Brie Burkeman Agent

Brie Burkeman – Agent

by

Gumbowriters

How long have you been agent and how did you get your start Brie?

I started as a secretarial assistant at Curtis Brown (UK) thirty years ago, learnt the trade and after three years left and helped set up the Directors Guild of Great Britain. I then joined Jonathan Clowes Ltd and for sixteen years was a director there before taking a short break and setting up my own agency nine years ago. Having worked in tandem with Serafina Clarke for many years, we this month decided to consolidate our companies and so have just embarked on the next stage of life with Brie Burkeman & Serafina Clarke Ltd.

What makes your agency different than any others?

Our agency is a small, boutique agency, but we still work in all mediums; book, film, theatre and television. Being our own agency and small means the list can be as eclectic and, within commercial boundaries, as subjective as we like. I love finding that new voice but I also love the challenge of a well published or produced author who needs a new look at their career. We take the long view with our clients rather than looking at the short term.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJgDsYedwV0[/youtube]

What are you looking for specifically that you wish you would see more of?

The same thing were always looking for; original, commercial ideas combined with beautiful writing. The combination often feels like looking for the philosophers stone.

Brie what are you tired of receiving?

Badly conceived, unfinished material that isnt suitable for our agency in the first place. For instance, all the guidelines say we dont handle musicals. Does that seem to stop people sending them to us? Unfortunately no. There is so much good advice out there for writers now, not least on this site and your YouTube tips, on how to approach agents, how to prepare your material and what not to send that if a writer ignores all this information it doesnt encourage an agent to respond in the positive.

How can a new writer get your attention in a good way?

Follow the guidelines I mention, and these are available in free form in libraries, on the web etc. Get as much advice before approaching myself or another agent about the genre youre writing for and see if, for instance, the length is right. If you are writing a commercial novel for todays market and your book is only 35,000 words, its not long enough. If youre writing an authoritative book on, say, the mating habits of the American eagle, research your subject. Tell me why you are the person to write this book and what else is on the market that would be competition but why this book would be better. A new author doesnt have to be an expert in the publishing world but if they are interested in becoming a published author then some homework wouldnt go amiss.

How can a signed writer stay in your radar without driving you insane?

Im pleased to say that because our list is so small, we dont have a problem staying in touch with our clients. The beauty of email is that a short note saying hello can be replied to with an equally short note. Email is also great for helping to be in touch around the world quicker, cheaper and easier than in the past; our clients are spread around the world; they currently live in the USA, Britain, Ireland, Japan and France and we have no problems being in constant touch.

What do you wish more writers understood about you as an agent Brie that they don’t seem to?

Although being a small agency has many benefits it also of course means that we dont have the manpower to deal with the level of submissions that some of the larger agencies do. For instance a writers group in Arizona recently recommended us to their attendees and we received two hundred emails over four days. In that instance we just had to do a mass rejection as we couldnt deal with each proposal individually. As an agent, I am dependent on writers for my livelihood and I love nothing more than finding a new writer and working with them to build their career. That takes time and dedication and doesnt happen overnight. It also means reading a great deal of material and that also takes time.

What are your submission guidelines?

Our basic guidelines are available in all the good trade directories and on many of the good writers sites, but for our more detailed guidelines please visit: www.burkemanandclarke.com

This article is courtesy of http://www.gumbowriters.com

Article Source:

Brie Burkeman – Agent

Rachel Weisz wants Botox ban for actors

Tuesday, July 7, 2009 

English actress Rachel Weisz thinks that Botox injections should be banned for all actors.

The 39-year-old actress, best known for her roles in the Mummy movie franchise and for her Academy Award-winning portrayal in The Constant Gardener, feels facial Botox injections leave actors less able to convey emotion and that it harms the acting industry as much as steroids harm athletes.

In an interview with UK’s Harper’s Bazaar, coming out next month, Weisz says, “It should be banned for actors, as steroids are for sportsmen,” she claims. “Acting is all about expression; why would you want to iron out a frown?”

Currently living in New York, she also mentions that English women are much less worried about their physical appearance than in the United States. “I love the way girls in London dress,” she claimed. “It’s so different to the American ‘blow-dry and immaculate grooming’ thing.”

Acting teacher and director Milton Katselas dies at age 75

Tuesday, October 28, 2008 

Acting teacher and director Milton Katselas died Friday at age 75, after suffering from heart failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. He began the Beverly Hills Playhouse in 1978 and taught acting classes there to noted actors including George Clooney and Gene Hackman. Katselas is survived by a sister and two brothers.

Katselas directed an off-Broadway production of Edward Albee’s The Zoo Story, and received a Tony Award nomination for his 1969 direction of Butterflies are Free. Actress Blythe Danner won a Tony Award for her role in Butterflies are Free under Katselas’ direction. He moved to California to direct the film version of that play, and went on to direct films and television movies. Actress Eileen Heckart received an Academy Award for her role in the film version of Butterflies are Free.

Katselas directed the San Francisco and Los Angeles productions of the play P.S. Your Cat Is Dead! by playwright James Kirkwood, Jr. In his author’s notes in the publication of the script, Kirkwood acknowledged Katselas, and wrote that the plays were “directed with incredible energy and enthusiasm by Milton Katselas, to whom I am extremely indebted”.

