So Close

"Great. What's your name?"

"Lira."

"What?"

"Lira."

"K-A-?"

"L-I-R-A."

Dear Struggling Actress

Kyle C wrote in with a question:

I have my headshots. I've taken and still am taking classes. But, I have no experience whatsoever. I've done a few plays in my high school, though.

1. Should I just not put anything on the acting experiences part of my resume or put in the ones in my high school?

2. I have a few friends that work in videography. Would it be fine if I put up a quality demo reel of things that we can film ourselves or would that be a bad idea?

I'm eighteen, by the way. I don't know if that makes any sort of difference.



Hi Kyle! Thanks for reading and submitting your question.

You're 18. That makes a HUGE difference, because, at 18, your tv age could be anywhere from 15-21. You might have a bigger range than that, even. And when agents open up your submission envelope and see that you're young, they're going to already expect minimal credits. Score!

And correct me if I'm wrong, but doing a few plays in high school required a lot of time and commitment on your part. You rehearsed every night for weeks, right? You had what, 4-6 performances? Where you acted? That definitely goes on your resume! You're young, you want to act, so you've already auditioned and booked a role in your high school, and performed the role. These are all good things.

When I was 18, the only experience I had was the community and high school plays I did, and various videos, or indie films, my friends and I made/produced. And those things were on my resume.

And under training, I had my choir class listed too. Anything performing related will go on there. If you took 3 years of a language and are fluent, put that under Special Skills. Played varsity sports? Marched in band? That all goes on there. And agents can get an idea of how well rounded you are.

And now for your second question. If you have a few friends that can create a quality reel, then YES, YES, YES, film yourself. Find plays at your school or local library and find a good scene, or, heck, record yourself doing a monologue because having a reel is only going to help you. Especially if you're currently taking on camera acting classes and know how to perform for camera.

Here's a great sample of an actor's resume from the good people at actorresumeservices.com. The only thing that's missing is the online link to your reel (once it's all finished).

Thanks for reading, Kyle, and let me know if you have any more questions!

Success!

Black and white makes it artsy.

We were hoping to have 8 people in our audience for Our Time of the Month; one person more than our cast. If we had 8 people, we considered ourselves to be very successful.

We had 23.

TWENTY FRICKIN THREE! (that's more than many under 99 seat theatres!)

And it was GREAT! It went so incredibly well for our first foray - everything went as planned and there were no hiccups - NONE at all!

And don't think that I wasn't nervous about the whole thing, because I WAS. I had the evil butterflies that make me have to pee every three minutes (tmi, anyone?) but once we actually started the show, away they flew and it was great. The audience laughed at all the right places, they teared up at all the sad places, and it was so fantastic to see our baby take its first steps.

When we started what I like to refer to as the second act, which required audience participation in order to work, WORKED. They were happy to share their stories, and it was fun to switch roles, from performer to audience, and from audience to now, performer.

Kisses c. Tracy Clifton

The third act, which also requires audience participation, also went smoothly. And everyone LOVED it.

You know what else they loved? All the chocolate and wine!!!

In fact, the lovely ladies at Once a Month even came and wrote about us. 

Our next show is Friday May 11th. Come and see us, yeah?

Rehearsal

Our other three ladies of our first cast of Our Time of the Month were understandably apprehensive about the show. We have one Mandatory Rehearsal, and another final run through on the night of the show, and they were curious as to what we were really doing and how involved they actually were. They've been cast for several weeks, give their material a week after that, and that was it. No other information was given.

The (one) Mandatory Rehearsal cleared it all up for them. We ran the show, the end piece, we talked about our Storytime aspect of the "second act" and then told them what the raffle is. Not only were they Super excited about what we're doing, they are extremely bummed they can't win the raffle (It's going to be epic).

We went from having a group of cautious actors to a full on cast of very excited (and talented!) performers who have a gigantic appreciation not only for what we're all doing, but also for being a part of it themselves.

To watch an idea go from a tiny little seed to a full on blooming jacaranda tree is simply just incredible. And best of all, this tree has branches! There are so many more possibilities, and we can always write more, add more in, switch out others, and grow, grow, grow.

This is our rehearsal space.

It IS a pajama party after all.

I'll let you know how the first show goes.

xoxo
Lira

Thank you Paulina!

