Articles Archives - The Casting Director's Cut

Monday Myth Debunkers: Not Booking Means You’re Not Doing Great Work.

Ramani Leah, CSA — Mon, 03 Oct 2022 22:16:01 +0000

We always say bookings, pins and callbacks should be taken as positive feedback—that your hard work is paying off and getting noticed. ⁠ ⁠ But what if you’re not booking. And not getting pinned. And not even getting called back?⁠ ⁠ Are you doing something wrong?⁠ ⁠ 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘺.⁠ ⁠ First, don’t put pressure on yourself about callbacks. ⁠ ⁠ Most offices don’t have callbacks for anything under a series lead, majoring recurring guest or lead role in a film. ...

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Terminology Tuesday: One-Liner

Ramani Leah, CSA — Tue, 27 Sep 2022 21:59:55 +0000

Alright folks, it’s topic we love to hate. ⁠ ⁠ 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙣𝙚-𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙨.⁠ ⁠ Or any co-star audition for that matter where you run the risk of overthinking it and letting it keep you up at night. ⁠ ⁠ One-liners (or any audition for that matter) should not keep you up at night!⁠ ⁠ One-liners refer to any audition where you only have 1 line. But we’re doing to dive a little deeper today and talk more about these small ...

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Monday Myth Debunkers – Two Takes Are Better Than One.

Ramani Leah, CSA — Mon, 12 Sep 2022 22:09:17 +0000

When in doubt, send 2 takes, right?⁠ ⁠ We’ve covered this topic before but it felt time for a little refresh ✨⁠ ⁠ To start off, you should always default to the instructions given to you by the casting office. ⁠ ⁠ If they ask for 2 takes, give them 2 takes. ⁠ ⁠ If the role is a one-liner, a general rule is that it is fine to send 2 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 takes (mean 2 different choices).⁠ ⁠ If the ...

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Terminology Tuesday: Audit

Ramani Leah, CSA — Tue, 06 Sep 2022 22:16:34 +0000

So you’ve finally started the journey of finding your next acting class.⁠⁠ 𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙤𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨. And it can feel overwhelming. ⁠ ⁠ Especially when there’s such a significant financial and time commitment. ⁠ ⁠ You want to make sure you are choosing the right 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲 for 𝘆𝗼𝘂.⁠ ⁠ Some studios offer a free or reduced rate audit of their classes. ⁠ ⁠ Auditing allows actors the opportunity to assess the class to see if it’s the right ...

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Monday Myth Debunkers: We Don’t Watch Every Self Tape.

Ramani Leah, CSA — Mon, 15 Aug 2022 22:21:53 +0000

𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗼𝗼𝗽:⁠ ⁠ Are you sending your self tapes out into the ether?⁠ ⁠ Are we actually watching 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 self tape we request?⁠ ⁠ Let’s re-frame this question in order to better answer it:⁠ ⁠ Would we be requesting tapes we have no interest in watching?⁠ ⁠ Our answer is an emphatic 𝙣𝙤.⁠ ⁠ We assure you, we are in the business of finding the best actor for the role, not the business of wasting anyone’s time. ...

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Monday Myth Debunkers: CDs Only Remember Your Old Reels.

Ramani Leah, CSA — Mon, 08 Aug 2022 22:35:25 +0000

We’ve heard a few actors have this concern before, so we thought we’d start the week off by busting this myth! ⁠ ⁠ Have you ever worried that you’ve had a certain reel up for so long, that when you go to update it, no one will notice?⁠ ⁠ Let’s run through 2 different scenarios:⁠ ⁠ 1. You had the same reel for the past 7 years. But over those 7 years, we’ve gotten to know you as an actor. ...

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Terminology Tuesday: Actors Access

Ramani Leah, CSA — Tue, 19 Jul 2022 22:41:09 +0000

Actor’s Access, Casting Networks, Breakdown Express, Cast It, LA Casting, Backstage, Casting Frontier…⁠ ⁠ So many casting programs, so little time!⁠ ⁠ 𝙻𝚎𝚝’𝚜 𝚐𝚘 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚔 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚜, 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚠𝚎?⁠ ⁠ Actor’s Access and Breakdown Express are both services that are part of the parent company, Breakdown Services. ⁠ ⁠ The primary difference between Actor’s Access and Breakdown Express is that Actor’s Access breakdowns go directly to the actors only. ⁠ ⁠ Actors are able to ...

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Monday Myth Debunkers: If the Self Tape Deadline Gets Pushed…

Ramani Leah, CSA — Mon, 18 Jul 2022 22:44:47 +0000

Oh the dreaded deadline push…⁠ ⁠ Just when you think it’s another audition — 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙥 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙥, casting has pushed their deadline. ⁠ ⁠ But you’ve already turned in your tape. And you think you’ve done a pretty good job, if you don’t say so yourself. ⁠ ⁠ 𝙎𝙤, 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩’𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙡?⁠ ⁠ Why are they pushing the deadline?⁠ ⁠ Surely it’s because they haven’t found anyone who has knocked their socks off yet so they are extending the deadline in ...

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Terminology Tuesday: SAG Eligible

Ramani Leah, CSA — Tue, 12 Jul 2022 22:49:05 +0000

Hard to believe we haven’t covered this term yet!⁠ ⁠ What exactly does it mean to be SAG-Eligible and how can you obtain that status?⁠ ⁠ Becoming a SAG Eligible actor (aka SAG-e) means you’ve met SAG-AFTRA’s minimum requirements to join and are now qualified to become a member whenever you’re ready. ⁠ ⁠ This also means you can continue to work union jobs (temporarily) until you must join the union. ⁠ ⁠ To become SAG Eligible, you must either ...

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Monday Myth Debunkers: You Need to Give Yourself Somewhere to Go.

Ramani Leah, CSA — Mon, 20 Jun 2022 22:51:41 +0000

Ok, hear us out with this one. ⁠ ⁠ How many times has an acting coach, teacher or even casting director given you the direction of “you need to give yourself somewhere to go.”⁠ ⁠ Meaning—you’ve started out at such a heightened emotion, that the scene won’t be able to have any sense of an arc.⁠ ⁠ All good, important things to be mindful of. ⁠ ⁠ But here’s the thing—𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗮 𝗼𝗻𝗲-𝘀𝗶𝘇𝗲-𝗳𝗶𝘁𝘀-𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗽𝗶𝗲𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗱𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. ⁠ ⁠ If ...

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