debor009

I've spent the past three years building experience and accumulating footage that gives me enough face time to show some of what I can do as an actor (I can do more obviously.)  Since my primary goal is to act in films rather than commercials, industrials, etc (although I'm always happy to get work anywhere), a logical next step it seems to me is landing significant speaking roles in small features ($500K to $5M budget range).  To that end, gaining representation through a talent agency may give me a leg up.  In fact, I'm sure it will. Interestingly, Backstage magazine has an article this week by Dallas Travers that addresses just this issue. You can see the full article here , but these are the salient points: 1. Stay focused and call repeatedly. Don’t assume that one mass mailing to a target list of agents will be successful. Instead, contact the agencies on your list a minimum of three times within six weeks to be sure your message has been received, but expect that ...

I went to the Helen Hayes Awards Gala last night at the Warner Theater (lovely event.  So many hugely talented people in theatre here in DC), but I got my own "award" this morning.   New York acting coach John Pallotta shared the link to my clip from The Monopoly Club with his Facebook network and included the following note: "I am honored to have had the privilege to coach Ms Kathryn Browning in my class in DC. She can become any character, anywhere on a drop of a dime. Not because of me, but because she is that gifted and talented." I read that over my morning coffee and my mouth fell open.  Things like that keep you going in this business.  I suspect I will be smiling all day. 

A big obstacle for actresses of a certain age (mine, for example) is too often being relegated to roles as disempowered characters, even though the world reflects a very different reality and the majority of casting agents (and now many directors and producers) are women. You would think that they would make the connection that if a 55-year-old man can play the "powerful person in charge," so can a 55-year-old woman. Not so. If a woman is cast as a district attorney, for example, she'll more often be 27 and chosen for reasons other than her credibility as a D.A. (Which brings to mind Danny DeVito in Norman Jewison's 1991 Other People's Money , opposite Penelope Ann Miller as the D.A. and his love interest. I think Norman Jewison is terrific, as are both actors, but Miller looked like she was 12 at the time and, yes, the pairing was cringe-worthy.) E. Katherine Kerr as Sen. Grace Comisky In acting, what I see being offered to older actresses are roles as little o...

I'm watching Casablanca again while I decompress.  Met this afternoon with the cast of CapSouth , Rob Raffety's comedy web series that will start filming in June.  Raffety and I then pushed on to the DC Web Fest at the Arlington Cinema & Drafthouse .  Ran into so many friends.  The event was co-hosted by Otessa Ghadar of 20/20 Productions and stand-up comedian Dan Levy . Anthony Greene and Tamieka Chavis were there (I worked with them both on Greene's Clear and Sunny Skies ), along with Richard Volin , Comedian Dan Levy and Otessa Ghadar who directed me in Commitment . I'd appeared in early episodes of two of the series shown - Thurston and Ghadar's Orange Juice in Bishop's Garden - and seen an early edit of Richard Cutting's Milgram and the Fastwalkers , which now looks extremely good. This is a very close community.  Afterwards Rob Raffety and I stopped for a drink at the Twisted Vines wine bar and talked more about his new series. Raffety is ...

Out last night at a play reading for The British Players , hosted by one of their producers, Caroline Gelb.  Periodically TBP gets a group of members together to read through several plays under consideration for next season.  It's always a lovely evening with drinks and dinner, and then separating into groups to run through the various candidate-plays.  Since most of the members are stage actors the reading are lively and well done. Boeing,  Boeing Last night the plays were Boeing, Boeing by Marc Camoletti (an American architect juggling three live-in fiancées — all stewardesses — with crucial help from a stressed-out French maid and a well-thumbed airline timetable),  Too Soon for Daisies by William Dinner and William Morum (three elderly ladies “escape” from a retirement home, mayhem ensues), and The Perfect Wedding by Robin Hawdon (a man wakes up in the bridal suite on his wedding morning to find an extremely attractive naked girl in bed beside him.) ...

Rumor has it that there is more union work coming, so I've been checking the links on my website and posting more clips in preparation for a big push to the casting and talent agencies. Being able to edit your own clips and get them online is a plus for actors and saves a lot of time.  I use Apple's Final Cut Pro X, which is fairly inexpensive and has a training manual and program available online. Just played a Senator in a short film.  Members of Congress are roles often called for in the various television series that shoot in the area, so I quickly strung together most of the scenes in which I appear and got it up on my YouTube Channel.  I like it.  It turned out well. Also uploaded a shortened version of The Shadows of Strangers: Bella, part of a longer 2012 film by Jonathan and R.M. Robinson of IndieGo Blue Studio in Baltimore.  They have a deft feel for cutaway shots and the CGI at the end is quite good.