Bloggity Blog

CAN THE CASTING OFFICE TEST YOUR CONCENTRATION?!

2013-05-16T10:45:00.001-07:00

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Whenever I’m casting a movie and working with actors I marvel at their sheer concentration. To be able to create a believable character and a “world” around you in a small audition room is always a miracle to me.

When I get hired on a television show or a movie, the production usually has me move in to their offices so that I’m close to the creative team for auditions. It’s often a game of Russian roulette to see if I get the “cool” office space or the crap one. I’ve had some very, shall we say “interesting”, experiences along the way and it’s brought me to share this story as I witnessed actors trying to stay in character through some difficult circumstances at our casting offices.

The last film I cast had a very cool-looking office space. It had been completely redone to look very architectural and quasi industrial. My office was very long and narrow, very hip looking. BUT, one entire wall was floor to ceiling windows, which looked onto, you guessed it, the waiting room. It was like working in a fishbowl. All the actors waiting to audition could look into my office and watch the auditions. Not cool. Immediately we fashioned a “screen” with a sheet that also served as a backdrop for our filming. One problem solved.

Turns out the walls were paper-thin so that when you’re in my office auditioning, you could hear another actor in the next room auditioning with my casting associate Michelle. Again, not cool. There were actually times when they would sync up and would be reading the lines at the same time in two separate rooms. If you’re not prepared and “in your character” and able to shut out all the elements you could be very tripped up by this.

Because this office didn’t have much in the way of natural light, we had to use our professional lights – which are seriously HOT! They didn’t have central air-conditioning - which is usually whisper quiet. There was a built-in wall unit that was very effective, which we had to turn off during the auditions so that we’d get great sound. This resulted in making my office feel a lot like Suzy’s Easy-Bake Oven. Remember those? It’d be freezing cold in the waiting room and we’d have sweat streaming down our faces and would be peeling off our clothes as the day went by.

Just when you think we’ve solved enough problems, in the week that we were doing the final casting where we had our director piped in thru my laptop to direct on Skype from London, they decided to put in a new roof and a new air-conditioning unit on said roof. Banging, drilling, pounding, hot mopping with tar, toxic fumes….you get the picture. And yet, it’s your “time to shine”! It’s your audition. Again, I was amazed at how most of the actors who came in just went with the flow, planted their feet and gave some truly incredible performances in spite of all these problems.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized this was great preparation for when you actually get on set. If you think that once you’re on set, everything will be easier and you can relax, then you haven’t really experienced the full spectrum of what can go wrong while you’re shooting.

Several years ago I cast and associate produced a film staring Cary Elwes and Alicia Silverstone called “The Crush”. We were night-shooting a particular scene where Elwes’ character drove Silverstone’s character up to a lookout point. We had chosen a truly gorgeous lookout point by the bay in Vancouver. Both of them were dressed to the nines because they were coming from a dressy party in the scene. That night, of course, it starts pouring and it’s about 40 degrees outside. Then the fog roles in. Because we had to get our shot, we forged ahead. Then the foghorn starts blowing every five minutes. We call the Sherriff, and the Sea Patrol to get them to turn it off…”We’re shooting a movie here!” we protested. They just looked at us like we were crazy people. “The fog horn is so that anyone out at sea will avoid hitting the light house!!”

So, we did what any smart film company would do. We held umbrellas over their heads and had them do as many lines as they could in between the 5-minute timing of the blaring foghorn. They were shivering, eating ice so that we wouldn’t see their breath, and trying to stay in their character. If that wasn’t a test of their concentration, I don’t know what was!

You’ve got to be able to “bring it” in any given situation and not get caught up in all the external things that you can’t control.

I'd love to hear your stories about concentration (and distraction) in the audition space and on-set. It's always good to share with the community.

Glad you're here!

Marci

SELF-TAPING YOUR AUDITION USING YOUR iPHONE

2013-05-01T16:17:00.001-07:00

Having just worked on a feature film where we were asking for actors to send in their self-taped auditions from around the world, I realized that actors are becoming more empowered and self-sufficient by learning how to tape their auditions. But do yourself a favor and make sure you do it well - taping your audition on your laptop should be a last resort. Make sure to show yourself at your best. Lighting, sound, good quality video and a talented reader will help make your audition as great as it should be.

Some are still stymied by the process and our guest bloggers Tara Tomicevic and Leslie-Ann Huff are here to explain an easy and very inexpensive "work around" using your iPhone. Yes, your iPhone!

When we started noticing how often self-taped auditions are requested (a friend booked a pilot through a self-tape this year!), we figured there had to be a way to get it done that didn’t cost an arm and a leg. We discovered that there is!

Taking matters into our own hands, we started meeting twice a week, practicing and playing around with equipment. Since we weren’t working on an actual audition (yet), this gave us some room to try things, both technically and with our acting. Then, when it came time to send one in, we knew what we were doing.

The following tips are meant to add to Marci’s blog entry How To Self-Tape Your Audition Like A Rockstar, which already covers all the important basics. Hopefully these tips will help to make it even easier.

JUST USE YOUR PHONE:

The camera on the iPhone 4 or iPhone 5 records considerably high-quality video. No fancy, expensive cameras necessary.

YOUR TRIPOD CAN WORK:

Just as Marci pointed out, the tripod is very important to a professional audition tape. To hold up your iPhone on a tripod, you can purchase an inexpensive iPhone mount, like the one we used: Studio Neat Glif Tripod Mount. If you don’t have one, these little guys are a great option to explore.

SOUND IS CRUCIAL:

A directional mic can be hooked into the iPhone via the headphones hole. The one we purchased was about $40. This kind of mic cut out the white noise and clearly picked up the actors voice. The difference was very clear: good sound helps pick up all the nuances of an actors performance and gives the tape a more professional feel. A side note on sound: the reader’s voice should not be louder than the actor’s. This tends to happen as the reader stands next to the camera. A directional mic and a mindful reader can help with that. If you still experience some background noise, it can be eliminated in five seconds on iMovie or similar basic programs (YouTube tutorials rock!)

LIGHTING:

We are lucky that one of our apartments has a spot lit by two windows, which provides great natural light. Find the spots in your home that face windows. Use blinds and curtains to increase or decrease the amount of direct light. Try using the different lamps in your home. Experiment. Much to our surprise, we noticed that a fluorescent kitchen light actually enhanced the look of the natural light. Be resourceful and use your judgement. If you have a dark place or have to shoot at night, Marci’s lighting suggestions in her original post are spot on.

TRANSFERRING FOOTAGE:

To get your video (regardless of its length) from your phone to your computer, connect the two via a USB cable. If you’re on a Mac, open the app Preview. Then click File, Import from iPhone, and all your iPhone files will be listed. Select your video and click Import.

IF YOU NEED TO EDIT:

We recommend stopping after each take so that you can select the take you want and send that one only without having to edit at all. But if you need to edit we learned iMovie quickly and on our own (again, YouTube tutorials!)

COST COMPARISON:

We paid about $60 (in addition to the price of our phones) to get this system working. We’ve seen companies around town charge $25-$100+ per self-tape. So invest in yourself and a couple self-tapes in you’ll be happy you did (and feel extra savvy too)!

Here's a video sample:

If anyone has any questions, feel free to reach out. We are both on Twitter: @TaraTomicevic and @Leslie_AnneHuff.

Tara Tomicevic is an actress, writer, and producer. She is Croatian born, Italian raised, and Berkeley branded.

http://taratomicevic.com

Leslie-Anne Huff is an actress, Los Angeles native, and lover of pugs. Credits and more info can be found on her website: http://leslie-annehuff.com

I'd love to hear about any hot tips you've discovered while self-taping your auditions. It's always good to share with the community.

Glad you're here!

Marci

SELLING AUDITIONS: IS NOTHING SACRED?!

2013-04-02T11:00:00.000-07:00

UPDATE 2:30 pm PST April 2:

As of 2:30pm PST we have word that the Casting Directors have taken the audition tapes off the auction block and instead are donating them to The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. You can read the story first reported on Back Stage Magazine here. This addresses the "for profit" issues on these tapes, but donating them to the Academy still doesn't address the privacy issues of these auditions.

The Daily Variety article quotes SAG-AFTRA as saying “Auditions are not public performances, and under SAG-AFTRA collective bargaining agreements performers are entitled to expect them to remain private,” said SAG-AFTRA General Counsel Duncan Crabtree-Ireland. "Our collective bargaining agreements include protections for performers against exploitation of audition and interview tapes, which must be erased upon performers’ request. Failure to comply with such a request will result in formal legal action pursuant to the agreements. Unauthorized use of audition and interview footage may also result in claims against producers and casting directors under right of publicity and/or privacy laws.”

I'll say again: these audition tapes were not meant for public consumption or scrutiny by people outside of the production. Period.

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The casting community has been swirling with outrage the last few days over the news that two of our own are auctioning off several lots of audition tapes they've made through the years in Los Angeles on April 4th. Here's the story.

Personally, I think the audition space is a sacred place and should be treated as such. When an actor comes in to audition, there's an implicit agreement that the work they do in an audition is a work-in-progress and is only meant to be seen by those directly involved on the production in a contextual manner. It is not, and has never been, meant for mass consumption, sale, or distribution for profit. I have been asked countless times for audition footage - I'd never do it - and believe me I've got some doozies! I can only hope, and depend, that actors who come in to audition for me trust my discretion to not sell these work sessions.

I've spent the last few days alternately nauseated and enraged by this. Talks on Facebook within our casting community largely echoed sentiments of disgust and most were appalled. There were a few, however, who felt that by exposing these audition tapes to the public it had educational value and shows the public what we, as Casting Directors, really do. I agree with the "teaching moments" - just wish it had been approved by all concerned and if there's profit to be made...then everyone deserves a piece of that pie.

Casting Director Matthew Lessall suggested that tapes like these should be archived and exhibited in a museum environment. I love this idea! Again, let's get everyone involved to sign-off first and if there's profit to be made everyone should share in it.

My contracts say that all work (including lists, videos, everything emanating from my office) belongs to the production and/or studio. Since this is all older footage they seem to be selling, perhaps the contracts didn't have that clause in it yet? One can only hope.

Back Stage Magazine wrote a piece last night about this. The President of the Casting Society of America, Richard Hicks gave this statement:

"Richard Hicks, president of the Casting Society of America, condemned the auction in a written statement to Backstage, saying the organization “does not condone in any way” the sale or distribution of audition videos. “Actors who audition for the projects on which we work should have the reasonable expectation that their creative efforts during the audition process are treated with respect and used only for their intended purpose,” Hicks wrote. “Legal and rights issues aside, there is an ethical understanding among casting professionals that actors' auditions are private.” He added that CSA “has always promoted and expected the highest of ethical standards of our members and will continue to do so.” Jenkins and Hirshenson are both CSA members."

Many of the actors I spoke to were furious and worried about the future in terms of what rights they have over their audition footage. Will this be the new normal? I certainly hope not and judging by the CSA's swift and harsh statement condemning those involved, people will think twice before doing this ever again.

I keep reminding myself that this is (hopefully) a "one-off". This can't happen again. I don't know what the circumstances were that brought this casting team to think this was appropriate. I know there are two sides to every story. As of this time, Jane Jenkins and Janet Hirshenson have not weighed-in yet. I have always held them in such high esteem for the countless movies they've cast so beautifully. I'm trying not to be judgemental but I'm losing the battle. I still can't wrap my mind around this one.

Do you have any questions for me? Feel free to ask them here!

Want more tips and general thoughts on life? Be sure to bookmark my blog and follow me here!

We welcome your comments and suggestions.

Glad you're here!

Marci

THESE BOOTS ARE MADE FOR WALKIN'

2013-04-01T09:49:00.000-07:00

I’m going to give you the secret to really feeling your character when you’re on stage, on a set, or in an audition. It’s so simple you’ll kick yourself that you didn’t think of it. Shoes. Yes, shoes! The right shoes will plant you so deeply in your character; it’ll be hard to walk away. The wrong shoes will screw you up so badly you’ll fall on your face – literally!

