Ramani Leah, CSA, Author at The Casting Director's Cut

Monday Myth Debunkers: Attitude is Irrelevant.

September 29, 2022October 4, 2021 by Ramani Leah, CSA

Dear sweet, passionate, talented actors, let’s have a chat 🍿⁠ ⁠ Put your feet up, fill up your mug—we hope you’ll stay until the end. ⁠ ⁠ 𝙇𝙚𝙩’𝙨 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙠 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙮.⁠ ⁠ Having undeniable talent, working hard at your craft, constantly training and learning new ways to grow & improve are all extremely valuable (and necessary) prerequisites to having a successful acting career. ⁠ ⁠ But actually, there’s more…⁠ ⁠ First, let’s take …

Terminology Tuesday: Breakdown Services

September 30, 2022September 28, 2021 by Ramani Leah, CSA

To piggyback on yesterday’s Monday #mythdebunker, let’s dive a little deeper into all things Breakdown Services. ⁠ ⁠ Breakdown Services and Actor’s Access are part of the same company. ⁠ ⁠ Breakdown Services is what casting directors use to distribute film/TV breakdowns and how we receive actor submissions from agents and managers. Actor’s Access is what YOU (the actor) use to house your materials and/or self submit to projects. ⁠ ⁠ When we release breakdowns, we have the option to …

Monday Myth Debunkers: You Need A Website.

September 30, 2022September 27, 2021 by Ramani Leah, CSA

This might be one of our top 10 biggest questions:⁠ ⁠ “𝘋𝘰 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘣𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘦?”⁠ ⁠ The TLDR version? 𝗡𝗼, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼 𝗻𝗼𝘁.⁠ ⁠ Remember: you are (probably) already paying for an acting website that houses all of your materials (Actor’s Access). ⁠ ⁠ And we are primarily going to be viewing your materials via Actor’s Access alone (it’s Breakdown Services for us). ⁠ Unfortunately, AA does charge by the minute (we truly wish this was not the case), …

Terminology Tuesday: ULB (Ultra Low Budget)

September 30, 2022September 21, 2021 by Ramani Leah, CSA

For the next few #terminologytuesdays we thought we’d do a SAG theatrical film agreement series. ⁠ ⁠ SAG-AFTRA low budget agreements were created with input from filmmakers and actors to make it even easier to hire professional performers in lower budgeted films. ⁠ ⁠ There are 4 main theatrical film contracts under SAG. They are:⁠ ⁠ 1️⃣ SAG Basic Theatrical Agreement⁠ 2️⃣ SAG Low Budget Agreement ⁠ 3️⃣ SAG Modified Low Budget Agreement (MLB)⁠ 4️⃣ SAG Ultra Low Budget Agreement …

Terminology Tuesday: Dummy Sides

September 30, 2022September 14, 2021 by Ramani Leah, CSA

You may not realize it, but you could be auditioning with “dummy” sides. ⁠ ⁠ Dummy sides are sides that are 𝙣𝙤𝙩 part of the film script or episode. ⁠ ⁠ They could be sides from another previously aired film/TV show—they could be sides written by one of the writers specifically for the audition—they could even be sides from the show/film you are auditioning for, but extensively edited that you’d never know. ⁠ ⁠ 𝕎𝕙𝕪 𝕕𝕠 𝕨𝕖 𝕦𝕤𝕖 𝕕𝕦𝕞𝕞𝕪 𝕤𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕤?⁠ …

Terminology Tuesday: Background

September 30, 2022August 31, 2021 by Ramani Leah, CSA

A background actor is someone who performs in a nonspeaking role, usually in the background. Background actors (BG) help make movies, TV shows, and other productions look and feel more authentic. ⁠ ⁠ Doing BG can give you a unique opportunity to see behind the scenes on a variety of productions. In some cases, you’ll be able to observe the actor/director dynamic and how an actor deals with blocking/marks during a scene. ⁠ ⁠ Many actors make the decision to …

Monday Myth Debunkers: You Must Follow the Rules of the Business.

September 30, 2022August 30, 2021 by Ramani Leah, CSA

Listen up—today’s #mondaymythdebunker is an important one:⁠ ⁠ The notion of “following rules” isn’t to be confused with following the directions that casting gives you for an audition or self tape:⁠ ⁠ Please always, always, 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 READ everything and follow those directions to a tee. ⁠ ⁠ What we’re referring to is the “rules” of the industry. ⁠ ⁠ We’re not talking about SAG rules or employment rules or the law. ⁠ ⁠ We’re talking about INDUSTRY rules. ⁠ ⁠ …

Terminology Tuesday: Taft Hartley

September 30, 2022August 24, 2021 by Ramani Leah, CSA

What exactly does “Taft Hartley” mean and how do you jump on the coveted bandwagon? Grab some popcorn, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳…⁠ ⁠ Once you book your first union job, the producer or CD will need to draft up Taft-Hartley report. You might have heard this referred to as “being Taft-Hartleyed.”⁠ ⁠ There are few ways to become SAG-eligible without being “Taft-Hartleyed.” One way is to do background work and receive (3) union vouchers. ⁠ ⁠ The other …

Monday Myth Debunkers: We Need to Know Acting is Your #1 Focus.

September 30, 2022August 23, 2021 by Ramani Leah, CSA

Let’s call this one exactly what it is…⁠ ⁠ A big. Fat. 𝗠𝗬𝗧𝗛. ⁠ ⁠ We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, we want you to be human first and actor second. ⁠ ⁠ For many of you, acting comes 4th or 5th in your life. ⁠ ⁠ 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩’𝙨 𝙊𝙆.⁠ ⁠ Acting does NOT need to be your #1 priority or focus in life in order to have a successful acting career 🤯⁠ ⁠ It IS possible …

Monday Myth Debunkers: You Need to Give Them the Take They Are Looking For.

September 30, 2022August 16, 2021 by Ramani Leah, CSA

Let’s start of by asking this:⁠ ⁠ 𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕚𝕗 𝕨𝕖 𝕕𝕠𝕟’𝕥 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕨𝕖’𝕣𝕖 𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕗𝕠𝕣?⁠ ⁠ That’s not to be confused with the notion that doing the work, having strong text analysis skills and using the information we give you to make smart choices is NOT the way to go. ⁠ ⁠ What we want you to take away is this:⁠ ⁠ Don’t give us the take you think we want to see. 𝙂𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙪𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙨 …