What is it about the human tendency that seduces us to part with our hard earned income in order to sit in a darkened theatre with a crowd of people we do not even know? Does it bring up ancestral memories of the time in pre-history when our forebears viewed in amazement the shadows dancing on the cave walls? Something primeval seduces us to gather close to licking flames like a moth. We actually choose to part with our hard earned income in order to sit in a darkened theatre with a crowd of people we don't even know? How far the motion-picture theaters have come since the orginal days. The ambience back then was conditioned by the crackling noise of the burning fire. After Louis Lumiere produced the first picture camera in 1895, some part of the human medulla oblongata suggested that there was something primarily lacking. It was sound. So the piano was inaugurated into the process to accompany the flickering pictures. With the film studio it became obvious how popular auditory accompaniment was. The producers recognized the huge demand for sound yet could not produce enough material for the market. This created a completely new factor to the entertainment 'industry' as it was soon to be called - it was - Pitching. It evolved from baseball in which the Pitcher pitched the ball. People began promoting their screenplays or ideas and pitching became generic term. So actors and agents started pitching scripts directly to the studios. In 1877, Thomas Edison shattered the spell that had held so many in its grip - he invented the phonograph. Swiftly producing his early cylinder phonograph, he then went on to create the first recordable record. Now, background sound of the crackling fire was without warning taken from the shadows and into the center stage. Pictures could speak. Those curious flickering silver images actually could speak! It was as though the cave walls had come to life. The excitement it caused can barely be understood today. People actually fled from the drive-in theater, believing that the figures on the screen had actually come alive. For years at a time one film could travel around the country playing to full drive-in theaters . People would see the same movie over and over. There was amazement at this curious magic that could be assembled on any suitably darkened wall. Many actors became major celebs and became financial cornerstones of the studios. It wasn' t which movies the studios owned, but which actors they had under contract. After some high profile publicized Hollywood scandals, many of the V.I.P' s began to fall - they were proven to be mere mortals. Suddenly, the previous day' s superstars could no longer find any work, since the studios controlled all aspects of the film industry. They had effectively become ostracized from working in Hollywood. Just so that they could find work, many talented actors secretly began to learn how to write a screenplay and released their scripts under pseudonyms out of necessity. A single name summed up the developing excitement that lead to a completely new art form. This was Walt Disney. Disney was single-handedly responsible for the claymation technique and the developing fanchises. The cell animation held everyone in wonder. Soon many picture show started making their own movies. The market for movies was insatiable. Gradually individual genres such as horse operas drew dedicated followings. With this incredible progress in entertainment media screenplay authors realized that for efficiency' s sake, they would have to use screenplay writing software in order to supply demand. This recent technological development has caused an explosion of scripts available to satellite services. The success of the Walt Disney license has lead to summer acting camps throughout the US. These acting camps regularly last ten days and touch all aspects of screenwriting and acting. After WW2 smaller studios with less resources developed experimental films which drew people to their auditoriums where they eagerly obtained their movie tickets. The Saturday morning picture became an institution for many people that had been out to work all week and needed some light relief from their familiar week.

Often people want to know how to get into acting? Well, as the old saying goes, slowly, slowly, catchee monkey, but the unconventional route is a good way to approach it. So if you want to start acting, simply jump in and believe!

One individual aspect of the film industry is Voice Over Acting. Surprising as it seems, there is only a small amount of competition for work. By 'voice over acting' or 'voiceover' we mean those melodious voices that impress us to purchase every contrivance known to man. When you hear Darth Vader, you will perceive great voice over acting. Often these fledgling thespians saw that there was greater opportunity and signed up for acting workshops where they could develop their craft.

Where do you begin when writing screenplays? Well, needless to say you will need some method of capturing your movie script just so you can present it to a producer. In the old days authors used typewriters - but this lead to a great deal of rewrites. With computers and screenwriting software, these technicalities have become quite redundant. Now there is screenplay writing software that takes all the guessing out of knowing screenplay formats.

Now you can simply concentrate on the story and hit the return key - the script is reassembled in the correct screenplay format for screenplays, novels, sitcoms - just the way the industry demands. Almost instantly you have become a screenplay writer, ready to submit your masterpiece to all of the numerous screenplay competitions.

In closing, the most significant tips nearly all sucessful authors point to as career landmarks are

• Attending summer acting camps
• Learning how to write screenplays that sell
• Buying the right screenplay writing software
• Learning the art of pitching scripts