Auteur Interview March 1999
CARYN SHALITA FOREVER
When telephones were introduced to American households,
people were so
unsure about what to do with them that they would pick up
the phone without
answering. At the same time the people making the
call would hold,
silently, on the line waiting for someone on the other end
to say something.
Inadvertently you would have two people, sometimes on opposite
sides of the
country, quietly listening to the breathing of the other...both
waiting for
someone to make the first move.
Caryn Shalita made the first move. 1999 marks
the fourth year that her web
site, and her presence, has graced the Internet. A
California actress, her
web site is a combination of resume material, headshots,
and mention for the
causes she believes in. In 1998 she was recognized
as one of the Internet's
most popular web celebs. Many have had their beginnings
in mass recognition
start on this new medium, the Internet. Caryn is not
the exception. She
took the time to talk to Auteur about her goals and career.
AUTEUR: What are your goals as an actress?
CARYN: To act in features, (likely independent
by nature of what kind of
material attracts me), preferably ones that are director-driven,
with well
written scripts and ensemble casts, and expressing unique
points of view.
AUTEUR: What are your goals for your website?
CARYN: Overall, to educate and entertain, and also
raise awareness in the
online film community of who I am, what I believe in and
want to express as
an artist, and by extension, what kind of filmmakers/people
I am looking to
work with. I do believe that like seeks like, and I hope
that my web site
provides people with enough information that the kind of
people I want to
work with will be attracted to it, and to me as an actress.
The thing is my
web site has so many different sections, and the goals for
each are
different. The link
areas, to topics far and wide, are there just so people
can get a sense of what my interests are. The holiday
sections I get no
benefit from--they are just for fun. The Industry
Resource sections are
there just because I have so many friends who are filmmakers
and actors who
don't realize how much information is online or how to get
to it. I created
those resources myself because I couldn't find any that
lived up to what I
knew was possible. The dog
rescue section of my site is there because it is
an issue close to my heart, so, I guess you could say
that the main goal of
my website besides the obvious one of self-promotion, is
to try to make a
difference in people's lives (doggie lives too!) - and inspire
people who
have found the courage to pursue their dreams, with the
hope that they will
then turn around and pass that gift along to someone else. It
has to start
somewhere. I may not be a celebrity who can reach as many
people as, say,
Sharon Stone, and I admit, it's hard for me to want to strive
for that kind
of impact. But several thousand people a day (going
to my web site), ain't
exactly chicken feed.... and from the mail I get, what I'm
doing seems to be
working.
AUTEUR: How has your website helped you realize your goals?
CARYN: I have met a lot of people I might never
have met otherwise and it's
also been a great way for people in other areas of
the country (like NY and
San Francisco, where I would happily go to film something
because I have
friends and/or family there) to check out my work. It's
allowed me a forum
that I would otherwise never have had. And since what I
really want to do as
an actress is touch people--it lets me do that even on days
when I'm not acting
in any film at all.
AUTEUR: Outside of the Internet, what other means
are you using to advance
your acting career?
CARYN: Oh, the usual agent, manager, casting workshops,
BackstageWest
submissions, general networking etc. I also belong to the
film collective
Filmmakers Alliance in
Los Angeles, which I think is a great group for any
person interested in film in Los Angeles to take part in.
AUTEUR: What roles has your website helped you land?
CARYN: None directly. Part of that issue
is because I am focusing on Indie
film, I get contacted by people at all stages of production
and until
financing is in place, all bets are on hold, if you know
what I mean. So it
could be two years from the time someone contacts me to
when they are ready
to film. Plus when I started it in 1995, there were so few
people online, so
it needed some time to grow as a medium before I could even
expect anything
to happen at all. Actually, I lied before. I did the
film with Francis (the
dog) because of someone I met over the Internet, and
that was very cool
since I was able to put the film clip to use for the cause
of dog rescue.
It's just that overall, most casting people doing regular
film and
television projects are not using this medium.
AUTEUR: How successful do you feel your website is?
CARYN: Well, on the one hand very, because for
an individual web site I
think I get a lot of site traffic. But I compare my traffic
with those of
major studios and realize that without the same kind of
advertising muscle I
cannot get the same kind of attention, which is kind of
just reality, even
though it's a bit of a bummer. Like I said, because
no wildly exciting
roles have come as a direct result of the site, it's hard,
because that is
how any actor would like to quantify something like this
in that kind of
way. But I get so many letters from people saying how much
I have helped
them--so it's hard not to feel successful when there is
such an outpouring.
AUTEUR: How are you measuring the success of your website?
CARYN: Site traffic, public opinion/press mainly.
I haven't tried to make it
revenue-generating only because I don't want to put time
into that when I
don't really need the money all that much, and instead have
given my time to
help non-profits such as the Artist Rights Foundation and
Filmmakers
Alliance design their sites to work effectively for them.
In some ways it's
been very successful. The Holiday sites have been mentioned
in the LA Times,
NY Times, USA Today, MSNBC and NY-1. The Acting and Film
sections, plus
my home area, have been written up in Backstage West, Bay
Area Casting
News and Indiewire (and now Auteur!). Some aspects of my
site I haven't
tried to make work for me yet, mainly due to lack of time
to do the
necessary promotion. The "Just Say Yes" area is set up so
that people can
vote to see me on certain shows. I am waiting for
the numbers to go up a
little Then I will contact the casting people and
show producers that *X*
number of viewers have expressed an interest in seeing me
on their show.
(Everybody reading this please go
vote!!)
AUTEUR: How long have you been SAG?
CARYN: I had been eligible for a while, but finally
decided to pony up the
money last year. :)
(Caryn's Note--this means 1997--when I did this for them it was still 1998!)
AUTEUR: How did you go about finding and then deciding on your agent?
