Acting Business Boot Camp (Peter Pamela Rose)

8 Tips to Not Get Ripped Off as an Actor and the Three Pillars to a Successful Acting Career

Today I'm going to talk about reframing disappointment.

One of my favorite quotes. It's from Dr. Wayne Dyer, he says “Change the way you look at things, and the things you look at change.”

And in reframing disappointment, we need to look at it in a different way.

So I'm going to give you a few tips.

I'm going to give you some Action steps to do when you face disappointment and hopefully that will help you to move through it because again, another one of my favorite quotes, again, a top five is Robert Frost, which is the “best way out is always through.”

So this podcast is about moving you through disappointment.

Number one, acknowledge the disappointment. And this is so important. One of my phrases that I teach is awareness, acceptance, and action. Obviously, you are aware of the disappointment, but you really need to accept it. And acknowledge it so that you can then move on through the rest of this podcast to take action to reframe it and also learn from it and move on from it.

So it's important to first allow yourself to feel disappointment, rather than suppressing it. Another one of my little phrases is, feelings aren't facts.

And also, feelings aren't going to kill you.

And also, this is survivable.

Whatever happened that's disappointing you, it is survivable.

But it is important to feel your feelings.

One of my favorite ways to feel my feelings, especially when they're a bit confused or jumbled, is to make a cup of tea and to start writing it out.

And I just literally do stream of consciousness. And it can be even, I don't know what the hell to write, I don't know what to do this is what happened and then I describe the whole thing and as I'm describing it, the feelings come out and hopefully some tears come out or some anger or I do a run or something like that.

But it helps me to feel those feelings because suppressing it is not going to help.

Recognizing your emotions helps you to process them in a healthy way.

Everything I just talked about is processing your emotions in a healthy way, which is the first step towards reframing the situation and moving forward.

So our first step is to acknowledge the disappointment. Again, awareness, acceptance, action, journal, those feelings out. Exercise those feelings out, but feel those feelings so they don't get suppressed.

The second one, a personal favorite of mine, although it's not very pleasant while you're going through it, is to identify the lessons learned.

I have said so many times that my biggest mistakes have been my greatest teachers.

Every setback is a learning opportunity and has a learning opportunity, take the time to analyze what went wrong and what you can gain from the experience.

You could've done that audition, did it to the absolute best of your ability, and still not have gotten the part. And you're like, you know what? I left it all on the floor. I did everything I could, and yet I still didn't get the role.

Maybe what you learned is, that's the level you need to be performing at because you know you can perform at that rate.

One of the things I think is so painful is living with the knowledge that you could be doing so much better, that you could be doing so much better.

Trust me, that feeling is so much worse than walking through your fears to reach your full potential.

That's so much more painful than being brave and best way out is always through walking through your biggest fears, because once you've conquered those biggest fears, then there is absolutely no limit to what you can achieve.

So that is why it is so important to take the time to analyze what happened and what you can gain from the experience, understand how you can grow from this disappointment or this setback really helps you to shift your focus from this being a failure, to actually an incredible growth experience.

And I know that's distasteful and makes you have just a little bit of bile in your mouth. But it's the truth. It's the truth.

Your biggest mistakes are your best teachers. But take the time to learn the lesson. So you don't have to go through it again.

Focus on what you can control.

Now big thing I talk about is the serenity prayer. Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. I cannot change other people, places, things, or situations. Courage to change the things I can. I can only change myself, my attitudes, my thoughts, and my actions, and wisdom to know the difference between what I cannot change and control, which is other people, places, things, and situations, and what I can manage and handle, which is myself, my attitudes, my thoughts, and my actions.

Disappointment often stems from outcomes outside of your control.

That first part that grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change.

Other people, places, things, or situations I can't change or control them.

What I want to do is to refocus my energy on what is within my power, which is courage to change things.

The things I can, which is courage to change, manage, handle my thoughts, my attitudes, my thoughts, and my actions.

And by doing that, by looking at what is within my power, again, my thoughts, my actions, my attitudes, those things, those decisions, that mindset, by shifting my attention to the things that I can do something about, what happens is that I regain a sense of agency and purpose.

Also another tip is to reframe the failure as feedback.

Instead of viewing a career disappointment as a personal failure, reframe it as constructive feedback.

Again, what you can learn, and what you can gain, and what you can change.

Really get this disappointment as constructive feedback. How can you make it work for you instead of against you?

Ask yourself, what insights this experience offers and how can it guide you to further actions?

The next time I intend to fill in the blank, fill in the blank.

This perspective turns a negative event into a tool for, yes, you guessed it, Improvement.

Next one. Practice gratitude for your progress.

Often disappointment makes us overlook the progress that we've made so far.

I always talk about progress, not perfection.

Look back at your entire career journey and appreciate the milestones you have achieved. Adopt an attitude of gratitude. This will help you to keep a balanced perspective, reminding you that one setback does not define your overall success, or define you as a human being.

I am what I am. Embrace that.

And again, don't let this one thing define who you are.

Next one, we're getting to the last couple here, is set new goals.

Maybe you need to baby step it a little bit more.

Remember anyone can eat an elephant one bite at a time.

Break those larger objectives into smaller, actionable steps allows you to rebuild your momentum and focus on progress rather than dwelling on past outcomes rather than dwelling on past outcomes.

You want to rebuild that momentum. You want to get yourself going again.

And sometimes by breaking it down into those bite sized pieces that you know you can swallow, those smaller action steps that you know you can take, you will achieve a little more self esteem to help you to gain confidence.

The ability to achieve those bigger goals in the long run.

It's like slowing down in order to speed up.

Next one, talking to mentors, peers, or friends can help provide a fresh perspective on disappointment.

They can offer advice.

They can share their own experience, strength, and hope, and remind you of the Truth with a capital T, that setbacks are common, are a common part of life, and also career development.

And also, support from friends and your mentors can help you to build your career resilience.

Last one. Embrace the long term view. A single disappointment is rarely the end of your career path.

OMG, when I was an actress starting out, I wouldn't get a call back and I would cry for days.

And then at some point I realized that if that was going to be my approach to my career, I wasn't going to make it to 20.

I was wrecked. I just would beat myself up terribly. Beating ourselves up. Stop. End beating ourselves to a pulp so that we feel we are such a horrible person is not the way to go.

We need to, again, take those little baby steps to build that self esteem. When reframing disappointment, remind yourself that success is a process and is also a long term journey.

This perspective helps reduce the emotional weight of short term setbacks and also reinforces your commitment to your acting career.

31 Mar 2021

Episode 120: Limiting Beliefs and Empowering Questions

00:22:42

We are each the product of our own belief system

Carl Jung, “Man is so imprisoned in his type of thinking that he is simply incapable of fully understanding another standpoint.”

Warranty, “if you don’t like the one you have, you can return it for one that is more preferable.”

You can change the beliefs that created your reality.

Limiting Belief: Something you accept about life, about yourself, about your world, and the people in it that limits you in some way.

Curt Carlson, “Obstacles are those frightening things you see when you take your eye off the target.”

The thing that gets in the way: all the bullshit in the industry that has actors going in too many directions.

Big T Truth vs little t truth:

The Bit T Truth: Who you really are, all the best aspects of you.
The little t truth: the truth you think you are, or ego’s truth.

Write down 3 Limiting Beliefs about you or your acting career.

Ask yourself these Empowering Questions:

How True is that belief?
Where did you get that idea from?
How has that belief affected you?
What would it feel like if you let this belief go?
What would be easier for you?
How can I let that belief go?
How can you put that letting go into action immediately?

What are Empowering Questions?

“Quality questions create a quality life. Successful people ask better questions and as a result, they get better answers.” Tony Robbins

They are:

Open ended
Clarity seeking
Probing
Challenging
Thought provoking
Future directed
Solution oriented
They spark your imagination and they get you to think

The right questions at the right time for the right reason in the right format to get the right response.

What can I do?
How can I make that work?
What other choices could I make?
How would someone who really loves me tell me to look at this?
What is going to be my next step?
What have you been able accomplished in the past and how able to accomplish that task?

Remain teachable.

17 Mar 2021

Episode 118: Keep Yourself Sharp! Interview with Katie Flahive

00:51:11

“Teaching is just rehearsal, it is desensitizing the instrument, actor, the artist, to get them to come out to play.”

If you want to be in the major leagues, you gotta training with people who are on the level of the major leagues.

The importance of having a life.

Never stop training

Remain humble about where you are as an artist so you are constantly striving.

You can’t say that you’re done learning.

The key to staying sharp— read!

Things not in the field
Articles
Newspapers
Things in the field
Be a researcher

If you’re not a reader and if you’re not someone who’s willing to say I don’t know how I learn as an adult, I know how I’m taught as a student until you figure out that switch, you have less power.

You have to find things that as an actor you are drawn to.

If you don’t know what you like, you are basically just prey to anyone telling you what to do.

Don’t be that actor who just shows up after all the words are written.

Two types of actors:

That show up expecting to be given things
Those that say, "I know what I want and what I like and now I have to find a way to meet you and your ideas with as much thought as my own"

If you can be clear and memorable and open and available then I will go toward you.

How to approach Co-star and Guest Star auditions

14 Jul 2021

Episode 135: Actor Burnout & Overwhelm

00:22:04

Burnout means you are at a point where an extended period of time has gone by without you taking care of yourself.

Whatever you put before taking care of yourself, you’re going to lose.

When you’re burnt out take a step back and observe.

Take time out to think about where you are in your life and where you wanna go.

What my ego thinks I can get done and what I can actually get done are very two different things.

Overwhelm happens when I am trying to catch up with what my ego thinks I can get done.

Slow down and look at a week, a month, a quarter, a year.

Start to plan, and take some of the pressure off.

Emotions that come up:

Burnout
tired
defeated
disappointed in myself
am I ever going to achieve this?

Cure:

Baby step it.
Take time off and just take care of me.
Journal.

You don’t to quit, what you want is a break.

When I’m overwhelmed the number one thing I don’t want to do is stop but the number one thing I need to do is stop.

Expectations are premeditated resentments.

Those expectations are from yourself.

You can restart your day at any point.

Identify the tasks that are on your plate that emotionally weigh you down, the things you most don’t want to do.

Once you’ve done that plan when you are going to do those things first.

28 Feb 2024

Episode 273: When Your Buttons Get Pushed

00:15:10

Let's start talking about those buttons being pushed, right?

And I want to talk especially about how to help yourself.

There's a little phrase that I love. It's one of my absolute favorites, which is “if you're hysterical, it's historical.”

I find that when my buttons get pushed, if I'm upset about whatever it is for longer than five minutes, it's not about that thing.

It's about something from my past.

The other really helpful thing to note about buttons, because it's generally family members who push your buttons, is that your family knows how to push your buttons because, hello, they installed them.

Your family knows how to push your buttons because they installed them.

So I want To help you so that when you have that moment, when your buttons get pushed, you can start to practice this particular formula.

Now I need to also say this, when my buttons get pushed, I find it's better that I go by this saying, which is “when in doubt, leave it out.”

out. I also find it's best for me to remove myself from the situation so I can do that very valuable thing, which is stop and take a step back.

But I want to describe the full process of what happens when our buttons get pushed.

Something will be said to us and we will immediately react.

Now this is important because remember our reactions are fine, but it's our second reaction that we really need to be paying attention to.

There's this phrase, and I love this because I think this is so true, “we are not responsible for our first thought, but we are responsible for our second.”

So again, if you can split your paper into two sides, make two columns.

On the left column, I want you to write, Something happens. Then, right underneath that, I want you to write, React.

And then, underneath that, a couple lines down, I want you to say to yourself, “I am not responsible for my first thought, but I am responsible for my second.”

Therefore, we have the second column.

That second column is that something happens.

Now, that could be your mother saying to you, “Oh, you're going to wear that?”

Or, “Oh, you're growing a mustache now.”

It's that, okay?

Could be your father, too, or your brother, or your sister, or a friend, or an acquaintance, or an agent, or a casting director.

So again, on this second side of the piece of paper, the same thing, something happens. And guess what?

You are going to react.

Especially in the beginning.

You may not be totally reprogrammed yet, but after that reaction happens, you want to tell yourself this, “stop.”

And sometimes I literally say to myself, “stop it right now. Stop. Just for goodness sake, stop.”

And then I literally say to myself, “take a step back,” and sometimes, while that person might be continuing to put their opinion of me on me, I literally will take a step back.

Literally, a physical step back.

And I always use this example, and if you've listened to this podcast a lot, you've heard me say this, is if you put your hand on your face, and you literally attach that hand onto your face, that's how it feels when somebody comes at you and they push that button right in your gut. It's like your hand is glued to your face.

But this is the truth. No, it's not. And you can't remove their finger from your button.

And that, again, requires you to take a step back.

So if you keep your hand where it is, but you move your body back, that's what I'm talking about. Because now you can look at your hand.

See, when it's right up against your face, while they have your finger in your button, as it were, you can't see anything.

You just see potentially red, or hurt, or weeping. So it's important to get it out. If you are, God forbid, shot, what do they do first? They remove the bullet. That's what taking a step back means.

You remove the bullet.

And when you've removed the bullet, then you can observe.

You have taken a step back. And you can observe what was said, and you can ask yourself if what you are about to do is healthy for you or unhealthy for you, and then you can respond.

