No Regrets

Posted on 21. Sep, 2010 by sethcaskey.

I am truly blessed to have such wonderful friends and family. During the past 24 hours, I can’t even count the number of emails, texts, tweets, phone calls, voicemails and Facebook messages that I have received expressing congratulations. Let me start by saying thank you to each of you for your love and support.

If there was ever any doubt about whether or not I liked TV as a kid, just ask my mom. She would literally have to lock me outside in the backyard to pull me away from the tube. So it was no surprise that whenever someone asked me what I wanted to do when I grew up, I would say – I want to be on TV.

Most kids would have said doctor, policeman, fire fighter – but not me. I wanted to be an actor. But life happens, right? We grow up. We’re trained to be responsible and do the things that everyone wants us to do. But deep in my heart I still always wanted to be on TV.

And then one day a student asked me, what’s the one thing you regret not doing after college? Without hesitation I said, moving to LA to see if I could make it on TV as an actor. That split-second response came from such a place of truth – that I was forced to take a look at it.

So four years ago (last week) Erica and I packed up most of what we owned and drove across country to answer that question. The journey so far has been full of many highs, a lot more lows and a helluva lot of traffic.

I know I’ve told this story many times before, but I find it particularly relevant today.

So, thank you for watching The Event last night. Thank you for showering Erica and I with your support. But if you did watch, I hope you’ll take away more than hey, I know that guy. What I hope you’ll say is hey, there’s a guy who ‘always wanted to be on TV’ and tonight he was.

I may or may not ever be a series regular on a sci-fi hour-long drama, win an Academy Award or live in a mansion in Beverly Hills. And that’s OK. It’s also OK, that I can now go back to that student and say that I no longer have that regret. There are things we do in life that are worth far more personal value than money could ever supply. Being in that pilot last night was one of those things for me.

So now I have a question for you. What’s the one thing you regret not doing (after college, after having kids, before getting married, ever)? What’s something you’ve “always wanted to do?”

Now go do it. I did. And if I can, so can you.

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Pesky Q & A

Posted on 09. Apr, 2010 by sethcaskey.

Holy crap it’s been a long time since I’ve updated this blog. Lots of great things have been happening in the past couple of months, which unfortunately has redirected much of my time. (read: excuse) That aside, I would like to continue my thoughts on getting the most out of casting director workshops.

Let’s get started.

Regardless of the format that you choose, each CD workshop you attend will have some sort of question and answer time. This is where actors can ask questions, learn about current projects and any specifics about the CDs particular office.

At first glance, this would appear to be a fairly straightforward time of the eventing. Oh, but it’s not….If there’s one thing that I hear from CDs all the time is that they can smell desperation a mile away. Actors who come into an audition or a meeting needing or wanting approval is an immediate turn-off.

So here’s the thing. (And I’m going to be brutally honest here.)

• Don’t use this time to suck up.
• Don’t try and impress the CD.
• Don’t be a desperate actor.

Seriously folks. I cringe out of embarrassment when I hear some of the questions people ask.

My #1 recommendation to for getting the most out of a casting director workshop is: Beeeeee yourself!

Yes, there is some important information that you should walk out knowing (and for that I have put together a little form if you care to use it). But remember, CDs are there to get to know you as a person.

Fact:

1. A casting director is never going to hire you on the spot. Ever.
2. It is HIGHLY* unlikely that you are going to be offered an audition on the spot.
3. There is no job on the line. It’s not a interview. It’s simply an opportunity for a person (casting director) to meet and connect with another person (new actor). Period.
4. Take all of the pressure off of yourself of getting this person to like you and trying to impress them – and just have fun!

I know that sounds too simple to be true, but I promise you – less is more.

1. Be a nice, fun PERSON.
2. Do good work.
3. Ask intelligent and appropriate questions.
4. Trust that you are enough.

If this sounds harsh, I apologize. After having done literally hundreds of casting director workshops, it pains me to know a wonderfully talented actor who tries too hard to make a good impression and ends up achieving the opposite.

That’s it?

So that you know that I’m not just venting, but am attempting to provide something useful with this post – I have put together a little download for you. This is a mash-up of something a friend gave me a while back along with some great questions that you should ask a CD. Enjoy.

• Sample CD Workshop Q & A

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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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2009: I’m not dead yet…

Posted on 19. Nov, 2009 by sethcaskey.

42 days and counting.

That’s how long we have until it becomes 2010. (Which raises the question is two-thousand-ten OR twenty-ten?) Verdict still out.

