Back Stage
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Back Stage is a trade publication that covers the entertainment industry from the perspective of performers, the performance unions (SAG, Actors' Equity Association, AFTRA, AGVA, AGMA, the American Federation of Musicians, AFTRA, etc.), casting directors, and, in particular, actors. Back Stage is published in two weekly print versions in the U.S., Back Stage East and Back Stage West, alongside a website (BackStage.com) that covers the acting scene internationally (although the primary focus is on the U.S.A., especially the NYC and LA areas).
Back Stage may be most well known as a resource for audition information, casting calls/casting notices, training opportunities, and entertainment-industry jobs, news, and interviews. Film and theatre are the main topics reported upon, but the television, radio, dance, music, cabaret, voice-over, modeling, and stand-up comedy industries are also included in Back Stage's coverage.
[edit] History
Back Stage was originally founded by Allen Zwerdling and Ira Eaker in New York City in December 1960. At the time, this trade paper was primarily intended for New York actors and entertainment industry professionals, although its reach began to slowly spread across the U.S., especially on the East Coast.
In the 1990s, Back Stage was bought by BPI, which already owned The Hollywood Reporter and Billboard. BPI was then bought by the Netherlands-based company VNU Inc. VNU eventually came to own a variety of trade publications -- including Mediaweek and Adweek -- along with measurement company Nielsen Media Research.
In 1994, Back Stage actively branched out to the West Coast with a new publication, Back Stage West. Then, in 1997, BackStage.com was founded. And in May of 1998, Back Stage bought its LA competitor Drama-Logue, a weekly trade publication founded in 1972 (Drama-Logue was originally a casting hotline established in 1969; in 1972 it became a print publication entitled The Hollywood Drama-Logue Casting Sheet). Drama-Logue was immediately integrated into Back Stage West.
Beginning in the 1990s, a number of casting (performing arts) information and entertainment job websites began cropping up, offering specialized online tools. The competition sparked major changes in Back Stage's development and in October of 2005, Back Stage relaunched its print and online publications in order to stay on the cutting edge. During this relaunch process, The East Coast/New York edition of Back Stage was renamed Back Stage East and BackStage.com added new search, sort, and alert tools for their job ads, along with a searchable talent database featuring the resumes, pictures, and reels of actors and performers.
In 2006, a group of investors called Valcon bought VNU, making Valcon the new owner of Back Stage and all other VNU holdings.
The Back Stage brand is still closely tied to its primary sister publications, The Hollywood Reporter and Billboard, as well as the other VNU/Valcon publications. However, Back Stage has also carved out its own industry niche by publishing directories (such as Ross Reports, a monthly list of Hollywood agencies and management companies and casting directors), books (actor handbooks and biographies published under the Watson-Guptill imprint Back Stage Books), and print-only industry inserts (such as the quarterly ACTion magazine for actors interested in making their own movies).
Back Stage also hosts and produces the semi-annual Actorfest trade show (this entertainment-industry networking event is held once in NYC and once in LA every year), the annual Garland Awards (an awards show honoring the California theatre scene), and the annual Bistro Awards (honoring the cabaret industry, especially NYC-based cabaret). Additionally, Back Stage sponsors numerous events and panels for talent working in the fields of film, television, commercials, radio/voice-overs, theatre, dance, modeling, and club talent (comedians, singers, etc.).