And that response is a reaction with a pause and a thought behind it.

And then we have triage. We need to ask ourselves the following questions.

Afterwards, later that night, the next day.

I always encourage it to be within 24 hours of when the situation happened.

We sit down with pen and paper and our journals and we ask ourselves

how emotionally reactive was I to this situation?

What was my button? Which is your interpretation of what got you so damn upset.

And then ask yourself, what is really going on here?

Let's be honest with ourselves. Practice rigorous honesty with yourselves so you can get better.

So that you can heal this button.

And then If this situation comes up again, or this comment comes up again, how will I handle it?

How will I handle it?

Always remembering we are never given more than we can handle but we are given more than we can control.

Also remembering that what people say or do is about them, but what you hear or see is about you.

Know this, and disconnect yourself from the button.

So I need to make that separation.

I had someone once say to me that my life was like a bowl of spaghetti and I needed to take my strands out of all of my family members, my friends, everyone around me.

I had to take out my strands because I would look at my life and not know what was mine and what wasn't.

It was a very valuable image for me.

And then I decided to make my own sauce. And it's delicious. Because now I'm keeping the focus more on my own life.

Certainly don't do it perfectly.

But it's a lot easier to manage and handle my life than try and control what other people think of me.

Another valuable thing about my buttons getting pushed, remember, is that no one can push a button that didn't already exist.

Nobody can push a button that didn't already exist.

Remember, button pushing is about me. And my doing the surgery to remove it.

It is a very personal and emotional thing.

And it is so wonderful for me to become aware of my buttons, accept that they exist, and then take that Valuable action to start healing and repairing them.

18 May 2022

Episode 179: Vulnerability, Your Greatest Asset and Liability

00:15:38

Vulnerability is an actor's greatest asset in their work, but it's also the greatest liability outside of their work and in their business.

My own journey with vulnerability.

I felt that as an actor, I wore my heart on my sleeve. And although that really helped me in my work, I found it to be a real problem was when wasn’t getting a callback or I wasn't getting the job, and that it made it very, very difficult for me to live my own life.

The emotions must live in the work, and you have your own life.

CORE WORK:

Go to the core work episodes, listen once, then go to a coffee shop, listen, pause and journal.
You must feel safe going to those emotional places, then leave it in the work.

Understand that the work is not yours. Once you do it, it is the world’s.

From The Language of Letting Go:

“So being vulnerable and quoting kind of little bits from melody, body and language of letting go is about learning to share ourselves with other people and learning to admit our mistakes and expose our imperfections, not so that others can fix us or rescue us or feel sorry for us, but so that we can love and accept ourselves. So that we can love and accept ourselves.”

When we are auditioning, we are putting forth our imperfections.

And then when we're putting that into work and then passed over, that can hurt.

But again, I ask you to give it that separation, and if you have a hard time giving it separation from work to who you are.

“Many of us are fearful of sharing our imperfections or our vulnerability because it makes us feel so vulnerable, overvulnerable. Some of us have tried being vulnerable in the past, past, and people have tried to control, manipulate or exploit us or they made us feel ashamed.”

If that is true for you, think about how difficult that would be for you as an actor.

The importance of understanding how you tick and who you are.

Feelings aren’t facts. They are energy, not facts.

It’s only a thought, and a thought can be changed.

“Some people have been hurt by being vulnerable. They have shared things with people who didn't respect our confidence or may have told someone something at the wrong time. And that scared them away.”

Some of the best actors have had immense pain in their life. And they know to use that pain in their work, but not indulge in it in their life.

19 Feb 2025

Episode 324: Work Harder, Nobody Cares

00:14:06

Today we're talking about a phrase that might hit you right in the gut.

“Work harder. Nobody cares.”

And I say it with love because it's a funny phrase and it's also a tough pill to swallow because it's one of the most freeing truths that you can embrace as a person and as an artist.

This episode is inspired again by one of my posts on Substack which you can find at the Actors Index and it's a mantra for anyone chasing a creative career or pursuing a big dream.

It's a mindset shift that could be the key to unlocking your full potential.

So buckle up. We're driving into the gritty, no nonsense reality of what it really takes to succeed and why the nobody cares part might be the most empowering thing you'll hear today.

Let's start with the truth. Nobody cares about your dream as much as you do.

And honestly, that's the way it should be, right?

The creative industry, whether it's voiceover, acting, writing, directing, anything else, it isn't designed to hold your hand. It's competitive. It's challenging. It requires you to show up every day with your A game.

Even when nobody's watching, and this isn't to say that people are indifferent to you as a person, but when it comes to your goals, the responsibility to succeed falls squarely on your shoulders.

And here's the thing, there's no shortcut to success. Talent isn't enough. I'm going to say that again. Talent isn't enough to succeed.

Connections aren't enough. The only thing that will ever matter is the work that you put in.

So, let's flip this narrative. Instead of saying nobody cares, or seeing nobody cares is harsh, let's see it as liberating.

Because once you accept that no one's coming to save you, you get to take full ownership of your entire journey.

You get to be in the driver's seat, which again, is as it should be.

One of the biggest myths I encounter in the creative world is the idea that you need to feel motivated to work hard.

I'm not feeling motivated today. I just don't want to do anything today. I'm not inspired. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

And let me tell you something.

Motivation is fucking fleeting.

There's going to be days when you wake up feeling like the most inspired, unstoppable version of yourself.

And then there will be days, probably more often than not, that you can barely drag yourself to the desk or to the studio or in front of the camera.

But the successful people, guess what, buttercup, they show up and do it anyway, and they do it well.

That is discipline.

We are so driven as human beings to follow our wants that are like easy wants. I want a cupcake. I want to nap. I want to do X, Y, Z. But we should be replacing that with, I want to be successful, so in order to do that, I have to do X, Y, Z, because that's discipline.

It's about building habits that keep you moving forward, even when you don't feel like it.

Do you think I feel like sitting behind my computer every day and spending hours researching and creating content for cold leads and direct marketing? No.

But I want the job. So, the good news is discipline is something that you can cultivate.

It's not really about willpower, it's more about creating systems that set you up for success based on your goals.

So for example, if you're a voiceover actor like me, you might have a morning routine that gets your voice warmed up before you even check your email or open your phone. It might mean setting a timer for 25 minutes to focus on your marketing outreach, no matter how unmotivated you feel.

So here's the takeaway for you:

Ask yourself, what's one habit I can build this week, today, that will make it easier to work hard, even on the hard days.

But you gotta start small. If you start small, you can build on top of that. I don't expect you to figure it out right away. It's something that takes time.

But you have to start somewhere.

Success isn't linear. There's going to be days, weeks, maybe even months where it feels like you're running in place, that you're putting in the effort, but the results just aren't showing up.

You'll look at your month and say, well, I didn't book anything. What did I even do?

And that's why you have to track.

All of those wins, you, whatever it is that you're accomplishing for yourself and your business and your goals, you have to mark that down, put a sticker on the day, put a little dot, do something, write a note in your notes app, do something that celebrates those small wins so that at the end of the month when you're like, well, I didn't book anything, I failed, you can say, no, no, no, wait, look at all this shit I did.

Those are accomplishments, that's success, because when you don't see the results that you have mismanaged your expectations to see, that's when most people quit.

They tell themselves it's not working, that they're not cut out for it, that they're not talented enough, that they're not good enough, and that they'll never make it.

The plateaus. That's part of the process. That's part of growth.

Growth happens in those moments when it feels like nothing is happening.

It's like planting the seed. You don't see the roots growing underground, but that doesn't mean that they're not there doing what they're supposed to do.

So how do you keep going?

By measuring your progress in ways that aren't tied to immediate results.

So instead of focusing on how many bookings you've had this month, focus on how many auditions you've submitted, because that's the work.

Instead of obsessing over how many people are following you, track how many meaningful connections you've made.

Small wins, right? Small wins add up.

Celebrate the shit out of them.

And if you're gonna work harder I hate to break it to you, sorry I had to find out this way, but you have to develop thicker skin.

The creative industry is filled with rejection and other people who are going to have opinions about your work, whether it's positive or negative.

And that's not going to change.

But the difference between those who make it and those who don't is how they handle that.

So here's a little reframe for you:

Rejection isn't personal.

It's data. It's feedback.

It's an opportunity to ask yourself, okay, what can I learn from this? What can I change next time?

Because maybe you need to tweak your approach or refine your skills or target a different audience.

And sometimes rejection just means you weren't the right fit for that particular opportunity right now.

But that doesn't mean you're not talented.

It means that there's something. else suited for you out there, but you're not going to find it if you take that rejection and just give up.

So let the rejection be fuel and not a roadblock.

I know we've talked about some harsh realities, but now it's time to talk about why this mindset works harder.

Nobody cares is actually super empowering because when you realize that nobody cares as much as you do, you stop waiting for external validation.

You stop relying on other people to give you permission to go after what you want.

You become the driver of your own journey.

And that's a powerful place to be because again, the people who succeed in this industry aren't necessarily the most talented. You know that you've seen it there, but they're the ones who have kept going when it got hard.

They're the ones who learned to work harder, smarter, and with more resilience.

And the best part is that's something that you can choose to do right now today while you're listening to me on and on and on and on and on.

So before we wrap up, I want to leave you with some practical tips to work smarter and not just harder.

Prioritize.

Focus on the tasks that move the needle the most.

If you're not sure what those are, just ask yourself, what's the one thing I can do today that will have the biggest impact?

Okay, make a list. I'm a big lister. Love lists. Make a list and prioritize. Batch tasks together.

Group similar things together to save time and mental energy because you don't want to burn out doing all of these things.

So, for example, dedicate one day to recording samples and another to marketing.

You can break it up and do it every single day, but if you give yourself some reliable sort of boundaries, okay, every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, I'm going to do marketing stuff.

There you go. That's batching.

And tracking. Oh my gosh, track your progress.

How else are you going to know what works and what doesn't if you don't collect the data? Keep a journal or spreadsheet.

I have a free accountability spreadsheet that you can email me mandy@actingbusinessbootcamp.com and I’ll send it to you.

It’s an accountability tracker, where you can track your progress, track how you feel, track your wins, no matter how small, because seeing how far you've come is really motivating, right?

Invest in yourself, take classes, read books, surround yourself with people who challenge and inspire you, join discords, join my voiceover discord, join the Acting Business Boot Camp discord, find places where you can ask questions.

Be involved in the conversation because growth requires that time, money, and energy requires that investment in yourself. Okay?

There's no other way around that rest and recharge.

This might be the most important one that we neglect most of the time because working harder doesn't mean burning yourself out and burning the candle at both ends.

You need to schedule downtime to rest, reset, and come back stronger.

I literally have it. in my calendar to rest, because if I don't put it there, I won't do it.

Okay, here is your challenge for the week.

I'm going to challenge you to do three things because we know I love the power of three, right?

Number one, identify one habit you can build to stay disciplined on the hard days.

Because there will be hard days. I promise you, they're coming for you, okay?

And you need to identify one thing that you can build to stay disciplined even on those days where you are not motivated, where you're having a tough time, because they'll happen.

And it's, yes, I understand sometimes you need down days, but when you are struggling or when you're having a tough day, give yourself permission to do things on that day.

Can be really empowering.

Number two, reframe a recent rejection as a learning opportunity because again, getting that data about what happened is so valuable to you as a person and as a business person.

Those are little gold nuggets that are telling us, they're signals from the universe telling us here's what needs to change, here's what needs to be built upon, here's the opportunity for you to grow.

And number three, write down three small wins at the end of every day, not the week, every single day.

The whole week next week, I want to see three small wins by the end of the day.

I don't care if it's that you drank your daily water amount, because I'm guilty of that too. That's a win, because that goes towards your health. Three small wins every single day, okay?

And if you take on this challenge, I want to know how it goes. Reach out to me. Email me, mandy@actingbusinessbootcamp.com

Find me on TikTok at AstoriaRedhead. All the things, right? Leave a comment.

Whatever, whatever floats your boat. I'm, I'm here for you.

I just want to say one final thing. Remember that success is in your hands.

Work harder, nobody cares, and that's your superpower.

08 Mar 2023

Episode 221: When You Hear "We're Passing..."

00:17:42

Money Mastery for Actors

Guide to Booking Commercial Voiceover

Ken Rea Class

Katie Flahive Classes

Introduction to Commercial Voiceovers

Advanced Commercial Workshop

What to do when they “pass.”

Leslie Jones/ Chris Rock Story:

“You’re not ready.”
Basically what she said is, what the fuck does that mean?
But, she kept following him. She kept, you know, making sure he saw her work, and then one day he basically got her an audition for SNL.

And sometimes a pass means just that by that one person.

That you're not ready. And sometimes it means, “Hey, I can't do anything for you. I would like to, but I can't do anything for you.”

I cannot tell you how many times I have said to an actor, “I don't have anything for you right now.” And I can tell that Actor believes I am lying, but I genuinely don't have anything for them at that moment.

The Language of Letting Go.

And I'm going to talk about the emotion of sadness.

“Ultimately to grieve our losses means to surrender to our feelings."

I think it takes a brave person to feel their feelings.

And it takes a lot to do that. And I can fight it. I can say, No, I don't. But the best thing I can do is just feel them, process them.

