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I'm new here so I don't really know if I can post this here and if anyone will see it but I'll try my luck anyway. I hope I wrote that in the right forum section...
So, I'm looking for an agent. Talent agent that is. I wanna be an actor but that's easier said than done for me.
I'm from Slovenia and I'd like ro move to LA at the end of this summer. But there are a few problems. I already sent letters to USA embassy in Slovenia, Slovenian embassy in USA and to the 'Visa people' but I never got an answer so I hope you could help me.
1) I could come on tourist visa but then I wouldn't be able to work.
2) Gaining O-1 visa is not that easy, especially if you don't have any experience that would matter whatsoever. I come from a country where 20 actors do everything: tv, movies, theatre and have a regular job on the side to get through the month. And what is even worse, they are not appreciated for the work they do, they're mostly made fun of. So before I could really get a credit for my resume I'd be like 50 and right now I'm not even half way there... So I need somebody that would help me get O-1 visa...
3) I don't have any direct family in the USA but I do have some distant relatives there. But I really doubt that my greatgrandma's nephews and their children are gonna get me family visa.
So, can you tell me if there is any way I can still come and try to make it as an actor or am I doomed forever? I actually do have some experience - I was in local drama club (not that school thingy but real registered youth cultural association) from ages 9 to 14 but then I quit to fully commit to school. Now after two years of college I realized what a mistake that was. Although I can't play any instrument (yet), I'm not really good at singing... I was a swimmer thoughout elemmentary school and I did some karate but that's it. I am willing to sign up for classes...
And if you know an agent that would (or are one and you'd) like to represent me, I'd be eternally grateful.
Plus I have some more questions:
a) Can I rent an apartment on tourist visa for those 90 days I can stay in the USA?
b) Could I sign up for any lessons while being a tourist (guitar, dance etc.)?
c) Are agents, producers ... really that mean and opportunistic as those seen on TV? :P
You have no chance at any sort of work visa. If you have no US citizen direct family (sibling, parent, spouse) then your only chance is a diversity visa. Apply every year to the DV lottery and hope for a miracle.
Otherwise, get a job with a multinational company, then have them transfer you to a US position on an L-visa. Or get a minimum of a BS from a university in engineering or similiar technical field and try to convince a US company to hire you on an H-visa.
Sorry.
Quote:
Originally Posted by VovkU
Plus I have some more questions:
a) Can I rent an apartment on tourist visa for those 90 days I can stay in the USA?
b) Could I sign up for any lessons while being a tourist (guitar, dance etc.)?
c) Are agents, producers ... really that mean and opportunistic as those seen on TV? :P
a) Yes, LA apartments tend to run minimum 600 USD/month for a studio in a bad part of town. Hollywood rents are more like 1200 USD. North Hollywood (2 subway stops from Hollywood) is more like 700 USD and chock-full of bad/failed actors (ie; waiters, blockbuster employees, starbucks barristas etc).
b) Yes
c) Probably
You could try getting a student visa and go to school in LA. There are tons of acting schools and if you're decent, it can actually be an advantage. I don't know how far you are in your education, but you could look at Bachelors and Masters in Fine Arts programs for acting. It's expensive though. It's supposed to be prohibitively expensive and tough so only the best or people who can fully support themselves without taking jobs from citizens can come.
You don't have a hope, my dear. You're on the right forum but you fit no criteria for a working visa. Go to the first "sticky" at the top of this forum page and click onto the uscis link for information. Sorry.
. I come from a country where 20 actors do everything: tv, movies, theatre and have a regular job on the side to get through the month. And what is even worse, they are not appreciated for the work they do, they're mostly made fun of. So before I could really get a credit for my resume I'd be like 50 and right now I'm not even half way there... So I need somebody that would help me get O-1 visa...
c) Are agents, producers ... really that mean and opportunistic as those seen on TV? :P
LOL same thing here, 20 actors get all of the work, maybe 200 more realistically. And no, most agents/producers arent that mean, they're nice because they want you to get out of the room fast and then they'll bad mouth you once yoyu leave. Nobody likes confrontation. I know some actors here from other countries but I think they married illegally to get here. Honestly, unless ur are really unique and can master an American accent, most Hollywood types wont bother with you anyway unless you already have Hollywood based film/TV credits. Like someone said I would play the Visa lottery and hope for the best.
You don't have a hope, my dear. You're on the right forum but you fit no criteria for a working visa. Go to the first "sticky" at the top of this forum page and click onto the uscis link for information. Sorry.
I doubt, the OP is on the right forum.
VovkU, you'll not find your agent on this forum. They will only discourage you, telling you how impossible it is. They discourage other people, as well, people who want to get H-1B and so on. The irony is that many of these discouraging posts come from people who are immigrants themselves, people who came to US and somehow made it. I bet, if those people were using this forum, they still were in their home countries.
