I am very grateful to be a member of the Anthony Meindl’s Actor Workshop family and thankful for each teacher and fellow
actor I have worked with or seen work. You inspire me and I am blessed to be in
your company.
Conventional wisdom informs us that Hollywood is a cold
cynical hell, a place where creative talent, dreams and passion fuel an
industry that embraces a lucky few, while using and abusing the rest; a factory
producing magnificent dreams while cannibalizing the dreamers. History is
replete with stories supporting this view and the entertainment industry
markets heavily to counter it by touting the philanthropic largess of its
luckiest denizens. The culture as a whole eats up this narrative with an
endless appetite, devouring a non-stop barrage of stories about the triumphs
and tragedies of the gods, goddesses and villains of Hollywood. This narrative
has remained unchanged if not amplified since my first stint here began some 30
years ago.
From the perspective of an unrepentant dreamer who has
recently picked up his dreams and dusted them off after closeting them for 20
years working in the corporate software world, Hollywood reflects the changes
seen in our world as a whole.
The rich have gotten richer and the rest poorer. There are
more dreamers than ever, arriving daily from all over the world. The dollars of
young aspirants are still willingly received by the myriad of companies who
thrive on the development of talent.
Unions have consolidated and lost their power leaving an
even smaller percentage of their members making a livelihood in the careers
they love. Low paying non-union acting work
thrives while the union actor is asked to work for next to nothing under
something called the “Ultra-Low Budget” contract.
Technology has been a double-edged sword wreaking havoc with
the Hollywood film industry. Production has moved elsewhere because it can.
Jobs have disappeared, as entire parts of the industry have been rendered obsolete.
At the same time technological advances have expanded the creative toolsets of
the filmmaker, freeing them from the bulky constraints of heavy cameras and
lights and allowing them to create new worlds from nothing but pure
imagination.
While outlets for content have exploded dramatically, there
are seemingly fewer paying jobs to meet the demand. Fewer movies being made at
the top of the feeding chain have driven movie stars to become television stars
and everyone else climbing the ladder to move down a rung in turn. But, the
dreams haven’t died and there are still charlatans posing as agents, teachers,
managers and coaches willing to capitalize on the dreams of the dreamers.
There are also extraordinarily talented people everywhere
you look: actors, writers, directors, producers and teachers. This is after all
one of the primary beacons of light for creative artists worldwide.
One of the brightest lights in Hollywood today is hyphenate,
acting coach-writer- producer-director Anthony Meindl. His book
“At Right
Brain, Turn Left” published in January 2012 quickly rose to be in the top
100 best selling self-help books and top 50 books about theatre on Amazon. In
it he focuses on bringing out the creative artist in all of us regardless of
profession.
His eponymous acting studio, Anthony Meindl’s Actor Workshop (AMAW), is a successfully growing
business with studio’s opening in London, Vancouver and New York City. His team has utilized social media
masterfully in launching his book and expanding awareness of his brand. A
videographer is never far away when Tony speaks. Short videos are very
effectively used to build awareness, and what you see, is what you get.
