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At 03:44 AM 3/23/2005, Giu1i0 Pri5c0 wrote:<br><br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">My 17 yrs old daughter is a very
talented but not very focused girl<br>
(like someone else at the same age, at least she is much more
socially<br>
skilled than I was).<br>
She speaks fluently English Spanish and Italian (all three at native<br>
speaker level) plus a couple of other languages less fluently. Her
SAT<br>
score is about 1100, surprisingly since she never studies.<br>
She is very much into acting, is in a performing school here in
Madrid<br>
and went a few times to acting summer schools in UK and US. She
wishes<br>
to study something suitable for the movie world, like acting,<br>
film-making, or creative writing.<br>
I will appreciate all ideas and suggestions.</blockquote><br>
I would be delighted to speak with your daughter about acting, the arts,
and whether to go the academic route or hands on. Many of my
friends who I worked with over time did not study acting, filmmaking, and
writing in a scholastic structure, but jumped in and worked their way up
at studios, or in theater. Some used all their connections and got
bit parts, then secured an agent, and they started going on auditions
quickly. Others went to private acting schools such as Lee
Strasberg
<a href="http://www.strasberg.com/" eudora="autourl">
http://www.strasberg.com/</a> and Peggy Fury's "The
Loft." (I studied at The Loft for several years. It was
in its hay-day the top place to study - as Angelica Houston, Jack
Nicholson, Natasha Richardson, the brat-pack, and so many others studied
there. It was very exciting to learn the skills in such an
environment.)
<a href="http://www.actorstheatreworkshop.com/%A0" eudora="autourl">
http://www.actorstheatreworkshop.com/ </a> But, then going to a school
like Yale has been very helpful to actors like Meryl Streep and I think
it gave her a sense of herself that added to her demeanor.
<br><br>
More than anyone offering their advice on what school your daughter might
consider enrolling in, I think that you need to sit down with her and
objectify her goals. Does she want to be in Hollywood type films,
or on the stage? Is she primarily interested in drama or comedy, or
is she better as a commercial actor. Would she be a good candidate
for a character actor, or a leading role? This is how agents and
casting directors look at an actor - by where they fit in to the large
scheme of the industry.<br><br>
My own experiences in the arts is that getting a formal education is
necessary - a bachelors degree in an arts program specialty, to go to a
university that has a good art department (including fine art, theatrical
arts, filmmaking, electronic arts, etc.); and then to work in a small
theater group. She will quickly learn where she wants to focus her
talents. <br><br>
One of the shortcomings of not going to university and studying is that
artists tend to find their own subculture and forget to focus on the
goal. Going to a university first and then getting accepted in a
private acting school (like I went to (above)) refines the talents and is
a marvelous introduction to professionals. <br><br>
I don't think the specific school matters, but I do think establishing
what her goals are do matter greatly. I also think she needs to
feel comfortable and decide if she likes small campuses or large
campuses, or a very specialized campus.<br><br>
Best,<br>
Natasha<x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
<dl>
<dd><font face="Tahoma" size=2 color="#808080">Natasha Vita-More
<dl>
<dd><a href="http://www.natasha.cc/" eudora="autourl">
http://www.natasha.cc</a>
</dl>
<dd>[_______________________________________________
<dl>
<dd>President, Extropy Institute
<a href="http://www.extropy.org/" eudora="autourl">
http://www.extropy.org</a>
<dd>[_____________________________________________________</font>
<font color="#808080"> </font>
<dd><font face="Tahoma" size=2 color="#808080">Founder, Transhumanist
Arts & Culture
</font><a href="http://www.transhumanist.biz/" eudora="autourl">
<font face="Tahoma" size=2 color="#C0C0C0">
http://www.transhumanist.biz</a></font><font color="#C0C0C0"> </font>
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