Wednesday, July 23, 2025
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Please join me at stuff.davidaugust.com now.
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Labels: technology, trends
this posted by David August at 1:52 PM - 0 comments - 
Friday, May 10, 2013
As of 2025, please go to stuff.davidaugust.com, my newer blog. See you there!
Chicago PD Will Shoot Here in Chicago
"Chicago PD" - from the same people who make "Chicago Fire," [which has also been renewed for a second season] including producer Dick Wolf and creators Derek Haas and Michael Brandt - will be shot here in its entirety and have more in common with a show like "Hill Street Blues" than the typical high-concept crime procedurals that have become predominant on network TV
(from Chicago Tribune, thanks to Gray Talent Group for letting me know). No word yet on who will be doing local casting, though both Simon Casting and Paskal Rudnicke Casting locally cast some of the episodes of the first season of Chicago Fire. Background casting of the first season of Chicago Fire was at least in part done by Joan Philo Casting.
Labels: filming in chicago, trends
this posted by David August at 2:45 PM - 1 comments -
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
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Sequestration Affects Federally Funded Theatres
Theatres that rely on federal funds with the sequestration may have to find funding elsewhere.
this posted by David August at 2:09 PM - 0 comments -
Monday, June 11, 2012
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SAG-AFTRA Made Music Video Deal
The three-year deal includes minimums, pension and health benefits and a range of working-condition protections.
(from My Los Angeles Acting blog).
this posted by David August at 3:28 PM - 0 comments -
Friday, March 30, 2012
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SAG and AFTRA merged and are now SAG-AFTRA
The on camera acting unions have merged, details on my Los Angeles Acting blog.
this posted by David August at 3:54 PM - 0 comments -
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
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AEA Supports SAG-AFTRA Merger
Tuesday Equity voted unanimously to support the SAG-AFTRA merger.
this posted by David August at 11:43 PM - 0 comments -
Monday, January 30, 2012
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SAG and AFTRA Boards Approve Merger Plan
Both SAG and AFTRA national boards approve and ballots will be sent out to members. Please vote yes on merger, here's why the unions should merge.
this posted by David August at 3:57 PM - 0 comments -
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
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SAG & AFTRA Reach Agreement on Merger Rec to National Boards
The unions are getting closer to merging, which is a very good thing. More on my LA acting blog.
this posted by David August at 1:20 PM - 0 comments -
Friday, January 06, 2012
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Production Tax Credit for Big Theatre in Illinois
The so-called Live Theatre Production Tax Credit, long sought by Broadway in Chicago, is designed to support Illinois engagements of pre-Broadway and long-running shows in theaters of 1,200 seats or more. It provides producers with tax credits in return for their spending in the State of Illnois; up to 20% of spending on such things as labor and marketing can be applied. The program is capped at $2 million per year
(from Chicago Tribune).
this posted by David August at 1:03 PM - 0 comments -
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
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Samuel French Ebooks and Digital Play Scripts
Today, Samuel French began offering someone their publications digitally. Read details on my LA Acting blog.
Labels: technology, trends
this posted by David August at 3:36 PM - 0 comments -
Tuesday, August 09, 2011
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Online Auditioning for Stage More Common
A rite of passage for young actors - waiting in long lines to be seen by Broadway casting directors, clutching head shots with I-hope-I-get-it fervor - has faded, as more producers and directors have abandoned the long-held assumption that they need to be in the room to assess stage presence and other qualities. While some casting directors have looked at audition tapes here and there over the years, the advent of YouTube, Skype, Facebook, Flip cameras and widely available video equipment has recently given technology a greater role in theater casting, providing a foot in the stage door for the technically savvy.
While no breakout theater star has been discovered solely through online auditions, several casting directors said it was only a matter of time.
(from The New York Times).
Labels: auditions, technology, trends
this posted by David August at 10:14 PM - 0 comments -
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
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Taymor Tries to Heal Her Image
Breaking her silence about "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark," the Broadway musical from which she was fired in March, Julie Taymor tacitly criticized her former producers on Saturday afternoon for relying on audience focus groups and said that the rise of Twitter and blogs for instant theater criticism was damaging to shows
(from The New York Times). The most expensive Broadway production ever produced, "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" was already controversial before Julie Taymor left the production. Last year, before opening, the production separately injured 4 different actors with broken wrists, ribs, feet (or a toe), a concussion and internal bleeding.