Recently, I was casting the leads in a feature film, "Vampire Academy: Blood Sisters", and the scene we chose had the character in a training session. She was sparring with her teacher. Most of the actresses who came in really “got it” and wore either sneakers or flat boots with no heel. Some, inexplicably, came in wearing thigh-high boots with platforms and 6” heels. One poor gal tried a kickboxing inspired move and landed on her ass. We change the appointment sheet to instruct actresses NOT wear high heels or any kind of heels. Still, several actresses still came in wearing the thing we specifically told them not to wear. What does this signal to us? Unfortunately it shows us that you are not able to take simple direction and aren’t thinking. It’s such a small thing, I know, but if you aren’t paying attention to the small details you can’t grasp the bigger stuff. I take great pains to help you so that when you come in for an audition for me you’re prepared, informed and there’s one less thing you have to worry about.

Los Angeles actor and teacher Jeffrey Marcus says, “Taking the time to choose a pair of shoes that my character would wear usually sets off a domino effect of conscious and unconscious revelations and discoveries that further enhance the characters' life for me. Shoes tell a lot about the man (or woman) and assist me in moving into the walk, talk and backstory. As an exercise, observe the shoes of those around you, and create a detailed biography. Shoes tell more about a person than any other article of clothing. The Native Americans say to “Never judge a man until you've walked a mile in his shoes.” Since actor rule #1 is "don’t judge your character", I take that literally and believe that by putting on a special pair of shoes, you can enter into an imaginary world with compassion. Don't forget the appropriate socks!”

The same is true for wearing the right clothes for an audition. Years ago I was casting the film “Ghosts of Girlfriends Past” – which largely took place at a rehearsal dinner and a wedding. Most actresses were so smart and came in wearing cocktail dresses and heels, and the men in suits and ties. I was shocked when a couple of actresses came in wearing jeans shorts and flip flops – for one of the leads in the film – to read for the director and myself. What does that tell me? How an actor dresses for an audition indicates to us how you’re thinking. Now I’m not saying you have to get “costumey” – far from it. Remember, we take these audition videos to our filmmaking team who isn’t in the room. If you already look like the part because you’re dressed so convincingly, half the battle is won.

Hot tip for the ladies: Because our casting office may be on one side of the lot and the parking lot may be miles away sometimes - bring a pair of flip flops or flats with you so you can make the hike to our office and not hurt your feet!! Also, batting your eyelashes and flirting with the guy on the golf cart and asking for a ride is totally acceptable!!

Do you have any questions for me? Feel free to ask them here!

Want more tips and general thoughts on life? Be sure to bookmark my blog and follow me here!

We welcome your comments and suggestions.

Glad you're here!

Marci

ARE YOU YOUR OWN WORST ENEMY?!

2013-03-25T10:10:00.000-07:00

Last week, after an excruciatingly painful day in Hollywood where my ass was kicked to the ground and stomped on – I realized I was stuck. Stuck in the morass that I had made for myself. “People are horrible!” kept running through my mind, along with various versions of “Woe is me…!

The doorbell rang and I peered out my window to see a man standing there with a leaf blower strapped to his back. “What does this guy want?” I came out to find a pleasant looking guy in gardener gear. He explained that one of my sprinklers was leaking below the ground. “It’s either a broken pipe or it’s the actual sprinkler.“ Aargh!” I said to myself. “Can nothing go right in my life?!” Then he said something amazing. “Well, I’d be happy to dig it out and see if I can fix it for you.” “Sure!” I said. He proceeded to dig out the sprinkler about a foot down into the soggy earth. Turns out it was a cracked sprinkler unit. I was on my way to Home Depot (one of my favorite stores btw!) and I told him I’d take the broken sprinkler and replace it. Then he said something more amazing. “I have one in my truck. I can connect it now and you can just give me the replacement next week when I come, or whenever.” I ran into the house to get some money for his trouble and work. When I came outside he was just finishing up. We tested it and the sprinkler worked great. Then something truly amazing happened. I offered him the money and he simply refused to take it. I kept offering, “C’mon, you really helped me and I SO appreciate what you did – I’d love to pay you for your time and your work.” He was firm. “No Miss – it was no problem.” What a nice guy. My current gardeners have not been so great lately. “Are you available to work here on Tuesdays?” I said, hopefully. Nope. He’s way across town on Tuesdays and booked up completely. We shook hands, introduced ourselves and I said I’d see him next week with a new sprinkler to replace the one he gave me. Jaime walked away, soaking wet and covered with mud.

I went back into my house and was walking around in circles kind of stunned. People don’t do nice things just for the heck of it. They just don’t. I was sure. I was positive. Then I realized I had created a self-fulfilling prophecy - the exact thing I always call out my coaching clients and students about. I work with so many actors who are positive they won’t get the job, they never get "these kinds of roles", “I’m not good at comedy”, “I won’t be able to cry in this scene at the audition”…the list goes on and on. We all want to be right don’t we? If our inner voice tells us these things, we pretty much make sure it happens by the energy we put out and by our sheer will because, at the end of the day, we want to be right. "See? I told you so! I told you I’d never be able to ______ " - fill in the revolving door of excuses. Our ego gets involved and wants to make us right and thus begins the never-ending cycle of the self-fulfilling prophecy.

Self-fulfilling prophecy is defined as:

A positive or negative prophecy, strongly held belief, or delusion - declared as truth when it is actually false - may sufficiently influence people so that their reactions ultimately fulfill the once-false prophecy.

An hour later the doorbell rang again. It was Fed Ex. Oooh, a package! I opened the package to find a gift from an actor student of mine. I taught a class last year and was particularly taken with this particular actor. Early 20's, handsome, and he just totally “got it”. Meaning, he sat in class and nodded his head to whatever I was saying and I could tell that whatever I was saying was completely resonating with him. We worked on one scene throughout the three 3-night classes. He was spot-on in the first class, and just kept getting consistently stronger throughout the process. Several months later he reached out to me for a career consultation – being new in L.A. and to the business he was having problems with patience. He was really good, having successful auditions and getting great feedback but not getting jobs fast enough for his taste. “Why isn’t it happening for me already?!” We had a long talk about the acting journey and how it takes years to build a career. I checked-in on him several more times over the ensuing months and never heard back from him. What a slacker I thought. I gave him my very best – I had even taken the time to check-in with him several times and not even a response to my emails! Not professional!!

He finally contacted me a few weeks ago through an email to tell me that he was battling Stage 3 melanoma. Cancer. And, no medical insurance. He’s home with his family and going through surgeries and treatment and fighting the good fight with this wicked disease. He reached out to tell me that he thinks about me all the time and that some of his best work was done in my classes. Also, he’s a whiz at Photoshop so if there’s anything I need…he can help me out. Anything I need?! Incredible. OK, back to the package. He sent ME a gift. A few gifts actually. He explains: “A deck of cards. The cards were from the first Casino I ever went to and won $500 from a BlackJack table...the best of luck to you! The Shakespeare book is part of a collection of notebooks I own. The cover picture is also printed on the pages and when they're stacked up all 12 books form the Shakespeare picture. I put all of my audition sides in the book and write notes and flesh out the beats and stuff when I audition. And finally the magnificent picture of you!”(he had reproduced the photo of me from the ArcLight Cinema series of filmmakers posters and made a smaller poster for me).

So here I was after receiving some terribly disappointing news about my job, convinced that people are shit and horrible, and within one hour of that the Universe sent me not one but two incredible events to kick me in the ass and remind me that yes, some people are horrible, but most people are actually pretty great if you just open your eyes and your heart to see it. Stop focusing on all the crap, shift your mindset bit by bit and the good will come. Surround yourself with healthy, happy and loving people who have your back. Let me know if this works for you.

Now go out and do it!

Do you have any questions for me? Feel free to ask them here!

Want more tips and general thoughts on life? Be sure to bookmark my blog and follow me here!

We welcome your comments and suggestions.

Glad you're here!

Marci

8 Ways To Survive The Dreaded Waiting Room

2013-02-02T11:33:00.001-08:00

You’ve prepared. You’ve rehearsed. You’ve worked with your coach and picked out the perfect outfit to wear on your audition. You’ve even arrived slightly early and found “Doris Day” parking right in front of the casting office. You’re all charged up and ready to go and you turn the corner to find 10 people sitting in the waiting room for the audition. Aargh!

I know exactly how this feels because I have to interview/audition like you do for a job sometimes. When I come to an office to meet a producer or director and I’m all pumped up and have to wait awhile, I get totally deflated. All my energy and enthusiasm gets sucked out of me. Here are a few things you need to do to protect yourself from the elements and stay in your creative zone to do your best work.

1. Be on time and expect to wait. Many times, the director/producer will show up late and screw up my meticulously scheduled day. Or we get stuck on a time-sensitive phone call about securing financing for the project. You may have to wait a long, long time and we get behind. Sometimes we get WAY behind and you have to wait an hour. It’s horrible. It’s important that you do what you need to do to keep yourself from losing your energy and it doesn’t affect your attitude – whatever it is that works for you. I recommend using headphones or earbuds because it drowns out what’s going on in the room. Furthermore, if you have your earbuds in, no one will talk to you! It’s like your own form of privacy.

2. Don’t get caught up in the “scene”. There’s always that one guy/gal who’s bragging about all the auditions they’ve been on lately. It can sometimes make you feel “less than” if you’ve only had a few in the last several months. This is where the earphones come in handy! Don’t get sucked into the weird energy that sometimes exists in the waiting room. Concentrate on your scene and your character.

3. Stand up if you feel like it. For me, sitting too long just drains all my energy and I leave it on the couch or chair. Stand in the hallway (don’t go to far so that we have to come hunting you down when it’s your turn though!). After auditioning for years, you’ll know what works for you in terms of preserving and protecting your energy and state of mind.

4. Be careful not to diss the material – you never know who’s in the waiting room. It could be a friend of the writer or the producer’s wife. You literally never know.

5. Try as hard as you can NOT to listen to the other actor’s audition thru the door. It’ll make you rethink your own choices and destroy your own reading. You’ve worked hard on your audition with lots of preparation. Stick to your choices.

6. Be nice to the casting assistant. They are my eyes and ears. If you’re rude or abusive to them, believe me I will hear about it and not be so inclined to bring you back. This would seem like common sense, but you’d be so surprised of the stories I’ve heard from my assistants. Believe me when I tell you that they will, one day, run a studio or direct your next film!

7. Check in with the assistant when you arrive and check to see that you have the correct set of sides. Better to find out BEFORE you come in the audition room and hopefully you’ll have a few extra minutes to get up to speed if the version of the sides has changed.

8. Bring comfortable shoes. This one’s for the ladies. My office moves around from project to project and we sometimes get offices that are buried deep into the studio lot and parking is miles away. If you’re in high platform heels, your “dogs are gonna be barking” by the time you get to our office and all you’ll be able to concentrate on are your aching feet! Throw a pair of sneakers or flip flops in your car for the walk.

I'd love to hear what other ways you cope with the waiting room in the comments below. It'd be great to share with each other what works for you!

Do you have any questions for me? Feel free to ask them here!

Want more tips and general thoughts on life? Be sure to bookmark my blog and follow me here!

We welcome your comments and suggestions.

Glad you're here!

Marci

(you can also read this article on Back Stage Magazine by clicking here)

WHY ACTORS NEED TO GET ON TWITTER

2012-12-09T15:12:00.001-08:00

Twitter, you ask? Do I HAVE to?! Yes, you do and I'm gonna tell you why.

