A Step-By-Step Walk-Through of a Commercial Audition

I LOVE auditioning for commercials. They are usually ridiculous and require on-the-spot memorization or improvisation. Sometimes you have scripts, or "copy" (as they call it commercially,) and sometimes you don't. Oftentimes it's about your reactions to something that is happening and sometimes it is about how well you can manage technical jargon.

Read more at the new, improved The NYC Actor website

It's not all about New York

I woke up to this email today. It was in the comments field of another post and I felt like I should share it:

Hello Mrs Angela,

I’ve been wanting to be an actress since I was 10 years old. I am 18 years old now, and it has been difficult. I have learned that being financially stable is one important aspect, but I just wish that it wasn’t what seems to stem from all of my problems. I do not have a job, and am currently in school. My mother raises me and my sister, and she works two jobs. Of course there are classes that I want to take, but I can’t take them. Headshots that I want to get done, but I can’t because of money. I try so hard to remain positive, because I never think of anything else....

Read more at the new, improved The NYC Actor website

Advice for the week: Don’t sweat the small stuff.

I was just in a group commercial audition where the assistant went through our names quickly to make sure he had the right people in the room and one of the actors pounced on him for mis-pronouncing his name. It took the air out of the room and the assistant was visibly irritated.

Continued: Advice for the Week: Don't Sweat the Small Stuff | The NYC Actor

Word to the Wise: Get Your Calendar in Order!

These are the words I said to myself in the mirror this morning (and the following few hours). If you’re a person who is chronically late, who forgets appointments, who double-books.. This post is for you.

I am pretty good with scheduling. I’m generally an “on-time” kinda person. And I pretty much always call ahead if there are delays/problems. But even I can forget or miss an appointment if I don’t have it written down in my calendar or unforeseen circumstances (a family emergency or train trouble, etc) take over. There are a lot of things that can get in the way of getting to a booking or an audition on time. One thing that can help is to be religious about your calendar.

Continued: Word to the Wise: Get Your Calendar in Order! | The NYC Actor

Anecdotes on the job: Break-neck Speed!

I just had to record a VO audition from home.

The direction was “young, animated and under 22 secs.” Fine, right? Well, sure.. unless the text you’re reading is technically 30 secs in length at best and not one of those hi-speed legalese tags. No, I’m still responsible for sounding like a normal human being.

Continued: Anecdotes on the Job: Break-neck Speed! | The NYC Actor

Advice for the week: Scheduling

So much of our success as actors comes down to time-management. Casting Directors and other industry professionals take in to account your ability to be where you’re meant to be WHEN you’re meant to be there.

Continued: Advice for the Week: Scheduling | The NYC Actor

Do I pick up that phone??

What do you do when you eventually start receiving phone calls (because it's going to happen - mark my words!) from agents and such regarding auditions and call-backs?

When I first got started in this industry, the pager was in. Eughh!! That makes me sound ancient. Most agents and casting directors would simply call it, leave a message on a voicemail system and you'd return their call to confirm. Simple.

Read more: Do I pick up that phone? | The NYC Actor

Actors casting/breakdown websites and services: Which ones?

There are a number of websites out there all vying for the attention and money of actors. They promise jobs and money in your pocket if only you pay their monthly/yearly fee. There are MANY to choose from but in my experience only a few that are worth the time and expense.

For a list of my favorites and to Read more: Actors casting/breakdown websites and services: Which ones? | The NYC Actor

Actors casting/breakdown websites and services: To Pay Or Not To Pay?

To Pay Or Not To Pay?

Well, it depends.

A friend recently asked me about a casting website for voiceovers in England. I didn't have any real feedback for her regarding that particular site but it made me think about the casting venues that I do know and that I use here in the US on a daily basis.

First off, let me dispel some myths.

Just because a website promises to book you work and put money in your pocket it doesn't guarantee anything. At best it will fill your email box with lists of the many auditions currently happening in the city and offer you a chance to submit yourself.

In some cases, for those of us who are currently without representation, it can get our foot in a door that may have previously been closed - for example perhaps an ad agency has exhausted its resources with agents and CD's and is looking for new talent beyond the pool they've already tapped. Actors Access and other such sites are a goldmine for them.

Read more:  Actor casting/breakdown websites and services: To Pay or not to Pay? | The NYC Actor

Hold your horses..

Don't celebrate until the check's in your hand and the spot's runnin'!

I don't know if you've seen Mad Men, but in an episode in Season 3 they illustrate this point brilliantly with the Patio commercial story-line. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AgTnQok3RU

I cannot tell you the amount of jobs I have been hired or on-hold for that have fallen through. Just last week I was posing for the cover of The Wall Street Journal weekend edition and after an hour and a half of work the editors called the photographer and pulled the plug on the story...

Read more:  Hold Your Horses | The NYC Actor

What to wear? What to wear? - Casual Dress

As with the headshot industry, what one wears to an audition is another changing landscape an actor strolls upon and should be a question revisited frequently. But, for our purposes today (August 27th, 2009) we'll focus on what's appropriate now.

I received a few calls this week for on-camera, commercial auditions. The character description - as per usual - was vague, vague, vague. What's more, the dress for said characters was noted as "casual". Oh, vague-ty! How I hate thee!! So, of course, being a bit of a fashion victim, a few of the many questions that popped into my head were these:

- Casual as in what I wear to hang around my house?

- Casual as in, what I'd wear on a third date (that's a little joke for UCB students who studied with Gill Ozeri) - whatever that means?

- Casual as in what I might wear to casual-day at work if I worked in a corporate environment?

- Casual as in the Gap or J Crew?

- Casual as in boring??

Read more:  What To Wear? What To Wear? - Casual Dress | The NYC Actor

Book out!

For those of you who don't yet know, "booking out" is when you alert your agent of an upcoming conflict in your schedule that would inhibit you from going out for an audition, etc.

For example, I am shooting a film in Memphis at the end of September. This will take me out of commission for roughly a week as far as auditioning is concerned. So it is important that when it gets closer to the date, I let ALL my representation and other ongoing industry employers (eg: producers/directors who hire me consistently) know that I will not be here.

Read more:  Book Out! | The NYC Actor

The Unions: AFTRA

AFTRA

How do you join AFTRA? AFTRA is the only union that you can literally "buy" into. You can show up to their offices and simply hand over a hefty wad of cash and sign up there and then. How much does it cost to join AFTRA? As of today's date the initiation fee in NY is $1300 plus minimum dues of $63.90. Keep in mind, if you join just before the 2nd dues-cycle (as I did!) you will be required to pay another $63.90. A grand total of $1427.80. After one year, providing you have some AFTRA jobs under your belt..

Read more:  The Unions: AFTRA | The NYC Actor.

The Unions: AEA

AEA (Equity)

How do you join AEA (Actors Equity Association) - You can also buy into Equity if you are affiliated and listed as being "in good standing" for one year with one of the other unions. Although, as I am currently non-equity, I will have to come back and tell you more as I learn it. You can, as applies to all the other unions, also join by booking an AEA job.

Read more:  The Unions: AEA | The NYC Actor.