Tag Archives: casting director

Artios Awards (or A Red Carpet Work Evening)

Posted on March 15, 2023 | 1 comment

I know I’ve written quite a bit about how I feel very lucky with my main current day job. I do work that can vary from day to day, I know my contributions are appreciated, and I make more than I did at past jobs. Plus, most of the people I work with are either actors or used to be actors so they understand needing flexibility and the entertainment industry. I don’t really get to see my co-workers in person since we all work from home, but there is still a collaborative feeling since we are in meetings together quite a bit. I know they are trying to have more in-person events for everyone, but it’s not easy to organize.

The company I work for has been a part of some really awesome events, sometimes it’s because we are running the social media for the event and sometimes we are a sponsor. I haven’t really had a chance to be a part of those events since it’s a different part of the company than where I work, but I still think it’s pretty cool to know we are a part of something big.

But I got a chance to attend something very cool this past week. The company I work for was running the social media for the Artios Awards, which is an award show for casting directors. The company had a table at the event, and there was an extra seat that was offered to me. I had to double-check with my other job to make sure I could switch around my hours and that I had something that was appropriate to wear (I don’t have a lot of excuses to dress fancy and I got rid of a lot of clothes in my move), but I was able to make it work so I could go!

It was held at the Beverly Hilton, which isn’t that far from me and where the last in-person SAG-AFTRA Convention was. Oddly enough, the outfit I decided to wear for the Artios Awards was the same thing I wore to the Convention gala. As soon as I got there, I met up with some co-workers so we could get a few work things done before the event started. We weren’t able to be a part of the official red carpet, but we were allowed to use the step and repeat before the red carpet opened and I was able to get some fun photos.

Once the red carpet started, many of my co-workers were busy with doing tasks, but I was able to hang out with a few people while we waited for the dinner and award show to start. It was the first time I got to hang out with some of these co-workers, so it was nice to get to know them outside of a Zoom screen.

And when we got inside for dinner, we had a table very close to the front of the stage.

The dinner was before the show started, so we didn’t have to split our focus. And since our table was just for our company, it was nice having time to get to know everyone else and be a bit silly when we normally are doing more serious tasks in our meetings.

The actual awards show was really fun. It recognized casting directors for different types of film, tv, and theater. I had heard of many of the casting directors who were nominated and won, but there were so many that I didn’t know since they are a part of a different side of the industry than what I typically audition for. Even though I was there for work, I did take some mental notes of who was nominated so I could make sure I followed them on social media later.

And this was the first large award show that I had been able to attend. I haven’t been to any of the big award shows (yet), and for some of the smaller ones that I could potentially go to, I haven’t gotten a ticket or had the money if you had to pay for a ticket. I was so grateful that I was invited by my job to this because I had a great time and it was a wonderful experience.

As I’ve said frequently in the past, I have been trying to push myself to be more social and put myself out there, and this was the perfect thing for me to do. I had a chance to meet a lot of new people, see people I haven’t seen in years, and just be around others which is something I haven’t been doing that much. And yes, having the chance to dress up and be on a red carpet was nice as well and something that I hope I will have more opportunities to do in the future.

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General Meeting (or Hanging Out With A Casting Director For Free)

Posted on October 9, 2014 | 2 comments

This week, I had a general meeting with a casting director.

For those of you who aren’t actors, a general meeting is when a casting director takes some time to meet with you even though they might not be casting something in particular then. They get to know you a little and sometimes you read a scene from an old script.

While this sounds like a great concept and it used to happen more often, sadly this is a rarity for actors to find these days. More often you will have to pay to meet a casting director.

Paying to meet a casting director is technically illegal, but they still happen. They are called workshops and companies promote them by saying that this particular casting director is coming in because they have to cast a certain role.

And to meet them, you have to pay a fee (and in turn the casting director who attends gets paid to be there).

I’ve always found this to be a bit sketchy. If the casting director’s job is to find talent to fill a role, why do we have to pay to be considered? And being at a workshop is not an audition for a particular role. It’s more like an audition to get an audition.