I came to Social Media kicking and screaming in 2009. Being an extremely private person, I was deathly afraid of opening up too much of my life to the public. My friend Angela Shelton just about chained me to a chair and taught me what to do. Dragging my feet and protesting, she made me sign up for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, a YouTube channel, and a Vimeo channel. I knew I had to make the leap of faith because if I didn't jump on this Social Media train soon, I was going to be dragged down the tracks by the upcoming newbies in the business. I was not prepared for how much I love it! OK, truth be told I'm addicted to it! Not only do I use it for work (I interact with my community of actors and find new talent), I learn about all the breaking news on Twitter. Being a news junkie, that's music to my ears!

A couple of years ago I was asked to speak at the #140 Conference in NYC on the topic of Social Media and the Casting Director. Here's my short speech:

Truth be told, initially my main reason for getting on Twitter was to sell my DVD. Much to my chagrin, I quickly learned that Twitter is not a place to sell yourself. I got my head handed to me on more than one occasion by angry Twitter followers who didn't like that I was trying to sell them my DVD. I thought, "But, you're following me! Obviously you want to hear what I have to say!" Turns out that couldn't be further from the truth and that's not at all what Twitter is about. I decided to sit back and LISTEN and learn. My friend, actor Ben Whitehair, says that in the beginning you should "use Twitter as a listening device, not a megaphone." Sound advice indeed! Once I stopped squawking about myself and started listening to the folks I was following - a world opened up. I learned that Twitter was a place to CONNECT to my community - a place to learn from those that I'm following, hear their needs, and contribute great content. Since I've been in the biz for over thirty years I realized that I have a lot of great info to give. I've become quite the "content curator" over the last few years. I’m finding some really interesting stuff for actors—from other people’s blogs or other casting directors, producers and directors I know, or open calls that I hear about across the country—and mostly posting useful information that has nothing to do with me but will be helpful to actors. It's about sharing great content. Twitter is limited to 140 characters, so you have to be concise and to the point. You basically want to give a headline and a link to something.

Casting Directors used to be an elusive and exclusive bunch. That business model is outmoded these days and I think you've noticed the abundance of Casting Directors who have made themselves available to teach/coach/and advise you on the acting business. You may hear on Twitter that they're casting a project - but follow their lead and go about the usual channels to procure your audition. Here's a list I put together of CDs who tweet. You're welcome! Here's another list from Wayne Chang (@wonderfulcow on Twitter) of CDs who have websites.

Last year when I was casting my movie The Sublime and Beautiful I was contacted by an actress in Los Angeles who had been following me on Twitter and Facebook. She said she could be considered a local hire and were there any roles for her? (We were shooting on location in Lawrence, Kansas and had no money in the budget to bring actors from L.A. except for the lead characters). She sent her demo reel, which was very good, and I sent her the sides for the role I thought she'd be right for along with our script. Within the week we had auditioned her and hired her for a pivotal role in the movie. I had not even known her work before she introduced herself on Twitter. Here's what she did right: she used good Twitter Etiquette. She was polite and had already established somewhat of a "relationship" with me already on Twitter and Facebook before tweeting her request to me about the role in my movie.

A couple of years ago I got a tweet from a woman in Akron, Ohio who was in charge of hair and makeup on a theatre production of A Christmas Carol for a charity which sends kids fighting cancer to summer camp. She was put in a bind by the producer when she was told (two weeks before their preview) that he had NO budget for hair and makeup and that she would have to get it herself…somehow! She tweeted asking for donations of hair and makeup for her play. I contacted her to make sure it was legitimate, then reached out to my makeup connections from my movies and TV shows and in a few days I received a GIANT box from one of my makeup artist friends full of make up, wigs, and facial hair. Another makeup artist friend hooked up the Ohio woman with a deal from MAC makeup. Everybody came together in a matter of days…all through the power of Twitter.

OK, so I was now officially hooked!! Hey, this thing really works! I love how a very large community of strangers became a small community of friends, helping each other. Twitter just made my world a little smaller and I loved it!

Many people mistake Twitter as their own personal P.R. firm and they talk about "me, me, me" all the time. Isn't it boring to hear someone talking about themselves non-stop?

Don’t repeat the same EXACT tweet. It’s against twitter rules and you could be reported & kicked off for spam. For example I always get these kinds of tweets: "@marciliroff are you casting anything?" Then I check the tweeter’s feed and see that they have asked this same question to 50 people. That is considered spam and I block and report them. OR – if you get a tweet like this from someone you don’t know –
"@marciliroff check out this link http://blahblah.com"- BEFORE YOU CLICK THE LINK – check out their twitter feed and you will probably see that they’ve sent this same link to hundreds of people. This is spam and you should block and report them.

Think about Twitter (and all Social Media for that matter) as a cocktail or dinner party. Would you barge into a stranger's house and scream, "Watch my short movie! Here's the link!" So when you're approaching a casting director or ANYONE on Twitter and in Social Media, get into the conversation and establish a relationship first before asking any favors. It's just good manners.

Another gem I want to share that many twitter users don't seem to know is this. I blogged about this a few months ago and it is hands down the most viewed blog I've written. What Everybody Should Know About Twitters Dirty Little Secret. I won't go into detail here, but as I mention in the blog, you may need to read this a couple of times to fully understand the concept.

In the beginning you'll notice that you don't have many followers. Don't worry, your twitter follower count will grow when you start following people and get in the conversation. You should also retweet (RT) content that speaks to you and that you think others might benefit from. Thank people for RTing your tweets – it’ll encourage them to RT for you in the future. But it's really not about your "follow" count. It's about interaction between you and your followers. It doesn't matter if you have thousands of followers if you're not responding to their questions or RTing their content. It's about joining the Twitter conversation and content is king. I'm not interested in following someone who just blasts out tweets and doesn't interact with their community.

If you want to learn from some of the best on Twitter, here are some good people to follow to learn more about Social Media.

I'd love to hear (in the comments) how you're using Twitter (and other Social Media platforms) in your work. Let me know what's working and what's not working!

Do you have any questions for me? Feel free to ask them here!

Want more tips and general thoughts on life? Be sure to bookmark my blog and follow me here!

We welcome your comments and suggestions.

Glad you're here!

Marci

THE ULTIMATE BLOG FOR FINDING SCRIPTS ONLINE

2012-11-06T12:43:00.001-08:00

I've been private coaching actors for the last several years in person and through Skype. (you can check out more info here). Most actors come to me to prepare for upcoming auditions or jobs they're about to do and need some fine tuning and direction. It's a great way for actors to get some feedback and guidance from a person (me!) who has the perspective of a casting director and producer who's actually in the audition room and knows what's expected of you in an audition. I know what level you need to be in order to actually get the job or even be considered for the job.

Many actors come to me weekly to go over material that they want to work on to keep their minds and bodies sharp. I love this kind of work. Lately I've noticed that there is a huge chasm in finding great material worthy of spending your time. Traditionally they bring in old auditions, or scenes they were given at workshops which are, for the most part, horrible!

Used to be you'd drag yourself down to Samuel French Bookstore in Hollywood and buy old plays and screenplays. Now there are so many sources online to obtain scripts or monologues for FREE! I strongly suggest you learn a scene or a monologue once a week to keep yourself sharp and in tune as an actor. (Let me know if you have any more sources in the comments section).

Here are but a few of them:

Simply Scripts
http://www.simplyscripts.com/

Why Insanity (Movie monologues)
http://www.whysanity.net/

Daily Script
http://www.dailyscript.com/index.html

Screenplays Online
http://www.screenplays-online.de/

IMSDB
http://www.imsdb.com/

West Wing Transcripts
http://www.westwingtranscripts.com/index.php

Actors Pages (Audition sides)
http://www.talentpages.com/info/sides/

Script-o-Rama
http://www.script-o-rama.com/

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-31749_162-57359896-10391698/download-scripts-of-award-contenders/
(some scripts are still available on this site)

Script Source - movies
http://www.chiff.com/art/theater/scripts.htm

Script Source - television
http://www.thescriptsource.net/TVScripts.html

Theater
http://www.chiff.com/art/theater/scripts.htm
http://www.lazybeescripts.co.uk/full_length_play_scripts.htm

2012 Oscar Nomination Contenders

Do you have any questions for me? Feel free to ask them here!

Want more tips and general thoughts on life? Be sure to bookmark my blog and follow me here!

We welcome your comments and suggestions.

Glad you're here!

Marci

Actor Postcards: How To Save Your Money In 2 Easy Steps

2012-10-09T12:12:00.003-07:00

Money! Did I get your attention? As an actor you're asked to spend SO much money on your career. Classes, private coaches, subscriptions to online sites to list your profile, the gym, voice lessons, and postcards. Postcards? You know those 5x7 color cards that you mail to EVERY CASTING DIRECTOR in town to say "howdy" and let them know you're alive? Actors ask me this one question all the time. "Postcards? Are they worthwhile? Do you even look at them or are they tossed in the trash?" Good question! I'm here to help you save your hard earned money.

1. HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY. I get TONS (read = piles and piles) of actor postcards and headshots every day. I'd say that each casting office runs differently, but I know that I appreciate knowing what you're up to. For me, this means send out a postcard when you have something to say...."I have a new episode on CSI/I'm in a new play/I just got a new agent/mgr". Here's the secret: you DO NOT have to send out a postcard just to say hello. ONLY send them out when you have some new work to tell me about or have some NEW information to share. See? I just saved you a bunch of mailings = money. DO NOT "paper the town" and send postcards to every single casting office in town. Do your research and send them out to a targeted list of casting offices that are active and are casting shows/films that your type may be right for.

2. TARGET/TRACK CASTING OFFICES INTELLIGENTLY. When you buy a bunch of address labels and send them out to every casting office in town you are wasting your precious time and money. Be specific. Here's a solution I like. Make sure you have the most up-to- the-minute information about the casting offices you're trying to connect with. There's a really great company called CastingAbout. They provide the latest info on casting directors, their staff, and what they're casting. Co-owners Brian Wold and Blair Hickey are onto something. Here's some detailed info from one of the owners, Blair Hickey:

"As actors, we're all trained to consider the subtext in our scripts, but many forget there's subtext in the business side of our job as well. Too many actors spend significant time and money on "mass mailings" without any specific message ("Please consider me for anything you do…") or, worse yet, no message at all beyond a name and number. Instead of promoting the actor, this type of message can actually come off as sort of desperate, leaving a first impression that could be interpreted as amateur or (worse yet) "wannabe." Contrast this with a targeted and personalized message that speaks directly to the casting director's current needs and activities -- such as a postcard informing an office that you often book the types of roles they need for that new series they just picked up, or another congratulating an associate you know of his or her recent promotion. The marketing subtext of these messages are the same: You understand the business and your place in it, you do your homework, and know what's going on around town. In other words, you're a pro."

CastingAbout provides actors the specific information necessary to build a target list, keep those people informed of progress and bookings, and -- perhaps most importantly -- stay on top of their career development as well. They track not just which CD is casting what, but where they're located specific to each project (SO important because most of us CDs are like gypsies....we move around A LOT) -- as well as each project's current production status. And because this business moves fast, updates to CastingAbout are published to the site continuously each work day, in real time, so actors who visit the site are always presented with the latest, most up-to-the-minute information available. With features to search and research projects, print custom mailing labels, and enter private, date stamped notes. And no, I don't get a kickback for touting their services!!

That said, I know lots of casting directors who barely look at your postcards and just dump them in the trash. You should take this into account and weigh out the benefits before repeatedly sending postcard after postcard to all the casting offices in town.

I'd love to hear from you! Let me know if sending postcards words for you (or if it's a waste of time and money). Share your experiences!

Do you have any questions for me? Feel free to ask them here!

Want more tips and general thoughts on life? Be sure to bookmark my blog and follow me here!

We welcome your comments and suggestions.

Glad you're here!

