I had something completely different planned for this week’s report, but since we’re in the height of pilot season and I’m seeing something come up over and over again, I thought it was important to bring you this instead.
Being a part of the Boost My Star tribe has its perks.
In today’s report, we are going over something it is negatively impacting actors in droves, and because you will be in the know going forward, you can completely side step the obstacle and increase the effectiveness of your auditions.
This phenomenon has been steadily increasing for the past few years and I have beens sounding the alarm on it, at every opportunity.
Now, with pilot season 2020 in full swing, it has finally hit critical mass so it’s more important than ever before, for you to be in the know.
If you feel like you should be booking more often than you currently are, this just might be the culprit.
If you are having good auditions, but you are not getting as many callbacks as you feel you deserve, this might be the reason for that too.
And, if you are wondering how actors with less experience and varying levels of talent can book much more often, this is probably why...
If you have been around Boost My Star for any length of time, you know that I’m a big advocate of developing your talent and refining your skill set.
You should also know that, it’s only half the equation, at best.
In fact I would state that, in most scenarios, it’s only about a third of what matters. So what makes up the rest?
A number of things.
Today, actors have to be much more than just “actors” and they have to bring other things to the table in order to move forward in the casting process.
I could literally write a book on all of that, but there is one thing in particular that Casting Directors are so desperate to find, they sort through hundreds upon hundreds of actors to try and find it.
And, while you should absolutely nail your audition, you should also focus on giving CDs what they want.
Increasingly, over the last few years they are in search of actors who can deliver on set but that are also genuine. They are desperate to find feel good stories from real people, and they are hard to come by.
More on that in a sec.
See, it’s not that they don’t exist. It’s that 99.9999999% of actors are operating under the old industry model. Before Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram the image of a “movie star” was quite different.
Now, because audiences demand so much more insight into the personal lives of their favorite actors, you must be more relatable and likable.
You can and should be doing this through social media because, these days, your social media presence precedes you. In fact, it’s so important, I’ve created a way to help you get the ball rolling on social media. The details are here.
What I find in almost every case, is that actors have no clue what to do on social and they resort to brunch selfies and try to emulate what other (much more established accounts) are doing.
Instead just be yourself and forge real connections with your audience.
Go through and clean up your Instagram feed. Remember, your social media precedes you. So, if all you have are duck face, cocktail selfies, go through and clean up your feed and start posting more relatable content.
If you have a bad audition, post about it. If you have a great audition, post about it. Your audience wants to follow along in your journey however winding that road may be, and Casting Directors love to see the ups and downs.
It shows that you are progressing in your career and ultimately, they want and need to forge a connection with you too.
When it comes to doing this during an audition, your body language and the general way in which you carry yourself speaks volumes.
Relax, roll your soldiers back and pay attention to your tone of voice. Most actors go into an audition wearing their nerves on their sleeve.
Treat Casting Directors as peers and colleagues to give yourself the best chance of booking.
Even the most seasoned actors give in to nerves when interacting with CDs. When this happens, they resort to trying to impress CDs and that is the all too common audition killer
Take a deep breath and act like you belong there. Being nervous gives an air of pleading for an opportunity, rather than reading for something you deserve and should be trusted with.
You and the CD are industry colleagues. Act as such. They are not your superior and they don’t want to be seen or treated that way.
Being nervous during your audition and treating Casting Directors as superiors speaks to your headspace and it correlates to how you perform on set.
I’ve seen so many actors who fit that description, get a small taste of success and turn into absolute prima donnas.
CDs know it too and they are abundantly cautious when it comes to looking for the warning signs.
After all, when they move you forward in the casting process Casting Directors are putting their stamp of approval on you. Their name, reputation, and jobs are always on the line.
This is why the industry today is so focused on reputation. What many actors don’t realize is that you can have a stellar industry reputation, even if you don’t have a lot of credits right now.
Being castable is about much more than just being talented. You have to put CDs at ease and casting builds a profile on you before making casting decisions.
When the stakes are high for the role you are reading for, it happens even before moving into the callback stage.
There are several factors that go into determining an actors “castability.” We’ll go over them in detail at another time.
For now, I want you to focus on building an industry reputation that matches your goals. While it’s far from being a perfect set up, the industry has chosen to use IMDb as the benchmark for this and it cannot be ignored by anyone who is looking to become a professional actor.
I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase “show my your friends and I’ll show you your future.” For actors this is becoming “show me your STArmeter and I’ll show you your future.”
This is how you give yourself the best chance of booking. Start putting things in motion before your next audition and you will notice the difference it makes.
Remember, I’m only an email or a comment away. I’m always happy to help however I can because my goal is to...
See you at top,
Scott