GotCast.com Blog

Post-Pilot Season and The New York Upfronts

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 13:13:12 GMT

Another busy pilot season has come to an end. So what lies ahead? By now, most pilots have started shooting or will begin shooting shortly. And as we head toward the month of May, the Upfronts will take place in New York City. All of the major broadcast networks (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, CW) host an Upfront for the press each year and reveal some of the shows that they are most excited about for the upcoming Fall season. Some of the networks will even fly actors out to New York to have them help promote the shows.

Agents, managers, etc. pay close attention to the Upfronts as well and will often times make sure to be present to support their clients. Every network has a primetime schedule to fill and it’s easy to speculate on their individual needs for both comedies and dramas based on what successful shows they are currently airing as well as which shows have been canceled. Of course, not all decisions are made so quickly and it can be a long summer for some of those who have booked pilots as they wait to see if their pilot will be picked up to series. However, this is an exciting time as well because as all of these shows begin production in late summer, casting for guest roles begins to pick up pace which means more job opportunities. So keep a lookout on the GotCast casting calls page!

Demo Reels

Sun, 24 Feb 2013 17:00:06 GMT

A solid demo reel can be extremely useful in helping both you and your representatives to sell yourself. A good demo reel showcases your talent and has the purpose of convincing casting directors, producers, studio executives, etc. that you are capable and worthy of being considered for a part. With rare exception, a reel should not be longer than 2-3 minutes. For an actor with a lot of material, it might make sense to categorize their scenes and have a specific demo reel with comedy scenes only and another separate demo reel with only their drama scenes. Ultimately, you want to make sure that you’re including strong scenes of your acting or hosting ability and you want it to make an immediate impression on the viewer. Sure, it’s nice to have a scene on your reel from Mad Men opposite John Hamm; but if you don’t have any lines, it doesn’t show anyone anything about your talent! For some, that might be all they have; or for others possibly even less. But that’s okay! Everyone needs to start out somewhere and your first step should be to pick a scene from a TV show or a movie and record yourself performing that scene. The key is to create something that will quickly capture the attention of your viewer and have them wanting to see more. These days it’s also a good idea to make your demo reel viewable via a link online that can easily be emailed. Good luck!

5 Red Carpet Essentials by Style Expert - Lindsay Albanese

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 14:23:00 GMT

5 Red Carpet Essentials by Style Expert - Lindsay Albanese

We had the pleasure of picking Style Expert, Lindsay Albanese's brain regarding the upcoming Oscar red carpet! Lindsay has styled celebs like Paula Abdul, Kristin Cavallari, Maria Menounos, Wilmer Valderama and GLEE cast members Nava Rivera and Heather Morris! Lindsay broke down celebrity red carpet essentials - so they can enjoy their evening seamlessly (and without one of those pesky wardrobe malfunctions!)

1. "Double-sided tape- it fixes a multitude of minor wardrobe malfunctions on the spot!"

2. "Comfortable shoes- this may sound like an impossibility but I encourage clients to wear comfortable shoes to events like this. They are very LONG days, and nothing is worse then when your feet are killing you and the night has barely started."

3. "A clutch. It's always important to carry one for little things like your phone, cash, lipgloss etc!"

4. "A dress you feel like a million bucks in! It makes all the difference. If you love what you are wearing you will have more confidence on the crazy red carpet!"

5. "A wrap or jacket... NEVER to be worn on the red carpet... unless it's that fab! But good to have if you are party hopping!"

There you have it! Thanks to Lindsay for making our future red carpet endeavors a little less stressful!

Style Expert Lindsay Albanese has been lending her invaluable style advice to TV and print media, as well as to Hollywood’s most recognizable names for the past 8 years. She was recently added as a “Lifechanger” on “The Dr. Drew Show,” and is also a Style Expert for various style segments on television (Access Hollywood, E! News, The Style Network, and Good Day LA). In addition, she regularly contributes her expertise to US Weekly, Life & Style Weekly, OK! Magazine, TheHuffingtonPost.com, Los Angeles Times, and AOLStylelist.com. Lindsay is a GotCast.com PRO Member.