Labels: trends
this posted by David August at 4:07 AM - 0 comments -
Sunday, June 12, 2011
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Lookingglass Wins Tony Award for Excellence in Regional Theater
Chicago's Lookingglass Theatre Company has 22 ensemble members. Twenty-one of them will be in the confines of New York's Beacon Theatre on Sunday night when Lookingglass becomes the fifth Chicago company to win the Tony Award for excellence in regional theater.
You likely won't see them all on television
(from Chicago Tribune).
Labels: trends
this posted by David August at 5:11 PM - 0 comments -
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How Much a Tony Win is Worth
On average, winners of the Tony for best musical saw their average weekly gross jump 48 percent, from $656,784 in the eight weeks before the ceremony to $972,006 in the eight weeks after. By contrast, the other nominees saw only a 21 percent increase in their weekly gross in the comparable time frames
(from The New York Times).
this posted by David August at 4:57 PM - 0 comments -
Saturday, June 04, 2011
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Mickey Grossman Memorial Service
Plans are being made at this time to hold a memorial service in Chicago on Monday, June 13th. Exact location and time TBD. If you have any questions, please contact Mickie Paskal or Jennifer Rudnicke at 312-527-0665
-Jennifer Rudnicke
Labels: trends
this posted by David August at 4:47 PM - 0 comments -
Saturday, May 14, 2011
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Nobody Knows Anything
While originally written for the LA market, it applies to all of entertainment. My first guest post:
In Hollywood nobody knows anything. Clearly this is true. Otherwise every movie would be a hit. Every play would run forever. Every actor would be a millionaire, and every agent/manager/casting director would be too busy booking talent on brilliant and commercially wildly successful projects to get paid to attend workshops. We know nobody knows anything.
Read the rest of this on ActorRated.com.
Labels: inspiration, trends
this posted by David August at 10:46 PM - 0 comments -
Wednesday, March 09, 2011
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Spider-Man Losing Taymor
The New York Times reports March 9 that Tony-winning director Julie Taymor will likely depart the troubled, $65 million musical Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark
(from Playbill).
Labels: trends
this posted by David August at 6:15 PM - 0 comments -
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
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Theatre as Internet Downloads
New U.K. company Digital Theater has announced that productions from high-profile Brit legit troupes including the Royal Shakespeare Company, Almeida, Royal Court Theater, English Touring Theater and the Young Vic will now be available as Internet downloads
(from Variety).
The whole point about theatre is that it's live. Flesh-and-blood actors are up there on the stage. That’s why you spend big money on tickets and travel. To see the real thing. Everything else is merely moving pictures. But few people see theatre live. Okay, 50m or more have seen Les Misérables. Most shows, though, are lucky to get tens of thousands; some get hundreds. Then they are just memories. This is odd in the age of infinite copies.
Delamere and Tom Shaw, a film, video and live events expert, have taken the theatrical bull by the digital horns. Last night, at midnight, their website went live. It is a theatrical version of iTunes.
On the basis of what I've seen, the results are superb. When I visited Digital Theatre's Soho office, I was glumly expecting the usual deadness of the filmed stage performance. What I got was something quite new. Thanks to the editing and the multiple points of view, you feel inside the piece in a way that compensates for the loss of that flesh-and-blood thing
(from Times Online).
Labels: technology, trends
this posted by David August at 5:00 AM - 0 comments -
Thursday, October 08, 2009
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Snow on Sunday, Possible Lighter Theatre Crowds
Snow could be coming to town as early as this weekend. That’s right, snow. Flurries and flakes.
The forecast says that Saturday night rain will turn into the white stuff early Sunday morning
(from NBC Chicago). Typically the first very cold weekend sees theatre attendence drop slightly. Keep warm, have a good weekend!
Labels: trends
this posted by David August at 4:11 PM - 0 comments -
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
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Filming in Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin
According to Screen Magazine, a few films are in the Midwest shooting in nearby states, but not planning to shoot in Chicago.
Labels: filming in chicago, temp, trends
this posted by David August at 10:01 AM - 0 comments -