Marci

SCAM$ - HOW NOT TO GET SEPARATED FROM YOUR MONEY

2012-09-13T09:53:00.001-07:00

Two and a half years ago I received an email from Ben Hodge who teaches acting at his private acting studio, Ben Hodge Studios, and at a high school in York, Pennsylvania. I love a guy with moxie!
Here’s the actual email:

****
Greetings!

I am an acting teacher and owner of a small acting studio in Central PA. I viewed some of your clips on YouTube, and was interested in possibly setting up a Skype chat for my Acting students. We are always working with bringing in real -world applications and connections, and I feel that you would be a valuable resource to the young actors that I have in my program here at school and the studio.

Let me know what the next steps are!

*****

I ended up teaching his class via Skype. It was something I’d wanted to do for awhile and he reached out and made it happen. They were so eager and ready to learn and the technology made it possible. Over the last couple of years we’ve been trading ideas and learning from each other about Social Media and “all things actor!”

Ben’s been leading the forefront of actor related blogs over the last year and now that I’ve jumped on that platform he approached me with a great idea to talk about scams in the industry. We decided to co-blog and combine our resources.

Ben Hodge: What is the best way to check to see if an organization is a scam?

Marci Liroff:
Google is your friend! With the help of the Internet, you can be your own detective. Be proactive and cover your bases before you shell out your hard-earned money. Just Google the name of the organization or person and put the word “scam” next to it or “reviews” and you’ll probably get a long list of related articles and feedback.

It sorely disappoints me how many people are out there whose sole business model is to take advantage of vulnerable people. You’ve got to arm yourself with some basic logic and business sense. The old adage, “If something sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.” This absolutely applies to the acting profession. There is NO quick fix. There is NO class or workshop or teacher that can make you a star or “discover” you. It simply doesn’t work that way. Every major actor out there right now has trained for years.

I had a coaching session a couple of months ago with two young sisters who are from a small town in the Southern U.S. Their parents wanted to know if I thought they have “what it takes” to be an actor. A “talent search” company had just rolled through their town and they attended the event. Everyone “tries out” with a very simple audition and then the company gets back to you to say, “You’ve been accepted!!” (everyone gets accepted by the way). In order to attend their “training” camp and meet the “talent executives” there is a fee of $8,000. Yes, you read correctly…$8,000. Each. Notice how I use “training” and “talent executives” in quotes? That’s because the training was non-existent and the talent executives were “D” level at best who were paid handsomely to attend this event and be a Hollywood “expert.” It’s all a scam. They even have the balls to dangle the Disney and Nickelodeon carrot in their advertising. Both Disney and Nickelodeon have absolutely NOTHING to do with this talent search company. Here’s a long list of articles on the subject.

To top it off, I worked with the girls for three hours – they had absolutely no interest in being actors. They just got caught up in the excitement and promise of stardom.

Ben Hodge:
These “talent searches” make their way through our area what seems like every year. I had a recent run-in with one of these organizations a few weeks ago in my local mall which prompted me to put this blog series together. Read about that experience here.

Marci Liroff:
In Los Angeles, there’s a great organization called Biz Parentz who are dedicated to supporting children and parents in the entertainment industry. They are doggedly devoted to uncovering scams where children are concerned. They were also one of the organizations who were instrumental in getting the Krekorian Scam Prevention Act (AB 1319) instituted in California.

Where talent agencies and managers are concerned, you should NEVER pay them to be represented. They take a commission out of the jobs that they procure for you. There should be no up-front fees for representation. If anyone is asking you for a fee to be represented you should report them to your local district attorney and the Better Business Bureau.

A lot of online submission services are cropping up - these services promise to submit your pic/resume to all the casting directors and/or agents and managers for a monthly fee. Frankly, I haven’t seen one that’s effective and their promises seem out of line and unrealistic. If you’re doing your research well, you can do your own submissions and save yourself some money.

Ben Hodge
I’d like to reiterate the importance of doing your research and questioning before committing to anything. In my case, I have been fortunate enough to find some influential people within the business who are wonderful resources for these questions. I’ve made connections with Marci, Actors Access, and Breakdown Services, Inc. all through email and social media. I can say without a doubt that these connections are worth making, especially if you are in a small market. Small market actors don’t have the excuse of “I can’t make it out to LA/NY” anymore. You might not be able to get there physically or financially yet, but you can get there through the power of technology. Use your social media and online presence to help your research on these issues. You'd be surprised how many ethical and helpful people there are in the acting business.

Ben Hodge: You always hear about actors being told to "spend your money wisely." What are some wise ways that actors can spend their money as they are starting out?

Marci Liroff:
I think the first thing any parent needs to ask their child before they embark on this journey is this: “Why do you want to be an actor?”
If their kid answers, “Because I want to be famous!” - then you’re definitely on the wrong path. The odds of anyone becoming famous are about the same as winning the lottery. Yes, it definitely can happen, but the odds are slim to none. If your child answers something like this: “Because I think it’ll be fun. I’ll learn a lot. I love using my imagination to play different characters. I want to affect people by telling my stories” – then you are definitely on the right path.

When I’m casting kids, I always ask them why they want to be an actor and how’d they get into it. If they say, “I was at the mall and this lady came up to us and said I should get my pictures taken. Then we got an agent and before I knew it I was doing commercials” – most of those kids don’t survive in the long run because they just don’t have the innate passion they’ll need over time. The kids that say, “I’ve wanted to be an actor ever since I was little. I kept asking my parents if I could try and they always said no. After several years of me asking and asking, they finally said yes!” – these are the kids that make it. They act because they have to.

Ben Hodge:
I cannot agree more with this point about being certain about the motivation for getting into acting. Many of my actors end up in my classes or seminars with the dream of becoming famous, well-known and financially successful. They want to escape the small town life for the big-time glitz and glam. I tell my actors that there is nothing wrong with being famous or wanting to be famous. The problem occurs if fame is the main motivator. The main motivator has to be a deep love and respect for performing. Actors should get into acting because they would be miserable if they didn’t, or that a part of them would feel like it was being silenced or shut out from the world. To me, the fame and financial success that can come with acting should always be more of a perk or by-product of artistic and personal success.

Marci Liroff:
Now back to the original question. Whatever market you’re in and wherever you live, you need to be a trained actor. You do this by taking lots and lots of classes and/or going to college or University and majoring in theatre or acting. You’ve got to have a strong foundation and the studying and training never stops. Finding the right teacher for you is very important. For younger actors, I find that too many acting schools seem like glorified babysitting services who use theatre games to make the time go by – rather than teaching an actual skill set and craft. This is not to say that all acting schools/teachers for kids are bad – far from it. You just have to be judicious in finding the right ones that work for you. Word of mouth within your acting community is a great way to get a recommendation for a class or teacher. You can even use Yelp or in Los Angeles Actor Rated is a site dedicated to and run by actors with reviews on everything from head shot photographers to classes.

Speaking of headshots – you’re gonna need them! You’re going to need some great professional head shots that can help sell you to the buyers. I could do a whole blog on head shots alone – but in terms of cost, make sure you look at the photographer’s work ahead of time on their website. Meet the photographer and see if you’re comfortable with them. Talk about what you need from your head shots. These days a photo session costs anywhere from $250-$600 in L.A. and N.Y. and includes a few different looks. Some include hair and makeup, some don’t. I strongly urge you to splurge and get your hair and makeup done by a professional.

Ben Hodge
There’s really no reason to not have headshots or a resume if you are serious about your acting. Even in a small market, directors and production companies are always interested in an actor’s resume and background. Headshots are used more in marketing and show playbills and it pays to have control over what picture you are putting out there.
A quick note about small market photographers: most of the photographers in small markets are not headshot photographers. Many of them do weddings, senior pictures or other modeling events. There is nothing wrong with photographers doing those things, but just be aware of their portfolio and expertise. Make sure that they have an idea about what makes a good headshot. I’ve seen some headshots that are glorified senior pictures, and that simply won’t work in the long run.

Marci Liroff:
In order to be in touch with what productions are casting, at minimum you need a subscription to Actors Access. Here you will find all the listings (called Breakdowns) that the casting directors send out to the subscribers. You should note that most casting directors send out Breakdowns only to the agents and managers – so if you’re not represented then you won’t see the bulk of the Breakdowns that come out. However (and this is a big however) there are still many Breakdowns that we release to Actors Access because we haven’t found the actor we’re looking for and want to open it up to a wider talent pool.

There are other Breakdown-type services around. Some are more for commercial casting like L.A. Casting/Casting Networks – but I’m not involved with commercials so I can’t really speak to those sites. Some Casting Directors use Now Casting, Let it Cast, and Cast It Talent. I like Cast It Talent a lot because if you are a subscriber, your profile gets embedded in my database and ALL the major CDs databases around the world who use their parent company, Cast It, to upload auditions for their creative team to view..

Ben Hodge:
I blogged extensively about some of these services that Marci mentioned. Click here to read more about Actor’s Access and their other services (ActingLink and Virtual Channels) from Jenna Pass, Director of Media Communications. Click here for more information about Let it Cast from one of the Co-Founders, Yoktan Haddad. I often say to my small market actors that no one is going to know who you are if you don’t start putting yourself out there. “Out there” should be these reputable online CD databases, social media and personal websites.

For anyone interested in finding out more about Actors Access and their services, Actors Access and BHStudios is offering two FREE seminars called "Secrets of the Casting Process" led by Jason Teresi, Director of Regional Services for Actors Access on 9/19/12 in York, PA from 4-6:30pm EST and 7-9:30pm EST. You can register for either session by following the links below:

Session #1 4-6:30pm EST Session #2 7-9:30pm EST

This event will also be streaming LIVE via the web at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/bhstudiostv

Marci Liroff:
You should also have a subscription to Back Stage Magazine to be up-to-speed on industry news and you can access many casting notices posted there as well. Of course you’re reading the daily trades like Variety and The Hollywood Reporter. Check in with Nikki Finke’s Deadline Hollywood.com for industry news (and it’s free!)

It’s also wise to have a membership with IMDbPro (the Internet Movie DataBase). It lists all the credits for cast and crew on almost all productions. If you’re going in on an audition, you should do the research on each person you’re going to meet and audition for. Check out the shows they’ve done in the past - know their body of work so you’ll know what they’ll be expecting from you.

Another great tool is Casting About which is an online casting director and production guide. They provide the most up-to-the-minute information on who’s casting what, and their staff info.

Some people will benefit from taking voice lessons to learn how to control their instrument (your voice!). Some will need movement classes so that you have an awareness of your body and how to control it to convey your emotions. Some clients I work with when I’m coaching have little to no training and simply do not know how to stand. Now I know that sounds odd, but we’ll be working on a scene that is a knock-down drag out volatile fight and they’ll be standing, hunched over, with their hands in their pockets. Is that how you’d stand when you’re (verbally) fighting for your life?!

These days you’ll need an online presence. Why not get your own website. At the very least, please secure your domain name for the future when you’re ready to get a website. Make sure to use your name – not something cheesy like starvingactor.com! I’ll bet you know someone right now who’s brilliant at setting up a basic website and you can barter some of your talents (cook them a nice meal, walk their dog, clean their house!) in exchange for setting up your site.

Ben Hodge:
I’d also take a look at your email address. I would set up a new business email account that you will use for your acting-related communications. Save your teddybearcutie@hotmail.com address for your personal use. Go with your first and last name as the user name. The same goes for your social media presence. If you have a personal Twitter handle or Facebook page you should consider creating a business handle and page for any acting-related tweets or posts. Social media is a valuable tool for connecting, educating and advancing your career. Bottom line: keep your personal life personal and your acting business life business.

Marci Liroff:
As you amass more work, you’re going to need a kick-ass demo reel. Check out my earlier blog for what your demo reel should look like in terms of format and content. There are professional companies in every city that can do this for you, or you may know an editor friend who can put it together for you. These days, if you understand the technology, it’s pretty easy to do it yourself on your own computer.

I hope it goes without saying that you’re going to need to take care of your mind and body along the way. Eat right, get plenty of sleep, go to the gym, and spend quality time with your family and friends.