Learn more about Lindsay at www.lindsayalbanese.com

GotCast Co-Founder Alec Shankman Interviewed on "Life On-Air"

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 13:32:34 GMT

Co-Founder of GotCast.com and Co-Head of Alternative Programming & Digital Media at Kaplan Stahler Agency, Alec Shankman Interviewed on "Life On-Air" with Tim Tialdo. Alec talks Khloe Kardashian on the 'X Factor', how and why GotCast was found and how anyone in America can make it in the entertainment industry.

Click Here to Listen

Market Yourself!

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 14:10:12 GMT

So you’ve up and moved to LA and now you’re ready to start your acting/hosting career…only you don’t have representation! Networking is key (a topic previously discussed), however you may also find it useful to create some marketing materials. While you are out and about town, it’s good to have a business card to hand out as you are meeting people. Your business card can be as simple as having a card with your name, phone number, email, and website if you have one. You will also want to have headshots printed (professionally taken pictures if possible) and ready to go along with a resume of your work. Often times actors will make postcards as well with their headshot, contact information, website, and at times information/invitation to an upcoming gig/showcase, etc. that they can send out to agents and managers. WARNING: You will want to do some research before you begin mailing out marketing materials to agencies/management companies. There are many books out there covering the subject but you will want to submit to somewhere around 20 to 30 companies. As these materials will cost you money, you would be wise to send them to smaller boutique agencies/management companies and not the major big-time agencies in town. There are many talented, hard working agents and managers out there who are looking to discover new talent just like you! The bigger agencies in town tend to focus on talent that are further along in their careers and as a result your materials may be lost, unnoticed, and possibly even thrown away without having ever been given any consideration.

Put pilots and Penalty Fees

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 16:43:12 GMT

If you’re keeping tabs on the current on-goings of projects in the entertainment world, you’re bound to come across terms such as ‘Put Pilot’ or ‘Penalty’. A Put Pilot refers to a pilot where the network and studio have entered into an agreement, where the network agrees to air the produced pilot episode. If the network does not air the pilot episode, the network will owe a predetermined fee to the studio. Generally speaking, this is somewhat of a guarantee that the pilot will be picked up to series by the network as the cost of not doing so could be quite expensive. Similarly, a ‘Penalty Fee’ is a fee that is built into an agreement between a network and studio with regard to a pilot script in which a fee must be paid to the studio if the network does not order the pilot into production. With a penalty fee, however, there is no guarantee that the project will be aired on the network; only that it will be produced.

Television Ratings

Thu, 29 Nov 2012 13:43:32 GMT

As we all know, television shows live and die by the Neilson ratings; and these days networks move very quickly in making a decision on a show’s performance. We all see the ratings but have you ever wondered what those numbers actually mean? Each year, Neilson determines the number of households with televisions and from there they put out ratings that looks a little something like 3.6 /8. These numbers signify a rating and a share respectively. The first number indicates that 3.6% of all households with a television set were tuned into the program. The second number, however, indicates that 8% of the households with television sets actually turned on were watching the program. So the difference between rating and share is that a rating reflects the percentage of the total population of televisions tuned into a particular program while the share reflects the percentage of televisions actually in use.

Make sure to check out our blog at: www.gotcast.com/blog?=as

Back-door Pilot

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 03:30:51 GMT

Occasionally, to see whether or not it is worthwhile to pick a show up to series, a network will air a single back-door pilot episode as a test-run. If the ratings appear promising, the show will be picked up to series. These pilots are typically designed more so as made for TV movies so that they can be aired regardless of whether or not the show gets a pick-up order. This can also be applied to spin-off shows as well. For example, it was recently announced that NBC would not be moving forward with ‘The Farm’; a spin-off show from ‘The Office’ starring Rainn Wilson. In this case, the decision was made before the test-run episode actually aired on this season of ‘The Office’; however a decision is typically made afterward.

Make sure to check out our blog at: www.gotcast.com/blog?=as