“But we can learn from our grief. So many of us have lost so much, have said so many goodbyes. Have been through so many changes. We may want to hold back to the tides of change, not because the change is in good, but because we've had so much change and so much loss.”

Because that is something when we change, we have to let go of something to make.

There is a part of me inside emotionally in my solar plexus that feels exhausted, exhausted by change, exhausted by new.

“Sometimes when we are in the midst of pain and grief, we become short sighted. Like members of a tribe described in the movie Out of Africa. “If you put them in prison,” one character said, “they die.” “Why?” Asked another character. “Because they can’t grasp the idea that they’ll be let out one day. They think it's permanent, so they die.” Many of us have had so much grief to get through, sometimes we begin to believe grief or pain is a permanent condition.”

The pain will stop. This, too, shall pass.

Because once felt and released, our feelings will bring us to a better place from where we started.

Even when an agent, or manager, or a casting director, or a project passes on us.

Feeling our feelings, instead of denying or minimizing them, is how we heal from our past and move forward into a better future.

Feeling our feelings is how we let go.

Feeling our feelings is learning about how we feel so that we can be the vessel for characters to feel them as well.

How can we play abject sadness if we have not allowed ourselves to feel abject sadness?

Feeling our feelings, as artists is good, is educational, makes us better.

Now, mind you, I'm saying feel them, not wallow in them. Feel them. Process them.

When I'm going through a hard time, I say, “help me to feel these feelings as much as I need to in order to process them.”

“It may hurt for a moment, but peace and acceptance are on the other side. And here’s the best part: so is a new beginning.”

So let's feel those feelings and go out there and create our best.

23 Feb 2022

Episode 167: Protecting Yourself from Energy Vampires

00:18:25

Energy Vampires= people who take away valuable energy you need to push past the things that are standing in the way of your dreams.

Level 10 energy

Who to watch out for: People who zap your energy.

How do we protect ourselves?

Put on an imaginary bubble suit.
Their stuff does not need to affect you.
You have the opportunity to arrive late and leave early.

Other kinds of Vampires

Other Actors on set.
- No is a complete sentence.
People preying on the actors in the Industry.
Family who is not supportive.

Tips and tools:

Get the focus off of you
No is a complete sentence
Don't cosign on someone else’s drama
Ask yourself, is this going to be a healthy thing to be involved in or unhealthy?
Your life depends on deflecting the energy suckers
Don’t treat someone like a priority who treats you like an option

Be kind to these people, if they could be doing better they would.

09 Oct 2024

Episode 305: Quantum Manifestation with Jocelyn Sandstrom

00:35:51

The Working Actor Road Map

Connect with Jocelyn on Instagram

Today I am talking with Jocelyn Sandstrom about quantum manifestation.

About Jocelyn:

Growing up in Hawaii, Jocelyn has lived and worked in 12 different countries. This experience has allowed her to realize that even though we may speak different languages or have different traditions, at our core, we are all the same. She has used this knowledge to help and support clients around the world in creating next-level success not just in their careers but in their personal lives as well.

Since 2010, she has been providing Quantum Energy Sessions and teaching Neuro-Linguistic Programming, Neurological Re-patterning, and the Millennium Method to clients globally.

In 2022, she founded Wellness and Metaphysical, a community-driven platform that promotes a higher level of consciousness through expos and retreats.

Jocelyn's mindset and energy work have propelled her career, allowing her to work with leading global luxury brands like Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Fendi, Cartier, Tiffany & Co., Christian Louboutin, and Yves Saint Laurent, among others.

She has been featured on the covers of Elle, Marie Claire, Esquire, Harper's Bazaar, and more.

Alongside her husband, she has hosted two travel shows and appeared in various feature and short films.

Now, she is focused on sharing her knowledge and experience through coaching and mentoring to help others to quantum leap their reality.

Jocelyn specializes in helping clients release deep-rooted issues from their past that are holding them back. She supports clients in building not just success but also fulfillment at the same time because success without fulfillment is empty, leading to burnout and anxiety. She supports her clients to discover their authentic truth and share that with the world, magnetizing their energy to start attracting people and opportunities out of the blue, enabling them to fall in love with themselves and their life while creating more success than ever before!

How did you get into quantum manifestation?

So basically I got into doing this one because my mom got sick in 2002 and so it was my inspiration to really dive into this world and I helped her to get better naturally and then through that at the same time I was working on my career when I was modeling and I was able to take that career to a place beyond my wildest dreams through quantum manifestation.

And I just kept blowing my mind over every time I would work on something and a job would show up or an opportunity would show up. And so much so that my husband was like, what in the world is it that you're doing? And he ended up taking all the classes because he couldn't believe it as well because we lived in such a fixed reality of you do this, then this happens, you do this, then this happens.

But when you play with quantum manifestation, you're co creating with the universe, things in your life that don't make sense, that drop in out of the blue, those magic emails, opportunities, chance encounters, being in the right place at the right time. And every time that happens, it quantum leaps you to a whole other energy.

And so my passion is to share that with the world, because really, we don't need to be doing it the hard way anymore.

There's this way that we haven't tapped into yet that just helps you to collapse time. And my passion is to help everybody to do that.

My big thing is about waking up every day, suiting up, showing up, and reporting for duty.

I so strongly believe that the universe has a much better plan for me than I do.

Because I have all of my limiting beliefs that I've brought with me throughout my, throughout my life.

And I have found that, that suiting up, showing up and reporting for duty, really, it's amazing how fast things work.

Can you talk about the very beginning process of quantum manifestation?

So there's a couple of different things. The first one is being able, I call it tapping into your inner knowing or your inner soul knowing, whatever word you want to use for that.

We all know, I truly know that any of my dreams and visions are my soul or my inner knowing showing me what it came here to experience.

And so to me in quantum physics, past, present, future, it's now like it's happened. It's a future memory, a future echo showing me what's coming.

If I show up every single day and take aligned action.

It's the knowing that's inside.

If you listen to any actor that's doing their acceptance speech, it's this is for everybody that told me I couldn't I knew that I could, and when I first took my career to the next level, I was told by everybody that you're too old. You don't have the right look.

You're not this, you're not that. Can't do it. And I'm like, no, watch me.

And I just, that was so deep that I didn't let people suppress it. And so every single day I took aligned action. I know that we are an energetic match for our goals. The only thing in the way is our beliefs, our doubts, our worries, all of these stories that it then has to come through to find us.

And so my job is to help you to find those beliefs, to shift them out, to clear those worries so it can drop in faster.

And so if you just tap into that inner knowing, I have a soul evolution process.

Anybody can message me on Instagram.

If you do that every single day, you're going to cultivate your inner knowing to be stronger than your conditioned mind.

Our job is to override the conditioned mind.

Our conditioned mind is going to give us more of what exists.

Like you said, that your soul, the universe, your knowing has a bigger plan.

Like I always tell my conditioned mind to let go of the steering wheel and let my soul take me on the ride of my life.

Because what's waiting for me on the other side is beyond my wildest imagination.

So if I try and figure out the how, I limit myself, I kill the magic, and I get stuck in more of the same. And we're not here to play in more of the same. We're here to innovate and create and bring in the next level of things.

Two thought and power systems. There's the ego thought system and power system which is finite. And then there's the universe's power and thought system which is infinite.

And what I want to be living is in the infinite. But that has taken me to really work on.

And what I love about quantum manifestation is that we're really talking about moving it as fast as it possibly can, and easier.

So the thing is with quantum manifestation in the past, I used to manifest like individual things, right? Like I want this and then I want this and then I'm so exhausted because I had to put all my energy into manifesting that one thing that I'm like, okay, I need a break, right? Instead of just continuing to go.

In quantum manifestation, we don't work on the projection, we don't work on the symptoms, we work on the root.

We work on that root to shift that root from the core so that you're just being. You are just being this new way that all that other stuff just works.

So once you shift that, it's when you're trying to untangle your hair, if you start from here, it takes forever, right?

But if you start from here, it's, it just untangles effortlessly.

That's the core, like really tapping into that inner knowing from yourself, reprogramming those beliefs, any trigger, any fear, any anxiety, there's a belief there, there's a story, there's something that we picked up that's not serving us, that's allowing us to be triggered.

And so you just need to find what that is and shift that story out. An easy way to do it without the reprogramming process, is if you've really if you've really anchored in your knowing from within and you know that's the plan that's coming you know that it's inevitable if you just show up and take a line action every single day.

I do soul work so if you tap into the inner power of your infinite soul because all our souls are same power but different or one of the same and so if you recognize that a lot of these things are just the conditioned mind of what we took on, but they're not our soul.

If we're afraid of taking a leap because we're afraid of the rejection, the only part of us that's going to be bruised is our ego, not our soul.

Our soul is infinite. And so if you can tap into that knowing and into that power, you can override a lot of the stories. You can say, Hey, that's not mine. That's my parents. That's societies. That's from a past life, whatever it is. And you can remember who you are, which is limitless, which is infinite potentiality.

And so a lot of times just that can shed some of those beliefs.

Other beliefs are so deep that we have to do a reprogramming process on them because your conditioned mind is so afraid of letting them go because it doesn't know what's going to happen, right? But when you can just cultivate that every single day to override it.

And I love that because I love it. Yeah. Blow my mind every single day. I'm like universe blow my mind today.

It's really change your thoughts, change your world. But it's not only your thoughts. You said something very pertinent that I think is so important, which is you're changing your thoughts every day. And you're changing your actions.

It cannot be just one or the other.

So you have your goal.

You need to make sure that all of your thoughts are aligned with that goal. And you need to make sure your daily actions are aligned with that goal.

You're taking aligned action or what is going to bring the most value to your vision, not just doing all the time, we're like, no, we're very clear that what is going to bring the most value to this. If I could do everything, what's that one thing that I could do today?

I also talk about for those of you who are older tuning, if you can imagine a radio dial Getting it off the station of ego and turning it on to the station of the universe, if that makes sense.

What do you tell the disbelievers? The people who are like, the universe has it out for me. Nothing ever good happens to me and I don't believe anything ever will.

I used to have to do everything the hard way because my condition mind needed to prove that I didn't, I wasn't the lucky one that I didn't, it didn't just fall into my lap that I'm not, it's just not easy for me. And it's not like for everybody else.

Until I realized I don't want to live that life. Like I don't need to prove to you. If I get to live an easy life, I'm the one that's riding the, riding down the lazy river. I don't care what other people think. So that's when I realized I'm not here to prove it to anybody. Like I'm here to live it. And if you want to hop on, I'll give you the secret. And if not. That's totally fine. You can continue to live that.

The other thing is, we validate whatever story we desire to validate over and over again.

Because we're the ones that get to live this life, and if you don't want to, that's totally fine, everyone has a different journey, some people want that journey, and that's perfect, it's exactly as it's meant to be for them, it's just not my journey anymore and validating it someone will come to me and they'll say, this always happens, I always attract these people, I always get to this point, and then it just sabotages, or whatever it is, and I'm like, okay, always, and they say, No, not always, but this.

And I'm like, okay, congratulations. You validated it. Do you want to keep validating that? Or do you want to start validating a story that you actually want to live?

Because You can say, I'm not, I'm just not confident and all of these reasons why you're not confident, but you're very confident that you're not confident, right?

Or I just can't trust, I just can't trust this happens and this happens, but you can't trust that you can't trust, but you trust that you can't trust or that I'm not the creator of my reality. Everything is outside of my hands. And so you just continue to show up that way. So of course, you're going to have a reality that's out of your hands, but once you decide what you want that narrative to be and you start validating it like the red car theory.

If you were driving down the street, how many red cars did you see? But then the next day if you did, how many red cars would you see if you were looking for the red cars? Like you'd see a red car down an alley parked somewhere because you were looking for it, right?

So just make your new story, your red car, of course, there's a lot more to it than that, but that's where you get to start.

You get to say, okay, what are all these patterns showing up in my life that aren't in my life that aren't serving me?

And do I continue to want to have this pattern or what would I like to shift it to instead?

And how do I then stop validating that story and start validating this story?

And once you do that, your whole world is going to shift.

Sayings is from Dr. Wayne Dyer changed the way you look at things and the things you look at change. A hundred million percent and overnight.

Yeah. It's overnight. That's the crazy thing. I didn't realize how fast it would be. Like I used to always attract people into my life, so called attract, because, and we'd always start out at the same point. Yeah. But by the end of it, I'd be doing all the work, whether it was a partnership, whether it was a corporate company.

By the end, I'd be always doing this. And I couldn't understand why I keep attracting these people until I did the inner work and realized, oh, it's because I didn't think I was worthy and deserving. So I'd start out this way, but then I kept having to prove that I was good enough. And so I'd keep taking on the work.

And if they say, can you do this? I'd say yes. Or if they didn't do it, I'd say, don't worry about it. I'll do it for you. I got you. You take a rest, and then I would, I was bringing, I was creating it out of them. And the minute I realized that, and I said, stopped and I saw one of my ex partners and just randomly, and I was like, I'm not that person anymore. I know who I am.

And I spoke to her, same power, but different. All of a sudden, the relationship changed instantly. And she started asking me questions and offering me things. I had no idea it would happen that fast. That's how fast we can change our reality.

We get to fall in love with our life in an instant. If we realize that we're in love, that everything we're living now, there is a younger version of us that dreamed about it and manifested it.

