Center Theatre Group, LA Stage Alliance, UCLA, Chapman University And USC Present The Going Pro Career Fair

Center Theatre Group invites current undergraduate and graduate students to attend the free Going Pro Career Fair on Saturday, April 20, 2019, at the Los Angeles Theatre Center (514 S. Spring St. in Downtown L.A.) from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Co-presented by LA Stage Alliance, the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, Chapman University College of Performing Arts and the USC School of Dramatic Arts, the event is free but reservations are recommended.

The Going Pro Career Fair is intended to help current students prepare for a professional theatre career. This year, the fair will focus on financial topics: how to ask for money, make it and manage it. The fair will feature tables hosted by LA Stage Alliance, Actors Fund, Actors' Equity and other unions and service organizations for students to learn more about their work and the resources they offer theatre artists. The event will also feature a technical theatre jobs networking mixer, 20-minute speed mentorship sessions and four free workshops.

Students who RSVP for Going Pro will be eligible to secure one of a limited number of slots for the professional theatre open auditions organized by LA Stage Alliance or free headshots with a professional photographer. The auditions allow students to be seen by producers and directors from Los Angeles theatre companies -- they are not for a specific production or to join a particular company's membership, but offer a way for actors to introduce themselves to the performing arts community. There are only 100 headshot sessions and 40 audition time slots available. They will be filled on a first come, first serve basis and students are encouraged to arrive at the event early. Students who do not RSVP in advance will not be eligible.

The four workshops offered at the Going Pro Career Fair are "Navigating the First Three Years" (10 a.m.), a panel discussion featuring recent college alumni discussing how they made the leap from college to career, focused on how they found work, paid their bills and navigated life as artists. The second workshop is "What Theatres Need" (11:15 a.m.) where Center Theatre Group staff and independent producers give a quick overview of what makes you an asset as an actor, technician, playwright, designer or manager. The third workshop, "Financial Empowerment for Artists," (1 p.m.) is presented by East Los Angeles College and will focus on how to create a personal budget, plan for and submit taxes and embrace the financial realities of being a theatre artist. The final workshop is "Contracts and Negotiation 101" (2:15 p.m.) where students will learn the ins and outs of contracts and what it means to be an independent contractor.

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