Making a Deal 14920. On the Set 15221. Commercials: The Wonderful World of Happy 16522. Commercial Agents 16823. From Audition to Payoff 17224. Salad Bar 18525. Theatre 19826. Acting Classes 20427. Publicizing Yourself 21128. Your Management Team 21629. General Financial 22030. Miscellaneous 22331. Assessing Your Career 22732. Conclusion 231 I. A Complete Budget 235 2. Prices, Fees, Etc. 237 3. Phone Numbers 2414. Lists 2435. "Typical" Tax Deductions for the Actor 2746. TV/Film Regulations 2777. Commercial Regulations 2848. Agency Contracts 2869. Pension and Welfare 290FOREWORD For me, the choice to become an actress was clear almost at birth. Inever longed to be a doctor, firefighter, scientist or politician. I like beingan actress. Acting is a joyous adventure. Over the years I have eagerly read or reviewed countless books on thetechnique of acting, most being exclusively geared to the stage actor.Some of them have been excellent, for example Uta Hagen's Respect forActing, Stanislavski's An Actor Prepares, etc. Sanford Meisner, to mewithout question the master teacher, has a book ready for publication thisyear. [The Meisner book, San ford Meisner on Acting, is now available.] Any serious actor should have more than a passing knowledge of thetechnique and craft expressed by these formidable artists/teachers. In myopinion, one should also possess a sound background in theatre and filmhistory from the earliest times to the present. The Greek theatre, Germanplaywrights, Scandinavian filmmakers should be studied, and certainlymuch emphasis should be placed on our cousins in the English-speakingworld. However, an actor's research should not ignore American theatre,film and television. We tend to belittle our own cultural contributions,when, in fact, they have been enormous -- in all fields. It Is most useful to be familiar with the approach other actors take totheir work. The recently published Actors On Acting is excellent. We have also experienced a proliferation of "star turn" books in recentyears, written with or without the actor's permission. If one cares to wadethrough the sex lives, illnesses, traumas, and disappointments over whichthese actors have triumphed, one might receive some small measure ofinformation about how it all came together for them -- but 1 seriouslydoubt it. Being a voyeur does not prepare one for a career. I have had the privilege of addressing university students in recent yearsand have been astonished by their lack of information about the artists'role in the United States -- no practical application to add to Strindbergand Brecht. The mere mention of unions, agents, or how to surviveoutside the ivory towers seems to be considered pedestrian and out ofplace. In most universities, the film department is separated from thetheatre department. Television, cable and satellite television are onlytouched upon in the communications departments. A curious exercise in"territorial rights" seems to block the student from the interchange which