And so if we live this life for them and stop like living on the next chapter, we get to live this life, like that version of us that dreamed about it, like this house that I used to drive by every day envisioning my son playing in the yard and all of those things and then you move in and you're like okay that's great what's next right but then now I sit there and I watch him and Iwatch him in the yard like that girl that used to drive by I watch it for her and I feel the feels deep in gratitude while i'm creating the next level so instantly your life changes because just like the frequency on the radio you've now shifted your frequency to gratitude you're no longer in lack you're now in abundance And when you're in the abundance frequency, you just start attracting more abundance.

And it just becomes that you get to love this incredible life that you get to live while you're creating the next level instead of, I just need to get there.

Can you talk about how you work with actors in particular? Just like any industry, it doesn't matter what it is. We just go in and we find what those blocks are.

I'll ask you, what's that pattern that's coming up? What's the thing that you've been like you plateaued in, or what's that thing that you want to open up that you want to call in when everybody says you can't.

If you know that it's possible, I know it's possible.

So then we go on a deep dive and we discover what are those blocks, where are they coming from? What story are we going to shift it to? What are we going to reprogram from the root so that you now just create this new reality where it just flows and drops into your life.

It becomes effortless because you're just getting the things that are in the way out. So you become magnetized. When your energy is magnetized, you're not chasing the butterflies. You're building the garden. So the butterflies come to you. You will start receiving emails or opportunities in your, or you run into somebody at the Starbucks and be that thing. That's how I started doing corporate workshops, right?

I wanted to do a corporate workshop and I was doing all the behind the scenes actions, and then the universe is okay, you're ready. And they dropped in a CEO and told them and said, Oh yeah, I have a team. I said, absolutely. I train, I do that. Suddenly the proposal I did, boom, you quantum leap into that.

So when it's acting, it's the same thing. Those roles, those meetings, the right people, the right place at the right time, we just got to clear out the stuff that's getting in the way.

That's already trying to make its way to you, but it's going through all of this stuff. And so when your job is to just be in the zone, to get in the zone and be in the zone to amplify your magnet your magnetism, you let your energy in the universe do the work for you.

But of course there's aligned action that we're going to have to take. And a lot of times aligned action is not comfortable, but that's why I'm here. To help you to make it comfortable, right?

So on that subject, I'm going to use myself as the guinea pig and I'm going to talk, tell you how I have come through this and then I would love to get your feedback.

I have always from, and I'm validating it right now because I just consider it to be a fact, I have suffered from anxiety pretty much my whole life up until a few years ago when somehow the thing, if you ask me, what is the thing that frightens you most in the world, I will tell you, having a panic attack.

Or getting that anxiety. And I know what that is. But then this started to happen. I went, that's not gonna go away, that is a pattern that I live with. And so if I just accept that it is a pattern that I live with, and I started to realize there were things that I could do that when it would come up would diminish it, and then I would walk through it, and then I'd get something else.

I'd get the confidence that I know how to deal with it, which was like humongous confidence, right?

So self esteem. So much so that a situation that I now can't even remember what it was happened, I don't know, a week ago, that the anxiety didn't come up anymore.

Because I know that when it comes up, I will be able to deal with it because I have found the antidote for those specific things that I use tough love, I know what aligned action I need to take when it comes up.

So that's how I have worked through it.

And to this day, continue to do it and will continue to do it. And like I said, The anxiety doesn't come up as much, but would you say, and I'm even being brave asking it because I'm like, okay, I got it. I got it. I don't even want to know more, but I no longer want to be afraid of it coming up anymore because again, I know how to deal with it.

Is that how you deal with it? Or do you think you just don't have anxiety anymore, because on some level, I do think, it's not that I don't have anxiety anymore, but it certainly, it isn't stopping me anymore, so I'm curious to get your feedback on that.

The first thing, if you're I believe what I would do. What you did is amazing. Like basically our conditioned mind is here to keep us safe. And so if you push yourself out of your comfort zone, your conditioned mind is going to pull you back because that's the conditioned mind's job.

But the work I do is tapping into the infinite power from the infinite soul to override the conditioned mind.

Which it sounds like that you did, you were able to find, regulate their nervous system, pull yourself out of it to show your conditioned mind that it doesn't have to be afraid for you, right?

And so the more that you build that confidence, the more that your conditioned mind can slowly start to relax.

However, you do that in whatever modality you do that. You do that and then so it gets to relax because it knows that you got this because you say you're going to do something and then you do it.

You're taking the aligned action.

You're making the brave moves and you're showing your conditioned mind that you got this.

Now the way that I would help my clients is because I like to do things fast. And I like to quantum leap. Is I'll go straight to the root. And I'll reprogram it. And we'll go do a reprogramming process to discover where it's coming from to begin with. What happened that's causing your conditioned mind to have so much fear for you?

Then go back, reprogram that and shift it out from the root so that thing's not even there. Because fear is an illusion, right? Fear comes from a story. When I was working on clearing my fear of heights and I was going to jump off this rock in Hawaii at Waimea Bay, a lot of people might know about it, I only ever jumped off the lower level, never the high, highest level.

And this isn't like a crazy fear. So I knew I could do it by myself.

And on the way up, I was reprogramming myself to shift it out. And this 12 year old girl is just like running around, jumping off, coming back, running around, jumping off. And I had this clear, I was like, thank you universe, because I had this clear vision of what the illusion of this fear was that this girl didn't have in her reality.

And so that's just something that my conditioned mind picked up, but that's not my soul.

And so that was also a piece that helped me to release it, to recognize this isn't even real. I created a story around it. That created this. And so when you can poke holes in the illusion and when you can reprogram it from the root, it's no longer in your reality anymore.

It's just not even a thing.

And then if it does come up again, we get to reprogram it again.

But as you do this more and more, you're going to override it.

It is a thing if you keep saying you have it. So I'm not saying you don't have to gaslight yourself and say, No, I don't have it.

But just neutralize it to the point that it's just something that you're shifting through. And that's it. But you don't say that I have it anymore. Because the minute that we say that we have it, we pull ourselves right back into it. But it's just okay, I'm shifting through this. I'm growing through this, I used to have severe.

Now it's just something that I'm overriding. And then one day you're just not even going to think about it. It's going to be like, oh my gosh, like I used to have that? Yeah. You know what I mean?

I love the idea of neutralize.

That's a great word because I feel like my anxiety has been neutralized. Just something I never thought would be possible. And so I do want to say that for people who are listening, I also love this thing about saying that you're going to do it and then doing it.

And the more and the more you do it, the more trust you build up in yourself, how you do one thing is how you do all things.

And I think that pick one thing that you are going to be, or I always say, pick one thing that you're going to be disciplined in doing.

And then if you do that, you can spring off so much more just from that.

You're talking about anxiety, but as actors go into readings, and all of these things, there's so much emotions that go through it, right?

What if we cleared all of those emotions so you could just go in and you could just be? Your most magnetic self, what if you could magnetize your energy that like, you're in a room and all of a sudden you turn and you don't know why and you're drawn to this person who's just so magnetized.

You don't know what they do. You don't know who they are. You just are drawn to their energy. What if you could magnetize your energy that way? And so when you walk into the room, people say that they walked into the room and I just knew, right? What if you could do that? Becausethere's that movie I feel pretty.

You remember that movie with Amy Schumer?

It's like a whole belief shift movie. It's hilarious. And so in this movie, she wants to look a certain way and she doesn't like the way she looks and she hits her head and she wakes up thinking that she looks that way, even though the whole rest of the world sees her as she was, but she thought she looked this way.

And so she, because she believed she created that belief shift, that she looked that way. She walked around the entire world in that belief shift. In that reality and so if someone insulted her in her mind, there's no way it could ever be an insult. She just thought they were insecure and she's oh, it's okay.

It could be intimidating to be around me.

And she was just in her power and all of a sudden people were like, who is this woman? I want to be around her.

Watch that movie because it's a belief shift in action. And all it was her belief. That then she reframed everything and her whole life changed because it's our beliefs.

It's us doing it to ourselves.

As I become more confident within myself, as I become more comfortable in the skin and living the life of Peter Pamela Rose, which is the only one I have the choice to live in, I find that people are drawn to me.

And it's so interesting and I so strongly believe that I always talk about chiropractor for the mind being about emotional self sufficiency that we understand how we tick, how we operate and everything that's just exactly what we just say it in different ways.

And that's why I wanted to have you on because maybe the way you say it makes more sense to someone than the way I say it, and maybe the way you say it of the way I say it makes more sense than the way you say it. And that's how it all expands, so freaking brilliant.

And anyway, but this idea that of being, emotionally self sufficient. Oh my gosh, then we don't have to be so frightened of ourselves.

Or anything. People feel that. They feel they want to be around you. They feel the safety in that. They can't explain what it is. Yeah. They're just drawn to it. And not only are you then the ripple and the inspiration, but you're living your best life at the same time.

You're feeling this fulfillment and satisfaction, which then magnifies you even more, I just imagine going around, we get to go around the world that way. We get to be the ripple wherever we go. And this is bigger than just, us taking our careers to the next level. This is us rippling out into the world, into the store that we go on, wherever it is that we go, we bring that morphic field with us, wherever we go.

And we shift the reality, not just for us, but for the whole world.

05 Oct 2022

Episode 199: Gaining Perspective as an Actor

00:19:28

On Camera with Katie Flahive

"Too often, we try to gain a clear perspective before it is time. That will make us crazy. We don't always know why things are happening the way they are. We don't always know how a particular relationship will work out. We don't always understand the source of our feelings why we've been led down a particular path. What is being worked out in us? What we are learning. Why do we need to recycle? Why we had to wait? Why we needed to go through a time of discipline, or why a door closed? How our present circumstances will work into the larger scheme of events is not always clear to us. And that is how it needs to be. Perspective will come in retrospect. We could strain for hours today for the meaning of something that may come in an instant next year. But let it go. We can let go of our need to figure things out. And we can let go of our need to feel in control. Now is time to be. To feel. To go through it. To allow things to happen. To learn. To let whatever is being worked out in us just take its course. In hindsight, we will know. It will become clear. For today being is enough. We have been told that all things shall work out for good in our life. We can trust that to happen. Even if we cannot see the place, today's events will hold in the larger picture."

I cannot tell you how many times I have tried to force a decision.

"Time, thou shall untangle this, not I. It is too hard a knot for me to untie."

That will allow me to have perspective. Unfold before me instead of me trying to unfold it.

"We don't always know why things are happening the way they are. We just don't. I don't know. I haven't got a clue. But sometimes it's best for me just to say; you know what? I don't know. And you know what?

There's no shame in saying you don't know. There's no shame in it. You don't have to know everything.

All you have to do is suit up and show up and do the very, very best you can.

The time that we need in order to gain perspective.

It's not something that we can force, but what we can do while we're waiting for that perspective is we can take care of ourselves.

"We do not always know how a particular relationship will work out. We just don't. But we can ask for guidance. Guide me. Show me what you need me to do in this particular relationship. We don't always understand the source of our feelings.

"We don't always understand why we've been led down a particular path. Guide me. Show me. Show me what you need me to learn on this path. Show me what you need me to learn in this particular day."

Lessons are recycled in us. And when I just kind of say, yeah, I'm not going to deal with something, or I'm not going to take responsibility for whatever this particular lesson I'm being taught in life is, I find that that lesson recycles. It recycles with just a little more urgency and just a little more; I hate to say it, pain because pain is an excellent motivator.

Along with perspective and waiting for perspective on your life, I find that takes a lot of humility. And humbleness. Because to gain perspective, we need to say, "I don't know." And to obey a higher power or a universe, we need to say, "I can't. You universe can. So I'm going to let you universe take over."

If you have discipline, you can do anything. And that includes waiting to gain perspective.

And this question, Why did that door close?

"Look back, don't stare."

And again, remember, forgiving is not forgetting. It's letting go of the past.

Perspective will come in retrospect.

"Now is the time to be. To feel. To go through it. To allow things to happen. To learn."

To be curious.

"Let whatever is being worked out in us take its course."

So that is the challenge I put before you today. And listening to this podcast is to implement those tools of asking for help and asking for guidance in trying to gain perspective in your life and in your acting career.

22 Nov 2023

Episode 259: Interview with Casting Director Maribeth Fox

00:36:59

Free Masterclass

About Maribeth Fox:

Maribeth Fox has worked with Laura Rosenthal Casting for fifteen years and has had the privilege of working alongside major talents like Todd Haynes, Paolo Sorrentino, Oren Moverman, Joachim Trier, Ed Burns, Mindy Kaling, Anton Corbijn, and Lisa Cholodenko as well as up and coming feature directors, Guy Nattiv, Olivia Newman, & Paul Downs Colaizzo.

Favorite credits include Olive Kitteridge and Mildred Pierce both for HBO, Jay-Z’s music video for Smile, Wonderstruck with Todd Haynes, A Quiet Place, Modern Love for Amazon and Liz Garbus’ narrative feature debut, Lost Girls.

Two of her three films at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival broke sales records, Late Night and Brittany Runs A Marathon.

Most recent credits include Sharper for Apple TV, directed by Benjamin Caron, Bottoms, produced by Elizabeth Banks, Murder Mystery 2 with Happy Madison, and the upcoming A Different Man from Killer Films and A24.

