what I’ve said here concerning how to successfully prepare for the URTA auditions. 

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"Walkie Buddies" shoot

10/30/2012

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I hope all is well as we move to recover from Sandy. We had a very productive two days of shooting "Walkie Buddies," a comedy TV pilot I'm co-producing/co-writing with creators Ushin Kim and Marie Theres of Sauerkraut & Kimchi Media. We stopped shooting thx to Sandy, but will finish our noble endeavor asap. More to report when we're done shooting!
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Another Quick Note

7/9/2012

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Also, I wanted to let folks know that I just finished my first semester as a Adjunct Professor at Hunter College in the Theatre Dept. I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to more opportunities to teach at the collegiate level. It was such a breeze after working in the NYC public schools as a teaching artist for all those years. Will keep you posted.....
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We're Halfway Through 2012 - What's Going On? 

7/9/2012

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So now that we're officially halfway through the year, have you taken the time to assess where you've come from and where you're going? I've been engaging my demons, no doubt, and exploring how to break through the sticking points. One of my problems, however, is that I feel the need to tackle it all at once, and/or I conflate one issue with something else, and so it all feels overwhelming and paralysis/stagnation sets in.

Another thing that often stands in my way is that I don't take the time to remember the good stuff, and to let that count for something rather than discounting the positive because I'm not where I feel I should be. While it's good to have them, expectations can be a real bee-yotch if you're not careful to stay loose and grateful for what is.

All that said - what's going on?!
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What's 2012 Looking Like?

1/6/2012

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I had a lot of challenges, personally and professionally, in 2011 that I'm working on overcoming in the new year. When old ways of doing things aren't working - change! Easier said than done, right?!

A good friend of mine has talked with me about "letting go", and it's taken me a while to understand what that really means to me on a feeling and energetic level, and not just as an abstract concept. Now that I have a handle on it, I feel that I get a lot more out of the personal time I take to release energy and emotions that have accumulated within me over the years. My hope is that I'll be in a much better place to make the most of opportunities that come my way when I know that I'm taking better care of myself in areas that make for a more peaceful me regardless of what happens in the outside world.

What are you doing to take care of yourself and how are you "letting go" of the old and making room for the new? Discuss...

All the best to you in 2012!

Clark

p.s. If you haven't already checked out my new reel featuring scenes from TV shows and films I've done in the past year or so, please click on the Video section above. I'd love to hear what you think of it, and if you like what you see, please spread
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My adventures with "The Good Wife" cast and crew

11/1/2011

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I had the pleasure of guest-starring on "The Good Wife" in September. My friend Jay O. Sanders was also on the episode - his acting was fantastic as usual - so it was nice to have someone on set with me that I already knew, which isn't always the case! The director Brooke Kennedy, who is also an executive producer on the show, was very complimentary towards me throughout the day and made the shoot that much more enjoyable. And what an interesting day it was - they did something called "block shooting," which means that once they have a particular lighting set-up, which is one of the most time-consuming aspects of the shooting process, they shoot all of the scenes using that particular set-up before moving on to the next lighting set-up. Doing it this way is more time-efficient, or so I was told. For me, it meant that I got there at 8am, got into costume, etc, shot some of the scene I was in from around 9am until 11am, and then didn't shoot again until after 7pm! I used all that downtime to do all kinds of stuff, but it was definitely a longer waiting period than I'd ever experienced before on a TV or film shoot.

When i returned to set after 7pm, we were back to shooting the same scene we'd worked on earlier that day but now from different angles with the new lighting set-ups. I worked off and on from that point until around 10:30pm. During that time, I got to talk with the star of the show, Julianna Margulies. My good friend works as an personal assistant for a crazy rich guy who lives in the same building as Julianna, so we traded some wild stories about him as well as about Kanye West, who also lives in that building when he's in NYC. Fun!

I've been able to extend my connection to "The Good Wife" community by playing softball with them against other TV shows' teams, including "Blue Bloods," a show I was on last year, so I knew some of the people on that team as well. It's been really fun to get back to a sport that I grew up playing all time (baseball, that is) while doing some casual networking - killing two birds, right?!

The episode of "The Good Wife" I'm in airs this upcoming Sunday, November 6th, on CBS at 9pm. Please check it out if you can! Thanks for your continued support - Clark
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Publix TV Commercial Can Be Viewed Under Video Section

5/17/2011

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I shot a TV commercial near Tampa, FL, for the Publix grocery store chain at the end of March. It was quite an Interesting experience to hang out poolside all day at the hotel where I was staying, and then be picked up and brought to set at 9pm, where we had "breakfast" before starting the shoot shortly thereafter. We worked through the night while the Publix store was closed until almost 6am; the director did an excellent job of keeping things moving and lively so that there wasn't too much hanging around and getting sleepy. When it was over, they drove me back to the hotel where I slept for a few hours, and then I got back on a plane to NYC. In total, I was down there for less than 48 hours!

My understanding is that the commercial will air in the regions where Publix has grocery stores, namely the Southeastern states, but you can view it under the the Video section of this website with a single click of a button. By all means, let me know what you think...
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Post Title.

3/17/2011

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I'll be traveling to Tampa, FL next week to shoot a Publix grocery stores commercial. Should be fun, not to mention a chance to make some solid money! Looking forward to it.

I've had an excellent pilot season thus far, with several auditions for series regular roles that have gone quite well. I made it all the way down to the director of one TV pilot selecting me out of the finalists for a recurring role, but the network, which has to give their final approval, went with someone else in the 11th hour. Aaargh!!! But I'm grateful for the opportunity and have built on that experience with even better auditions I've had since then.

I recently ran into Peter Berg, Executive Producer/Director of "Prime Suspect" pilot for which I recently auditioned for a series regular role, and was briefly able to "chew the fat" and make myself more known to him. I was also in "Wonderland" several years ago,  a short-lived TV series on ABC on which Peter also served as Executive Producer/Director, and I mentioned that to him in our convo. Connecting those dots, baby!

Learning, growing, making mistakes and coming back to do it all over again with some wisdom to guide me. That's how we keep the hope alive!

Cj
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    Clark Jackson is an award-winning actor and coach. Based in New York City, he works in film, television, and on the stage -- and helps developing talent to launch their professional careers or polish their existing toolset.

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