As you can see, there are A LOT of potential expenses and I haven’t even mentioned half of them. Before you buy into any service, make sure you’ve done the due diligence and research them first. Vet everyone you’re going to be paying to (potentially) work with.

Ben Hodge:
For some reason, many people do not see acting as something that should require classes or formal training. Don’t fall into this trap. Finding a good acting class or coach can do wonders for your career. Acting is no different than athletics, music or academics: the more knowledge and practice you get, the better you become at those things. Acting is not something that just naturally happens. Certainly you have to be talented or effective at acting. But acting takes as much training and learning as athletics, academics and music education. Finding good training is crucial and is worth the money. As always, do your research and background checking before you commit to anything. Most acting classes will allow you to vet or audit (sit in on their class) so you can see if it is something you’d be interested in. Vetting a class or instructor is a good idea before you spend your money.

Do you have any questions for me? Feel free to ask them here!

Want more tips and general thoughts on life? Be sure to bookmark my blog and follow me here!

We welcome your comments and suggestions.

Glad you're here!

Marci

7 RULES TO LIVE BY WHEN MAKING YOUR DEMO REEL

2012-09-11T10:58:00.000-07:00

When I first started teaching actors about the business and how they can empower themselves, it was common to see demo reels that ran between 5-10 minutes long! Now it's more common to see 30/60/90 second reels.

My, how times have changed! I imagine the next time I write about this topic it'll have changed again. Can't wait to see what's next!

1. Here's the skinny. Get your footage uploaded electronically so it can be easily viewed. Edit a demo reel which has clips from all your work woven together. Here's the key and it's one of the biggest mistakes I see actors make with their demo reels: Front-load your reel with your strongest footage. By 'strongest' I mean the footage that features YOU. If you're in a scene with Will Smith but it's really his scene and it barely features you, you're gonna look like a background player and aren't going to impress anyone. In fact, you're going to get lost in that footage. Don’t use scenes where the other person is out-shining you in the scene. You want the viewer to be riveted to YOU. Yes, I'm very impressed that you actually got cast in a scene opposite Will Smith - that is actually a big deal - but if you come off looking like an extra in the scene, I'm not gonna be so impressed. Unfortunately, when I play demos for producers/directors/and executives – they mostly have the attention span of a gnat – and will only watch the first few moments, unless you’ve really caught their attention – so make your opening great. Don’t go on and on in those photo montages with music in the background in your opening. If you're going to do that, I suggest it be no longer than 7 seconds. Or better yet, do that montage at the end. Get to a great scene in the opening where you’re speaking. I've seen so many demos where I can't even tell who I'm supposed to be watching because there are so many actors in the scene.

2. It's quality, not quantity. At the very least, make sure it is of broadcast quality in both picture and sound. Don't put poor quality footage on your reel - it only makes you look bad...really bad! With so many actors self-producing content these days for their reels, remember it has to look just as good as the footage we're seeing on television and in the theaters. If the quality is "less than" it reflects on you. Have someone with an objective eye (not a family member or good friend) go through your reel to help you edit. Be discerning. Imagine you're the buyer. You don't need to put something on your reel just because you were in it. It's got to be great footage. If it doesn't show you in the best of light - don't use it. If it looks homemade (like so much of the self-produced content I see) don't use it! I'd rather see no footage than bad footage. You can't put the toothpaste back in the tube!

3. Use your best footage first and your newest footage at the top of the reel. I suggest you do not go too far back into your repertoire – if you’re pushing 50, the scene when you were 20 will only confuse people and sorry honey, you're not that guy anymore!

4. When you're editing a demo reel, I suggest you do a separate comedy reel and a separate drama reel. If I'm casting a comedy, I want to view and show just your comedy footage and vice-versa. If we want to see your range, we can always view the other reel, but I find that most of the filmmakers I work with want to see *just* your comedy footage if we're doing a comedy and don't want to wade through all the drama footage on your reel.

I also really appreciate it when the clips are labeled at the top of the clip so that I know what show/movie this clip is from.

5. Some people are doing clips instead of demos. These are very useful as well. Each clip is it's own self-contained clip that runs about 30-60 seconds. This way there's a large variety of clips to choose from and I can pick and choose what I want to see (and send to my team). This seems to be the norm these days.

6. I suggest you upload your demo reel/clips to your profile page on Actors Access for easy viewing along with your resumé and photos. There's also a great site called Cast It Talent you can subscribe to and upload pic/resume and reel/clips to your profile page and send that package to anyone who requests it.

You should also upload your reel/clips to your IMDb profile page. If you have a website, then of course your demo reel/clips are going to live there as well. If you're going to upload your reel to a site like YouTube or Vimeo, please make sure you have your contact info easily viewable - either on the video itself or in the description below. Hell, you could post it in both places! These days, a lot of Casting Directors and comedy talent scouts are combing the web for new faces. You can't imagine how many times I stumble across an actor's video online and there's absolutely NO contact info! Don't forget to include your website, twitter name, and Facebook Page (if you have one) - this helps to market yourself across many different social media platforms.

7. Make it easy for people. I really don't like receiving large files to my email from 'You Send It' when I'm working on a project. I just don't have the time to download these files - remember, it's not just your video file, it's literally hundreds of them. You want to make it really easy for people to view your reel. Send an easily clickable link.

To read a version of this article on BackStage.com click here!

Do you have any questions for me? Feel free to ask them here!

Want more tips and general thoughts on life? Be sure to bookmark my blog and follow me here!

We welcome your comments and suggestions.

Glad you're here!

Marci

Inside The World Of A Casting Director - Part 3

2012-08-21T09:58:00.002-07:00

In Part 3 of this series I talk about the good, the bad and the ugly of being a casting director along with finding balance in your life. Good advice for all walks of life!

"What does a Casting Director actually do?" Well, I'm here to tell you all about it! Joy Wingard wrote to me from college saying she's interested in being a casting director and wanted to know what really goes on in the world of casting. Since I was crazy busy, I asked her to jot down a few questions and I'd answer them over the ensuing weeks. She asked quite a few insightful questions that I wanted to share with you all.

Q: What do you enjoy the most & the least about being a CD?

A: The most? Getting a script and lovingly working with the filmmakers to put together a fantastic cast. Finding someone new, or thinking of someone for a part that is totally outside the box and getting my team on board and hiring them.
Making the call to the agent/mgr and actor to say "you've got the part!" brings me such joy!
Another part I truly love is working with the actors. I love to help them create a great character and guiding them through the audition process.

Enjoy the least? The politics. There are way too many politics involved in my job. Enough said.

Also, it's not my favorite thing to negotiate with a lawyer. In the old days (when I first started) I'd negotiate with the agent. Nowadays, the agent hands it off to the client's lawyer and I'm spending days on end going back and forth with the lawyer. Seems to me that's Business Affairs' job.

Q: I understand having passion for a job and loving it enough to embrace it wholeheartedly and spend most of your time doing it, but do you find that you're able to have enough time away from the job to embrace a life outside of work?

A: Finding a balance between work and your "life" is key to any career. For me, even when I'm not officially working, I keep my eyes peeled - I'm always 'looking' in a sense. When I'm reading a magazine, the newspaper or online, I'm constantly clipping out (or bookmarking) articles about actors on the rise and adding them to my database.

But, you do have to know how to totally "unplug" and live your life or you will be just a shell of a person! This holds true for an actor. Whenever I meet an actor who feels burnt out or wants to walk away, I tell them to make sure to do something you love. You need inspiration from somewhere right? Go to the beach, a concert, kick up your heels and go dancing, paint, be with your kids, dogs, loved ones, cook, eat great food, meditate. How can you be an actor (or a great person) if you're not living a full life?

Do you have any questions for me? Feel free to ask them here!

Want more tips and general thoughts on life? Be sure to bookmark my blog and follow me here!

We welcome your comments and suggestions.

Glad you're here!

Marci

Inside The World Of A Casting Director ~ Part 2 of 3

2012-08-14T17:49:00.000-07:00

In Part 2 of this series I talk about how I make lists for projects along with how to start working in a Casting Director's office.

"What does a Casting Director actually do?" Well, I'm here to tell you all about it! Joy Wingard wrote to me from college saying she's interested in being a casting director and wanted to know what really goes on in the world of casting. Since I was crazy busy, I asked her to jot down a few questions and I'd answer them over the ensuing weeks. She asked quite a few insightful questions that I wanted to share with you all.

Q: I've heard that CDs spend a lot of time going through their rolodex/files and looking for the right fit. Do you find that you get to embrace the auditioning process often - or is it more of seeking the fit you know will already work?

A: Rolodex and files are "old school". Everything I do these days is electronic. I have a database of ALL the actors I know and like + everyone I've ever auditioned. I use Cast It for my database. Did you know that if you subscribe to Cast It Talent you get embedded in my database and ALL the major CDs around the world?

When I make my initial lists after reading the script and talking to the filmmakers about their vision and our marketing needs, I go through my database and put together a "wish list" of who would be great. Some of them are out of reach based on budget, or they wouldn't do said role, or are unavailable. I also add to this list my ideas that are not exactly what the script calls for or what the director is looking for but is "outside the box" and creative which can sometimes really juice up the story by casting against type. Then I confer with the agents and managers and get their pitches and add the appropriate people to the list. This giant list gets narrowed down based on our choices, the actor's availability and $$.
If it's a "name" list, we narrow it down to a much smaller list and start making offers.
If it's a role that we want people to come in and audition for, thus starts the process and we are open and excited to see what people bring to the role. A filmmaker I know once said, "I like it when an actor comes in and shows me something I didn't know about the character." I think that says it all.

Q: Do you feel it's mandatory to start as an intern - or do you think it's possible to get an assistant job if you've had some solid industry experience already (even if it isn't in casting for film or scripted/episodic TV?)

A: For me, I wouldn't hire someone as a casting assistant unless they've had AT LEAST 1-2 YEARS actual casting experience in SCRIPTED television or films. Things move way too fast for me to train/teach someone. Once they are on board though, I train and teach them everyday.

Several successful casting directors out there today started as my intern (Tammy Billik, Janet Gilmore)

Do you have any questions for me? Feel free to ask them here!

Want more tips and general thoughts on life? Be sure to bookmark my blog and follow me here!

We welcome your comments and suggestions.

Glad you're here!

Marci

Inside the World of a Casting Director - 3 Part Series

2012-08-07T09:02:00.000-07:00

People always ask me, "What does a Casting Director actually do?" Well, I'm here to tell you all about it! Joy Wingard wrote to me from college saying she's interested in being a casting director and wanted to know what really goes on in the world of casting. Since I was crazy busy, I asked her to jot down a few questions and I'd answer them over the ensuing weeks. She asked quite a few insightful questions that I wanted to share with you all.

Q: I've heard that casting for films is a lot of budgets, negotiating, and handling contracts. Do you feel the position is mostly business or is there an equally creative side to it? How about for a Casting Associate?

A: It is the CDs job to (sometimes) put together the casting budget. It is sometimes done by the line producer, but they want our input (i.e. how much do you think it'll cost to get a good actor in this part). The CD negotiates all the actor deals (not the extras). It differs from studio to studio, but some studios have the CD negotiate everything up to a Schedule F deal ($65,000 and under) and Business Affairs does the deals higher than Sched. F, and Warner Bros has the CD negotiate everything up to $250k. The CD (and associate) need to know how to read a Day out of Days (the shooting schedule) and formulate a deal. In television the deals are standard. Business affairs negotiates the test deals for pilots and series deals, thank the good lord. There's so much to do on a pilot, at least we don't have the added pressure and time-suck of having to negotiate and paper (do the contracts) for all the test deals and series regular deals. The CD does the weekly/daily deals on the series, but like I said it's a standard "top-of-show" formula for guest stars and SAG-AFTRA scale for co-stars.