How did you become a casting director?

I learned how to work with actors, what they need you to tell them, and what they don't need you to tell them about ego. And I just decided to spend five to seven minutes with actors instead of a career with them.

So I switched to casting, and I worked for CBS primetime casting for two and a half years, which was a really good learning experience, but corporate wasn't for me.

I wanted to do more film, and I wanted to be freelance so my eight-week job with Laura turned into 16 years.

How does a casting director get a film job?

So oftentimes, we are one of the first people hired and production companies hire us, producers that know us, that know what The material is that we're drawn to.

Sometimes we're hired by our directors who you hope to get repeat business if you've worked with them before.

The first thing we'll do is read a script to make sure we're creatively aligned and feel like we strategically know how to cast the job. And then we're offered one of two situations.

The first situation is. Attach names to this to green-light the rest of the financing. So we do that side, and then sometimes people come attached to a film, which is wonderful news.

And they're like, “We just want you to cast this movie if you like it. And this is who's doing it.”

So we're normally found by producers and directors, and we're one of the first hires.

So, just a question I have: if you are asked to attach a name talent, and let's say it's one part, let's make this real simple, Sure.

How long does it generally take to cast a film, would you say, to attach that kind of name talent if it's a good script?

It's a long time.

It's a long time, so much so that Laura has received producorial credit on quite a few of her features because of the time, attention, and effort it takes to get those attachments in place.

You think about somebody, let's say you're offering something to somebody like Julianne Moore. It could take a month for her to read it. Not because she doesn't read quickly but she's got a lot going on. And somebody of that ilk, their whole team, has to read it.

She has to read it. Everybody has to have an opinion. They have to have a discussion about it. And so we try our best to set respectful boundaries with agents and managers to say, “We really need this to be read by this time.”

But if a creative team is invested in a certain person, oftentimes, that deadline will stretch.

So you could be with one actor for a month or more.

We try to get them sometimes to line up like their top three for each part if we're doing more than one part so that if there is a pass, it's not an utterly crushing situation.

The producers knew that a writer strike was imminent, and I was a little shocked to hear what you said, that you stopped getting calls about six months before.

Can you talk about that and what that was like?

It's helpful to know just in terms of our similarity to what actors go through that a lot of our business is independent film and that really continued. That was not a problem. We were still getting calls. We were still getting pings for that, but in terms of the book of business that would streamers and network, which is a lot of people's businesses, they anticipated the strike.

And normally, we have no shortage of things to read, think about, sign on to, or not sign on to.

And I think all casting directors experienced a similar shut-off. That was very different than the strike in 2008 where we were out of work for a little while, but no big deal.

But yes, like the work has been. It's been different this time around.

How has it been different, do you feel?

So I think a lot of people feel, there's a lot of feelings this time around. Where, as there should be, right? I obviously heartily support the actors and what they're going through, and it's, it's time, right?

It's time to do this and ensure everybody gets what they're owed fairly. And also, I think there is, within the SAG interim agreement, there's some stuff where I think we all need to work together in community to understand what everybody does and what everybody is going through and maybe have a little bit of empathy and open conversation and understanding because right now, it has felt a little bit of an angrier time and I understand it.

Also, It's hard to think about what life will be like after the strike ends, and I don't know.

I think a backlog of projects stopped right before the strike or started to shoot, not believing the strike would fully happen. And those are the things that are going to start to go first. And those things are already crewed up.

So, from my perspective, could it be an influx of new work? Maybe. I sure hope so. But also, we have to think about all the stuff that got interim agreements is stuff that mostly was already staffed.

And so I wonder how much the huge influx, or if it's just going to be figuring out what's actually going to shoot now and what's going to be put to the side.

The great news is that I think you're right about the flood. And actors will feel it. And start to work and self-tape again. And hopefully, it'll get back to business as usual.

And I think what's very important for actors to understand is it's not only you who is on strike, it's everybody.

I'm so proud to stand with the actors that I love and support in my day to day.

And absolutely, we are with you a thousand percent. And also, it's real, right? Many people have turned to survival jobs that they haven't had since they were 22.

Everybody's done. Employment is out. And you live in an industry town, so every business is thoroughly affected by the lack of availability of income for people.

The actors are the ones who are fighting and are going to get the benefits but do remember when you get on the set, there were a bunch of other people who were fighting right along with you, who are not going to get necessarily, the benefits that you were fighting for.

They were supporting you, but the hairdressers aren't going to get any more pay, or hair stylists, the grips aren't going to get anything.

I think that AI is an existential crisis for actors, and I don't think that is something I cannot give up my voice and my likeness and have you pay me once and that be okay, so I do think it's a worthy fight and as you said, it's a definite fight.

I also think it's in the forefront of what humanity will be dealing with. Bartenders will be dealing with it, taxi drivers will be dealing with it, it just has come. Not here first, but here.

We don't do any background casting, and I don't know what that life is.

But I do think about that entire loss of an industry. That will go first, right? And it already has started to go. They take your picture; they can pump you in if they need an arena full of people. I've had many family and friends during this time try to like talk in a fun way about chat GPT and those types of services.

And they're like, have you played around with it? I'm like, no, I don't want to help it get smarter.

And I think it will have real ramifications, and it already is having ramifications for our industry. No, I'm not going to hang out on that service, but thank you so much for asking.

What do you want actors to know [00:18:00] about self-tapes?

So many things. The first thing is it's a grocery store sample. If you're at Costco, yep, that's exactly right. If you're at Costco and the old woman is serving you pizza, you're not going to steal the whole pizza. You're going to take your sample of a square.

We do not expect a fully baked moment for a self-tape. I think artists are artists, and folks are getting bored. And so there's a lot of Heavy wardrobe, heavy movement choice the ability and the time to make almost like a short film.

It's not the job.

A self-tape should look different than how you would behave if you're on a set with a DP.

I think the other thing that I've noticed that I've started to see as self-taping goes on and on, as a public service announcement for actors, is... You're getting too good at them, and I'm going to explain more.

I think actors are really great at self-taping now, and it can almost feel robotic at times. Because they've gotten so good at knowing and thinking about, their mentality has shifted from what I want to put forward as an artist that's unique to how can I get this job by thinking about what they might want.

And so then they know what pace to do. They know what tone it is. They've done their research and all of those brave, bold choices start to get ironed out and it's safe acting work.

It's still beautiful work, but it's safe because they're so good at it.

They know exactly what they might want instead of infusing their own artistic uniqueness in the mix.

And I think casting directors hear the plight of actors, and I think something great that's going to come out of the strike is, I think there's going to be more options offered.

So some actors love the self-tape process and bless, please, if that's how you feel comfortable, wonderful. I will still take time to adjust you via Zoom. If you need an adjustment, if I get your self-tape and there's something close to there, I will still take time for you on Zoom and say, hey, and we'll workshop it together.

But then there's, we really do hear actors that they want more of us again.

I do think that in-person chem reads and callbacks will start to come back.

In the meantime, I think casting directors are far more open to reopening Zoom rooms, to make sure that we're available in some tech-helpful live way so that we can make better connections with actors.

I still get lovely, vibrant self-tapes on everything that I do. But generally, I think, there's a mindset that I've been thinking a lot about that actors carry that is, I think trained into a lot of people that it's just a scarcity mindset.

And so you come out of school and you're told that your job is so hard. There are so many people competing. You're in constant competition. There's not a ton to go around. SAG releases their statistics that only 3 percent of actors are working. And it creates this mindset that can be helpfully hungry and eager.

And it can also really destroy the artistic spirit of what an artist has to offer.

I think within that scarcity mindset, the goal of this is how I feed my family. This is how I gain health insurance, pension, and welfare. And I can't make that brave, bold choice because we don't have a casting director anymore.

You don't have us in the room to be like, “Okay, let's just do that a little bit faster here. I know the director wants this. Let's just clip it up.”

Or give you a simple redirect that could really change your performance.

Now, a lot of us are doing that. We are adjusting people who give great self-tapes.

Actors feel like I've got one shot at this. I'm sending it off into the void. It better be exactly what I think they want.

The one thing that I have always stood by is that it's one audition in a lifetime of auditions.

I am going to get the opportunity to audition again, and there is enough work for everyone.

What's important for me is what's going on in the work.

People ask me, “what do you look for in an actor?”

And I'm like I'm looking for the actor who shows up a bit early, not too early. Knows they are, knows themselves. They are good at their job and I'm also looking for someone who when the work starts, they're focused on the work and not what I think of their work.

Actors do have it tough in the sense that, it's the only art form where you have nothing to stand behind.

You’re not painting a picture to show me. You're not singing a song, which is separate from your acting. You're not doing a dance, which is your body and your emotions. But it's just you; it's just your subjective raw emotion.

And I think what a lot of actors specifically, I love my New York actors in our market, they've all been to school. They're all crafty, great actors.

And I think that a lot of actors think, “Gosh, I must be doing something wrong.”

And so much of film and television is just subjective look-based. If you're in an audition with me, you're probably a well-trained, good actor.

And so it's not about someone being such a better actor than you are. It's about the dinner party atmosphere we're trying to create. And somebody was a better fit. So we invited that person to the dinner party and not you this time. And that's hard.

You can be the most talented actor in the world.

You get the opportunity, but ultimately it does come down to who doesn't blink at the end.

And I also feel that it's the person who knows they are good at their job.

And what I want to give actors the perspective of is, you know what? Maybe you're doing everything right.

Maybe you're doing everything right. And you just need to keep doing that.

Because a lot of times, it's about what's being written. Are there roles for you right now that really fit your marketing package and your type?

Do you fit the world? With our eyeballs. And so that has nothing to do with your craft a lot of the time.

You do have to think about this as a business. And so you think about putting somebody on set, and when we get to cast somebody and it's their first job on a set like that's a great day.

There is like buoyancy and adaptability that we're looking for in people to be able in that callback setting to turn something on their head if needed, to be able to take direction quickly. And if they're not understanding what we mean or what the director means, ask a question. Nobody's going to think you're stupid.

Nobody's going to think you can't hear it well, or like that you don't agree.

It's okay.

We all have days when we're not that great at our jobs.

If I give an actor a direction that's not clear, I don't want them to yes to me and nod their head. I want them to ask me a question and follow it up. If you're not understanding, then the two takes are going to look exactly the same.

Read the directions out loud.

I think it's really important that when you get a breakdown and, they say, submit it this way and, specifically, do your slate at the end.

One of the things that I encourage the actors I work with is to really, read the directions out loud, then you know you've heard it, and highlight anything that's specific.

Speaking of breakdowns, I think. A lot of times, people's focus on the breakdown will be the small adjective-filled description that we write instead of knowing that if you've got the audition, the breakdown has already done its job, that part of your job has already been done, your agent or manager or you submitted yourself based on the breakdown.

I saw your headshot. I selected you. Now it's done.

So you briefly look at the breakdown and ensure you're in the realm, but actors often get old breakdowns. And it's not because we're lazy. It's because we don't want to resubmit a breakdown with a subtle change to hundreds of agents and managers.

So if an actor gets a breakdown and they're 55, the breakdown says 30 to 40, they freak out or they think their manager or agent isn't doing a good job.

It's you just got an old breakdown; you don't have to worry about that anymore.

Focus on the work.

06 Dec 2023

Episode 261: Radio Imaging with Mandy Fisher

00:24:28

Radio Imaging Class with Mandy

About Mandy Fisher:

Mandy Fisher is a NYC-based full-time voiceover actor with over 15 years of experience in the industry. She has worked with brands like Crayola, Disney, Peloton, Coke, Walmart, and Kohls to name a few.

Her passion for voiceover and genuine love of helping people inspire her to work with actors of all stages of their career.

With a theater background, she brings her training to guide copy analysis and character creation. As an industry vet of 15 years, she has witnessed the changes and understands the ebbs and flows of the business.

Mandy created her own voiceover business from the ground up and has a successful and replicable model to help actors build their own successful businesses.

All of this adds up to a coach who can provide audition and career advice while helping actors become the best they can be!

The first thing is, what the hell is radio imaging?

Radio imaging is when you are the voice of a radio station, not the DJ, but it's virtual branding for a radio station because they want people to when they turn on their dials to a specific radio station; they want that familiarity.

They don't want it to be confusing. They want to have that brand recognition. And that is what is done through your voice.

My next question is, how is one even hired for radio imaging?

My first kind of foray into it was by accident. And I didn't realize I was doing radio imaging as I was doing it. I didn't realize that's what it was. I started this several years ago when I was a struggling voiceover actor trying to figure my stuff out.

I was sending samples of my voice to different radio stations, like all over as many radio stations as I could look up and find on the internet. I would send them my voice and say, can I do anything for you on your radio station?

Do you need anything? Is there anything I could do? And they would say, Oh yeah. And they would throw me a couple of lines, and that was radio imaging at the time; I had no idea that's what that was.

But now you can still do that; by the way, you can still absolutely reach out to station managers and say, Hey, I like your radio station.

I'm a big fan. I think I could fit in with your other radio imagers.

So you can always absolutely reach out to a station manager, but I work with a specific manager, not an agent, a specific manager who handles my radio imaging career; that is definitely a way because he has all of these connections and has been in the business for a very long time. So, if you're really interested in forging a career in radio imaging, I would suggest trying to get a manager to do that because it's a close-knit group and tons of station managers know each other, and they've got this sort of radio world that they're in.

