ACTING MEANS BUSINESS Actor's Intensive Announced

"So an actor walked into my office...," Rozanne Gates began. For over 20 years as an actor's agent in New York City at The Michael Thomas Agency, Gates had hundreds of actors walking into her office. Her job was to make the choice between who got represented and who didn't - and then to make sure that they worked successfully. Her job also included making sure that her clients understood the business aspect of acting, which can be a bit troublesome for many.

Having come out of a "professional" theatre training school with a BFA in Acting (SMU), Gates was acutely aware of how little most actors know about the actual business of acting. When she became an actor's agent and was interviewing young actors coming from similar type schools, she noticed that knowledge of the business of acting was sadly still missing from their education. So, she wrote a book called "How to Succeed in the Business of Show Business...or everything they don't tell you in acting school but I will." Based on the book, Gates was hired to teach the business at several universities including SUNY-Purchase, Columbia University, SMU, Stella Adler/Tisch/NYU, CCSU, Rutgers, and others. When she was being interviewed by Kristin Linklater to teach the business of acting at Columbia University, Linklater said to her, "What we are teaching them they already know. What you are going to teach them is what they need to know."

Among the actors that Gates represented were Edward Norton, William H. Macy, Chris Noth, Rainn Wilson, Howard E. Rollins, Lynne Thigpen, Robert Prosky, Tasha Lawrence, Joe Mantegna, Jude Ciccolella, and Margaret Hamilton. Both Edward Norton and Howard E. Rollins received Academy Award nominations in the Best Supporting Actor category for their first film. Lynne Thigpen won the Tony Award for Best Supporting Actress in Wendy Wasserstein's play, "An American Daughter."

With the publication of the book's 4th edition, Gates designed a workshop for actors who are serious about beginning, maintaining a career, or returning to acting. The workshop, The Actor's Intensive - Acting Means Business, is being held on Saturday November 2 at Shetler Studios, 244 West 54th Street in New York. Joining former agent Rozanne Gates at The Actor's Intensive will be current casting director at McCorkle Casting, Jeff Dreisbach. The workshop is unique in that, in addition to a 4- hour session on the business of acting, professional headshot photographer Suzanne Sheridan will be doing a photo session for each person in attendance. "When it comes to Tools of the Trade, the actor's headshot is just about the actor's most important tool and Suzanne Sheridan is one of the best headshot photographers in the business," Gates added.

"Acting is ageless. There is a demand, always, for people from ages 1 day to 100 years. Younger actors focus much too much on being the "right" type when in fact the variety of roles being cast are for people of all types, genders, shapes, weights, heights, colors, ages, ethnicities, and attributes. There is no such thing as one "type" being more successful than another. I can tell you stories about all of this."

To enroll for The Actor's Intensive on Saturday November 2, click on https://actorsintensivenyc2019.eventbrite.com. For further information, visit The Actor's Intensive website at http://theactorsintensive.com.