Extra Mile Marketing: A Call to Action to Think Outside the Box!
February 14, 2013 by Guest Columnist
Filed under Acting Advice Columns
Written by Christina Shipp
It’s February! I love February. Mostly, I will admit, because of Valentine’s Day. (Go ahead and roll your eyes, haters. I’m a Love Lover, and Valentimes is one of my personal favorites.) I value Love, Authenticity and Gratitude, so for me VDay is a great occasion to go the Extra Mile in my Marketing as an Actress, Business Owner, and General Awesome Human.
Every year in February, I create and send a mailed greeting card campaign that is unique to me and reflects my personality to my entire contact list: industry and otherwise. Effective marketing is all about being remarkable and creatively sharing your values, your brand, and your successes. And when the intention is simply authentically sharing with your colleagues, fans, and the people you meet, you have the opportunity to connect with them in a more meaningful way. Read more
7 Steps To Making Workshops Work For You
May 6, 2011 by Lance Carter
Filed under Acting Advice Columns
This is a guest post by Dallas Travers
How familiar does this scenario sound to you? You decide that it’s time to cultivate solid relationships with television casting directors, so you sign up for a workshop service in order to meet these people face to face. Over the course of the next year, you meet two different casting directors each month totaling twenty-four first meetings. Yet no one really knows you because they’ve only met you once. I meet tons of actors every month who believe strongly that casting director workshops don’t work. Well, of course they don’t when you never really develop a relationship with the casting directors you meet.
A lot of actors make this mistake, and I understand why. It’s easy to fall into the trap that the more people you meet, the more opportunities you’ll have. But that’s just not true. It’s not about who you know in this town. It’s about who knows you. You cannot become known after just one meeting. It takes time to build a relationship.
So here’s how you can use The Rule of Seven to make casting director workshops work for you.
Step One:
Create your target list. There are literally hundreds of casting directors in Hollywood, 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.
Visit www.castingabout.com or www.imdbpro.com and research those television shows where the most opportunity for co-stars and guest stars exists. Please note that I did not just tell you to make a list of your favorite shows! I know, everybody loves The Office, but part of what makes that show so great is the fact that the cast is stuck together day in and day out working in an office, so new characters are rarely introduced. Instead, make a list of those shows that feature new characters on a consistent basis such as Cold Case, CSI, or any of the other countless procedural episodics.
Mailing Labels Updated!
March 21, 2011 by Lance Carter
Filed under Performing Arts News
I just updated the Casting Director Labels for LA and NYC!
These are labels that show who is currently casting and also includes a spreadsheet that shows the CD and CD Associate, Casting Company, Project and Type of Project. The spreadsheet is also sold separately.
I’m also going to update all the Agent labels this week so if you need them, keep coming back!
Mailing Labels Updated!
October 27, 2010 by Lance Carter
Filed under Performing Arts News
Hey guys -
I just updated the Casting Director Labels for LA and NYC!
These are labels that show who is currently casting and also includes a spreadsheet that shows the CD and CD Associate, Casting Company, Project and Type of Project. The spreadsheet is also sold separately.
Casting Director Spreadsheet and Mailing Labels Updated!
September 29, 2010 by Lance Carter
Filed under Performing Arts News
The casting director spreadsheets – a spreadsheet of whats currently casting in NYC and LA – and mailing labels are updated!
Book Review: The Savvy Actor Career Manual
August 19, 2010 by Lance Carter
Filed under Acting Advice Columns
The Savvy Actor Career Manual bills itself as ‘The Most Comprehensive Actor’s Business Guide Ever’ and while that’s a pretty big claim, I have to say if it isn’t, it gets pretty close.
It’s written by Jodie Bentley and Kevin Urban, both actors themselves so you know this isn’t some dreck that someone is trying to peddle to gullible actors. They live this manual and have seen results. And plus, after reading this, they truly want you to succeed.
The manual comes in a big 3-ring binder with tabs to sort out the 8 sections; Long Term Vision, Goals, Branding, Marketing and 4 others. Each section goes deep into helping you create your business.
Since it’s also a workbook, it also comes complete with spreadsheets, charts, sample cover letters and more (all of which you can also download to use and re-use).
At the beginning, the idea is for you to start thinking of acting as a business (which if you’re not already, you should). So, they begin with helping you create a long-term vision. They have self-evaluations, milestones (from 6 months to 20 years) that you write down in detail. After that, they make you promise – in your own declaration – that you will follow what you have just written.
Giveaway! Currently Casting Spreadsheet!
July 20, 2010 by Lance Carter
Filed under Performing Arts News
There was such a great response to yesterdays LA Television Shows Currently Casting post that I wanted to give you guys this for free!