It feels very different than other verticals of voiceover.

So, if that's a passion, I would say try to get a radio imaging manager.

So, let's actually talk about the difference between a manager for voiceovers and an agent for voiceovers.

It's very similar to the theatrical world, where agents are in voiceover. You are almost expected to freelance with several agents in non-competing markets.

I don't know of any full-time voice actors who only have one agent.

And they're going to source auditions for you. They're going to help you in different verticals of voiceover, whichever kind of vertical you're interested in.

A lot of people have a commercial voiceover agent. And if that agency doesn't have an interactive department, they'll find an agent who specializes in interactive or audiobooks or radio imaging or whatever, but a manager is someone who will really handle the career aspect of your voice-over world.

So, very similar in theatrical where you have agents who source auditions for you and are less handholdy than, say, a manager who will craft some of the other things, help you with your pitches, help you with your demos, give you feedback, really be there to help you along your career.

Interactive is all things animation, video games, toys and games, things outside of commercials, audiobooks, long-form, e-learning, or anything else.

It is the umbrella of animation, video games, mobile, and that kind of world.

First, is there anything you want to say more about radio imaging?

Yeah, I would say, if you're interested in doing it, I wouldn't say it's necessarily hard to get into, but I would say if you don't have a lot of experience in voiceover, you should try to take like a promo class or a commercial class or improv class.

Because you do need to provide a lot of variety, and usually it's short little lines that they're going to cut into what's happening on the air alongside the DJ and other people, other guests, whatever on the show and songs and what you're listening to.

So they like to have a ton of variety.

That variety is going to help you book with more stations because they don't want the plain, boring, or the overly kind of sticky sound that was of long ago and is no longer popular these days.

But you wouldn't know if you didn't know that and taking classes like promo, commercial, and even radio imaging classes exist.

Before you start pitching yourself in that area, try to get a bit more knowledge so that you are prepared and can start getting radio stations under your belt.

I'm saying the same line over and over again, but it is in multiple different ways.

So anything else regarding radio imaging besides the fact that we're going to have you now tell us about these VO gyms that you've been doing for acting business boot camp that people are just freaking loving that people can either attend and participate or they can audit.

It's amazing for me. I love getting to work with actors. I love getting to, it's educational for me as well because I love seeing what people come up with because what I would do in copy is different than what someone else would do. So seeing that variety, getting that variety from everybody, is a gift to me.

But it is so much fun. Working with actors who are just eager to work, being a part of an environment where it is safe and fun, supportive, hopefully, it's educational, and people are learning from me. It is a blast.

Auditing classes, I think, is so valuable, especially if you don't know the teacher. If you don't know them sometimes taking a class and working in a class with someone you don't know can be very intimidating.

I understand how this person works and their sense of humor is how they are, and you can decide then, all right I feel comfortable working with them in the future, or maybe not. I got what I got from them, and I can move on.

If you see an opportunity to audit, obviously, you should participate first, in my opinion, but if you don't know the teacher, it's a great vetting tool. It usually is for less than the actual price of the class.

You're combining voiceover business skills and you're combining core work big. You're like one of my biggest fans on that one. So, can we talk about how amazing you are working with someone one on one building, teaching them how to build a six-figure voiceover career?

How do you do that?

Building a six-figure voiceover business is not easy, and it's hard to sustain. And I've definitely had years where it hasn't been six figures. I've definitely had years where it has been that and plus and that's all great, but it's.

For me to achieve that, it hasn't been about chasing the money, because if you're chasing the money, I think in any entertainment field, you're going to get burnt out. It's not a sustainable way. It's not a good way to look at your career from a holistic bird's eye point of view for the long term.

Sure, money is achievable in the entertainment field, but if that's what you're doing, especially in voiceover, you'll get burnt out very quickly. You're probably going to get depressed very quickly, and all of the investments you've made to get to where you are right now will feel heavier and will make you feel heavier and it will be harder for you to climb out of that.

So don't think about the money. Sometimes I get auditions that are like huge $50,000 for the job, $100,000 for the job. Of course, my heart quickens a little when I see jobs like that come through, but you have to treat every job the same way, the $250 jobs up to the $100,000 jobs, because it's not about getting the money.

It is about being remembered by the casting directors and the people that you are working with.

That's such a working actor mentality.

It's about being remembered.

It is about making choices in your audition and having the opportunity to perform for somebody.

Anytime you have an opportunity to use your skills for somebody, you have this opportunity to showcase your abilities, that's a gift right there and giving that to them for them to remember you is that's your goal, baby.

That is the goal, which is how you will build your business.

Any other words of wisdom before we go, Mandy, that you would like to impart?

Just know that voiceover is the long game.

If you are in it for a career, look; if you're in it as a hobby, God bless. There's plenty of hobbyist work out there that you can go and pursue and not have. The mindset of it being part of your business.

But if you're in it as a careerist, you need to think like a careerist.

You need to treat it as a business, not just something fun to do but something sustaining you both creatively and financially as part of your career.

Just remember, it's not about chasing that money. It's a long game, for sure.

AI.

AI has been around for a long time and has only recently reared its ugly head in the entertainment industry, specifically towards voiceover.

I haven't read the agreement yet, so it's hard to comment on everything.

But I do think I've had many a client this year, big clients. I have quote unquote lost them to AI and they said, "Sorry, we're no longer going to utilize your services. We're going to go the route of AI. And Thank you very much."

Months later, this was actually like at the beginning of the year.

And then they came back to me around June or July. And they said, "Hey, are you still available? Because we really don't like it. It's not for us. We tried it. It sounds okay, but we prefer working with a human being, and we prefer working with you."

So I've lost them, quote-unquote, and they have come back.

I think it's going to be a mixture.

It's just going to be a new learning curve of how we will work alongside it, not against it.

24 Nov 2021

Episode 154: Interview with Award Winning Casting Director Judy Henderson

00:37:24

About Judy:

Judy Henderson has been honored by The Ross Reports as one of the top 20 US Film Casting Directors.

Highlights include Emmy Award for Outstanding Casting in a Drama Series. 2 Emmy nominations for Outstanding Casting in a Drama Series. 4 Artios Awards for Outstanding Achievement TV Series and Theatre Drama Casting. Artios nomination for Independent Film Feature Casting, and 8 Artios nominations for Off-Broadway Theatre Drama Casting.

She has cast innumerable national on-camera and voice-over television commercials. She is a member of the Casting Society of America and Local 817 of the Teamsters Theatrical Union. Select Film credits include Before Midnight, Paranormal 2, 12 and Holding, L.I.E. (6 Independent Spirit Award Nominations, Winner of Best Debut Performance Award), and Before Sunrise. Select TV credits include Homeland-(Emmy Award and 2 Artios Awards - Showtime Series), Love And Betrayal: The Mia Farrow Story (Fox), and Land of Little Rain (PBS). Broadway credits include Barefoot In The Park, and Anna Karenina (4 Tony Nominations).

Off-Broadway credits Invasion (Obie Award), Lie of The Mind (Artios Award), The Kid (5 Drama Desk Nominations), and Hurlyburly (Artios Award).

Who Hires You for Projects?

How does Judy decide who to call in for an audition?

What are the qualities of actors you love to bring in?

Thinks of it in terms of what she has to do.
Goes to the theater a lot

What talent means to her

Someone who makes me believe they are the person they are playing
Someone who will not melt in a situation that may or may not be consistent
Trained

15 Jun 2022

Episode 183: Procrastination and the Actor

00:23:29

The first tool when dealing with procrastination-- awareness.

Using your mind to govern your brain.

And I'm going to put a challenge to you. Whatever day you're listening to this podcast, I want you to see if you can separate yourself just a little bit from your procrastination.

Put your hand directly on your face. You can't see; you cannot be aware. But then, when you remove your hand from your face about a foot, well, you're in a place to observe your hand. You can see the lines. You can see the veins. And that is the place of power when starting to look at changing something.

Becoming aware of when you procrastinate and how you procrastinate.

Take your emotions out of your to-do list.

The second part of change is acceptance. Accept how you procrastinate.

Then we move to action.

This is when you need to start asking yourself, how bad do you want it?

"Do something today that you'll thank yourself for a year from now."

One of the things that I started to look at was the difference between how I was spending my time and how I wanted to spend my time.

What are the real goals that you want to be looking and want to be achieving?

Time management course that I am teaching on June 21st and June 28th.

Empowering questions:

What do you want to be spending your time on?
What do you actually want to be spending your time on?

And I think one of the biggest parts of procrastination for me is that my next steps are vague. So if my next steps are vague, I'm not going to do it.

How do you create a goal?

If your actions are vague and your goals are vague, guess what? The universe is going to give you a whole buttload of vague.

Deciding what you want, why you want it, and how, and then how to make that specific.

You need an ego-proof way of making sure that stuff got done.

The huge thing about "shoulding" all over yourself is that it takes up your energy. And that energy is the energy you need to get your goals done.

Get life to work for you instead of against you.

Don't procrastinate.

Procrastination is really understanding why. What makes you tick?

And I think the more we understand how we tick and how we operate, the better. We understand ourselves as actors and how we act.

28 Jul 2021

Episode 137: Actor Wisdom from Billie Jean King

00:14:06

From the book: Wisdom by Andrew Zuckerman

“Tennis taught me so many lessons in life. One of the things it taught me is that every ball that comes to me, I have to make a decision. I have to accept responsibility for the consequences every time I hit a ball.

It also taught me about delayed gratification. No matter how you look or how much money you have, you still have to learn your craft. You have to hit a lot of balls. You have to train.

There are disciplines of life that you learn from tennis or other sports. Another thing is that you learn to adapt. I have two sayings, champions adjust and pressure is a privilege.

When you’re playing a tennis match you can’t say stop I want to do another take or can I play that over. That’s the way sports are. They’re very real that way. They teach you lessons in life but the most important one is accepting responsibility. You have to make a decision, and live with the consequence, that’s what tennis does with every ball that comes to me. And I just use my experience in tennis in everyday life now and it’s fabulous. It's been a great journey to learn those lessons."

Wanting vs deciding:

Decide that you're going to get something done today,

Catabolic vs Anabolic energy

The energy of responsibility is how you get out of anxiety.

Ask yourself: What am I not taking responsibility for now, which is freaking me out?

You have to train.

"You can’t buy self-esteem you need to earn it and you need to earn it from the toughest person on the planet, yourself."

Champions adjust.

It's not the strongest who will survive, but who can best adapt to change.

Pressure is a privilege.

09 Dec 2020

Episode 104: What to Get Your Reps for the Holidays & The Crucial Follow up List

00:17:27

1- Post-Covid: Movie Tickets— Research a theater near their office/ home

2- Gift Certificate— Research what do they actually like (ie: Starbucks vs. Dunkin)

3- Charity— Ask which charity they support

4- Food Bank— Possibly to one in their hometown

——————

The Crucial Follow UP List

Go through you contacts

Type up writers/ directors/ producers/ agents/ managers/ CD’s

The Benefits of Postcards

Holds
Avails
Callbacks
Bookings

Separate commercial/ print list from theatrical list

Forward moving energy, put all your resources towards what will move you forward.

No E-Cards

09 Nov 2022

Episode 204: Have Some Fun as an Actor!

00:17:12

Ask Me Anything!

Have some fun.

How important that is, for your instrument as an actor, but also for you as a human being.

“So have some fun. Loosen up a bit, enjoy life. We do not have to be so somber and serious. We do not have to be so reflective, so critical, so bound up within ourselves and the rigid parameters others and often ourselves have placed around us.”

One of the things when I was starting out as a young actress, I would always be quite somber and serious.

It wasn't until doing this work that I allowed myself to be a little bit more silly because it was almost like I felt like it wasn't safe for me to have fun.

I think that I had this idea that I had to work, work, work, and I had to be miserable, and it had to be hard. And that's just not the way it is.

Because when we relax and we have fun, and we play, that's when we enjoy our lives the most, but also how we enjoy a scene or acting the most.

The best actors are so relaxed and in the moment.

“This is life, not a funeral service. Have some fun with it. Enter into it. Participate. Experiment. Take a risk. Be spontaneous. Do not always be so concerned about doing it right. Doing the 'appropriate thing.'”

Just do the next right thing.

It's moving from "do the next thing right" to "just do the next right thing."

One is a very healthy way of thinking, and the other is very judgmental.

Do I want to choose the healthy way, or do I want to go the way I've always done it.

“Do not always be so concerned about what others will think or say. What they think and say are their issues, not ours. Do not be so afraid of making a mistake. Do not be so fearful and proper. Do not inhibit yourself so much.”

Just let go. Take a risk. See what happens.

“To keep our faces towards change and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable.”

“We were not intended to be so inhibited, so restricted, so controlled. These repressive parameters are what other people have imposed on us, what we have allowed to be done to us.”

We teach people how to treat us.

We can also reteach people how to treat us. But that involves setting boundaries, that involves standing up for ourselves. That involves allowing us and allowing ourselves to be free.

“We were created fully human. We were given emotions. Desires, hopes. Dreams. Feelings. There is an alive, excited, fun-loving child in us somewhere. Let it come out. Let it come alive. Let it have some fun. Not for just 2 hours on a Saturday evening. Bring it with us. Let it help us enjoy this gift of being alive. Being fully human and being who we are.”

