Cynopsis and Why You Should Subscribe

I found out about this amazing resource for actors who want to keep AHEAD of the actor pack (the 80% MASSES) by educating themselves daily about what is happening in the world of the business of SHOW about 10 years ago.  Have you heard of it?  Most actors are only concerned with their next audition and getting gigs.  Yeah, you’ve GOT to do that, but at the very least, you should be checking in with the major goings on in the news.

Today’s newsletter is about other newsletters, subscribing to them and READING them.  Backstage and the other “actor” papers and resources out there are helpful, but to really leap into the big leagues you gotta see what the other industry PLAYERS are up to.

Here’s a very small sample of what Cynoposis.com puts out on a daily basis:

AMC set the date for the season three premiere of The Walking Dead for October 14 at 9p.  AMC previously ordered 16 episodes for the third season which will air in two parts with the first eight episodes beginning October 14 and the other eight returning in February 2013.  Following The Walking Dead premiere on October 14, AMC is launching season premieres of the unscripted series Talking Dead at 11p and Comic Book Men at 1130p.  The second seasons of both series will each have 16 half-hour episodes.  Internationally, The Walking Dead will also air on 120+ FOX International Channels (FIC) launching in global markets the week of October 15.  In addition, the season premieres of all three series will coincide with AMC’s annual marathon of thriller and horror films called AMC Fearfest.  In its 16th year, AMC Fearfest features 19 consecutive days of themed programming and more than 70 films, running from October 13 through October 31.

This fall, Hallmark Channel is debuting two new daytime series starting October 1. The first is the Hallmark Channel Original Lifestyle Series, Home & Family at 10a which is set inside a 2,446-square-foot fully-functioning New England Colonial-style home on the backlot at Universal Studios in California.  Mark Steines and Paige Davis will host the two-hour weekday morning show airing at 10a that will cover everything domestic, from home improvement tips to teaching viewers how to Skype.  The second new series is the Hallmark Channel Original Series, Marie, starring Marie Osmond in her own talk show, airing weekdays at 12 noon.  The new one-hour talk show allows Osmond a chance to share in the lives of ordinary people as well as celebrities.  Hallmark Channel, also known for their Hallmark Channel Original Movies has a roster of new titles debuting this fall including Puppy Love on September 8 at 9p; I Married Who? on October 6 at 8p; Common Law on October 13 at 8p; The Good Witch’s Charm on October 27 at 9p; and Love at the Thanksgiving Parade on November 4 at 8p.

A third season of Teen Wolf is in the works at MTV, which will mark the longest run for a scripted show on MTV.  The network has doubled the upcoming season’s order to 24 episodes.  Teen Wolf, based on the film starring Michael J. Fox, is presently in its second season and is delivering 1.8 million viewers each week.

Academy Award-winning actress and star of Broadway’s Oklahoma!, Celeste Holm died on Sunday at home in Manhattan at the age of 95.  Ms. Holm won her Best Supporting Actress Oscar for portraying a sympathetic fashion editor and starring opposite Gregory Peck in the 1947 Gentlemen’s Agreement, a film that one of the first to highlight anti-Semitism.   Ms. Holm additionally received supporting actress Oscar nominations for her roles in Come to the Stable (1949) and All About Eve (1950).  She was on contract with Fox and following her role in All About Eve, Ms. Holm shocked Hollywood by buying out her contract with the studio to return to Broadway.  Her career included roles in other prominent films such as The Tender Trap (1955) and High Society (1956) among others.  More recently, Ms. Holm made appearances in two yet-to-be released films, Driving Me Crazy and College Debts.  In the 1990s, Ms. Holm turned to television, starring in CBS’ Promised Land with Gerald McRaney, a spin-off series to Touched by an Angel.   She is also known for her role as the Fairy Godmother in the 1956 television series, Cinderella.  Ms. Holm received a Daytime Emmy nomination for Loving in 1987 and also had recurring roles on several TV series including Christine Cromwell, Falcon Crest, Jesse, Archie Bunker’s Place and Nancy.  Ms. Holm was also a tireless champion for various charities and at one time served on nine different boards.  She became the president of the Creative Arts Rehabilitation Center and over the years she raised $20,000 for UNICEF by charging 50 cents for each autograph.  President Ronald Reagan selected her to serve a six-year term on the National Council on the Arts in 1982.  On the personal side, Ms. Holm is survived by her husband, Frank; her two sons, and three grandchildren.  Her family requests memorial donations to made in her name to UNICEF or to The Lillian Booth Actors Home of The Actors Fund in Englewood, NJ.

