Reality of Doing

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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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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Answering Your Questions

Posted on 12. Nov, 2009 by sethcaskey.

A quick video post answering some email questions.

Color balance went screwy on my camera, so this one’s going vintage.

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