That's what I would describe as great acting, that it is about being fully human, about being fully alive, about being unrestricted, about being fearless.

And I find, again, the more I can do that in my own life. The more that can be brought into the art of acting.

“So many rules. So much shame we've lived with. It simply isn't necessary. We have been brainwashed. It is time now to free ourselves. Let ourselves go and enter fully human into a full life. Don't worry. We will learn our lessons when necessary. We have learned discipline. We will not go awry. What will happen is we will begin enjoying life. We will begin enjoying and experiencing our whole self. We can trust ourselves.”

Anxiety is about feeling like we can't handle it. And the fact of the matter is we can handle it.

“We have boundaries now. We have a foundation. We can afford to experiment and experience. We are in touch with ourselves and our universe. We are being guided. But a frozen inanimate object cannot be guided. It cannot even be moved. Have some fun. Loosen up a bit. Break a few rules. We won't be punished. We don't have to allow people to punish us. And we can stop punishing ourselves. As long as we are here and alive, let's begin to live.”

I want to give you a tool: Listen to my other podcasts. Listen to all of the core work podcasts. Listen to them once. And then listen to them again with a pad and paper. Take notes. And writing it down. It's so, so powerful.

05 May 2023

Episode 230: The Strike

00:08:15

So now what?

"Few situations, no matter how greatly they appear to demand it, can be bettered by going berserk."

It's important to put all of this into perspective.

This is survivable. It's going to be survivable. Is it tough? Is it a pain in the neck? Does it potentially throw off some of our career plans? Does it maybe stop some stuff that we hoped would go forward and now isn't because of the strike?

Absolutely.

Is it survivable? Is it manageable? The answer is yes, it is.

Us freaking out about it doesn't do us any good. What I would say is, Let's try and move into accepting it.

I need to do what I can to be proactive in supporting the writers and keep the focus on myself.

I need to take care of myself, my finances, my family, and especially my sanity.

So let's look at how we deal with panic and uncertainty during this time.

"Don't panic. If panic strikes, we do not have to allow it to control our behaviors."

I don't have to let this strike control my behavior.

"Behaviors controlled by panic tend to be self-defeating. No matter what the situation or circumstance, panic is usually not a good foundation. No matter what the circumstance or the situation, we usually have at least a moment to breathe deeply and restore ourselves to serenity and peace."

Strikes can be marathons, not sprints.

If we panic and we don't look at this by taking that step back and observing, what happens is that we lose our path.

Breathe deeply, and let peace flow through our body and mind from our source, the power that makes the sunshine, the energy that knows best. Our higher selves shall supply the necessary resources.

Let's stick together. Let's take care of each other. And the best way to do that is to take care of ourselves.

18 Aug 2021

Episode 140: Co-Executive Producer on DC's STARGIRL Steve Harper

00:37:24

About Steve:

STEVE HARPER is a playwright, TV writer, producer, and actor who writes about the “invisible things” (like race, sexuality, politics and religion) that people don’t usually talk about. He currently serves as Co-Executive Producer for the CW series Stargirl. Steve has written for God Friended Me (CBS), Amazon Prime’s Tell Me Your Secrets, ABCs American Crime (created by John Ridley), and Covert Affairs (USA). His web series SEND ME, about time traveling black people, garnered a 2016 Emmy Nomination for series lead Tracie Thoms (Now on YouTube). Short films: Three People (#WhileWeBreathe creative protest online) – also director, Intelligence (Dances with Films), and Betty on the Bed (also director and actor). His Full-length plays include Black Lives / Blue Lives [co-written with Bill Mesce, Jr.] (The Theater Project, NJ) and Urban Rabbit Chronicles (Georgia Southern University world premiere 2022). Steve’s acting work spans TV, film, theater, commercials and voice overs. Awards and honors include a selection as a semi-finalist for the O’Neill Theater Center, the Artistic Achievement Award from the Afro-American Cultural Center at Yale, the Millennium Telly Award, a Weissberger Award nomination, a MacDowell National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship and two Yaddo fellowships. Steve is a graduate of Yale, The A.R.T. Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard and the playwriting program at Juilliard. When on hiatus from TV work, he coaches professional and aspiring writers. Follow him on Twitter: @harpercreates and @yourcreatvlife

It’s so challenging to find a way to drop into that space of regular discipline.

Artist
Self Care
Focus
This is the key

How he casts actors on the other side:

We all think whoever is in charge has all the power— just. not. true.

Surround yourself with things that remind you that you are more than this moment, or audition.

No matter where you are at, you need to master that level, because that is

13 Nov 2024

Episode 310: Unsupportive Family & Friends

00:10:36

Try out the weekly class

Today I'm going to talk about what I find a sad subject, and it is about unsupportive friends and unsupportive family members.

And I'm gonna give you a few points and things to think about. So that you can have the support, at least from me, and I'll talk about getting more support in a moment, that helps you when you're dealing with this.

Now, the first thing, and I know because, man, I hated this word when I first learned it, was boundaries.

Learning to set boundaries, clearly communicate your goals and values to others, and establish boundaries when necessary.

This helps you to protect your energy and stay focused on what matters most to you without having that negativity affect you.

Now, I think that's really important, and I'm going to say something about boundaries in a moment, but I also need to teach you this little phrase.

Don't go to the hardware store for lemons.

If you know that a family member or a particular friend is not supportive of your acting career, here's an idea stop talking to them about it.

Stop talking to them about it. You have a choice. Here's another idea. They call, you find them difficult to deal with this particular person. Don't pick up the phone. Let it go to voicemail. And call them back when you feel strong.

When you feel strong.

There's another great phrase. I just thought of it. I learned this in a 12 step program, which is Don't dial pain. Or don't text pain.

If that person, if you know that person, is not going to give you the empathy, the love, the support that you need, go to someone else, and if you don't know who to go to, oh, for goodness sakes, please shoot me an email.

Email me

The other thing here and it goes right into it, is you want to limit negative interactions.

When I go to places where I don't feel that I'm really going to be supportive, I remind myself that all I need to do is be civil and polite.

And sometimes if it's like a party, I can ask questions. And just listen to other people. I don't have to be giving everything of myself. It's not required.

It's not my duty to entertain people.

I can ask them how their lives are doing. And I am going to walk away feeling, one, good that I was there for another person, but two, also that I have protected myself.

Limit negative interactions.

If there are certain people consistently undermining your efforts, consider reducing the time you spend with them.

I always say there's another phrase that is arrive late and leave early, arrive late and leave early.

And also, the restroom can be a wonderful place to just reconnect yourself, to gather your thoughts, to gather your resolve.

If you're in situations that you can't get out of your family.

For example, I, by the way my parents are the most supportive people in the whole world, so I can't imagine not having supportive family members.

But I have had unsupportive friends, so I can relate.

You want to support yourself with positivity whenever possible to keep your motivation strong. That's one of the things that is so freaking wonderful about that weekly adjustment class. We are All supporting each other. It's such a wonderful class on that line.

Seek external support. We cannot do this on our own. It takes a village. We want to find like minded individuals who can uplift and encourage you and whether that is through an online community or getting a mentor or having supportive friends.

Those are the people you want to be support surrounding you yourself with as much as possible because their reinforcement can balance out any negativity from other people.

I think it does so much more than balance it out. I think it tips the scale.

Also, Remember to stay focused on your vision. Remind yourself of why you are pursuing your goals.

And remind yourself that you are worth it.

And that you were put on this planet for a reason.

And it is worth you standing up for.

Focus on your vision. on your long term vision.

When you do that, it helps you to remain steadfast, even when those around you may not.

Support your choices. Don't abandon yourself, and don't abandon your dreams. You are worth it. You are worth it.

Finally, respond with compassion. Oof, this is a toughie.

Sometimes, unsupportive friends or families, family, may be acting out because of their own fears or their own misunderstandings.

Try to respond with empathy, but don't let their worries derail your progress.

Focus on your path, knowing that their opinions do not define your self worth.

If someone is saying that I'm worried that you're in a risky job, with your goal of being an actor.

Tell them that you can handle it.

Tell them how much you love and appreciate that they're concern, but that you've got this and that all you ask is that they love you.

They don't even have to support you, but just that they love you.

Just that they're your friend. And then you can make the mental note of whether they heard that or not, and of whether you go to them again.

Whatever you don't quit five minutes before the miracle. Don't do it. Keep going. Consistence. Persistence. Tenacity.

25 Nov 2020

What is Your Strength Story?

00:33:12

“There is no glory in thinking of yourself as less than.”

Core Work:

“It’s about who doesn’t blink.”

The Power you can harness from your own Strength Story.

“To keep our faces toward change and behave like free-spirited in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable.”— Helen Keller

Brain Cell A, Brain Cell B Synapses. Changing the “I am not enough,” to “I am enough.”

Something happens	Something Happens
React	React
	STOP!
	Take a Step Back
	Observe
	Is this healthy for me or is this unhealthy for me?
	Respond

Affirmation- I LOVE MYSELF AND I APPROVE OF MYSELF.

There is no glory in thinking of yourself as less than.

Stop continuing to play small.

Affirmation- I AM ENOUGH

I AM SUCCESSFUL AT COMMERCIAL AUDITIONS.

Enjoy being you!

13 Jul 2022

Episode 187: Anger at the Business

00:17:38

What is holding you back?

Anger towards the Industry.

When you have felt like:

Well, maybe this isn't for me
It seems to be a club that I can't get into.
Or it feels like everybody who has any power hates me.
And how can I want something so badly but not be accepted into that club?
What is wrong with me?
Am I defective?
Am I not good enough?

And all of that can sometimes lead to a tremendous amount of anger. And there's nothing wrong with anger. Anger is just an emotion.

I'll let you in on a secret: It doesn't kill you. It's survivable. Anger, confrontation, all of it is survivable.

From the book Courage to Change.

"It seems to me that many of us deal with our anger in inappropriate ways, denying it, we stuff it, or we go off in a fury directing the feelings outward. I, for one, opt for avoidance of any conflict, and then I turn into a doormat."

Learning how to deal with anger.

Learning how to set a boundary.
Write down your feelings.
It's taking the heat out of the emotion when you do that journaling.
Then look over it and then say, "this is how I feel, and this is what I need."
Now you can do this directed at the industry as a whole.
How do you feel?
What are your angry feelings towards the industry, and what do you need from the industry?

So the exercise is writing a letter, note, or email, if you'd like to, the industry as a whole.

"It says denying it meaning, denying anger or denying our feelings. We stuff it, or we go off into a fury."

So it's again, it's that pendulum. We're either doing nothing, or we're going way off, you know, way off our rocker. And the other thing that it says is "opt for avoidance or conflict or turn into a doormat."

Neither one of these are helpful.

What is helpful is transcending our feelings.

There's that wonderful quote from Richard Bock. "The best way out is always through."

"The 12-step programs encourage us to acknowledge our feelings and to be responsible for how we express them. The problem is not that I get angry, but I do not know how to direct my anger appropriately."

And again, feelings aren't facts, but it is important that we feel them.

That tool of journaling and writing out the answers to these two questions how do I feel and what do I need?

We are responsible for how we react or respond to our feelings.

"A response is a reaction with a pause and a thought behind it."

Ask: What is an appropriate way for me to express this either to the industry as a whole or to another human being?

I want to work with an actor who is excited about the industry.

"Lately, when I feel like hitting somebody, I take my pillow and beat the daylights out of my bed. When I want to wipe someone out, I attack a dirty oven. I try to release my anger as soon as I can so that I won't build resentments that will be harder to get rid of later."

When you have anger, I can do a couple of things.

One, you take a pillow if you have workout gloves, that's great because again, you want to love yourself through the process of getting the anger out and you attack your mattress with your pillow.
Two, when you do that have your pen and journal right there so that you can then even get out the mental emotion.

Writing how you feel and what you need.

And then again, taking that step back and looking at it and saying, okay, how can I say this in a healthy way?

He says, "I'm learning to communicate my anger to I may not do it gracefully, and my words may not be well received."

Progress, not perfection.

"It means facing the awful discomfort called conflict. But I can't run away anymore."

We don't want to go through that discomfort of our anger at the industry because it's something that we so want to be a part of.

But I do think what is so important is that we deal with that anger, that we transcend that anger, that we walk through that anger.

Feelings are learning how to be with you.

It's important to learn about your anger as well and look at your anger in terms of what you want so desperately: to be a working actor and be in the industry.

So looking at that and your resentment is such an incredible gift to the artist and performer you are.

02 Jun 2021

Episode 129: The Art of Detachment

00:17:48

When are we doing too much?

When are we doing too little?

What is our responsibility and what isn’t?

My Part vs. Not My Part

The Serenity Prayer

Grant Me the Serenity to Accept the Things I cannot change

I cannot change other people, places, or things, or outcomes.

I did my part but I can not control how that director took my performance in my callback.

Courage to Change the Things I can,

I can only change myself, my attitudes, and my actions.

And Wisdom to know the difference.

Wisdom to know the difference between the things I cannot change, and what I can change.

Thank you for helping to change the things I can control, and to let go of the things I can’t.

Recovering your True Self—The awareness of who you will are

When in doubt, leave it out.

