Articles

Terminology Tuesday: Actors Access

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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…

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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

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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.

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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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Monday Myth Debunkers: You’re Not Ready For a Real Acting Job.

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Oh, 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙮𝙣𝙙𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙚. Why do you always show up to a party you were never invited to? Double-tap if you’ve ever felt the “I’m not ready for this” scaries. 𝗬𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗲. But member that word we say over and over again around here? Yeah, it’s about 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 again. It’s easy to look around and see the endless talent around you. What’s hard is knowing that other people are doing the same, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮’𝙧𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤𝙤. Yes, you! …

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Terminology Tuesday: In The Mix

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If you’ve heard these words before but haven’t been exactly sure *what* it means, read on… Being in the mix in itself is a pretty generalized term. Essentially, it means you are being considered for the role and are likely part of a narrowed down short list. That short list could be mean as little as 2 and as large as 12 actors. If you’re “strongly” in the mix, you’ll likely already be pinned for the role. This suggests that …

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Monday Myth Debunker: You Can’t Afford to Take a Day Off.

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Ringing in the week with one of the biggest myths we could possibly debunk #readon⁠ ⁠ Double-tap if you often feel guilty for taking a day off (whether it’s taking a day off from self submitting, reading the trades, a script you’re supposed to be working on etc.)⁠ ⁠ This is a gentle reminder that, as casting directors, we don’t expect (nor do we want!) you to put acting (or any career for that matter) before family, mental health and …

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Monday Myth Debunkers: Always Send Multiple Takes.

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Oh the dreaded takes…⁠ ⁠ When in doubt, send 2, right?⁠ ⁠ It mays seem like the practical choice, but for us, that potentially means DOUBLE the self tapes we had originally signed up for. ⁠ ⁠ The silver lining to virtual casting is the ability to read/meet more actors than we normally would in an in-person setting (yay!)⁠ ⁠ But when we’re faced with hundreds of tapes that are double to triple what we had signed up for, time …

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Monday Myth Debunkers: If Your Role Has Been Cut…

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And remember… this is a Monday MYTH Debunker 😉 So we’re calling bluff on not putting earned roles on your resume!⁠ ⁠ There are (2) different situations at hand here. ⁠ ⁠ 1. You auditioned for the role, booked the role, shot the role and the role was left on the cutting room floor. ⁠ ⁠ In this situation, you earned that credit on your resume. You may not get on-screen credit, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get credit …

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Terminology Tuesday: Holding Fee

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During pilot season, we believe any day can be Tuesday ;)⁠ ⁠ And since we’re drawing a close on pilot season, we thought we’d dive into the explanation of what a holding fee is. ⁠ ⁠ A holding fee can mean a couple of different things whether the project is a commercial or episodic television. ⁠ ⁠ In commercials, if a client decides they want to hold an actor, it means the actor cannot book a commercial for a competing …

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