I think, you need to secure any kind of a visa that allows you to stay for a couple of months at least and come to LA and try to talk to as many people as you can. You need firsthand information from people in the industry and you need to be where the action is. There is no way to avoid this experience if you serious about what you want. This forum will not bring you far.
Do what you have to do. Don't listen to people who say it's impossible. You didn't post here to hear how impossible it is, did you?
Last edited by movingwiththewind; 06-23-2010 at 12:52 PM..
VovkU, you'll not find your agent on this forum. They will only discourage you, telling you how impossible it is. They discourage other people, as well, people who want to get H-1B and so on. The irony is that many of these discouraging posts come from people who are immigrants themselves, people who came to US and somehow made it. I bet, if those people were using this forum, they still were in their home countries.
I think, you need to secure any kind of a visa that allows you to stay for a couple of months at least and come to LA and try to talk to as many people as you can. You need firsthand information from people in the industry and you need to be where the action is. There is no way to avoid this experience if you serious about what you want. This forum will not bring you far.
Do what you have to do. Don't listen to people who say it's impossible. You didn't post here to hear how impossible it is, did you?
He can talk to all the people he wants, but no one will hire him to act without a work visa and therefore he can only work for free as a tourist (and it's not worth it- anyone worth networking with will be able to pay you). Acting is NOT one of those jobs "no American wants to do" so there is no incentive for anyone to provide him a work visa (unlike other industries where an illegal immigrant might find work). That is why I suggested going to school here- it is expensive, but it gives him a legal way to network, make a name for himself and get some (although not a lot) of paid experience. I have several foreign actor friends in NYC and they are all here on student visas, networking and building a resume outside of class. It sucks, they have to pay for tuition and can't really work outside of their schools, but that is what it takes if you want to be a foreign actor in the US. He'd be better off moving to Britain or somewhere in the EU to build a name and reel for himself, then try to come over on an entertainment visa, but that wasn't what he asked.
VovkU, you'll not find your agent on this forum. They will only discourage you, telling you how impossible it is. They discourage other people, as well, people who want to get H-1B and so on. The irony is that many of these discouraging posts come from people who are immigrants themselves, people who came to US and somehow made it. I bet, if those people were using this forum, they still were in their home countries.
I think, you need to secure any kind of a visa that allows you to stay for a couple of months at least and come to LA and try to talk to as many people as you can. You need firsthand information from people in the industry and you need to be where the action is. There is no way to avoid this experience if you serious about what you want. This forum will not bring you far.
Do what you have to do. Don't listen to people who say it's impossible. You didn't post here to hear how impossible it is, did you?
Moving: The problem isn't the people here. The problem is the immigration system. You may not know, and he may not want to be told, but it literally is impossible for this person to get any sort of visa, besides one for tourism, with his qualifications.
He is not an internationally renown film star, so he can't get an O-visa. He doesn't have a technical degree, so he can't get an H-visa. He has no immediate US-citizen relatives or a US-citizen spouse, he probably doesn't have 250K for a investor visa, or work for a company that could get him an L-visa, or suffer religious persecution to get refugee status.
And, no, he can't do volunteer work on a tourist visa. That's illegal too.
His only long-shot hope is for a DV lottery visa. Or to get really rich, really famous, or really educated first and then come. Or marry a US citizen. I don't like that this is the way that things are, and that's why I support immigration reform. I would very much like it if a motivated individual could have a chance to come to the US, work hard, and succeed without a ton of money or family connections, but that's not the way the system is. The system is set up to "protect" US workers from foreign-born competition. Now, if you're a hard-working and smart US citizen, you don't need this protection and you ought to disagree with it, since it makes our country weaker because there's less competition in the job market.
For you to pretend that things are just hunkey-dory and encourage this guy to waste his time, when you don't understand the immigration system, is irresponsible. There are plenty of people in the world who are currently literally not "allowed" to live in the United States by virtue of their occupation, birth, or lack of wealth.
Finally, I agree there is a lot of negativity from legal immigrants. Usually it is because they understand how difficult the system is to navigate.
But I totally understand everything all of you wrote and on some level I always knew it's not gonna be a s easy as "come and be a star"... And I know legal system is something every country wants to protect (after all that's what I'm studying Kind of...) so I completely understand why is it so hard for sb so unexperienced as me to just obtain a visa and move.
Besides, I know everybody at least once tried to be an actor so I can't really say my idea is super original and that America needs me. :P
And finally,
Quote:
Originally Posted by StinaTado
He'd be better off moving to Britain or somewhere in the EU to build a name and reel for himself, then try to come over on an entertainment visa, but that wasn't what he asked.
I researched that, too, and I'm moving to London as soon as I finish this school year, to 'build myself a foundation' and then maybe I'll come to LA some day.
Oh, and it's her btw. :P
Thank you for taking the time 'helping' me...
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I hope I wrote that in the right forum section...