Katselas directed the television movie Strangers: Story of a Mother and Daughter, and actress Bette Davis received an Emmy Award for her role in the movie. Katselas taught many famous actors including Michelle Pfeiffer, Richard Gere, Robert Duvall, Jack Lemmon, Al Pacino, Goldie Hawn, Christopher Walken, Burt Reynolds, George C. Scott, Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Alec Baldwin, and Patrick Swayze. Katselas was credited with being able to nurture actors with raw talent so that they could develop strong Hollywood careers. He utilized innovative techniques in his courses – one course called “Terrorist Theatre” had a simple premise: successfully get an acting role within six weeks or leave the course.

He grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to parents who had immigrated from Greece, and graduated from Carnegie Mellon. He studied acting with Lee Strasberg in New York at the Actors Studio, and received advice from directors Joshua Logan and Elia Kazan.

Katselas was a prominent Scientologist, and a July 2007 profile on Katselas in The New York Times Magazine observed that some of his students stopped taking courses at the Beverly Hills Playhouse because they felt they had been pressured to join the Church of Scientology. According to the article, Katselas credited Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard “for much of his success in life”, and one of his students works at Scientology’s Celebrity Centre. The article commented that some in Los Angeles view the Beverly Hills Playhouse as “a recruitment center for Scientology”.

Katselas met L. Ron Hubbard after moving to California, and began studying Scientology in 1965. The New York Times Magazine reported that he had reached the level of “Operating Thetan, Level 5, or O.T. V.” in 2007. According to The New York Times Magazine when Scientologists proceed up the “The Bridge to Total Freedom” they learn the story of Xenu, and that: “75 million years ago the evil alien Xenu solved galactic overpopulation by dumping 13.5 trillion beings in volcanoes on Earth, where they were vaporized, scattering their souls.” A Church of Scientology publication, Source, lists Katselas as reaching O.T. V. in 1989.

Though some actors felt pressured to join the Church of Scientology after taking courses at the Beverly Hills Playhouse, at least one individual felt Katselas was not active enough with the organization. Actress Jenna Elfman left the Beverly Hills Playhouse because she felt Katselas was not committed enough to Scientology. Katselas had previously directed Elfman in half of Visions and Lovers: Variations on a Theme, two one-act plays about relationships that he had written himself. In 1999 Katselas had planned to adapt the script of Visions and Lovers to a film version, and Elfman was set to reprise her role from the play. In an article in Variety about the project, Elfman commented on her experience working with Katselas: “He is brilliant, and knows me so well as a person and an actress that he gets the most out of me.”

Other prominent Scientologist actors who have studied under Katselas include Giovanni Ribisi, Jason Lee, and Leah Remini. According to Rolling Stone, Katselas also recruited actress Kelly Preston to Scientology. Actress Nancy Cartwright (the voice of Bart Simpson), told Scientology publication Celebrity that Katselas motivated her to get more active in Scientology, and she stated she took the organization’s “Purification Rundown” and her life “took off completely”.

Anne Archer was introduced to Scientology while studying at the Beverly Hills Playhouse, as was former Scientologist and now outspoken critic actor Jason Beghe. Beghe told Roger Friedman of FOX News in April 2008 that “He [Katselas] gets kickbacks”, and that he was brought to a Scientology center by fellow Beverly Hills Playhouse classmate Bodhi Elfman, Jenna Elfman’s husband. In a 1998 article for Buzz Magazine, Randye Hoder wrote “In his class, Katselas is careful not to label anything as a tenet of Scientology, but there is no question that the church’s influence seeps into the playhouse.”

Anne Archer’s husband and fellow Scientologist, producer Terry Jastrow, commented to The New York Times Magazine that Katselas changed the way he experiences life on a day-to-day basis: “I go out in the world and look at human behavior now. I see a woman or man interacting with a saleslady, and I see the artistry in it. Life is an endless unspooling of art, of acting, of painting, of architecture. And where did I learn that? From Milton.”

Actor Anthony Head of Buffy the Vampire Slayer spoke highly of Katselas in a 2002 interview with San Francisco Chronicle: “He’s this wonderfully intuitive teacher and his premise is basically: The only real barriers are the ones we put in front of ourselves. If you say, ‘My character wouldn’t do that’ — bollocks! Ultimately it’s you who wouldn’t say that. Who knows what your character might do.” In the acknowledgements of her 2004 autobiography Are You Hungry, Dear?: Life, Laughs, and Lasagna, actress Doris Roberts wrote: “I thank my friend and acting teacher, the incredible Milton Katselas, for his insights, wisdom, and inspiration, which have helped make me the actress that I am.”

Katselas authored two books: Dreams Into Action: Getting What You Want, first published in 1996 by Dove Books, and Acting Class: Take a Seat, which came out earlier this month. Dreams Into Action, a New York Times Bestseller, sought to modify motivational acting exercises to the field of business.

In an interview in the 2007 book Acting Teachers of America, Katselas commented on his experiences as an acting teacher over the years: “I have very special teachers here at the Beverly Hills Playhouse—some have been with me for over twenty-five years. I believe that to make a difference over the long haul, we need to train teachers. I really care about the craft of acting. It’s absolutely necessary to take the time and patience to really develop an actor.”