The creative side comes in when you are assembling the cast and coming up with ideas in terms of putting together the perfect ensemble. I try to think of creative ideas that are unexpected and outside the box. There is a LOT of psychology involved in handling the large groups of the creative team (producers/writer/director/executives at the studio). You want them to hire "your guy" and you have to get them to feel that it was their idea in the first place! The CD is part of the team that makes the final decision on who gets cast. It is ultimately up to the head of the studio/network to approve our choices. The CD is an invaluable part of this decision making process.

Some jobs are more creative than others. Some jobs you feel like you are just a glorified taping facility. I try and stay away from those situations! Depends on what you're working on and who you're working with!

Q: This pertains a bit to the prior question, but what is a typical day like for you - and for a Casting Associate?

A: ME when casting a pilot:
Up at 6am. Read and answer as many emails as I can that came in throughout the night and early morning. Remember, we're a global casting community now. Submissions are coming in from everywhere around the world via the internet. Check submissions on Breakdown. View TONS of demo reels and self-taped auditions. Return calls. Exercise (very important) and walk the dogs.
9am-10am - get to the office and continue the above. Check-in w/producers/director/network execs and answer questions and get answers to questions! Pre-reads and general meetings for upcoming auditions.
Sessions w/producers for several hours. Return calls/emails throughout. View MORE demos and auditions. Negotiate deals. Go over the budget. Meet with producers. Talk to studio execs and network execs. Keep everybody informed and on the same page. Go over more submissions. Try to be creative and come up with people to flesh out the cast. LUNCH - usually in the office - working lunch trying to catch up. Afternoon - more of the above. Leave work around 7or 7:30. Come home, walk the dogs, make dinner, return calls/view submissions/demos/return email while eating dinner until 11pm go to bed. 6am...wake up, rinse/wash/repeat.

Associate: get into office 9am, check messages, return calls/emails. View demos and auditions. Upload anything that wasn't uploaded last night to our website so the team can weigh in. Go thru submissions. Schedule auditions. Check avails. Check $$ quotes to give to biz affairs so they can negotiate series test deals. Fill out test deal forms for biz affairs. Maintain and update master lists on ALL roles (meaning who we've seen, who we're thinking of, who we're getting tape on, who's pre-read....and ALL their avails. This is an incredibly tedious process and must be kept up-to-date for the studio/network.). Field calls all day long. Take agent/mgr pitches. Schedule Marci's pre-reads and general meetings. Negotiate co-star & guest star deals. Videotape auditions, edit, and upload them. Working lunch and catch-up. Clearing actors w/front gate to get drive-ons. Go over submissions w/Marci and pick who's coming in to our next session. Brainstorm new ideas. Leave around 8-9 pm.

As you can imagine, trying to be creative during this process - not easy! I think it's nothing short of a miracle to get a brilliant cast during pilot season. Imagine that there are probably 60 other pilots all trying to get the best actors for their show simultaneously. It's like a giant race trying to get the actor you want into your office before the other guy gets him!

Do you have any questions for me? Feel free to ask them here!

Want more tips and general thoughts on life? Be sure to bookmark my blog and follow me here!

We welcome your comments and suggestions.

Glad you're here!

Marci

Casting: Behind-The-Scenes And Up On The Wall - Finally!

2012-07-25T13:31:00.000-07:00

Many times casting feels like an invisible job. No one seems to know or understand what we do as casting directors. Actually, if I'm doing my job correctly, the casting should disappear into the movie. The ensemble that I help put together with the filmmakers should work so well that you don't realize that they are actors up there on the screen...just like how Meryl Streep disappears into every role she plays and becomes people like Julia Child, Margaret Thatcher and Karen Silkwood (Silkwood -a favorite of mine from director Mike Nichols).

You can imagine my surprise when I was asked to be on the wall of some very notable filmmakers at The ArcLight Cinemas 10th Anniversary celebration in a poster sized photo. Shocked would be more like it. Casting is such an over-looked part of the filmmaking process. People that should know better - the producers, studio execs, network execs, writers, actors and some directors still don't quite understand what it is that we do. How many times have you heard a director say, "Yes, I found her after searching high and low. I knew when I first set eyes on her that she was perfect for the part!" In reality, the casting director has been searching the globe, watching sometimes thousands of auditions in person and viewing hours and hours of auditions sent in from hopeful actors around the world.

Joel Schumacher is a director I've worked with a couple of times who always gives me credit where credit is due. He will always make a point of telling people that I literally made him meet Isabella Rosellini years ago when we were doing a little gem of a movie, Cousins. The role wasn't written for an Italian woman and Joel just couldn't see it. I begged, I pleaded that this was perfect casting and would give us a sentimental thread to connect to the original film ours was based on, Cousin, Cousine. After spending just a few minutes with her, he knew she was the one and with a very easy re-write of a line or two, she added a wonderful element to the movie. I remember in my initial interview with Schumacher I suggested Mare Winningham for the role of Wendy in St. Elmo's Fire. Sometimes you just know.

Same was true with Lindsay Lohan on Freaky Friday. When I suggested her for the lead in Freaky Friday in my initial meeting with the director and producers, she had done The Parent Trap for Disney a few years back and for some reason they just didn't want to use her again after she had already done a reboot of a famous film (both Freaky Friday and The Parent Trap were popular films in the 60s and 70s. Did you know Jodie Foster starred in the original Freaky Friday?!). I had Lindsay self-tape her audition from New York and when we saw it we were less than impressed. But, I still just knew she was the one. I talked to her on the phone and gave her some notes from the director and myself and had her do it again. The new self-tape was better - enough to have us fly her from NY to Los Angeles for a screen test. When she arrived for hair and makeup we were shocked. Lindsay was so embarrassed about her freckles, she had gone out and gotten a spray tan. She showed up sporting a bright orange glow. Think carrots. This was back in 2002 and believe me when I tell you that the technique of spray tanning has come a long way since then! We immediately hustled her into makeup where we spent the next couple of hours trying to "take down" her color to a human level. She won the role because she was so good with great comedy timing, and had great chemistry with our lead actress Annette Bening.

- Sidebar: Lindsay tested with Annette Bening who was cast in the role of her mother. Two weeks before we were to shoot, we still didn't have a full script. We were receiving the re-writes 10-20 pages at a time, and Annette just wasn't comfortable going ahead without seeing the entire script and she pulled out. Because she pulled out, Tom Selleck, who was to play her fiancé, pulled out . Then Gary Marshall had to quit (he was to play her father) because his film Raising Helen changed their shooting schedule. Then Chad Michael Murry thought he should jump ship too. I talked him into staying. I think I threatened his future career truth be told! I came up with a list of replacements. I remember championing Julianne Moore. The head of the studio at the time, Nina Jacobson, had just seen Jamie Lee Curtis on the cover of Shape magazine. In the article, she showed the before/after photos of what a real woman looks like sans makeup and Photoshop. It was brilliant and the town embraced her. We hired her and she jumped in fearlessly into rehearsal and pre-production just 10 days before we started principal photography. The rest is casting history. Can you even imagine Annette Bening in this part?

Another great casting story happened on the original Footloose. Many times I like to think outside the box when I read a script. When I was coming up with ideas for the Reverend Shaw role, I had just seen John Lithgow in Brian DePalma's Blowout playing a serial killer as well as in The World According To Garp playing a transsexual who was adjusting to her new body. I thought he was a spectacular actor. The role was written as a salt & pepper haired, Paul Newmanesque, charismatic man. You can just imagine the look the director, Herbert Ross, gave me when I brought him up. This was another case where I stomped my feet and insisted he audition him. This was 1983 and I remember his audition as if it was yesterday. We read the scene where Shaw admonishes his daughter Ariel (played by me in the audition!) for coming home late because she'd been out dancing. Lithgow read the scene with such intensity and such love. I get chills whenever I think of it. The director gave him the role right then and there in the room.

During awards season, when I see Martin Scorsese thank the brilliant casting director Ellen Lewis when accepting his award for his films and television, you know we're getting somewhere!

So you see, this is only a small part of what we do as casting directors. We help bring films to life by putting together the perfect ensemble of actors. I've always thought of myself as a filmmaker and I'm so glad others are starting to see it too.

(ArcLight photo by Doug Hac)

What are some films you've seen lately where you thought the casting was seamless and brilliant? What are some films you thought were miscast?

Want more tips and general thoughts on life? Be sure to bookmark my blog and follow me here!

We welcome your comments and suggestions.

Glad you're here!

Marci

How Not To Fall Off The Tightrope In An Audition

2012-07-15T17:33:00.000-07:00

Do you ever flub a line or get lost when you're auditioning for a role?

Your palms get sticky, your throat gets dry, you start seeing black spots floating in front of your eyes and you suddenly can't hear?! Fun...right?! Actually, no, it's not fun at all! It's a horrifying feeling when that happens and I'm going to tell you how to win over the room when this happens. Yes, you heard me....win them over.

Here's what's happening when you're auditioning or performing live. I liken it to a tightrope walker. When the tightrope walker is up on the rope, the whole audience is rooting for them. They are on the edge of their seats with anticipation and are subconsciously praying for them to do well. When the tightrope walker missteps and loses her footing and almost plunges to the ground (or rather the net!), the entire audience gasps. But, when the tightrope walker gracefully and masterfully recovers and rights herself back on the rope the entire audience springs to their feet and applauds.

Likewise, when you're in an audition and go up on your lines, it's how you recover that can either make or break you. If you dissolve into a puddle on the floor with "I'm sorry's" or "Can I please, please start over again?!", or "Damn, I f*cked it up again!", you've essentially just lost your audience. Yet, if you can gracefully dip down and check your sides (because in your preliminary auditions you'll still be holding your sides and turning the pages along with your scene), find where you are, and look up and continue.....you've just won us over. It's as if you've almost fallen off the rope, corrected your footing and gotten back onto the rope and pulled off your trick. We'll follow you anywhere.

Another smart thing to do is if you've just started your scene and you feel you are way off-track from what you'd prepared - say, "I'm going to start again".....compose yourself, and immediately start again. When you start saying "I'm sorry, can I please start over....please?!!" you've lost us because you've lost your power. Remember...this is your audition. Take charge, take control of the room. I don't mean you should act obnoxious or needy or demanding. There's a fine line between being charming and in control in an audition and being a diva. And please, don't do this when you're 2-3 pages into your scene!

We want you to succeed. How you behave in an audition is indicative of how you may be on set. A true pro wouldn't fall apart because they forgot or screwed up a line. Hey we're all human. ALL of us. It's just a line, you didn't run over my dog, it's not the end of the world. But, how you handle it is everything. Everything.

Want more tips and general thoughts on life? Be sure to bookmark my blog and follow me here!

We welcome your comments and suggestions.

Glad you're here!

Marci

This article also appears on BackStage.com

To Be(off book) Or Not To Be(off book) - That Is The Question: 4 Hot tips For Success

2012-07-06T11:07:00.000-07:00

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Many of you ask me if we expect you to be off book. For the first audition, we expect you to be completely familiar with the material, have read the script if available, and have made distinct character choices. You can look down at your sides for reference. But, as you come in for call-backs 2 and 3 times, and certainly for any test at the network or screen test on a film – yes, be off book. You can still hold your sides if you need to, but be off book. As you know, competition is SO stiff, and if the next guy is more prepared than you, then it doesn’t make you look very good. For us, your behavior in an audition is indicative of how you’d be on the set.

Why would you NOT want to be as prepared as you possibly can? I always say, THIS IS YOUR JOB PEOPLE! Why would you come in and do a "sort of good" attempt at the material when you can be GREAT?! You've spent years training, you've done the work, you've studied, now go out there and be as fabulous as you can.

Being off book allows you to connect to the person you're reading with. It makes your audition look more authentic because you are PRESENT in the scene. When the actor is continually looking down at his sides you sort of break the spell that you are trying to create. As the viewer or reader, it takes me out of the scene when an actor is reading off the page or continually looking down at his sides - usually at a crucial moment in the scene.