Soon after Steven Tyler announced his departure from FOX’s American Idol as judge, Jennifer Lopez revealed during an interview with Ryan Seacrest via On Air with Ryan Seacrest that she will be exiting too.  Said Lopez, “The time has come for me to get back to the other things I do… We had an amazing run.”  Lopez apparently may be open to returning to American Idol as a mentor.

Top 10 Weekend Box Office Estimates:  July 13-15, 2012
Ice Age: Continental Drift (20th Century Fox) $46.0 million  opening weekend
Amazing Spider-Man, The (Sony)                 $35.0 million  2 wk total $200.9m
Ted (Universal)                                         $22.1 million  3 wk total $159.0m
Brave (Disney)                                          $10.7 million  4 wk total $195.6m
Magic Mike (Warner Bros.)                          $9.0 million  3 wk total $91.9m
Savages (Universal)                                   $8.7 million  2 wk total $31.5m
Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Witness Protection (Lionsgate) $5.6 million  3 wk total $55.6m
Katy Perry: Part of Me (Paramount)              $3.7 million  2 wk total $18.6m
Moonrise Kingdom (Focus Features)              $3.7 million  8 wk total $32.4m
Madagascar 3 (Paramount)                          $3.5 million  6 wk total $203.7m

Fourteen new cast members are joining the third season of HBO’s Game of Thrones which is returning next year on March 31.  Veteran actress Diana Rigg will play Lady Olenna Tyrell also known as The Queen of Thorns; Mackenzie Crook as wildling raider, Orell; Clive Russell as the knight Brynden or otherwise known as “The Blackfish” Tully; Nathalie Emannuel as former slave Missandei who becomes a translator to the slave trader Kraznys in Astapor; Kerry Ingram as Shireen Baratheon, the only child of Stannis Baratheon; Paul Kaye as Thoros of Myr, a member of the outlaw band known as the Brotherhood Without Banners and a Red Priest; Thomas Brodie-Sangster as the mysterious Jojen Reed who becomes an important ally to Bran Stark; Ellie Kendirck as Meera Reed, the eldest daughter of Howland Reed, sister to Jojen and a staunch Stark royalist; Richard Dormer as Lord Beric Dondarrion, the leader of the Brotherhood Without Banners; Kristofer Hivju as Tormund Giantsbane, a famed wildling warrior and chief lieutenant of the King Beyond the Wall, Mance Rayder; Philip McGinley as Anguy, a skilled archer and key member of the Brotherhood Without Banners; Tara Fitzgerald as Selyse Baratheon, the wife of Stannis Baratheon; Tobias Menzies as Edmure Tully, the younger brother of Catelyn Stark and the recently-named Lord of Riverun following his father’s death; and Anton Lesser as Qyburn, a former master of the Citadel.
Today’s Trivia Question: What was the name of the cul-de-sac where the main characters of Knots Landing lived?

To subscribe to Cynopsis click here.  I also recommend checking out subcriptions to The Hollywood Reporter and Variety.

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To Your Success, Lisa Gold

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Business Tips

You’ve heard it a thousand times…but you STILL DO IT!  Apologizing is the single most discussed “pet peeve” amongst industry creatives on the other side of the audition table.  They don’t care that your sick, late because of traffic, the dog ate your headshot or any other of a myriad of excuses for why you AREN’T _____ that day!  They want you to be the one that solves THEIR problem (casting the role) and discussing yours is the last thing that will assist you in booking a job.  If any of the former has happened, just ACT like it didn’t and do a stellar job!