The Casting Files

I’m happy to report that the new comedic web series I am producing, The Dating Life, is alive. You can visit our Facebook page here and our Twitter page here. Our You Tube channel and website presence will be here soon enough. Right now, plans are for our first episode to arrive in Summer 2011. It is a very exciting time because in addition to producing and appearing in this project, I am appearing in six other web series.

I had an interesting casting session last month and I wanted to tell you about my experiences. This isn’t the first project I’ve cast and it certainly won’t be the last. While I love auditioning as an actor myself and enjoy meeting Casting Directors, in casting my own projects, I have garnered a much deeper respect for CDs for all the things they do to cast a project.

I think it is very vital that actors be on the other side of the fence, either by being a reader, being an intern in a casting office where you can see first-hand everything that goes into casting a project, volunteering to help a friend cast a project or casting a project on your own. It is a very eye-opening experience.

We, as actors, do silly things to sabotage ourselves or get in our own way, to prevent ourselves from booking a role in a project. Yes, a lot of things are outside of our control but I want to focus on what is in our control.

I’m going to take you through my casting process and point out some things that you can do to help Casting Directors do their job and get you one step closer to being cast.

First, know your type and submit appropriately.

I used LA Casting for this project. We were casting our male and female lead roles. I had 244 actors and 343 actresses submit for one male lead and one female lead, respectively. Most of the talent we reviewed were just not appropriate for the roles. Look at the breakdown and ask yourself does your headshot convey the essence of the character in the breakdown? If the answer is yes, by all means submit. The question is not can I perform in the role, I’m sure you can, but am I a fit for the role? if you aren’t a fit in your headshot, don’t submit. Thus, if you’re not a fit, do not submit. You absolutely must know your type to be able to work as an actor, especially in LA.

Another thing, please make sure if you are using the online submission services – In LA, the big three are Actors Access, LA Casting and Now Casting – have up-to-date headshots, resume and reel. It makes the CD’s job so much easier. I actually had a couple of actors submit who did not have a headshot. How am I going to cast you for something if I don’t know what you look like?

Next, if a CD requests you to audition, please reply within a 24-hour period.

I ended up running around at the last minute, trying to fill gaps in my audition schedule. Responding promptly is common courtesy to the CD. Help them help you.

Next, if you have a conflict, decide this isn’t the project for you, or are going to be late, please give the CD as much notice as you can, so they can act accordingly. While everyone knows that emergencies do arise, do your best to notify the CD promptly. I got some last minute calls and emails that caused me to rush around in an attempt to make an already stressful situation less so.

Now, let’s talk about no shows. I think I had half of the talent not show up at all to auditions!! No calls, texts, emails. Nothing. That, my friends, is a no no. Those folks who no-showed can forget about auditioning with me anytime soon; but, the actors who auditioned for me started a relationship with me and while they were not appropriate for the lead roles, I have multiple supporting roles to fill for the web series and guess which database I am going to first to fill those roles? You guessed it, the folks that already auditioned for me, and I knew weren’t going to be a problem on set.

Ok, so you made it to the audition. Please have a headshot and resume on hand. Not having one makes you come across amateurish. Even if your agent submitted you, you should still have your headshot and resume at the audition.

Ok, so you made it into the room. What next? Bring it, keep your energy up, connect with your scene partner, listen for directions and check your ego at the door. Being genuine in the room, not only during your general audition, but also when you are working, yields the best results. The two things I noticed were lacking were actors keeping the energy up and listening. I have always been told the number #1 weakness of actors are our listening skills, the #2 weakness is genuinely connecting with your scene partner – and the easiest way to do this is to be so focused on the story, and to not care about anything else. Also, when you are in the room, don’t ask the CD how they want you to play the role in the audition, that’s not their job. Your job is to do the best job you can in the room and show the CD the choices you made. They will redirect you if they want to see something different. And guys, don’t fear redirects. It’s a good thing when that happens. I was happy to see most of our talent brought choices and went with it, and didn’t ask “how do you want to see it”?

We got some great talent in our sessions. So what about those who didn’t make it to callbacks? Outside of just not having the right look we were going for, it came down to understanding the scene, connecting with their scene partner and listening.

Let me speak about “not having the right look we were going for” for a moment. Another thing that is going to help you in the casting process is that you look like your headshot. I would say that at least a good quarter of our talent did not look like their headshot.

This is such a subjective industry we are in. We would all sleep better at night if we could focus on the things we do have control over and forget about the other stuff.

Sounds like a good plan, right?

I hope I have given you some good food for thought.

Love and Light to you all.

