"They" are out there.

"They" are in found in every high school, in every town and city.

"They" are the kids who wipe the soap out of their eyes in the shower, hold the shampoo bottle up as if it were an 8 pound golden statuette, and say "I’d like to thank the Academy...."

They are the ones who dream of hopping on a bus to Hollywood, finding work as a "temp" and being discovered by some "Big Name" Director who launches their career.

They should be required to read Michael Saint Nicholas’ book An Actor’s Guide: Your First Year in Hollywood.

Saint Nicholas is an actor and writer who has experienced the very things he writes about. Along with his own personal advice on how to survive and even succeed in Hollywood, Saint Nicholas provides dozens of interviews with entertainment industry professionals who offer candid remarks about how to get ahead in an acting career. However, it is the personally gained practical advice he offers that makes this book well worth the price, and worth putting in the stacks of every high school library. Saint Nicholas’ helpful pointers range from finding your way around Los Angeles the moment the bus arrives in Hollywood, to finding a place to sleep, to making ends meet with part time work, to getting your feet wet in "Extra Work."

Saint Nicholas also offers straight talk on the usually cloudy area of union vs non union work in Hollywood. In no nonsense terms, he points out how to become a union member, how many days one can work before being considered for union scale, how to go about getting on the payrolls, and where the decent money really is. A non-union extra, he points out, can earn about $50 a day, while a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) member with a speaking part can earn ten times that amount. He then lists several casting agencies that will help actors find work in movies, television and soap operas. As for making contact that leads to getting work, Saint Nicholas says the key is still the 8 X 10 B&W head shot, with an updated, 1 page resume stapled to the flip side. He goes on to tell where in Hollywood to get photos taken, and where to get them reproduced quickly and inexpensively.

And another bit more advice from Saint Nicholas, for those with stars in their eyes: "Of the SAG membership, I think under 5 percent make a living as an actor. And under a quarter of 1 percent become wealthy."

Like the gifts from the mythical St. Nick, this offering from Saint Nicholas will bring pleasure through out Your First Year in Hollywood.

Here’s hoping "they" truly get to make a speech to thank the Academy.