Paulina, you are a sweetheart! :)
See you at the show!

Everyone else, you can still buy tickets! Info below.
__________________________________________________________

This is it! This is the show I've been working on the last month and a half. It's a fun Girls Only Night, and you can read about it here.

Of the 20 monologues we'll be performing (there's 7 of us in this thing) I wrote 19 of them. And the last piece, written by the bitingly funny Tracy,  is so freaking awesome, you're going to cheer. Because only Tracycan write about the death of feminism from Twilight in such a hilarious and pointed way.

There is complimentary wine and chocolate, stories shared, and dancing.

Sounds like a ton of fun, right? Right!

You can buy tickets here. I'd love to see you there.

If you can't make it to the show on April 21st, we have another show on May 11th. You can like our page for updates. 

Very excited, you guys. Very excited.

Our Time of the Month

This is it! This is the show I've been working on the last month and a half. It's a fun Girls Only Night, and you can read about it here.

Of the 20 monologues we'll be performing (there's 7 of us in this thing) I wrote 19 of them. And the last piece, written by the bitingly funny Tracy,  is so freaking awesome, you're going to cheer. Because only Tracycan write about the death of feminism from Twilight in such a hilarious and pointed way.

There is complimentary wine and chocolate, stories shared, and dancing.

Sounds like a ton of fun, right? Right!

You can buy tickets here. I'd love to see you there.

If you can't make it to the show on April 21st, we have another show on May 11th. You can like our page for updates. 

Very excited, you guys. Very excited.

Headshots on the Floor

The auditions went great! We only needed 3 women, and we were inundated with so much talent and great personalities that I said to my fellow producers, "...Can we add a fourth and double cast?" I got a huge YES! and that's what we did!

And, get this, we even have a list of alternates; women we fell in love with and want to eventually get onstage. (You're one of them Morgan!!) If all goes well, we'll have a third show, a fourth, and on and on, and we can get everyone we love in this thing.

So now, I'm grouping my ladies, making sure those who have to have one date over the other are in their proper group, which means that I have 8 headshots on the floor with sticky notes on their necks indicating which monologue I've given them.

Eight incredibly talented ladies who flavor the written words with their personalities; who can take a character I've dreamt up, and make real. All eight incredibly talented ladies very excited to be a part of this show.

It's fantastic and wonderful and humbling.

Auditions!

We're holding auditions today for our Untitled Theatre Project!

It's a cold read of monologues - that I've written. Some may stay in the show, some may not, but it's going to be a day filled with women reading my words. Giving life to an idea I had, giving character to a character going through some pretty rough stuff.

It's gonna be awesome!!

Of course, I've held castings before, where people were reading my words, but I have to say, it's always thrilling. There will always be at least one person who says, "This is hilarious!" and while I usually respond, "Thank you; I'll tell the writer." I really want to squeal, "AHHH! THANK YOU!!!!" Because oftentimes, my humor falls a little flat to others, and when someone responds positively - where it's so funny they HAVE to say so in the room, it's a great feeling.

Will we be ready to draw the curtain in only 3 weeks? Yup! And it will be quite the adventure!

How It All Breaks Down

If you have time, you should definitely click on the link below to read Tracy Weisert's entire synopsis of the seminar casting director Patrick Baca gave last year. I found this extremely helpful and hope you do too.

 

 

 

 

 

From Inside The Industry Seminar Synopsis by Tracy Weisert:

 

Patrick Baca's Network Casting Pyramid:
This is a nine-tiered pyramid (in radial form) that casting directors have to navigate through when casting actors in series regular roles on a network television pilot. Step one begins with the breakdown being released and steps 8 and 9 are the studio test and finally, the network test.

 

Step 1- Breakdown Released

“Basically the breakdown winds up being an announcement from me, the buyer, let’s say, to the sellers-the agents and the managers.  It lets them know that I’m in business, where I am, what it is that I am doing and what it is that I am looking for.  This just gets the ball going.  I can release it as far and wide as I want.  I’m not sure where the term ‘casting’ came from but casting also means casting a line in the water.  Maybe that’s where it came from but we want to look at the actor markets in terms of bodies of water. Here in LA…in Hollywood, this is the biggest and widest talent pool in all the world!  I’m pretty lucky as a casting director to be working in this pool because it is the deepest and widest of all the pools!  It is an Olympic sized pool basically, so if you can’t get something cast here, then you should be doing something else because I don’t have to throw my line out very far.  I don’t have to look much further than Los Angeles.  If time and budget allow, you can look in other places…other pools of water.”

