What's Next?

Graduation May 2011

The big, dreaded question every recent graduate faces… What’s next? So now that I have graduated from college, I have been looking into finding strong and challenging apprenticeship/internship programs that will keep me on track and focused for the next year or so. Yes…I could just go up into New York or out to L.A. and just jump into the swing of things but…that’s not me. I like stability and being at my personal best before venturing too far out.

Nevertheless, I started my quest for apprenticeships/internships by going to the Actors’ Equity Association website and selecting EMC Candidates and Programs and printed out the entire list. Basically, I want to get my equity card and in order to do so I have to either hopefully get cast in a equity theatre house production as a non-union or find a theatre that offers a EMC candidate program and start earning equity points.

So after I printed out the list, I notated two things to myself:

•           Where?
•         What does it offer?

Where

Location was a huge factor for me. I decided to contact programs that were in KY, VA, DC, MD, PA, NY, GA, FL, and CA. Why…uuhhh because it was my preference. (smiles)

What does it Offer?

(Here comes the research and time to use those highlighters)

You are researching to find out the following:

• What type of program do they offer? (Apprenticeship, internship, fellowship, etc.)
• What is the program’s focus? (Acting, Tech, Administrative)
• How long is the program?
• Is there a stipend?
• Is housing provided?

Most of this information is available on their theatre company’s website; however sometimes it isn’t. So shooting them an email will do the trick.

         Start by googling the theatre company. This way you can see their main website, read reviews, etc. Once you find out the information you want and need, create a spreadsheet to document your findings. On the printed out EMC list, highlight which programs are definite YESs, NOs, and MAYBEs. I used yellow for my YESs, blue for NOs, and pink for MAYBEs. This is so you won’t repeat yourself. Trust me, the list can get quite confusing and time consuming…

Contacting the Company

• See if they have an application
• Email or mail them a nice cover letter stating your interest in their program and ask if they offer a program in your field of choice.

So…

Out of the hundreds of theatres listed on the EMC program list, I emailed oh…about 30! And sent actual postal mail to 9. In response, I’ve gotten a lot of “we’ve already chosen our interns” or “we don’t offer a program in your field”. However, I’ve gotten two nibbles: The Actor’s Express in Atlanta and The Black Rep Theatre in St. Louis!

I will keep you posted…