For non-acting jobs, it would be like paying to apply for a job posting that you found. Not paying a monthly (or yearly) fee for a site and you can apply to all the jobs you want. But paying $20-80 (that’s typically what it costs for each workshop) for each resume you send out.

That’s why I find it a little ridiculous. If you disagree with me, I first ask you to check out these two webpages. And if you still disagree with me, that is your opinion and I’m not going to stop anyone from spending their money how they want to spend it. I just want to speak out for anyone who is on the fence if they should be spending their money on workshops.

Those two webpages have information from Billy DaMota. He is the biggest anti-workshop advocate in my opinion and he is always happy to tell actors about free workshops around town (sadly there are very few). He seems to be looking out for actors as much as he can.

And Billy DaMota was the casting director who did the general with me this week. He took me out to lunch (he paid but because I was going to workout right after I only had a juice) and we had a nice chat. We discussed my background and a recent audition that I did for a project that he cast. We also discussed the podcast I work for (he was a guest on it in the past) and some guests that he has in mind for us.

While I didn’t audition for him for any parts, to me this industry is about building real relationships with people. I know that if Billy sees that my agents have submitted me for a part that he agrees I’m right for, he will bring me in. He wants to see me succeed as an actor.

And while I have plenty of friends who do workshops and have said that that is the reason that they booked a particular role, for me that is not a priority for spending my money. I need to focus on paying down my debt (it’s still not as low as I’d like it to be but it’s moving in the right direction) and getting into another acting class. And while there are many casting directors who claim that they will not bring you in unless you are well-known or attend one of their workshops (I’ve had 3 casting directors tell me this in the past year), I have actually gone into all of their offices without ever having to spend a cent. While technically I have not booked anything, attending a workshop doesn’t guarantee a booking either.

Basically what I want you all to know after reading this post today is if you are an actor, you don’t have to spend money to meet casting directors if you don’t want to. And if you need any advice from a casting director, I highly recommend contacting Billy DaMota and asking him. He’s more than happy to answer questions.

At least reasonable questions. Don’t ask him if he can cast you in something. šŸ˜‰

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Happy Hour and Happiness (or I’m On Another Blog Now)

Posted on September 26, 2014 | 4 comments

After working my at-home job yesterday, I headed over to the valley to meet my friend Rayshell for Happy Hour. I hadn’t seen Rayshell since my birthday party and we both had a lot of catching up to do.

It was a super fun happy hour. We were able to get drinks and food for $5 each. And of course, I had a Dirty Shirley.

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Sometimes the stress of working and trying to find more work makes me forget to go out and have fun with my friends. And this was the perfect chance to have a relaxing Happy Hour with an awesome friend.

We were catching up on my new job and Rayshell’s current job when my phone alerted me that someone @replied me on twitter. I glanced at my phone and saw that casting director Marci Liroff had included me in a tweet.

A little backstory.

Last month, Marci sent me an email asking about my tips and tricks for preparing for the fall tv season. I was more than happy to share my advice as well and send her the links to all the posts that I’ve written about the subject.

Marci thanked me and told me that she was working on an article for Backstage on the topic and asked what she could share of my advice. I told her that she could share everything that she wanted to. I feel like sharing my knowledge won’t hurt my career, so why not?

The article hadn’t gone up by the time the fall tv season started, so I thought maybe she changed her mind on the article. But at Happy Hour yesterday, that tweet was Marci sharing that the article had gone live and that it included advice (or as she put it “golden nuggets”) from me!

Of course, as soon as I saw that, I had to look at the article on my phone (Rayshell wanted to see it to).

And it’s awesome.

A lot of my advice in the article is stuff that I’ve shared on here before. But by having it in Backstage, the advice is reaching much bigger audience than I get here.

I was so excited to be a part of this article and honored and a little surprised that I was the only actor who Marci used for advice. I really feel like this means that I am doing the right things when it comes to research. And all this research will eventually lead to a great acting job for me.

