Watch: The Auditions for ‘The Artist’

The New York Times Carpetbagger blog posted a video that has snippets of some of the auditions for The Artist.

Nominated for 10 Academy Awards, casting director Heidi Levitt did a super job with the cast.

In the video, you can see what Beth Grant (Peppy’s Maid), Harvey Alperin (The Doctor) and Joel Murray (The Policeman) did to win their roles in the film.

The auditions were filmed in black and white and when Levitt and casting associate Michael Sanford watched the tapes, they “usually turned off the sound,” she told the paper.

Interview with James Cromwell from The Artist

Check it out below!  Read more

LA: Inside the Mind of a Castng Director with Rick Pagano

Inside the Mind of… are a series of seminars brought to you by the leading voices in the entertainment industry. Hosted by renowned inspirational teacher Stuart k Robinson, Inside the Mind of… brings you an uncensored look into different areas of show business.

We tear down the walls of politeness and courtesy and give you the TRUTH. Most seminars are couched in niceties so as not to hurt the actors sensibilities, not with us. Inside the Mind of gives you the truth and tears apart the myths of this business.

We go Inside the Mind of Agents, Casting Directors, Managers, Publicists, Producers, Directors and Executives in one on one conversations and we only let them tell the truth. You get a no nonsense view into the thought processes of working pros.

We try to get those people that do not do tons of workshops and are there to give you their honest info and feedback.

By bringing the truth about the entertainment business to the people struggling to find their way, we hope to educate, enlighten and inspire the artist inside each participant while giving each the inside edge to succeed in this business.

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5 Reasons a Casting Director Might Not Be Seeing You

written by Scott David, Casting Director; Theatrics presenting Beckinfield

There are numerous reasons and factors why a Casting Director or a casting office might not be seeing you.

1. You may feel that you are right for the type of show they are casting….yet your essence and tone or look is just not compatible with the style and tone of the show. As an example: you may have a Mohawk or be totally tattooed…..and that type of look may never be a possibility on the show that the office is casting.

2. You may not have the level of credits or experience that is needed for the type of show or roles that the office is casting. Yes there are one-liners and small roles, so that is where the opening chance might happen, but then you also have to be the right look and type and oftentimes those types of roles go to actors that the office knows or wants to give the role to.

3. You may not have proper representation. By that I mean your agent or manager may not have a good relationship with the office…so by the time the office or the reps get around to thinking of that agent/manager, the session is already filled up with actors that the casting office wants to see.   Read more

Interview: Casting Director Scott David

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 14:15 — 9.8MB)

I first met Casting Director Scott David at a workshop a couple of years ago. I had heard so many good things about him and his class that when I got the chance, I signed up immediately. In the class, we came in with a prepared monologue, he handed out scenes – long ones – and then improv. It was a really fun time and one of the best workshops I’ve attended.

Scott has been casting since 1996. He’s currently casting CBS’s Criminal Minds but he also casts for film, theater and web-series. In 2010, he was awarded the Heller Award for Favorite Television Casting Director from the Talent Managers Association.

He’s recently joined up with Beckinfield, the sci-fi mystery website where you can create and play a character, collaborate with others and showcase yourself as an actor. Each month, Scott watches the actor’s videos, chooses his favorites and gives comments on their performances. Check out my interview with the founders of Beckinfield here.

Scott is a truly great guy, he loves actors and if you ever have a chance to get in front of him, do it!

I talked to Scott about casting, actor’s being unprepared, how we can find our “type” and Beckinfield!

What should actors always remember when coming into your office for an audition?

Scott David: Oh, the first thing is always to be prepared. Dress appropriately and act professionally, those three are the most important things.

So, people actually come in with like inappropriate clothes?

Scott David: Sometimes, women will come in and be a little bit more suggestive when they don’t need to be. Sometimes guys will come in way to casual for a role meaning wearing jeans and t-shirt where the role might be something like playing a lawyer and you need to be wearing a suit and a tie. But the outlandish stuff is probably a little bit appropriate if the role is calling for not something a little bit outlandish.
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7 Steps To Making Workshops Work For You

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.