Being off book means you are going to be on your toes when that rare moment comes along and the director actually gives you notes in the room and asks you to do it again. Yay you! It means that he/she actually SEES something in you that makes them want to see the scene again with their re-direction. It means they want to see if you actually CAN take direction. Because you know the material like the back of your hand, you'll be able to LISTEN and weave those notes into your already fine-tuned and thought-out performance because you're not struggling with the lines. Currently I work with a director who is very articulate in "actor speak" and he'll give you 10 notes on a scene and expect you to integrate them into it. Try that if you don't really know the lines? Your head will explode!

Hot tip #1: Hold the sides in front of you. Turn the pages along with the flow of the scene so that if you do get lost, you can easily dip down and find your place and continue along, with ease and grace, and we don't have to stop and start over. If you get lost - how you get back on track is also something we look for. If you have a total meltdown and start apologizing and freak out and dissolve into a puddle because you got lost or have to start over - that gives us pause because we wonder how you will be "on the day" if you aren't handling things well in our little office when the meter isn't running yet! We're all human, we make mistakes. How we handle them is the key.

Hot tip #2: Holding the sides also shows the executives (network and studio) who are watching this audition outside the room, that it is a work in progress. It's not a finished product. You can't imagine how much they all scrutinize your performance. Since they're removed from the work space (our casting office) they sometimes forget that we're still playing - this is not a finished performance. When they catch a glimpse of the sides, it plays subconsciously into their viewing skills and reminds them that - oh yeah, these aren't dailies. It's subtle but it works.

Hot tip #3: Your memorization skills also come into play when you're actually shooting. I cast a tv series last year and I couldn't believe how often lines were flying-in as we were shooting the scene. Both producers were writers on the show and they were changing-up dialog while shooting. If you don't have this skill-set now, go get it! Develop it. It'll be the sharpest tool in your bag that'll take you a very long way in this business.

Hot tip #4: Have you ever been given a scene and the other person in the scene has a long speech and they skip over the whole speech and just read the last line?! You're all prepared to be listening and responding to the speech and they've jumped ahead and you're totally thrown. Ask FIRST before the audition starts if we're going to be doing this whole speech or all this dialog within their speech - then you'll know whether they are going to skip over it or not. I usually advise my coaching clients to ask the CD or reader: "Can you please read the whole speech as it'll help with my reactions?" Good idea, huh?

For me - one of the key elements in an audition is whether an actor is LISTENING. Whoever these CDs are that are skipping over large chunks of dialog so that they can get to your lines are SO missing the point here. I love to see the look on the actor's face as he's comprehending and reacting to what the other character is telling them.

There are many ways to memorize lines - you have to find the system that works for you. Practice. You can learn a scene or a monologue every day and it'll help your brain start to become comfortable with this process. Here is a long list of ways to learn lines. There's also a great app called Rehearsal which is great for memorization along with other wonderful bells and whistles. Figure out which one works for you and start sharpening your skills.

In closing, please know that we're not just looking for the actor that can memorize all the lines. That's just one very small part of your performance. How you interpret the scene and the character and make it your own is what we need to see as well. Along with knowing the material well, you've got to be able to change things up if/when the director gives you adjustments. I see some actors get so locked-up in the way they've rehearsed it that they can't make any changes. We need to see that you will be able to adapt to any changes that come along.

You can read a version of this article on BackStage Magazine.

Want more tips and general thoughts on life? Be sure to bookmark my blog and follow me here!

We welcome your comments and suggestions.

Glad you're here!

Marci

What Everybody Should Know About Twitter's Dirty Little Secret

2012-06-29T08:55:00.005-07:00

Oh, you're gonna thank me for this one! If you're a Twitter freak (read = addict!) like me and you don't already know this, you're gonna love this one.

When you use twitter usernames at the beginning of a tweet it will ONLY appear in the twitterfeed (of your followers) to that person you’re tweeting to AND all those that are following BOTH you. OK, read it again because this took me awhile to actually grock.

Example – if you tweet:

@marciliroff you are such a great social media teacher thnx SO much 4 2day!

The ONLY people (of your followers) that will see this tweet in their twitterfeed are ME and all the folks that are following BOTH you and me.

BUT – if you want ALL the people who are following you to see it (so that it helps ME – because social media is all about connectivity and helping promote thru tweets and this is a form of promotion; it also shows what a smart person you are by thanking someone publicly and letting your followers know that you are a good twitter citizen)….you’d tweet:

Thanks SO much @marciliroff 4 being such a great social media teacher! Loved our session 2day!

You can also say:

.@marciliroff you are such a great social media teacher thnx SO much 4 2day!

If you put a "." BEFORE the @username, everyone who is following you can see it.

Now, here's the important part, if you and I were just goofing around back and forth and bantering – I’d reply to your initial tweet and put your name FIRST so that it wouldn’t end up clogging all my followers’ twitter feed with mundane crap. It drives me absolutely crazy to see people using Twitter like their email or IM and having a chat back and forth. If I'm following BOTH of them, I have to see their ENTIRE conversation which should be reserved for their personal space.

I see a lot of people lately, responding to people and RTing the original tweet with their comment first - thus we get to see every friggin' thing that they're responding to while they're doing their "replying housekeeping". Oh joy!

Example:

It was great! RT @JoeBlow so @MrRockStar how was your show?

Get it? Got it?! Good!

I'd love to hear your comments!

Glad you're here!

Marci

Get on the Technology Train....or get left in the dust!

2012-06-22T09:40:00.000-07:00

In my never ending need to connect with actors and film makers across the globe, I recently joined a group on Facebook called Seattle Film Makers and Actors. An interesting discussion thread cropped up last night.

The online company, Cast It Talent, had posted an open call notice for 18-20 yr olds for a new feature film from a "major studio". Cast It Talent posted this notice in the Seattle group on Facebook. It's free to join and submit yourself for this open call.

In addition to casting, I've been private coaching actors in person and thru Skype for the last few years. Since some of my clients are auditioning for this movie, I know it's Paramount Studios and their Exec. VP of Casting - Joseph Middleton - is casting it.

Almost immediately, the members of the group cried foul. They thought they smelled a scam. Comments like: "With all due respect, if this is actually a casting call, why has it not come through one of the four major Casting Directors in Seattle?" and "Just checking as we've had some faux casting notices in the past."

Because I use Cast It for my casting needs, as do most of the major casting directors across the globe, I tried to appease their fears by letting them know this notice was legit.
I wrote, "Ain't nothing faux about it - I do searches like this all the time. Since they are looking to "discover" people - this is a great, inexpensive, and fast way to do a LARGE initial search and cover the entire country. We then go through each and every audition, narrow things down, and usually have a smaller group do another audition - it's like a "virtual callback". Then we fly-in the finalists to work with in person."

But the comments kept up. "Why aren't they going through the proper channels?"
I replied: "What you view as "proper channels" have changed in the last few years. Sometimes we hire local CDs to do these searches, and sometimes - especially in this case of an open call - this is how it's done."

And...they still kept coming! "I'm an old fart and could be behind the times but, in my humble opinion, a major studio doesn't cast this way. Sometimes they do publicity stunts and put out a notice like this but I have never seen major motion pictures cast this way. There are more than enough 18 - 20 year olds in Hollywood. They really don't need to search for them."

Since I'm very involved with actors worldwide, I've seen a shift lately in terms of an abundance of "too-good-to-be-true" casting notices, sites that claim that if you pay their membership fee they will introduce you to casting directors and guarantee that you will book jobs, and online "classes" that guarantee you fame and fortune. There's definitely a lot of opportunities to separate actors from their hard-earned money.

I was actually pretty impressed with this Seattle group who's red flags were raised by this notice. They were done getting taken advantage of by these scams and were circling the wagons.

But what occurred to me from this dialogue is that there may be a true disconnect in cities outside of the major film production cities like L.A./NY/Chicago. That these actors were questioning this whole concept was very telling. As much as I was trying to educate them as to the industry standard, they still pushed back - "We like the old way!"

Years ago, and I mean many years ago(!), when I was casting a movie and I needed to do a search, the studio would literally send me out on the road. I remember a film I did called Return to Oz which was the next book in the series of books written by L. Frank Baum which followed Dorothy's journey. I had to find the next "Dorothy". Yikes - big task for a little lady. During the week I would work on the other films I was casting and on Friday night I'd take a red-eye to another city across the U.S. and do a HUGE open call. This went on for about 6-7 weeks. Beyond how friggin' exhausted I was after working 7 days a week for 7 weeks, the financial hit was huge on our budget. First-class round trip airline tickets, transportation to and from airports, $100 per diem, first class hotel, publicity in each city, rental of a hall big enough to accommodate 100s of people, staff....times seven. You do the math.

As much as I liked going out on the road and meeting new people, the studios and producers quickly realized they'd save a lot of money and time by hiring local casting directors in each city to do this preliminary search and open call. They'd hold the open call, go out onto the streets, scour the schools - and present their finalists on tape and I'd go through all of these submissions and cull them down to the finalists. We'd then fly-in those that made the final cut.

Since the advent of the Internet - everything is faster, more streamlined, and less expensive to do a search like this. Because everyone has a video camera these days, we have come to depend on actors to be proactive and be able to self-tape their initial audition. Yes, this is the industry standard these days. When I'm casting a project, I get links sent to me of auditions from all over the world. And like the title of this blog - if you aren't comfortable with this technology yet, you'd better get on board or you'll be run over by the train.

When I cast Mr. Popper's Penguins, I had an actress in mind for the role of Jim Carrey's funny assistant, Pippy. I had seen Ophelia Lovibond in Nowhere Boy and knew she'd be perfect for this woman who alliterated her "P's" and tried to keep Carrey's character on track. It was a tough role and we read hundreds of women across the country. I asked Ms. Lovibond to put herself on tape so that I could show my team. What I didn't know is that she was somewhat famous for her self-taped auditions. A total perfectionist, she got her actor friend to read with her off-camera and taped a flawless audition. My director, Mark Waters, immediately fell in love and I hooked them up on Skype so that they could "meet". Because Waters is not at all gun-shy in the new technology department (hell, he had all of his pre-production meetings with his Director of Photography Matthew Libatique on Skype as Libatique lives in London), he Skyped with her and they set a date for him to direct her through Skype while she re-taped her audition. Waters was "virtually" in the room with her and directed her while she had her "call back". I sent her new audition to the studio and she was hired. All of this occurred without her ever being in the room with the creatives.

At this point I should warn the reader that I am not advocating hiring an actor whom you've not met face-to-face. This casting situation above was unique (in that she lives in London) and the fact that Lovibond had already established herself by doing several films assured us that she was a consummate professional. As much as I love technology, I'm still an old-school gal and along with seeing your work, I need to get a personal "hit" off of you by meeting you in person.

Yes, there are thousands of actors in Los Angeles that would meet this casting description for the open call - but when we're on the search to discover someone, we want to actually look under every rock, shake the trees as it were, and truly find someone new. The technology we're using to have the actor self-tape is merely a tool to reach a much wider audience.

Actors nowadays are so much more in control of their destiny by all of these tools. When I started out in casting, actors were literally waiting for their phone to ring....waiting for their agents to call them with an audition. Now, an actor in the middle of the country can learn how to self-tape their audition and be more in control of the final product that they're sending out.

I wrote last week with some great tips to help yourself self-tape. It's had all kinds of hits as actors are passing it around like candy. I hope you'll take advantage of it. And hey, if you're all thumbs about this, I'm sure you know at least 5 people who can help you set things up and all you have to do is study your lines, make some great character choices, and do your audition like you'd normally do - except this time you can do it over and over (and over again) until you get it right and then send it to me!

I welcome your comments.