I just have to be patient and be grateful that my advice is respected in this industry.

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SAG-AFTRA Conservatory (or Feeling Like I’m Back In College)

Posted on July 17, 2013 | Comments Off on SAG-AFTRA Conservatory (or Feeling Like I’m Back In College)

This weekend was the SAG-AFTRA Conservatory intensive weekend. Throughout the year, the Conservatory hold various events. But during the intensive weekend, you can attend up to 9 events in a weekend.

This was my first year being part of the Conservatory. And due to my crazy schedule, the intensive weekend was the first thing I had been able to attend.

Out of 9 available class times, I went to 3 (1 on Saturday and 2 on Sunday).

Saturday was a panel of casting directors. This class was very reminiscent of events that I used to go to at The Actors’ Network. First, the moderator asked the panel some questions, then it was a Q&A open to the audience. Most of the questions were goo. There were a couple of beginner questions, but nothing too amateur (all attendees were members of the union after all). The only part of the panel I didn’t really like was when the casting directors said that to get seen for some of the smaller parts (like the 1 or 2 line parts), you have to do one of the paid workshops that they do. I’ve already mentioned my opinion on workshops, so I won’t repeat that.

First for me on Sunday was a class to help us find our “type”. For you non-actors reading this, it means what type of characters that others (preferably strangers) can imagine us playing by just looking at us. There were 12 people who took notes on my type. When I got my notes back, most of them said similar things. People see me playing a working class or middle class character. Possibly the funny best friend of the lead. And I look friendly, fun, and kind. These were things I already knew about my type, but it’s always good to hear what new people have to think about my look.

My last class was a panel of showrunners. I got to sit with a bunch of my friends in this class (which always makes things more fun for me). I loved hearing from these producers/writers about what their life is like working for their shows. This is not something I get to hear about very often, and it was a nice lesson on what their jobs are on set.

All in all, it was a pretty full weekend for me. I took a lot of notes (and still need to go and organize them!) and learned many new things. I still need to reapply for the Conservatory for the upcoming year, but I really am going to try to make it to more of the regular classes. I pay for it, so I should take advantage of it!

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Being Excited Too Early (or The Ups And Downs of Acting)

Posted on January 22, 2013 | Comments Off on Being Excited Too Early (or The Ups And Downs of Acting)

Sometimes, I love the ups and downs of the entertainment industry. It’s so hopeful. You never know when the big job that will make all the difference is around the corner. It just takes one great booking to tip the scales in your favor.

And there is the constant rejection, but I’ve gotten used to that and it doesn’t bother me too much anymore.

Except recently.

I had submitted myself for a job (I’m keeping the details vague to protect the project and casting director involved). This was a self-submission, not through my agents, so I was responsible for being on top of things.

I got an email back from the casting director with an audition notice. But in the notes of the notice, it said that all the casting director needed was a picture of us showing face and body and they were going to cast off those pictures. That’s nice. I didn’t have to drive and wait at an audition, and I was able to take a photo on my break at my day job (I know it isn’t great, but all they needed was to see what our body looked like).

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Then, on Sunday, I got an email that said that I booked the job! I was going to get a phone call on Monday morning with all the details. I was super excited (this was a pretty cool project). I let my agents know that I booked something and that I would give them details once I had them.

Monday came and I heard nothing. I was so paranoid that my phone would go off when I was in spin class or in the shower. I kept my phone next to me at all times when I could.

By 4pm, I started to worry. I emailed my agents and asked their advice. They told me to email the casting director to check in. I did that, and I when I got an email back from the casting director, I found out that I got the booking email by mistake. I was not on the final list for the project.

I was a bit pissed off. Not at the casting director, who seemed very apologetic and thanked me for being so understanding. It was an honest mistake, and was not done to hurt me in any way. But I was pissed at myself. I got so excited that I had a booking. And that it the reasonable response to the email that I got. But now I’m in a little funk.

But this funk is only going to make me push harder to get that first booking for 2013! I know I am going to get an amazing project in the near future and I can’t wait to see what it is!

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