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Ben Stiller Returns to his Stage Roots in Broadway’s ‘The House of Blue Leaves’

Ben Stiller, the household name who has been in scores of movies and television shows; has recently made his way back to the Broadway stage, in a revival of  The House of Blue Leaves.

This is the second time Stiller has performed this play on the Broadway Stage.  In the 80′s, the struggling young actor in New York, had heard about the production and was eager to audition for the production.  With all his efforts he still could not get an audition. “The casting director had seen me in something and didn’t think I was right,” he recalls. “So I asked my mom — the only time I asked my mom to help me.”

Ann Meara, Stiller’s mother, had been one of the original off-Broadway cast members of “The House of Blue Leaves” in 1971.  Knowing the playwright, John Guare, she called on behalf of her son and was able to get him in the room.  “That’s the last thing you want to do in the world as an actor.  You know the deck is stacked against you and that it’s a favor,” said Stiller. “But I really, really wanted the opportunity on it.”

via ABC

‘Thank You’ Cards – Politeness Goes A Long Way

There are so many different rumors about how to do something in the acting world, and everyone has their own opinion on them.  Although this industry works for many people in many different ways, it’s important that we take in all the information that we’ve gathered and come up with a general consensus on how you want to approach “your business.”

I was speaking with a casting director (who will remain unnamed for now) the other day about ‘Thank You’ Cards in our industry.  We discussed the reasoning behind this, and it became very clear that these can be important.  Most of all it boils down to the simplest of all mannerisms… being polite.

Yes, something that most of us do everyday: opening doors for people, saying “please”, even saying “bless you.”  Although, I’ve easily seen actors skip this step when it comes to the audition process: Do you greet everyone with a smile and hello? Are you patient, even if you got there early and you’ve been waiting a while? Do you thank your reader? Did you acknowledge everyone in the room?

These are all simple things to think about. [on top of remembering our sides, getting into character, and taking adjustments, etc. ]  With some practice, you can do these simple things and the weird part about it is – PEOPLE NOTICE!  It’s as simple as being polite and giving it your best shot.  This just increases your chance of the producers and casting directors rooting for you to do the great job they are looking for.

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Giveaway! Currently Casting Spreadsheet!

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!

From Improv to Stand-up: The Business Of Comedy

The SAG Foundation had a panel on the business of comedy a couple of weeks ago.

On the panelist was Oscar Nuñez (The Office), Bruce Smith (Omnipop Talent Group), David Goldman (Comedy Time Network), stand-up comic/casting director Lesley Wolff and casting associate/stand-up comic Chris Gehrt.

They talked about why improv training is important, the reality of open mic nights and the importance of writing.

Incidentally, I took a class from Lesley Wolff once and it was such a great experience. It was a 5-week course and where the final night, you did a 5 minute stand-up routine at the Improv. If you get a chance, I highly recommend it!

The Key to Booking A Role That You Might be Over Looking

Producers:  The Key to Booking You Might be Over Looking

by Dallas Travers, CEC

Several months ago, I surveyed 300 actors to discover their biggest questions about the business of acting.  Admittedly, I was not too surprised that 93% of the respondents asked, “How do I get more auditions?”  This seems like the most reasonable place to start when you’re building a career.

Surprisingly though, not one actor responded with the question, “How can I book more jobs?”  Frankly, this shocked me.  Wouldn’t you rather replace auditions with offers?  How often do you think an actor such as Will Smith or Sandra Bullock audition?

Rather than focus solely on snagging auditions, I want you to focus on building relationships.  That way, you can replace auditions with offers.

Producers are the key.

Building relationships with producers is often overlooked but highly effective way to market yourself as an actor.  Unlike casting directors, producers are not inundated with calls, headshots, postcards, and requests from actors.  Yet, they’re the people who are ultimately in charge of hiring you.  A producer’s job is to take meetings and make phone calls.  So, I find they are so much more receptive to an actor’s marketing than a casting director.

I’ve met many casting directors who feel frustrated by the fact that at the end of a long casting process, the actor who gets the job is someone who has a relationship with the producer.

Now, this may sound very unfair, but I think it’s really great news because all you have to do is build producer relationships and get on their short list.   You can do that by applying a lot of the same strategies that are effective with casting directors.  Here are four steps to help you get on a producer’s radar.

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