Glad you're here - Marci

How To Self-Tape Your Audition Like A Rockstar

2012-06-15T10:22:00.004-07:00

As many projects are asking for you to self-tape your audition as a form of pre-screening, many of you have asked how to self-tape your auditions. For some, the mere idea of this can be daunting. I urge you to get comfortable with doing this. It's not as hard as it may seem. If you think about it, you're actually the actor, director, and producer of your own audition! You are finally in control of your audition!

Here are some instructions that you should follow.

Pay attention to ALL of the instructions that the CD or website gives you. If they tell you to do it a specific way, DO IT THAT WAY!

Know the material. Be as off-book as possible so that you can interact with your scene partner (who's off-camera). It's ok to hold your sides, but we don't want to see you literally reading off the page.

TECHNICAL STUFF

TRIPOD:
This is important! Make your audition as professional as possible by attaching your camera to a tripod. Nobody wants to watch an audition on a hand-held camera. If you don't have access to a tripod (or can't borrow one!), prop your camera on a table on top of some books so that it matches your eyeline (never shoot under your chin - that look isn't good on anyone!)

LIGHTING:
The best thing is to use natural light. Make sure you're not shooting TOWARDS a window or the light, but that the natural light is actually lighting YOU! If you don't have natural light, then get some appropriate lighting. You can actually use lamps if you don't have real lights. You can even use those wonderful large globe Chinese Lanterns (w/the white shades) - those throw a lot of nice soft light.
Go onto YouTube and search for "3 point lighting".

You'll get A LOT of videos how to do this. This will make your video look very professionally done and you can even do it on the cheap if you're going to be doing this at home a lot. Go to Home Depot and get some "work lights", and you can fashion a stand for them.
One of my Twitter followers just sent me a link to Cowboy Studio which has inexpensive lighting packages.

Make sure you "white balance" your camera before you start shooting. Many cameras these days have an auto-white balance. If yours doesn't, check the instructions and figure out how to do it. In many cases, you can just hold up a white piece of paper about 5 inches in front of the lens and that'll do the trick.

THE BASICS:

1. Find a quiet and well lit room.

2. Have the actor stand in front of a blank white, blue or grey painted wall. You can always use a plain sheet.

3. Have someone other than the actor (the "reader) reading the supporting lines off camera. Do not attempt to do a scene by yourself unless it's a monologue. Even then, have a friend operate your camera. Have your “reader” stand RIGHT NEXT TO the camera - almost hugging the tripod. EYE LINE! This is very important. So often the actor is reading to a partner that is SO far away from the camera, all we see is his profile. Make sure the actor looks at the reader during the scene and not directly at the camera.
4. You want to frame CHEST UP - not too much head room. Make sure we can see your face. You should stand about 3-5 ft. from the camera. Some projects ask for a full body shot as well to include before or after you do your scene.

5. Camera should be at eye level or just slightly above, NEVER underneath your chin.

6. Record a test sample ﬁrst and see how it looks and sounds on the computer ﬁrst to make ﬁnal adjustments before taping the scenes.

7. When you are ready to record the scene, make sure the actor adds a verbal “slate” ﬁrst by saying their name, the city they are from and role they are reading for. Some CDs request a slate on a piece of paper w/the pertinent info. Just make sure we can READ IT!
9. Record the scenes 2 or 3 times(or as many times as you need), pausing between takes so that you can pick the best one once youʼve had a chance to review them. Only include your best take.
10. Make sure your audition is labeled with all your contact info clearly on the clip - you can do this before and after - it never hurts to be sure. This is very important. We need to be able to reach you if we want to call you back or give you re-direction.

You can also self-tape from your webcam on your computer (a video camera is better, but you can still do it this way). If you're going to do it this way, I suggest you raise your laptop up a bit so that it's not shooting "up" at you with an unflattering angle. You can also practice your upcoming auditions with your webcam and play them back so you can see what's working and what's not!

There you have it! Have I forgotten anything? Please let me know what works for you in the comments section.

Glad you're here - Marci

Part Deux: A Quiet Night Watching the Tonys....or so I thought!

2012-06-13T10:02:00.003-07:00

So, I’m still trying to watch the Tonys. It was now time to move into the bedroom to watch the show from there. All that Social Media twittering for the lost dog was exhausting!

It was 8:52 when the first email came thru on my iPad. Bong!

Subject line: “IMPASSE CASTING EMERGENCY!” It seems that my buddy, Jeanne Veillette Bowerman was having a huge problem. The lead actress for her short film IMPASSE was having a family emergency and had to bow out. Eeek. We hate those kinds of phone calls. You feel SO bad for the person on the other end of the line – your heart goes out to them – and at the same time your heart starts pumping wildly in your chest because you know you’ve built your whole film concept around casting them.

I met Jeanne at the #140 Conference in NYC last Summer. It’s a fabulous conference curated by the amazing Jeff Pulver. I say “curated” because that’s his word. He’s the producer of the conference which is a gathering of people from all over the world, all walks of life, who come and give a speech about how they use social media in their work and in their lives. Pulver hand-picks everyone who speaks. Last year there was Ann Curry, Mayor Cory Booker, Deepak Chopra….and me! It was my first speech ever and I was so excited and so friggin’ nervous! Here it is if you want to see it. My main goal was to try to stay in my body, not hide behind the podium, and walk to the center of the stage and just tell my story. My friends tell me I accomplished all three of these things! (big thanks to my coach, Jeffrey Marcus!)

Anyway, back to Jeanne. We met at the conference and became Twitter buddies. It’s an odd relationship in that we don’t really know each other, but if you’re a avid Twitterer you can follow a person’s life and see how they think by what they’re talking about. Jeanne is a writer and was working out of her “Panera office” (that’s what she calls it) on a cold and rainy day when she noticed a young couple start to have a fight. They took it outside in the parking lot and she couldn’t hear them and all she could see was their body language. So what does a good little Twitterer do? She tweeted the whole fight. She gave a play-by-play of the whole thing as she imagined what they were saying to each other. By the end of the whole exchange she had a spark of an idea. She immediately started writing what became a short film called IMPASSE – inspired by the scene she had witnessed in the parking lot. Then she set about finding a director and called her friend Michael Bekemeyer. Using Kickstarter, they raised $15,680 (their goal was $12,500!!) and got all their ducks in a row to shoot it in Orlando, Florida. They even cast the film using their social media connections and Twitter buddies. John T. Woods and Wonder Russell are starring.

Cut back to me in bed trying to watch the Tonys with my iPad blowing up with emails. Jeanne pleaded, “Is it possible at all to get your help casting the role of Alice? I'm happy to pay you for your services. I’m in a bit of a pickle. We'll lose thousands of dollars if we have to delay the shoot.”

Of course I’ll help! I immediately read her wonderful script and thought of my friend, actress Jennifer Fontaine. We met a couple of years ago on Facebook. As you can imagine, as a casting director, I get hit on by actors every day. Since I like to keep my private life private, I divert them to my “like” page (which was called a “fan” page when I first set it up! I’m sure they’ll be calling it something else next month!). The conversation went like this after the friend request came in:

Me: ?? Sorry, do I know you?

Jennifer: err...no. I was hoping to introduce you to me . I'm an actor and filmmaker and was just trying to add strong female role models to my network. The work you do inspires me to continue and I hope to do the same for someone else down the road. Have a great night! sincerely, Jennifer Fontaine

Me: You had me at "strong female role models!!”

So I checked out her site and indeed she was a talented filmmaker and actress so I clicked “accept”. We’ve almost worked together a couple of times – but not quite - until now! Jen was the first person I thought of for this role. As this is a short film with a very low budget (read= almost non-existent but not quite Monopoly money) I knew I couldn’t go through the normal channels and go through my star list to come up with a viable choice. Not to say that Jen hasn’t done her fair share of great work, believe me she has, but I knew it would take a very special actress to leave her husband and toddler at home to go off and do a short film across the country.

I sent off the link to her reel to Jeanne and crossed my fingers. I’ve been in this position hundreds of times when I think I’ve got the perfect person for a role, and the producer and director have me start the great Easter Egg Hunt From Hell and see hundreds of people – and then we come back to the actor I was touting two months earlier….only to find they’ve are unavailable by the time we circle back around! This time I got almost an immediate response that Jeanne loves Jen and will send the link on to her director Bekemeyer. I suggested that if they are both interested they can Skype with her on Monday morning and they can all get a feel as to whether they’re on the same page. In the meantime, I sent an email to Jen to see if she’s even available! No sense getting everyone all hot and bothered if she’s off on a vacation! That was around 10pm. I figured she’d check her email and get back to me. I kept checking throughout the night until I finally went to bed. During the night I start thinking of back-ups for our back-up!

Next morning I hear from Jen that she’s available and interested. They have a Skype meeting and everybody’s happy and they’re off to the races.

Mind you - all this happened while I was in bed with my iPad trying to watch the Tonys. Thanks to my boyfriend, TiVo, it's all recorded and I can go back today and actually watch it for real!

Here's Jeanne's blog about the status of IMPASSE along with Wonder Russell's brave journey.

We wish them all kinds of love and strength.

I welcome your comments.

Glad you're here - Marci

A Quiet Night Watching the Tonys - or so I thought….!

2012-06-12T10:39:00.001-07:00

I was so excited last night to just park myself on the couch with a big bowl of pasta, a martini, and my iPad to watch this year’s Tony Awards. Yeah, I’ve become that person. I can’t just watch a TV show…I have to be connected to the net simultaneously.

Gosh I just love Neil Patrick Harris. I think he should host everything from now on! He’s so funny, loose, perfectly self-deprecating….and he sings! I was looking forward to catching up on all the plays I didn’t get to see in person because of a busy pilot season. A good casting director is always doing her homework!

Just as I start to get into the show I see a status update on Facebook from a friend saying that her dog is missing. My coaching client’s mother’s dog has gone missing in Texas. Yeah, a small French Bulldog in the heat of Texas in the Summer. Not good. So what do I do? I take to the Twitter. I start tweeting the crap out of this to everyone I know and asking them to RT (re-tweet) my tweet. I know that I have about 7800 followers, but if I could get them to RT this tweet to all of their followers….well, you get the picture. We could get the word out instantly to TONS of people.

I have become a huge fan (read “addict”) of social media in the last few years. I used to think it was just people tweeting about what they ate today or where they are (I still hate Foursquare – why do I need to know where you’ve “checked into” at any given moment of the day?!). I’ve come to realize it’s SO much more. Social media (Facebook, Twitter, blogging) brings us that much closer to each other. It’s not about “me, me, me” in this world anymore. It’s about you and me and how we can help each other. I love how a very large community of strangers becomes a small community of friends, helping each other.

By the end of the evening, I had gotten so many people to re-tweet my original tweet about the lost dog. They included people who had only 12 followers (thank you), to people who have 32,360 followers - thank you Lacey Chabert! I was so touched that a big corporation like Back Stage Magazine with 21,535 followers who was very busy tweeting about the Tonys (remember…I was still parked on the couch trying to watch the Tonys) would break away from their job and tweet about a lost dog. Amazing support. By the end of the night, my tweet had been seen by over 100,000 people worldwide! By morning, the dog had been found. Seems that my friend’s family in Texas plastered the city with homemade posters and the dog was found….only a few houses away. Phew! Moral of the story? Yay for social media and yay for good old-fashioned craftiness. One more thing?Please microchip your dogs! Even if they’re an “inside” dog and you think they never want to go outside and leave your side – there’s always a chance that your gardener will leave the gate open or they will somehow get out – and it’s usually without their collar on! Hell, I’d microchip kids if I could!!

You might think this was enough for one night, right? I could get back to watching the Tonys and see scenes from the play Once which I really wanted to see in person. But no, that would be too easy.

The emails started coming in around 8:52 PM PST with the heading “IMPASSE EMERGENCY!”

Stay tuned to Part 2 wherein I manage to cast the lead of my friend’s short film….from my bed!

Glad you're here - Marci