CARYN: Through a referral. I think that's the best
way to get an agent, and
personally, I need to feel comfortable talking with the
people who represent
me. I know so many actors who are afraid to call their agents
and there's
something twisted about that, since, really, they are the
ones working for you....
AUTEUR: How are you measuring the success of your career?
CARYN: By the only thing that is under my control--how
I perform when I am
asked to audition. And right now things have never been
better... As a very
smart manager I knew said, "all I can do is make my clients
available for as
much luck as possible" And as an actor, all you can do is
make sure you are
ready to capitalize on your opportunity when that luck shows
up. I am not an
easy type, and I don't expect people to call me in for roles
for which I am
not right. But right now, I know I have a lot of people
out there looking
for one that is, and that's all I can ask for. I have not
yet attained what
I would call success in my career. Which would be to do
the lead role in a
feature film that I felt met all of the qualifications I
listed at the
beginning of this interview. Don't care if it makes money,
although it would
be nice for the producers if it did, and if I liked them,
I'm sure I'd hope
for that. If it was a good film, that would be all that
mattered to me, and
then anything on top of that would be gravy. I have done
small parts in good
films, leads in shorts--but not in a feature as yet, so
that will be my next
major career milestone. Oh, and I haven't been on Star
Trek yet either. That
is also a career goal, for personal reasons which people
can read about on
my web site, also in the Just Say Yes section of the site
AUTEUR: What has been most challenging about working
with independent
producers/directors?
CARYN: Getting the project off the ground! Long
hours sometimes are hard,
but I've been lucky in that most of the people I've shot
with are terrific
people and good at what they do. I may not be a star, but
I still pick my
projects as carefully as they do from the projects, which
I am offered.
AUTEUR: How have you worked beyond film set adversity?
CARYN: Been fortunate enough to never really have
to deal with it. But I
would suppose it would be like how I would work through
any adversity--let
it flow through with the least amount of resistance.
AUTEUR: How have producers/directors, that you
have worked with, worked
beyond film set adversity?
CARYN: By being courteous and respectful even as
they are demanding this
that or the other thing. When a director is really in control
of a project,
everyone on the set knows it. You can tell when people have
done their
homework. To me, that's the surest way to void adversity
on a set. BE
PREPARED and have contingencies in mind in case things don't
work out like
they should, especially on a low budget shoot. I mean, on
a bigger budget
film they can throw money at whatever they need to if it
needs to happen so
badly, but on Indie films, unless you want conflict, you
better be prepared
with creative solutions at all times.
AUTEUR: What do you bring to a production, as an
actress, that audiences
like to see?
CARYN: Probably emotional realism. Honesty and
openness are my strong
suit-in both life and art.
AUTEUR: How much of a sense of competition do you
have toward other Internet
celebs?
CARYN: None. I'm not really a very competitive
personality, and truthfully,
I don't even know who would qualify as an Internet celeb.
Sorry if that
makes me a bad websurfer...but it takes a lot of time to
keep up a web site
like mine and there's not much free time for surfing around
to check out
"the competition."
AUTEUR: How does your having a website effect you
professionally? Does it
make you feel empowered?
CARYN: Absolutely, although I think the Internet
is even more powerful for
filmmakers than for actors because as an actor, you are
still dependent on
someone else's product before you can get to your job, and
for a filmmaker,
well, the Internet lets them put their ideas right out there
no holds
barred. But yeah, on those days when I've been depressed
because of whatever
it was that day that bummed me out, it has never failed
that a really
amazing letter from some fan of mine on the web has come
and no matter how
bad I felt, I couldn't keep feeling that way after reading
email like that.
And having a web site like mine definitely gave me a means
to be proactive
about my career in a way most actors can't, by reaching
out to Indie
filmmakers and producers directly.
AUTEUR: Are there times it makes you feel alienated
since it is a relatively
new medium?
CARYN: No, I was aware that it would need time
to grow and quite
deliberately chose to be one of the pioneers....
AUTEUR: How familiar are you with Internet casting sites?
CARYN: Very. And I don't think they work right
now and here's why. It's the
chicken and egg thing. Casting people won't use these as
primary resources
until there is a critical mass of talent on them, and they
feel comfortable
with (and have) the necessary technology. Actors don't want
to get on unless
casting people are using the services. So it's a catch 22.
I think if an
actor is a hard-to-find type, or has some unique special
skills, tattoos
etc, then they are more likely to find success with these
sites, because
right now, casting people go to them to find people they
are having trouble
finding through the usual methods. And I do know a few people
who have found
work because of them, and I know that Indie casting director
Billy Damota
does most of his casting using these technologies (and of
course, who he
knows off the top of his head) I don't like the fact that
access to these
actor searches is so limited. I tried to search Castnet
when I was casting a
fairly high profile (because of the subject matter) Indie
short for a
director friend of mine, and because I was not registered
I couldn't use
their service. I found out in the process that Indie directors,
producers
etc. couldn't get on to search for actors even if they wanted
to, because of
whatever system Castnet was using to qualify people for
having access,
Indies were unlikely to be listed as registered users. And
while the person
at Castnet said they'd do the search for me, I never heard
back from them.
So I'm not sure how well that's serving the client base.
But then on the
flip side, the free sides and casting labels and system
for electronic
mailing of postcards are all valuable actor tools. Basically,
I think the
system needs to grow into itself, but it's on the right
track. When it'll
happen I can't tell you, and anyone who claims they can,
or that it's
already here, is lying, but I hope soon, because as an environmentalist
I
cringe at how many headshots get thrown in the trash every
day.
AUTEUR: Do you have any recommendations for how
acting, directing, or
producing talent may utilize them?
CARYN: My advice is to do it if you can spare the
money, but don't take it
out of your rent or headshot fund, if you get my drift.
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