Anyway, a friend of mine posted to Twitter a few weeks ago that he was disappointed that he hadn’t reached one of his goals for 2009. Now granted it was a lofty one, but an attainable one none the less.

My first response was to say, “2009′s not over yet. There’s still time.”

That was met with a, “Yeah, but it’s not likely to happen.”

Grrrrr…..

One of my favorite things to do over the holidays is to sit down and write out my goals for the coming year. I buy a new notebook, get a new pen (I’m a bit of an office supply nerd) and spend a couple days thinking through the areas of my life and come up with goals I want to accomplish.

A few days ago I went back and looked over those that I set for 2009 to see how I am doing. (I try and do this at least once a quarter to stay on track)

I opened them up and realized that it’s November and I haven’t yet reached many of them. Most of them are acting related, and when it comes right down to it, I really have no control over. I can’t “make” someone hire me for a “minimum of one co-star role on an episodic television show.”

So what’s my point?

2009 is NOT DEAD YET!

While there may only be a few short weeks left, why not close out this year with a bang. Why not hunker down and spend the next 42 days taking some specific steps to achieve one of your goals.

You may not reach it, but I guarantee the New Year’s mojito will taste much sweeter knowing that in these last 42 days you really did something and “mint” it.

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I want to be Kringy…

Posted on 13. Nov, 2009 by sethcaskey.

(To be honest, I’ve been sitting on this post for a while. I wrote it, then re-wrote it, then re-wrote it again. I finally decided to quit with the self-editing and just say what it is that I’m feeling, because no doubt there’s somebody out there who’ll get it. So here goes.)

“You’re very Kringy,” said Kendra Patterson, casting associate for LaPadura/Hart to one of the actors that I read with at the Actor’s Key on Sunday.

“Pardon me,” the actor said.

“It’s just a term we have around the office for someone that has the kind of qualities that we know our producers will like. It’s hard to describe. We just say that people are Kringy or not.”

HUH?

So this week I have been back in the casting office of SHOW X. One of the CDs was heading out of town and they needed help prepping the next two episodes.

Most of my duties involve fielding messages, taking pitch calls, scheduling appointments – and at one point I even got to pitch a couple of actor friends. (Who, by the way since the first draft of this post, BOOKED the show!)

STEP ONE: Put out the breakdown

A big part of prepping a show is to put out a breakdown. The CDs on SHOW X prefer to write the breakdowns themselves instead of having Breakdown Services do it for them:

We don’t like to give too much of the plot away in the breakdown, so I keep it as generic as possible – while hitting the main traits of the character.

STEP TWO: And the calls came a tumblin’ in

Even though it clearly said on the breakdown ABSOLUTELY NO PHONE CALLS, by the time we got back from lunch (lunch is typically from 1:00-2:00 PM) there were already dozens of messages. A quick check online revealed hundreds of electronic submissions. Where to start?

The CD went through the online submissions, while I took pitch calls from agents and managers, looked actors up online and created a list of people to pass on for consideration. Like these agents and managers, I read the exact same breakdown and immediately thought of actors that I know who would fit the bill. (That’s where my own pitch came into play.)

STEP THREE: Rank and file

For those that don’t know (hey, I didn’t know this before I started working in this office), the way your headshot comes up on Breakdown Express allows a CD to assign you a 1, 2 or 3. Each office is going to have a different meaning for these numbers, but in this office you’re either a (2) SCREEN or (1) SET-UP. Meaning the CD is bringing you in for a pre-read = SCREEN or taking you straight to producers = SET-UP.

STEP FOUR: Are they “Kringy?”

When the CD showed me the headshots of guys to set up, I noticed something – they all looked the same. I don’t mean that they all had the exact same physical features, but there was definitely something about all of them that was very similar. They all had the same intensity, the same vibe, the same essence - to borrow a phrase – the same Kringiness.

STEP FIVE: Ok, wrap it up Seth…

So what’s my point? Let’s face it. It is most likely that I will never be cast on SHOW X. And I can sit at home and watch my favorite show and think that “I am SO RIGHT for this show,” and not be the least bit Kringy. Or I could be the Kringiest actor in town and my representation is pitching me to SHOW X where I’m probably not going to get in the door.

So, as if there isn’t enough to think about – add that to the list.

This isn’t meant to make you feel worse about the possibility of finding your way on to the flatscreen, it’s meant to inspire you to check out the shows that you want to be on, pull up those actors headshots and try and find what vibe you get from them.

Chances are if you can find it – you will have discovered that show’s Kringiness.

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