<p>Received their BFA in anything that involves theatre of some sort.</p>
<p>What is the percentage of people who didn’t receive their BFA and came out successful compared to the people who did.</p>
<p>I don’t know how you’d begin to find accurate statistics on this question! My guess is that there are far more successful actors who do not have a BFA degree. First of all, the BFA programs are so selective – out of all the prospective actors out there, a relatively small amount actually get accepted into a BFA program. And BFA programs are a fairly new development. 20 or 30 years ago, there weren’t as many BFA programs available – again, this is just a guess, but I think relatively few actors over the age of 50 have a BFA degree.</p>
<p>I don’t think such a list exists, but you can compile your own. Just get on Google and search “Wikipedia (School Name) alumni people” and see who you recognize. I think you’ll for the most part find a dearth of the typical Hollywood sex bombs, but you’ll find quite a few who are famous more for actually being really good actors like Julianne Moore (BU), Parker Posey (Purchase), Mary Louise Parker (NCSA), Holly Hunter (CMU), Kristen Davis (Rutgers) Kelly McGillis (Juilliard), and Rachel McAdams (York U). Really, though, I think it would be even more valuabe to forget the famous ones and look for the under 30s who are simply making a living by acting alone - i.e. young working actors. I have no idea how you can really come up with that list, but most of the good BFAs have them them out there and, while I don’t have any specific numbers, I’ll hypothesize that the percentage of those few who graduate with BFAs every year far exceeds that of those many thousands who just went to New York or LA, took some classes and started auditioning. Have fun! :)</p>
<p>Fishbowl I would love your opinion on this one: my Daughter wil be a senior at Tisch Drama. She was looking forward to her company year at Stella Adler but she did a acting program through Stella Adler in LA. They did a show case and she has three mangers inerested in her. ( one wants to sign her now). They told her if she wants to work in LA she should switch to Stone Street( The Tv and Film Studio) and try to get work on as many student films as possible. She is going to follow there advice but is conflicked bcause she also loves her theatre training at Stella and she loves the program there. She has also decided to move out to LA is she making the right decision</p>
<p>Well, I’m flattered you’d ask, but this is really something you should be asking of people who have a lot more experience in the biz than lil’ ol’ me. I’m about to start fourth year, too! LOL </p>
<p>She should definitely be doing some checking up on the reputations of the people she’s talking about, though. LA managers aren’t regulated like agents and while there are some good ones who can do good things for one’s career, there are apparently a lot of do-nothings and fly-by-night crooks as well, so be careful. At any rate, she should definitely be asking teachers with whom she has established relationships about this. Doesn’t Tisch have some career advisement people who have contacts in LA that can check up on these particular managers for her? If not, she can always go over to the Backstage.com message board and ask about them by name on either ‘The Working Actor’ or ‘Secret Agent Man’ forums. She should also read An Agent Tells All and How to be a Working Actor paying special attention to the sections on managers to decide if that’s what she really needs. </p>
<p>Remember that a manager can’t legally submit her for work or negotiate deals. Agents do that and she’ll probably need two - one for legit/theatrical and one for commercial. The agents will take 10% off the top of anything she books for which they submitted her and then the manager will take another 10-15% for ANYTHING she books no matter how she got it. That’s 20-25% gone right there on a major project with 10-15% being paid to someone who may not have even done any work. Then she’ll have SAG dues to consider … Of course, like I said, a good manager can give good career guidance and will have the contacts to get her in to see the good agents as well as provide other contacts with casting directors, etc., so it’s just hard to say. Some people swear by them and others rue the day they met them.</p>
<p>As far as Stonestreet, I don’t see how that could be a bad idea if she’s decided she wants to do the LA tv & film thing although isn’t that a one semester studio? For some reason, I had also thought they taught acting for the camera at Adler. At any rate, she definitely needs to start building a reel whether she does Stonestreet or not if LA is what she wants and I’ve heard that some of the NYU graduate projects are a great way to do that. On-camera work isn’t rocket science, but it does take some getting used to. </p>
<p>Hope this helps and I hope anyone else who knows about this kind of thing (Alwaysamom) chimes in. :)</p>
<p>FB, thanks, but I don’t really know enough about LA to be of much help here. I will echo your advice to really do some research on any manager your D may be interested in, actressmom. The actors I know, including coincidentally, one of those on FB’s list above, have all advised against hiring a manager for any young actor who is just getting started. Seeking representation by an agent is more important. When an actor reaches the success of the young woman who gave this advice, then it’s likely that you’ll not only have a manager, but two and sometimes three agents, an attorney, and a couple of publicists. 
All actors should be this fortunate!</p>
<p>As for moving to L.A., there really is no way to know whether this is the right move. Again, most actors who I know who have been successful doing so are those who have been successful elsewhere first, whether that’s in theatre or tv/film in NY, Toronto, Chicago, or London. Even some of those experienced theatre actors have made the move and then fizzled in L.A. So, who knows. I do agree with FB that student films are a good way to gain experience and certainly NYU is an excellent place for that. My D and many of her friends did this while at Tisch. I imagine your D has also done this if she’s interested in film. I do know some kids who have done Stonestreet but I don’t know enough about it, particularly recently, to offer advice. I do know that the Adler company is a wonderful experience for many. Best of luck to her!</p>
<p>Thanks for all the advice. We did check out the managers and they seem legit. She has to do Stone street because she needs a reel. She is really set on LA. She is gaduating early and is going to head out there in Jan. Its making me nervous but I think she is going to wait before she signs with any manager. She is going to continue her training in LA and seems to have a clear head about what she wants to do. I can just keep my fingers crossed and hope it works out. She said she will give it a couple of years and then apply to grad school. Fishbowl i will go on backstage and talk to secret agent man.</p>
<p>Here is a partial list of alumni from the USC School of Theatre in Los Angeles for those who are more familiar with eastern university programs.</p>
<p>Forest Whitaker
Kyra Sedgewick
LeVar Burton
Eric Stoltz
Tate Donovan
Anthony Edwards
James Lesure
Jonathan Silverman
Sophia Bush
John Ritter
Swoosie Kurtz
Ally Sheedy
Grant Heslov
Todd Black</p>
<p>Writer/actor Andy Tennant
Producer/director Jack Bender</p>
<p>Recently on Broadway…
Stark Sands-Journey’s End
James Snyder-Cry-Baby</p>