 

Step 2- Agents and Managers Submit

“Regarding representation-Do I trust their taste in actors?”

 

Step 3- Casting Director Sets up Sessions

“The casting director starts sifting through the submissions.  Like I said, I might have 1000 submissions that I’m getting and there are probably more if I’m also looking at the actor submissions from the casting services.  That’s where, I think,  casting directors have the greatest sense of power is in that third step because no one’s looking over my shoulder as I’m going through the submissions telling me who to bring in.  They might have suggestions but they are not looking at all the submissions.  That’s what I think I’m hired for is my taste in the actors and that’s where my knowledge really sort of comes in.  Sometimes actors will ask me, ’What do you look at?  What criteria determines whether you select this person versus that person?’

 

First of all the image, the photograph itself is the first thing that I am going to see.  I already have an image in my head and some sort of a vision based on my team, our vision, of what this character might look like, so the photograph is very important. Then the resume…if I’m casting comedy which is one of my passions, one of my loves and one of my specialties is comedy casting.  When you cast a sitcom pilot, you look for sitcom credits on that resume because sitcom acting is very specific.  It’s got its own rhythm and its’ own tempo and not everybody can do it.  Remember I spoke about that pool of talent that’s here in LA?  Inside that pool there is a little wading pool [laughter] within it of people who can do comedy.  Not everybody can do comedy.  It’s really, really specific.  If I’m going to bring somebody in, I have to know that they understand comedy and sitcom acting, so I’ll look to the resume.  If the sitcom credits are there and I know them already, I know their work.  If I don’t know them, then I’m looking to see if somebody else has hired them just to put my mind to ease if I don’t know you.  If there are no sitcom credits,  then I’ll look for ‘comedy clues.’ I’ll look to see if you do stand-up around town or I’ll look to see if you do improve around town…if you’re in the Sunday Company  of The Groundlings, then I now that you’ll know comedy or Improv Olympic or Second City and then I’m willing.  The resume really does speak to me. “

 

“Another consideration is which agents and managers are submitting.  Do I trust their taste in actors?  Does their taste in actors trust my taste in actors?”

 

“Another consideration is a demo reel.  If it’s there and I don’t know you and I can click on it, sometimes that’s all I need.  I just need five seconds to  hear your voice,  to see you move or to get a sense of your presence or your sensibility or your castability, so the demo reel is really, really important to have as part of your online profile.  It can either make or break you.  It can make or break my decision on whether or not to take a risk or gamble in bringing you in.  It is a gamble. 

 

I’ve got seven roles to cast and they’ve probably given me seven weeks to do it and that’s not nearly enough time.  That means that the available (audition) slots that I have are few and far between, so to me they are like gold and I just don’t want to give them away.  I want to give them away  but I want to know that if I’m giving them away, that that investment is going to return. So when you get an audition, basically, you can think of it like as an invitation from me to you for you to help me do my job!  Come in and be brilliant!  Come in with your interpretation and all your skills and help me get this job done!  That’s what an audition is.  It’s an invitation to a party basically.  Whenever you get an invitation to a party, you never show up empty handed.  You always bring a bottle of wine…a good one.  Not Two Buck Chuck either!  [laughter]  Your bottle of wine is to come in with your sides executed and with your strong choices.  If you can do that, then I’m happy.  If you’re skimming the surface, then you’re coming in empty handed”

 

Step 4- Casting Pre-Read Session

‘The fourth step is a casting pre-read.  The casting pre-read is where you come in one-on-one to see me with your interpretation of the character.  There’s nobody else in the room.  I’m not recording you.  It’s just you and me, one-on-one.  This is where you ‘show me your wares.’  You show me your interpretation of the character.  I realize that performance in auditioning is a work in progress. I realize that however,  when you come into a casting pre-read, you have to be pretty developed.  Your interpretation has to be very far along already.  There’s no time for us to develop it later because I have to be discriminating because the next step after this is going to be the producers’ callback.  

