Find your format.

Posted on 14. Jan, 2010 by sethcaskey.

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Cold Reading vs. Prepared Scenes

Workshops are an investment in your career. They are an an opportunity for you to make a first impression to someone in the casting community. Choosing the right format for you will help you get the most out of your investment.

COLD READ FORMAT

Advantages:

• CD will usually choose sides for you. This can give actors a good idea of how a CD sees them. It’s great feedback in confirming or determining your primary type.
• The material that you will perform is usually something that the CD knows well. This makes adjusting a performance easier and more effective. If the CD knows the material and what their producers like to see from actors, it can make adjusting a performance more specific.
• Working with another actor. Depending on the skill level of the other actors taking the workshop, this can be an advantage or disadvantage.

Disadvantages:

• Actors have a limited amount of time with the material. (typically 10-15 min) This can cause dome actors great anxiety when they get up to perform.
• Working with another actor. Depending on the skill level of the other actors taking the workshop, this can be an advantage or disadvantage.
• Performing in front of a group. Cold read workshops are usually structured so that actors present their scenes in front of the entire group. Again, this can bring a level of anxiety to actors not comfortable performing in front of a large group.
• If you do not have strong cold reading skills – it will show.

PREPARED SCENE FORMAT

Advantages:

• Actors can select material that highlights their primary type. It allows actors to show CDs that they understand their primary type, and know how they are going to be cast. Note: It’s important that you find the right scene. Where can you go to do this?
  • Look at the student films or projects that you have booked  use sides from there.
  • Find a show or movie and transcribe a scene (or look online)
  • Write something original. Watch a couple episodes of the show. Figure out the tone, pace, cadence and then use your imagination to create an original scene in the same vein.
• Audition room simulator. A one-on-one, prepared scene format, reading with a reader is a close approximation to what an actual audition in the CDs office will be like.

Disadvantages:

• Making the wrong scene choice. Not knowing your primary type, or selecting a scene that does not show it can affect the impression the CD has of an actor. They may question whether or not an actor knows himself/herself and where they fit into the casting mix.
• Performing the same scene too long. Finding the right scene that showcases your primary type is great, but performing it too much can cause it to become stale. This can come across in the room as disinterested and not really listening (because you know where the scene is going). Find a couple of scenes that you can rotate through to stay familiar, but keep it fresh

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Are you ready to rock?

Posted on 16. Dec, 2009 by sethcaskey.

Ask yourself honestly, Am I ready to rock?

• There’s no wrong answer to this question!
• We are all at different levels in our careers. Know that everyone is growing at his/her own pace and be honest with yourself about where you are.
• Are you ready to work now?
  • If you have never seen Rachel McAdams taped audition for The Notebook - watch it now. She was ready to work.

Use workshops as a chance to shine

• Pick the best material to showcase your primary type
• Consider cold-reading training

Consider audition training

• Holly Powell Studios
• Margie Haber Studios (I have not personally studied with Margie, but have several friends who have and have great things to say about her audition class)

iPhone version of video

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Do your homework

Posted on 08. Dec, 2009 by sethcaskey.

Where to go?

Following is a partial list of places where you can take casting director workshops. There are dozens of workshop locations in Los Angeles. Each has their own unique format and membership requirements.

• The Actor’s Key (in the interest of full-disclosure – I work here)
• AIA Studios
• Act Now!
• Actor’s Co-Op Group
• One on One Productions
• Talent To Go
• SAG Foundation Casting Access Project (free to SAG members! Frequency restrictions do apply, so check out their site for more info. I work here too.)

Talk with your friends about where they go

• Check with people in class, on set or online
• Showfax discussion board
• Hollywood Happy Hour

Find out about fees

• Prices can range from $35 – 50+ per workshop
• See if there is a discount for purchasing multiple workshops at once
• Ask about any membership fees

Ask about an audit

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Why Workshop?

Posted on 01. Dec, 2009 by sethcaskey.

For the Actor

• start building relationships with casting offices
• showcase your craft
• meet other actors

For the Casting Director

• start building relationships with actors
• replenish their supply of trusted talent
• additional income

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Man, I was way off…

Posted on 25. Nov, 2009 by sethcaskey.

I had an audition last Friday, and in my opinion – did not do a good job.

“A-B-C. A-Always, B-Be, C-Closing. Always be closing, always be closing.”

I had just been given a Glengary opportunity, and I did not feel like a closer.

I called my manager, to let her know the audition was over, and as best I could said, “It was great.”

“Ok, well I’ll let you know as soon as I hear from them.”

I love her attitude.  She’s so caring, optimistic and unflappable.

No less than an hour later my phone rings, and sure enough it’s her letting me know that they put a pin in me, and that we should know on Monday whether or not I had booked the part. WHAT?! Seriously?

My self-doubting mind immediately kicked in, and I replayed the audition over-and-over again. Each time, I felt like I could have done so much better.

Flash forward to Monday afternoon when my phone rings again and it’s Tina letting me know that I had in fact booked the job and will shoot the week after Thanksgiving. After calling my wife, and doing the Balki Bartokomous Dance of Joy, I stopped to think about what had just happened and came to the following conclusions:

• We’re our toughest critics. As actors, we are not qualified judges of our own work. It’s impossible for us to be objective.
• As much as we may think that we have it figured out – there really is no telling what “they” are looking for.
• When we stay present, and go with whatever moment presets itself – we open ourselves up to let something greater come out.

So with tomorrow being Thanksgiving there is so much to be thankful for. One is for the many relationships that I have built over the last two years working at The Actor’s Key. Those relationships are no doubt what got me in the door, and I can only imagine what helped me book the role.

The journey up until now has been exciting, frustrating, thrilling and exhausting. I have wanted to quit and throw in the towel many more times that I’d like to admit. But just like 2009 -I’m not dead yet.

Happy Thanksgiving, and next week I start a new video series on Casting Director Workshops and how to make the most of them as an actor.

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