Life’s Ups and Downs

I haven’t written since my birthday, January 7. It’s funny how time flies.

It has been an interesting couple of months. The Steelers lost Super Bowl XLV. Ugh. The Academy Awards came and went. No, Annette Bening didn’t win the Best Actress award but The King’s Speech won Colin Firth a Best Actor award and it won Best Picture. And Melissa Leo won Best Supporting Actress in The Fighter, which also gave Christian Bale a Best Supporting Actor award. Melissa Leo is part of my hybrid. I’ve been saying for a while that I am a cross between Melissa Leo, Cherry Jones and Kate Nelligan.

I’ve been auditioning quite a bit. The commercial I shot in December (you can view it here) was released in January. I was interviewed for a Backstage article on Social Media ( you can read it here). I also was interviewed by two other media outlets and I will posting those interviews soon.

I started working with an amazing life coach which has really been life-altering for me. I’ve learned so much. My entire outlook on life has shifted.

My acting is at a whole new level. I see it when I audition, work with my acting coach and in CD workshops. I am EXCITED about what the future holds.

I am also a guest poster for the Techburgh blog. I am writing a column called “The Social Media Files” and it is all about how people in the entertainment industry are using Social Media. You can view my latest column here.

I’m acting in web series, web series and web series. Right now, I am, or will be shortly, working on 5 web series.

And, I am producing and acting in a web series. I am very excited that I submitted my paperwork to SAG this week to become a SAG signatory and will be executing a new media contract in the coming days.

I will also be producing a second web series. My production company, Steel Pawz Productions, will be working overtime because in addition to these two projects, my husband, Jeff, and I are finishing writing our film that we will film in Pittsburgh in Summer 2012.

Most recently, I was in Celebrate The Web’s web pilot presentation contest. Our entry is entitled “Life’s Little Ultimatum”. I would appreciate you voting for us. You can vote daily here until 11:59pm on March 26.

Wait, there’s more. Even though I was absolutely heart-broken that my alma mater, Colorado, was left out of participating in the NCAA Mens Basketball Tournament, we did get a #1 seed in the Mens NIT Basketball Tournament. I hope we win it and show the NCAA Tournament Committee we should have been in the field in the first place. My most amazing and totally shocking news is that I am a recipient of a prestigious alumni award from the University of Colorado. It is still on the down-low but I will fill you in with more details as we approach the awards ceremony date of May 4.

I’m in a state of happiness, bliss, peace. It is beautiful.

Be well.

Effortless

Today is my birthday.

How am I really feeling about it?

Worry. Yes. I’m closer to 50.

It’s just a number. Very true.

Grateful. YES. Grateful to be alive. I’m grateful to be alive and be able to do what I want. I’m grateful to be healthy and have wonderful people in my life who I love and who love me. It is such a freeing feeling.

Speaking of freedom, I had a great audition the other day. This audition is one of the best auditions I’ve had in a long time. I took the “I don’t care” attitude – great if it worked, great if it didn’t. I was not going to let the audition define me, and I ended up being so connected, so present and having so much fun. I got what I wanted out of the audition without getting in my head about what I wanted to get out of the audition.

A good CD friend says acting isn’t a numbers game. I get what she means. Yes, you need the experiences to play (and yes, that is what each audition is, a time to play and be with someone entirely) but you can’t let those experiences define you. You have to live. You have to enjoy.

Effortless, baby. My 2011 theme.

Happy New Year 2011

Welcome to my first post of 2011 and my first post of the blog in its new location.

This morning, I completed my year in review for 2010. In it, I included “what worked”, “what didn’t work”, “surprises” and “disappointments” lists. My “disappointments” and “what didn’t work” lists were shorter than my “what worked” list, which was amazingly long. Go figure. When I reviewed my document, I had an “a-ha” moment. It was when I saw this: “I have everything I want because I focus on what I truly want, trust I already have it, I am grateful and I am present. ” I always knew it, it was in the back of my head, but it became so much more meaningful to me when I saw it written down.

At year-end, which has became sort of a tradition for me, I catch up on my reading. I finished reading Outliers, Improv Wisdom, and Who Moved My Cheese? (one of my favorite books that I have read over and over again) and am now starting to read Blissology and The Art of Nonconformity. The Christmas and New Years Day holidays are so peaceful for me that I end up basking in the silence and getting a lot done. I used to fear silence. Now, silence provides me with so many opportunities.

I am so looking forward to 2011.

Where Has The Time Gone

Goodness gracious. It has been two months since I last wrote a blog post.

I’ve had some interesting things happen. First, Jeff and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary by spending a week in Hawaii – we were on the islands of Oahu and Maui. Heavenly and so relaxing.