 

I feel like actors when they come to see me for the first time, have to be at 90% done.  90% developed at worst because if you come in and you’re at 80%, or let’s say you’re at 70%...you know with the lines, the character, all the detail and the laughs that are built in the material, if you’re only 70% done?  That’s only a ‘C.’ That’s only average.  I don’t have to settle for average in the ocean that is Los Angeles.  That’s not good enough.  Even 80% isn’t good enough.  I’m looking for a ‘Low A to a High A’ to bring back.  If you’re missing 10%, I’ll jump in there and collaborate with you.  I’ll tweak you.  I’ll detail you out. I’ll guide you and try to point out this laugh that you didn’t get here or that one.  I’ll jump in there and play with you and try to make you better.  I’ll get you ready for the director but only if you’ve done the bulk of the work already because I don’t want to do your work for you. I could.  I could if I wanted to, but I don’t want to. 

 

It’s a test, for me too because I want to know that you are self-sufficient and that you can come up with these answers on your own.  Once you get on the set, you’re going to be alone basically.  The TV directors here, I feel like a lot of them are traffic cops.  They are guiding all these different departments, but there’s no time for them for us to sit down and romantically figure out the character and all that wonderful stuff.  It doesn’t happen in TV.  There is no time for it.  I’m looking for actors who can do the director’s work for him.  That’s really what I feel like I’m doing.  I’m doing his work for him and you are too.  We both are together like that partnership I spoke of, so you have to be really, really far along to motivate me to even re-direct you.  But if you don’t and you’re just skimming the surface, you’re just giving me what’s on the page and just doing what’s  expected, I’ll smile at you, thank you and nod at you and out the door you go and I won’t tend to remember you.  You’ll be surprised.  A lot of them do.  They have agents and they got in somehow.  Those actors who do just what is expected, they cancel each other out in my mind just blur and become bland. “

 

“The lines between the lines are so much more interesting.  The subtext is your gift.  Don’t come in without it.”

 

“That’s the biggest sin is to come into my office and be bland.”

 

Step 5- Producers Callback Session

“When you come in and be great in the room, then I’ve just been great!  If you’ve had a bad day, you’ve just taken me down in flames with you [laughter] …except that you get to go home!  But I can’t leave although I want to go home with you!”

 

Step 6- Test Option Deal

The twenty actors who have gone to producers is narrowed down to five.  The studio lawyer makes pilot and series deal with actor’s agent.

 

Step 7- Director’s Rehearsal

The director gets the top actors ready to audition at the Studio Test. “We’re there to ‘polish’ you.”

 

Step 8- Studio Test

“Step 8 is when we go visit the President of the Studio. For example, I did a pilot called ALLIGATOR POINT.    First of all…let me explain to you that there are three entities involved in production and making of a sitcom usually.  This is why Pilot casting is so complicated.” 

• First entity- The Production Company- The producers that own the rights to the material. The production team winds up being the people that they assemble around them.  For example-the writer, the director and the casting directors that they hire, so I’m part of the production team.  Then for example, on ALLIGATOR POINT, the production company was Grammnet Productions, the production company of Kelsey Grammer.

• Second entity- The Studio- In that case, the studio was Paramount Network Television, so if you ever see CHEERS or FRAZIER, you’ll usually see the Paramount Network Television logo comes up at the end.  He’s had a long relationship with Paramount, so that was the studio.

• Third entity- The Network- Then the network was NBC.  The guys who actually broadcast it.  Before I go to the president of NBC, I have to go visit the president of Paramount Network Television. This is where one president decides what the president above him is going to see.  This guy has ‘veto power.’  So to get three actors to Step 9 (Network Test), I’ve got to show the studio president maybe 5 actors, so he can veto 2.  To get by to there, I feel I have to show my producing team maybe 20 actors that we can boil down to five.  To get 20 actors to show the producers, I probably have to see 100 actors.  That’s sort of how the math breaks down.

