The Grass is Always Greener Somewhere Else

Written by Anthony Meindl

“The grass is greener syndrome.”

If you suffer from it, it’s yet another way of postponing your life. Putting the things you desire on the back burner. When we covet another person’s journey, we think if only we had what they had our life would be more fun. Or more exciting. Or more magical.

Your life already is magical.

We’re just not awake to it, so it feels as if we’re moving around in a monochromatic haze while everyone else seems to be living in Technicolor.

That’s the illusion.

The truth is that your grass is very green. It’s lush and tropical and exotic and fertile and full of possibilities. But it requires you to fully embrace it. All of it. Even the stuff you don’t like, because actually, that’s the stuff that becomes the catalyst for change.

That stuff is your grass’s fertilizer. It’s the essential stuff needed for your growth and expansion. And it holds the potential to unlock the doors you’ve shut to the things you’re seeking:  your joy, your passion, your peace of mind, your self-acceptance.  Read more

The Lessons of Resiliency

Written by Rhonda Musak

There are few jobs less stable than those found in the world of showbiz—films wrap, plays close and TV shows end. 

In fact, over the course of a career an actor can spend mind numbing amounts of time interviewing for jobs, i.e. auditioning.  As a professional in the field of acting, I have observed that there is one standout characteristic that allows someone to thrive through what often seems like a raging sea of instability: resiliency.

Searching the thesaurus, I’m astonished to find a realm of expansiveness in the word “resilient”: elastic yet hard-wearing, flexible yet tough, pliant yet durable.  The word paints a striking picture of long-lasting possibility. 

Actors know that they are not going to book every job auditioned for, but they also know that a huge part of the game is showing up—and showing up again, and again, and again… In fact, the pro will rarely take much time to lament what did not happen but will instead pour energy forward into the next set of opportunities.  Read more

Are You Working Hard Enough In Your Career?

Written by Amy Lyndon

Last month, I wrote an exclusive article for our TLTaccess.com Members about burnout – the inevitable result of too much stress and working at a level-ten frenzy. This month, I want to swing to the other side of the pendulum and ask you, “Are you really working hard enough?”

I think we actors can easily point to the trials and tribulations of trying to make it in show-business and come up with a myriad of reasons (excuses) why our careers aren’t moving forward. “It’s tough.” “I don’t have the money for classes/headshots/coaching.” “If I only knew the right people.” “If only my agent sent me in more, or I had a better agent.” And so on…

Guys, it is very tough to be an actor. A lot of gurus say that if you can do any other job – do it. Well, I say bull**** to that. Rather than bail on your dreams because you can, you should tighten your belt, roll up your sleeves, and get ready to beat the hell out of any challenges that dare to take you on.  Read more

4 Ways to Increase Your Auditions With or Without Representation

Written by Dallas Travers, CEC

Track One: Casting Directors

Casting Directors are the most obvious route to securing more auditions.  They’re definitely not the only route, but it is a good place to start.

Here’s a simple strategy outlining how you can become known by casting directors by utilizing workshops.  I’m going to use the umbrella term of “workshop” to define classes, intensives, and seminars.

Step One: Create your target list.  There are literally hundreds of casting directors in the business, so it’s pretty impossible to effectively apply the Rule of Seven to all of them.  Not to worry – you don’t have to.  Just select a small (less than 12) list of casting directors and target them specifically and consistently.

Step Two: Register for 3-4 different CD workshop studios if you can.  Now, remember, not all studios are created equal. I recommend that you join a service that truly auditions their talent before accepting an actor.  This insures that the caliber of talent is consistent and sets you up to really shine.

Step Three: Only workshop with those casting offices on your target list.  This will allow you to maintain your sanity and your budget by attending a limited number of workshops with a purpose rather than taking a shot in the dark and workshopping with various CDs through a process of random selection.  Read more

A Leopard Can’t Change His Spots, But You Can

Written by Anthony Meindl

A Leopard Can’t Change His Spots, But You Can.

How?

Commitment.

You don’t get what you wish for in life. You get what you believe. And sometimes, our beliefs need a little bit of encouragement. For example, you believe you can do something (write a play, audition for a show, ask someone out on a date) but you also have doubts. You fast-forward to the end results and start worrying. Or you focus on what someone else will say or how they might react. Or you come up with excuses why it won’t work.

But when we finally commit, we discover that those projected fears rarely occur. The miraculous act of commitment ushers in the discovery of things that weren’t available to us had we not committed.