These are spreadsheets of all the films and TV shows in LA & NYC that are currently casting. They list the Project, Type, Casting Company, Casting Director and Casting Associate. These are usually bundled together with the Currently Casting Labels.
I gave these out to some people yesterday and they loved it. I’m going to start to sell these spreadsheets separately but I wanted to let you guys sample it first.
The LA Spreadsheets download will come with 2 files (not this current download though) – One is sorted by Project and the other is sorted by Casting Company.
Check these out and please let me know what you think!
LA Currently Casting
NYC Currently Casting
And don’t forget to check out the Mailing Labels!
Performer Track’s Brian Vermeire: “If you don’t treat this like a business, it’ll be treated like a hobby”
May 6, 2010 by Lance Carter
Filed under Interviews
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 40:29 — 27.8MB)
Performer Track is an online tool for actors to track their career. Not only does it give you organizational tools but it also help you track your auditions, workshops, submissions and so much more.
I talked with Brian Vermeire, one of the main guys behind Performer Track. He loves his product and from talking to the people who use it, they love it as well.
We talked for a good while so this is only part of the interview but Brian has a lot of good information to give. Click on the audio portion (or download it off iTunes) above for more.
For more details, go to performertrack.com. And as a bonus, if you use code: FRLC9 you’ll get 2 months off your first year!
You started the company?
Brian Vermeire: Yeah, it started about 10 years ago. It all came out of a need. I was the “typical performer.” Every time I got called by my agent, by my manager, by a random casting director who could get a hold of me directly I would quickly grab a sheet of paper, a scrap piece of paper, or a sticky note—whatever I could write on—and I would quickly jot down where I’m going. When it came to going to the audition, I would lose the information, I would have to call my agent, “Where am I going again? Who am I meeting with? Okay, okay.”
And it never mattered to me. What mattered to me was being the best performer. I’d go in there and give it my all and then just forget about it. I did Meisner for a couple of years, and I was told by other acting teachers that I had to just go audition and then forget about it, which is a huge disservice to your business as a performer. And it’s an awful thing to do for your business. In realizing I was doing everything completely wrong, without ever understanding that it was wrong, I just thought, “No, I don’t want to be bogged down with that information. I’ll just go do it and if I get it, I get it. That’s all I need to know.
I was watching my friend at the time, and every time she got called by her representation, she would always get out the same college ruled notebook and pull it open, she would rattle off the same questions, have everything in her mind and ask the questions in a very succinct, rhythmic order. And she would put everything in one spot. And I thought that was genius, that’s great, I should do that. So I made myself one and we were carrying those around and it didn’t take too long before our friends started asking us “Hey, how do I get one?”
Mailing Labels
August 31, 2009 by Lance Carter
Filed under
Casting Director & Agent Labels
Don’t you hate updating labels? Tracking down casting directors or agents, making sure they’re address is up to date or even driving to the bookstore to buy the actual labels?
Well, look no more. Now you can get up-to-date and accurate labels right here!
Download these PDF/Word mailing labels directly to your computer to quickly and easily send your headshot and resume to agents or casting directors that are currently casting.
Stop wasting time:
- Updating labels
- Finding the casting directors who are currently casting projects
- Making sure addresses are correct
Up to date and accurate!
“Your list is Better than Breakdowns and Now Casting & it’s downloadable. Brilliant!”
James DuMont – Treme, Grey’s Anatomy
Your Shopping Cart
Los Angeles
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Casting Director Labels - Updated May 4th!
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Adobe Version
Word Version (Fully Editable!)|
Currently Casting Spreadsheet - Updated May 4th!
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Commercial Casting Directors - Updated May 4th!
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| Theatrical Agent Labels – Updated May 4th! Description: The latest theatrical agency labels.
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| Commercial Agent Labels – Updated May 4th! Description: The latest commercial agency labels.
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| Voice Over Agent Labels – Updated May 4th! Description: The latest Voice Over agent labels.
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New York
| Casting Director Labels - Updated May4th! Description: Labels of shows & films that are currently casting. Includes labels and a spreadsheet (click here for an example of the spreadsheet) listing all shows & films with the casting company, CD/CD associate and broadcast network.
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| Currently Casting Spreadsheet – Updated May 4th! Description: This spreadsheet is included in the Casting Director Labels download but now offered as a separate product! This is a list of film & TV projects that are currently casting in New York City. Click here for an example.
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| Agent Labels (Commercial & Theatrical) – Updated May 4th! Description: The latest agent labels.
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Important INFO for all Adobe PDF labels: You can easily print these on any Avery 8160 address labels (or for a cheaper option, generic label versions are also available at Staples or Office Depot).
Print them out on a regular sheet of paper first and make sure they line up correctly. If not, in the Adobe PDF file, go to File, Print. Look for Page Scaling and make sure it’s set to: None