I am working on developing and producing a web series and I am recurring on a great comedic web series called “The Unemployment of Danny London”. I play the HR Director, Miriam.

When I was in the Midwest, I appeared on two interview-type broadcasts and was interviewed by some publications. I hope to have links of those here soon.

I have some great reps and coaches in my corner and I am having a ball. What helps to keep me going is being grateful every day.

I hope to write later in the week. In the meantime, if you are in the entertainment industry and you are free on Monday, November 29, come to the LA Actors Tweetup, a great time to mingle with fellow members of the entertainment industry. The event is at Busby’s East on Wilshire (west of La Brea) and it gets going around 6pm. I hope to see you there.

Cheers!

Drop Offs

I’ve been on the fence for years about whether headshot drop-offs are for me.

I’m not a big fan of the drop-off services in which your headshot/resume is grouped with those of a bunch of other actors and dropped off to a plethora of theatrical and commercial casting offices. You can definitely get lost in the shuffle and the only real purpose of these companies is to drop off to as many casting offices as possible while charging you fairly high prices for the service, in my opinion.

I’ve always thought that quality over quantity is the biggest bang for my buck.

I recently re-visited my target list of episodic and feature film casting directors. And, in coming up with year-end goals with my career coach, Dallas Travers, I made a goal to book 3 co-star roles by 12/31/2010. So, we looked at all the ways I could be marketing to CDs and I decided to add drop-offs to CDs back on my marketing list BUT only drop-offs to those offices I could walk into so they would get to know me. And, my only costs are the reproduction and gas costs.

It’s helping me in many ways: I know where the casting offices are, I get out of the house, I am doing something productive for my career and I’m making myself known to the casting offices I want to work with.

Again, quality over quantity.

Meetings. Offers.

Replace auditions with meetings and offers.

The subtext behind this for me is to shift energy away from self-submitting myself and into developing relationships with producers and directors.

I embarked on a project in May to reach out to more indie film directors so they knew I was here and ready to help them with their projects. I email them to arrange 10 minute conversations with them – I get a better than 1-in-3 response that they are interested in speaking with me. Sometimes the conversations last 10 minutes, most of the time, they last longer.

I am a strong believer in there is more than enough work for any actor who wants to work and has a sound work ethic. I also believe that the Universe has a plan for all of us and that an acting gig might not come when we want it, but it will come.

I was contacted last week by a dear friend who wanted to cast me in a web series. I’m excited about it. I play a character called Miriam in “The Unemployment of Danny London”. Details can be found here.

So what is the number 1 thing you can do? It is easy – Show Up. But really show up so that energy is flowing throughout your entire being. Be your best at a networking function, meeting, CD workshop, class, audition, working on your craft, working on your actor business, etc.

I find that setting an intention helps. How about this one, borrowed from Don Miguel Ruiz’ “The Four Agreements”:

Random Acts of Social Media

Hey everyone!

My friend and former writing partner, Dana VanDen Heuvel, who is CEO of Marketing Savant, produces a great email newsletter called Monday Morning Moxie, which has some great marketing tips. The tips are bite-sized so they are easy to implement, and they are worth their weight in gold.

The message is that if you are going to tackle Social Media, you have to be strategic about it. As the cliche goes: plan your work and work your plan.

Below are starting points to get you on your way to a successful social media experience.

1. You’re going into a long-term arrangement. Time, work and commitment are required. Get this into your headspace and you’re set for battle. 
2. Content. You need to become a publisher. That’s how you build your voice, your brand and your social media presence.
3. Fish where the fish are. You NEED to UNDERSTAND your audience and where they hang out in social and digital media. Spend a day and start searching…and searching…and searching…
4. Run it like a business. It’s not about having friends or followers. You HAVE to figure out how YOU will utilize social media to meet YOUR goals. Usually this means interacting, helping and then promoting, usually in that order. Innovate and then implement what works for you!

Success to you!!

Love,

Susyn

Mental Health Break

Hi everyone. I took a bit of a break in July. First, Jeff and I took a vacation to Pittsburgh, PA and Dayton, OH from July 14-July 23, 2010. And, last week, I took a “mental health” break.

I’ll be back in August.

In the meantime, enjoy this Dilbert cartoon.

Cheers.

Ellipses Vs. Dashes

Some more good advice from Lesly Kahn’s blog:

Ellipses (. . . ) are not dashes. During ellipses (. . . ) no one says anything. Everybody thinks.

Dashes ( — ) are cutoffs: you keep talking ’til the other actor interrupts.

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