Monday Myth Debunkers

*sigh* mailers.  What are mailers? Mailers are anything that actors mail to us or drop off in person (RIP to drop-off days though, at least for now).  They come in forms of postcards, letters, flyers, cards, headshots, stacks of headshots, USB thumb drives, Blu-Rays, QR codes, hand sanitizers, headshots within a retro 90’s View-Master, Starbucks gift cards, post-it notes, bags of candy with your headshot on every wrapper… you name it. We’ve seen it all. But is it effective? And …

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We’ll just jump right in with a big, fat NOPE!⁠ Let’s start with this fun fact: In 2016, Georgia overtook California as the state location with the most feature films produced 🤯 ⁠ Productions have been venturing out of LA/NY for years and it’s mostly due to the tax rebates and lower costs of shooting. The film/TV world has been surging (during the non-Covid world) in places like New Orleans, Atlanta, New Mexico, and Austin. ⁠ Let’s sweeten the deal …

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Double-tap if you’ve been told this at least once in your career. ⁠ Is there any validity to it? Well, maybe. But let’s sprinkle some truth in there too. ⁠ Nepotism might appear to be your biggest Hollywood enemy. And while it’s not necessarily encouraged, there are definitely times when “knowing someone” might have pushed you in the door or helped you book the job (hence why almost every creative will shout from all angles to network your socks off). …

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Or at least, for the foreseeable future, the “virtual” door.⁠ ⁠ Today’s #MondayMythDebunkers is more of a yes/no answer. Let’s break it down: ⁠ ⁠ YES: How you react, handle yourself, listen & communicate in the room are all things we mentally take note of. And YES, it is helpful to be a thoughtful, kind & gracious actor. However, it is important to know that we are not measuring an audition by your bubbly-ness level. You don’t get extra credit …

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Today’s #MondayMythDebunker felt appropriate. ⁠ ⁠ This statement is an excuse. Using the push for diversity is an “easy” way for actors to feel like they have a sense of control and explanation as to why a career in acting is hard. ⁠ ⁠ Acting is hard because the job itself is… pretty dang hard. And because there are a lot of good actors in the world.⁠ ⁠ But the truth is that the best actor wins the job. And …

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Have you ever left an audition feeling like you didn’t do your best because the person leaving before you was wiping away tears and you weren’t? The point of this post is to remind actors that extra congestion & smudged mascara is not a requirement to nailing a scene.  Remember: tears and authentic crying is not the goal. It’s an emotional result.  “Ok, I know, I know. My goal is the objective. But still, I’m not going to book after …

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Have you ever had this thought? Chances are if you haven’t, you’ve heard someone else say it (or at least a version of it).  Let’s go ahead and squash this myth once and for all.  It’s very very RARE that a casting office will limit or cater their breakdowns to only certain agencies. If we do, it’s usually because someone above our pay grade has specifically asked for a “name” for a particular role. When we know this is the …

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What does that even mean? Headshots are not supposed to pop. They are photos. Of your face. ⁠ ⁠ All joking aside, we hear this… a lot. Sometime’s it’s another version, like, “what stands out to you in a headshot?” ⁠ ⁠ First, let’s take a moment to remind ourselves the purpose of a headshot. Its sole purpose is to show us what you physically look like. Sometimes you fit into what we’re looking for, sometimes you don’t. ⁠ ⁠ …

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NEWSFLASH: You are not an Apple product. ⁠ ⁠ If you cringe thinking about marketing yourself as anything other than “actor,” read on… ⁠ ⁠ We’ve heard this a lot. Things like, “I need to figure out my brand”, “What would you say is ‘my type?’”. Yes, there are going to be roles that you are more right for than others. No, this does not mean you should pigeon-hole yourself to one specific type of role. In fact, tailoring your …

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Guess what? You’re human! We’re human! Humans have off-days. And if you’ve somehow beat the odds of not having one already, know that you’re going to have an off-day in the future. and THAT’S OK. It wouldn’t be normal for every day to be perfect and to go exactly as you had planned. Sometimes things happen either physically or mentally and it hinders your ability to focus and be “in it”. The good news? We generally can tell the difference …

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