Step 9- Network Test

“The very last step in this casting pyramid is Step 9 and I wanted to explain for you is the test at the Network.  Has anyone ever tested at the Network for a Pilot?  One day you will.  When that happens, what you’re going to do is you will be with the casting director, the producers and the writer to go visit the president of the Network.  Taking three actors is a good choice.  Three is a really great number.  We, as the production team don’t want to bring him five actors because five is probably too many choices and they’ll turn to you and say, ‘Oh, you don’t know who you really want.’  I could get away with taking two, but you never, ever want to go to the Network with one actor because that’s psychologically loaded.  It will backfire on you and they will feel like you are forcing this person on them.  They don’t like that.  They want a choice.  And we’re going to say to the president, ‘Hey Mr. President, we have this Sitcom Pilot that have seven series regular roles and today, we are going to show you three of those roles.  We have brought with us three actors per role and they are all going to perform for you.  These are all actors that we like.  These are all actors who we have done ‘test option deals’ with.  They are all available and we could live with any one of them.  Pick one.  Sign off and approve one of these guys (actors) and tell us who you like. That’s ultimately what we’re hoping will happen at the Network.  The president has sort of the final say.”

 

 

 

The Late 20's Problem

I'm producing a project with a major fun surprise for the audience (keep your eyes peeled for the breakdown, which will go out on AA either tomorrow or Tuesday!) with two girls I've worked with before and admire greatly. Two very different people, two very different lives, and yet...all three of us are in the same spot.

And one of them, the youngest in our three, is having a major and sad epiphany that I think we all get once we hit our late 20s and the big Three Oh is coming at us faster than we had expected:

We aren't where we want to be professionally.

We're acting (some of us more than others), we're auditioning (some of us more than others), but we do not have the lifestyle we dreamed up for ourselves when we were 12.

I'm not talking about being famous, I'm talking about just having a few more films and tv shows under our belts. A career that's growing steadily. A career that is obviously going places.

But ours, to put it bluntly, isn't.

This isn't the same game it once was. Studios aren't making as many films as they used to, so all the actors normally working in film are now doing lead roles in tv. And every actor at a tier below has also majorly downshifted.

The actors who should have gotten their pilots a few years ago, still haven't, and the waiters and bartenders who should've gotten their big break a few years ago, still haven't, and the actors like us, who came into this game at what I like to think, was the exact worst time, don't have much on our resumes, and can't get looked at because of it.

If you're not rich, not related to someone already in the business, not willing to go on a reality show to become a villain, or a nipped and tucked housewife, or an Italian meatball, what happens to you, when you hit your late 20s?

You cry.

A lot.

And you re-evaluate EVERYTHING you've done for the last decade, wondering if it was all for naught. Yes, you followed your dream, but there comes a point where we say either, "I agree to keep scrounging for rent," or, "I am going to start my family."

We were one of the lucky ones to have followed our hearts, but after ten years, it becomes time to start following our uteruses.

Some of us do exactly that.

And if you are one of them, I want to say to you, and listen closely:

You did not fail.

You did NOT fail.

What you want has shifted and that's okay. It happens to everyone! It's called growth! (and if you still want the same thing, that too is growth!)

And if you're an actress, a struggling one in her late 20s, know that this epiphany of babies vs stardom isn't really what it is.

You are not choosing between the two! 

You are, and will always be a storyteller. You might find different ways to tell stories, you might keep telling stories the same way. You might have a baby, you might decide not to, but regardless, you will not stop being who you are, ever.

There is no need to be embarrassed of anything. You will be the mom who did everything she could to follow her dreams, and you will be the mother who encourages and supports her child to do the same. You know what it's like to work hard, to make sacrifices, and the lessons you learned along the way, you'll be able to pass onto your child at an early age.

Do not think having a child somehow means you are giving up on acting. You can make room in your heart for both. Your love of acting might manifest itself in different ways with your child, because you're not just an actress; you're a storyteller. And you'll have someone to tell stories to for the next 40 or 50 years.

If you want to have a child, and if you want to act, there are many, many actresses in this town who can tell you you can have both because they do.

And the best part is - taking a year off to have your child, to bond with your baby, might change you enough and give you a whole new look and perspective to put into your work, and put you into a different category than you are in now.

And maybe that will be your key to booking the roles and getting the career you want.

You don't know.

But you should try. 

Because, we ladies, in our late 20s, have sometimes felt like we've put the rest of our lives on hold to pursue acting. But we don't have to anymore.

I think that's what the end result of the breakdown is - we don't define who we are by our resumes, and we can live this acting life on our own terms. We are not going miss another friend's bridal shower to stay in town because we might miss an audition. No! We are going to finally live life!

That's what the big Three Oh should be for everyone - an event to help you realize that we really DO get to live our life on our own terms.

And it's time to start living it that way.

xoxo