Commitment to something is both causal – you cause something to happen that ordinarily wouldn’t; and it also creates the end result or the effect. You end up experiencing the effects of stepping into something and making a commitment. Read more

How To Tailor Your Theater Audition to the Performance Space

The military have a saying, “Train like we fight, fight like we train.” The more realistic the setting in which a soldier is placed during an exercise the better his chances are of successfully completing a real mission. And while you’re not training to defend your country, the same maxim applies when rehearsing your theatre audition. One aspect of this is anticipating the setting in which you’ll be performing.

Surprise, Surprise

You’ve been working on your monologue for that upcoming audition all week. Every evening you’ve moved back the furniture in your living room in order to practice. You’ve carefully figured out how to use the chair you want as part of the audition, as well as how you’ll walk into the room and confidently say your name and announce what you’ll be performing. So when you arrive at the theatre you believe you’ve covered all the bases and are ready to go. But as you step out onto that enormous stage you realize that you’ve overlooked one essential detail – the size of the venue in which you’re now performing. Read more

Can You Be Found?

Written by Amy Lyndon

Did you know that we live in a time where technology has almost rendered us unreachable? How do I know this? Well, try filling in for the people that work at The Lyndon Technique! Every time I take over the jobs of my associates – Michelle, Valerie and Justin – and call clients or potential clients back, it becomes an utter frustrating event.  And I thought calling the DMV was bad.

Are you reachable? Can you be found? Do you really think that an industry professional will stay interested if they have to track you down? How many job opportunities have you lost because you’re hard to reach? The problem with that question is that you have no idea. It’s hard enough to get opportunities in this business. Imagine if it was your agent, manager, producer, director or someone calling to book you.

I thought I’d compile a list of my eye opening experience when trying to call:

Mailbox full, sitting on hold listening to rap music, difficult to understand outgoing message, a wacky or ‘too cool for school’ outgoing message, a return call that’s garbled because of a bad connection, no message service, answering the call like you just got out of bed or are hung over, a child or someone in the house answering your phone and you’re nowhere to be found, a disconnected number with no forwarding number and a phone that picks up and then goes dead. I’m sure I’ve missed a couple, but you get the picture. Read more

Stop Being A Commitment-Phobe

Written by Anthony Meindl

Ever notice that once you really start committing to something, it almost seems as if everything in the universe is conspiring against you to make that thing happen?

Eeeeeeek!

But a lot of times, people stop. They give up.  They see it as a “sign” that it’s not the right time. Or it’s not supposed to happen. Or that they should try something else. Or that if this is what they really were supposed to be doing, it’d be easier.

But what if it were just the opposite? By passionately committing to something with extraordinary action, you usher into motion a whole cause-and-effect universe that puts things into play that actually aid and assist you on your journey if you’re brave enough to continue pushing through to the end. But you have to stay the course.

The things that happen to us in life aren’t meant to stop us. Some people think they’re meant to test our resolve. To test just how committed we truly are. Maybe.
Read more

Booking Commercials – Your Image will get you work faster than your “Read”

Written by Gywn Gilliss

Most actors I meet who really want to do commercials and aren’t booking jobs can’t seem to figure out WHY it’s so difficult. They’re sent out for an audition, work on the copy, go through the process of auditioning and then wonder, “My audition was so good. Why didn’t I book that spot?? Or at least, get a call back?”

To take some of the mystery out of the process, let’s deal with some basic facts. There are only a few reasons WHY anyone gets booked on a major market commercial:

1 – You LOOK like the Spokesperson the client had in mind – the corporate guy in the Amex or Citibank spot.

2 – You LOOK like the “family member” they were trying to match up for the group scene- A family dinner at the Olive Garden.

3 – You LOOK like “the girl next door” the company needed to be their “image”- CoverGirl or Ivory, the suburban Dad building a deck & buying stuff at The Home Depot,the Mom with her kids having burgers at McDonald’s.

Read more

Can SAG Actors Do Non-Union Theater?

One of my students is an actor who recently moved to NYC from LA. She had a question about building up her theater resume in non-union theater as a SAG member – many actors have the common misconception that if you are a member of only one union, you can still do non-union work in other unions, as long as you are not a member of those unions.

This topic has created quite a bit of confusion, so I thought I would share our conversation.

As you know, I am already a member of SAG. Do you think it’s smart for me to join AEA if I haven’t had a lot of NY theatre experience yet? Once in AEA, one can’t do non-union theatre right? Is there such a thing as non-union theatre in NY?

Outstanding question (and one that LOTS of actors have asked.) Since you are SAG you aren’t supposed to do any kind of non-union work- no non-union theater and no non-union commercial/industrials. The Global One rule states that once you join one union, you no longer are allowed to work for a producer unless they are under a union contract. Most people assume that this rule only applies to the union that they joined, but it applies to all of the unions because they have a “sister union” solidarity agreement. Read more

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