May 04th, 2020

May 4th, 2020

Today's call was fun! Watch the video, and the meeting notes are below it.

• Coronavirus - need to change your mindset and look into online work.
  • Actors submit online
  • Actors film their own scenes online
  • VO actors getting lots of work right now
  • CD’s and Agents could become less needed eventually - these days, directors and producers are seeing they can do things without CD’s and actors are learning they can submit without agents
  • Actors will always be needed.
• You MUST be prepared for online work.
  • Slating properly is crucial
  • Did you know that most casting directors won’t even watch the rest of your audition if the slate isn’t good?
  • Use your pride words before you say your slate.
    • Don’t be too cutesy and bright, or too dark and intense or it will look like you’re trying too hard.
    • The most important thing is being natural and not fake when saying your slate.
    • Don’t slate too loud of TRY too hard for anything. Just be yourself and play your brand.
    • Be sure to say, “Hey or Hi, my name is ___.” That can help it flow more smoothly.
    • Laugh a bit before you slate to ease nerves and turn them into positive energy.
  • Remember that casting directors are looking for someone they connect with and has a good personality. They will NOT watch your audition if anything is off with your slate.

Time for Questions

1. I've been told by various sources, the importance of Social Media, particularly Instagram. Although I registered quite awhile ago, I have no idea how to utilize it to help my career, nor the technical aspects involved. Can you advise?
   1. Social media is not needed until you’re auditioning for very big projects.
   2. You can use it to network with people and build credibility, but it’s not necessary until your basic marketing materials are in place and you’re starting to build your resume.
   3. There are ways around social media such as networking with casting directors through classes and emails. If they like you, it matters less how big of a social following you have.
   4. To build a following, focus on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
   5. A great tool is MeetEdgar, it automatically scrapes content and posts for you, and it’s $50 a month. I use it and it saves me so much time and helps me build my brand.
   6. But watch my Actor’s Journey Videos to get a better sense of WHEN social media comes into play.
2. Honestly, my biggest question is about how to start! I’ve taken classes, and want to start going on castings, and have signed up on a couple of sites, but I’m not even sure about the process. Plus, I don’t have any reels so I’m feeling overwhelmed.
   
   1. Start by getting clear on your goals.
   2. Then get clear on your brand.
   3. Then build your marketing materials.
   4. Then start submitting to projects and networking.
   5. A professional reel is less important than footage showing you can ACT.
   6. Also, check out my brand new FREE mini-course, that goes into detail on the process and shows you how to do all this stuff easily.
3. When I do workshops with agents, casting directors, or managers, many like my performance and materials, yet none has ever called me in for a meeting. What am I doing wrong? Could it be they don't like my looks?
   1. A lot of it is in the followup, you need to be sure to stay in touch so that when they have something right for you, they will call you in since they remember you.
   2. Rarely if ever will a CD or agent call you in after you attend a workshop with them, unless you’re consistently following up over a course of 2-6 months.
   3. If you’re looking for a meeting with an agent or manager, you should be actively reaching out to them to set up the meeting - they are unlikely to reach out to you because they already have enough stuff on their plate.
   4. Here’s a really cool video about Casting Director workshops and how to make the most of them.
4. I am not sure how to capture my type in my headshot. I have taken several but have not been happy with any. I have a long list of characters and adjectives that I want to embody in my headshot and I am having trouble narrowing my list down to one headshot.
   1. It’s better to capture your brand in a headshot, which is a combination of Type and Personality.
   2. Your type is generally the characters the industry sees you as mother, student, gang member, police officer. Pick something the industry most often calls you in for or that you most enjoy playing and look like.
   3. Dress similarly to that in your headshot and make sure the environment and background/lighting, etc., is conducive to it.
   4. For the expressions you’re focusing on, those should be related to your Brand Pride Words.
   5. I recommend thinking of each pride word one at a time and trying to nail it in a shot.
   6. Here’s an example of a shot where we focused on her Pride word.
   7. Her brand is: A patient, compassionate, and strong teen who can be fake when meeting new people.
   8. I think we focused on the word patient and compassionate in this shot.
   9. If you want to learn more about Brand and how to find your Pride words, check out this link.