Don’t just do something, sit there.

When in doubt, slow down, pause, journal, and make a plan for how you are going to take care of yourself.

Journal, talk it out, find a bookend.

Show me what I need to learn today.

Help me to show up for myself and my career today.

Show me how I can be of service in my art today.

Today I take actions for myself that are appropriate and healthy.

I strive for the balance between self-responsibility, responsibility to others, and letting go.

07 Jun 2023

Episode 235: Letting Go of What We Want as an Actor

00:14:29

Free month of The Weekly Adjustment Coaching Group

Episode 101: The 6 Business Tools Every Actor Must Have

"It is important to identify what we want and what we need, but where does this concept leave us? Well, generally, what it leaves us with is a large but clearly identified package of currently unmet wants and needs, but we've taken the risk to stop denying and to start accepting what we want and need.

But the problem is now that the want or the need hangs there unmet. This can be frustrating. Painful, annoying, and sometimes obsession producing."

After identifying our needs, there is a next step in getting our wants and needs met. The next step is letting go of our wants and needs after we have painstakingly identified what they are and the steps to achieve them.

We let go. We give them up on a mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical level. It's not always easy to get to this place, but this is usually where we need to go."

I'm not talking here about giving up as an actor and giving up your dream.

What I am talking about is giving up the obsession, giving up the frustration, and giving up the pain, giving up the annoyance.

Because how often have I denied a want or a need? Then I went through the steps to identify my needs, only to become even more annoyed, frustrated, and challenged because I didn't have what I want and didn't know how to get it.

If I embark on a plan to control or influence getting that want or need met, I usually make things worse.

"Searching, trying to control the process doesn't work. I must, and I have learned to my dismay, need to let go."

This is very different from getting a practical plan of action, taking the steps, aligning the thoughts, and then letting go.

"Visiting our own head is like visiting a bad neighborhood because it's a place that works against us instead of for us."

I'm going to take these actions, let go of the results, and produce amazing results.

The more I hope and try to get it, the more frustrated I feel because I'm not getting it.

We often find that we really actually can have what we want and need or even something better. But sometimes, letting go is part of it.

Letting go of that obsession, of that frustration, of that annoyance, of that pain.

10 Nov 2021

Episode 152: 52 Episodes in 52 Weeks- Our One Year Anniversary!

00:38:03

What is required in this Industry: persistence, consistence, and tenacity.

Episode 102: What is Your Strength Story?

Episode 103: 3 Tips to Up your Voiceover Auditions with Roger Becker

Episode 104: What to Get Your Reps for the Holidays & The Crucial Follow up List

Episode 105: What Would You Do if You Were Brave?

Episode 106: The 3 Must-Knows Before Beginning Your Content Creation Journey with Bill Timoney

Episode 107: Social Media for Actors - The 5 Things you Absolutely Need to Know with Heidi Dean

Episode 108: Goal Setting for the Actor

Episode 109: How to Maintain Your Actor Goals

Episode 110: Why Your Sound Sucks, Common Mistakes Voice Actors are Making from Home with Frank Verderosa

Episode 111: Affirmations, Energy and Truth & Our Consensus

Episode 112: Three Steps to Learning an Accent with Amanda Quaid

Episode 113: Your Life's (and Career's) Potential

Episode 114: How to Get the Most out of Your Acting Class with Scott Freeman

Episode 115: The Notebook Every Working Actor Needs

Episode 116: An Interview with Robert Creighton

Episode 117: I Am Fear

Episode 118: Keep Yourself Sharp! Interview with Katie Flahive

Episode 119: Intimacy on the Set w/ Amy Northup

Episode 120: Limiting Beliefs and Empowering Questions

Episode 121: Life Coaching for the Actor

Episode 122: Interview w/ CD Mary Egan-Callahan

Episode 123: Is Your Resume Speaking the Right Language?

Episode 124: Interview with Bicoastal Manager Malissa Young

Episode 125: The Courage to be Yourself

Episode 126: Interview with Casting Director David Cady

Episode 127: The Journey of Mistakes

Episode 128: Working Actor Series- Interview with Maria Dizzia

Episode 129: The Art of Detachment

Episode 130: Interview with Voice Director & Casting Dir. Ed Lewis

Episode 131: How Resentment is Holding You Back in Your Career

Episode 132: The Working Actor Series with Mark Ivanir

Episode 133: Anxiety Over Everything Opening Up - Let’s Talk

Episode 134: Interview with Emmy Award Winning & Tony Award Nom. Eric Nelsen

Episode 135: Actor Burnout & Overwhelm

Episode 136: The Working Actor Series with Joel Steingold

Episode 137: Actor Wisdom from Billie Jean King

Episode 138: Interview with Casting Director Andy Roth

Episode 139: Actor Imposter Syndrome

Episode 140: Co-Executive Producer on DC's STARGIRL Steve Harper

Episode 141: Self Care for Actors

Episode 142: From Hollywood to Bollywood- Interview with Mark Bennington

Episode 143: The 10,000 Hour Rule

Episode 144: Interview with Working Actor & Editor Anthony Arkin

Episode 145: Owning Your Power as an Actor

Episode 146: Interview with LA Theatrical Agent Melissa Berger Brennan

Episode 147: Perfectionism and the Actor

Episode 148: Interview with Stewart Talent's Jason Sasportas

Episode 149: The Fear of Success

Episode 150: Interview with ICM Agent Jen Rudin

Episode 151: Interview with Independent Casting Director Adrienne Stern

14 Sep 2022

Episode 196: The Victim Trap

00:16:07

Monologue Class with Andrew

Time Management Class

The victim trap.

Being a victim is just a way for me not to take responsibility for my life and when I am, quite frankly, scared.

The Language of Letting Go

"The victim trap. The belief that life has to be hard and difficult is the belief that makes us a martyr. We can change our negative beliefs about life and whether we have the power to stop our pain and take care of ourselves."

Assignment: Ask yourself

Do I believe that life has to be hard and difficult?
And then, if I believe life has to be hard and difficult, how do I operate out of that?
What are the things, what are the thoughts that I think, what are the actions that I do that indicate that?

Because what we're trying to do here is to spot where we are a victim. So I'm immediately in this podcast episode just slamming you right into homework, giving you assignments on how to change so you can get out of this harmful thinking and belief pattern.

"We aren't helpless. That is the Truth. With a capital T, we can solve our problems."

I try and think of my problems as challenges. They're challenges for me to face. And every time I meet a challenge, I become more successful. Why? Because I gain more self-esteem.

Assignment:

Make a list of challenges in your life and start putting them into categories.
A category of what is mine to solve and a category of what is not mine to solve.
And then those that are not yours to solve, what you want to do is you want to put them aside.
And you want to focus on that list of challenges and problems that are your responsibility.

Taking responsibility for ourselves pays enormous dividends.

Using each problem that comes our way to prove that life is hard and we are helpless. Well, this is something called codependency, and it is the victim trap.

"Life does not have to be difficult. In fact, it can be smooth. Life is actually good. We don't have to "awfulize" it to ourselves or to anyone else. We don't have to live in the underside of life. And I just want to add that we can be on top. Now, that doesn't mean that we're not going to have challenges that sometimes feel insurmountable."

We do have power. More power than we know, even in the difficult times. And the difficult times don't prove life is bad. They are just part of the ups and downs of life, and often they work out for the best. We can change our attitude. We can change ourselves. And sometimes we can even change our circumstances. Life is challenging. Sometimes there's more pain than we asked for. And sometimes there's more joy than we ever imagined. But it's all part of the package. And the package is good. We are not victims of life. We can learn to remove ourselves as victims of life. By letting go of our belief that life has to be hard and difficult, we can make our life so much easier."

Whatever challenge I'm going through, it is survivable. And not only is it survivable, but by surviving, I gain that thing that can only be earned and not be bought no matter how much money you have. And that is self-esteem.

And for an actor, self-esteem and confidence are the two magical ingredients that core work gives you.

21 Apr 2021

Episode 123: Is Your Resume Speaking the Right Language?

00:15:30

The Language of the Agents and the Casting Director is spoken in:

Your Resume
Your Pictures
- Telling agents and Casting Directors you are not green.
Have a good follow up, how, when and what you say in your follow up.
Your Demo Reel, how it’s edited, where is shown, what you put on it.
Website— always put your direct contact info, even if you have an agent.

The outline of a resume: If you put so much stuff on it that it’s hard to read, it’s going to get deleted or discarded and you don’t want that!

The Letterhead:

Your name
Your union affiliation
Cell Phone
Email
Website
Social Media Handles

Your stats:

Hair and the eyes
Your height and Weight (or size)
Vocal Range (if you are a singer)

The Film Section

3 columns only
Any info you want me to know with an asterisk (ie: *scene with Tracy Morgan)
The role you played
Production Company
Director’s name underneath that

Television/ New Media

3 Columns
Name of the Show
What kind of role you played (Series Regular/Guest Star/ Costar/ Featured)
Name of the Network or where it was shown

Theater

3 Columns
Name of the Play
Name of the Character/ Kind of Role you played (Lead/ Suporting/ Small Supporting/ Ensemble)
Name of the Theater and City
Director/ Musical Director/ Choreographer (if it’s a big dance show) underneath that

Commercial/ Print/ Industrials/ Voiceover/ Cabaret

List upon request
Cabaret set up like you did in the Theater section

Training

If you have graduated from any school
Name of the degree, school, city/ state
List who you’ve been studying with for acting, improv, commercials, singing, dance, etc.

Skills

You want to be intermediate or advanced in any skill you list
Languages, accents, types of singing you do, sports, and an other category.
End with drivers license, passport, covid vaccine (as the last thing)

07 Feb 2024

Episode 270: Interview with Emma O'Neill and Mike Tobin

00:43:29

The Voiceover Actor Road Map

About Emma:

Emma O'Neill is a multi-award-winning voice actor specializing in radio and TV commercials, TV narration, TV promo, and corporate training videos. Outside the booth, she's a fitness and wellness enthusiast, and has been a certified yoga instructor for more than 25 years.

About Mike:

Mike Tobin is an accomplished, Montreal-born, award-nominated voice actor, MC, and event announcer who has made his ultra-fluent bilingualism the cornerstone of his brand for more than 20 years. He also loves technology and is an avid Mac enthusiast.

What it's like to be a voiceover actor in Canada.

And it can be very isolating and very lonely.

So when you have people that understand the business, they understand the hustle. They understand the self-doubt that can come with things during slow times, or, you know, I was talking to somebody yesterday, and it was, you know, why them and not me that you can get into these spins in your head.

And when you have someone who understands all of the levels of that, it's just; it makes you feel less crazy, it makes you feel less alone, it makes you feel like, you know what, I can reach out to Mike today, I have a little bit, and with Mike and I, it's great because we work so closely together, we've kind of gotten to this place where if I'm losing my mind, he's calm, and if he's losing his mind, I'm calm, so it's like, oh, this works, this is great, thank you.

The universe's wind blows at different times.

Part of this comes from our leaning on using accountability groups, which is a big part of our experience.

So we do have our accountability groups that we lean on, but sometimes you just need one person.

Weekly accountability group: At the beginning of every session, I say, okay, what did you do from this last week to this week? And in the end, what are you going to do? And we get into that and how important that is. So, I love that you guys are talking about weekly accountability.

There are the things that are there regularly.

There are, of course, auditions. Audition has to play a big part in every voice actor's life. There's only a few things you're going to get. Unless you're getting direct clients, which is another part of it, which is marketing and following up and keeping on top of all the business aspects of it, it's so huge.

Many people who are creative, artistic, and talented get into this industry and this business—all the things that put a voice to a microphone, but then everything else.

It can be very scary and intimidating for them because, after all, it's the voiceover business.

You can have clients around the world. It doesn't matter, especially now with the connectivity that we have with Source Connect and other technologies.

So it comes from all over the place.

I love that you said that voiceover is a global industry.

I love that. It's just because there's so much possibility.

What do you think is the most important thing starting in Voiceover?

Coaching. I always say coaching is the most important thing.

There's voiceover, and there's voice acting.

And there are people who don't do commercials. They don't do video games. They don't do audiobooks. They don't do character-based work. They do e-learning and corporate and stuff like that, which is still character-based, but it's much more accessible to the average person.

You're not necessarily fully fleshing out a character.

There's a commercial promo TV narration, things like that; you are fully fleshing out a character, but you still need to understand the nuance.

Acting is acting. Period. End of sentence. It's got nothing to do with the sound of your voice but everything to do with the connection to the story.

So, you need to understand the story you are telling. Once you understand the story you're telling and who you are in that story, whether you're just the storyteller or actually participating in the story, you can do whatever aspect of voice.

So I think that with that, with getting it telling the story, this is the difference between voice acting and voiceover, is that I think that with AI coming in, and it's not going to go away. We need to work with it and understand it that as a voice actor, to be able to connect with the story, that part of voice isn't going to be taken over by AI.

Because a computer can't yet do that.

Acting is key. Learning the craft is key. I will say that people need to have some foundations in business in general.

So they need to educate themselves and train themselves on basic things. I was listening to a show on the radio recently. They were talking about how many people now entering the workforce force don't have what we call many of the soft skills that are just expected of people in business, how to write a good email, how to handle yourself on a telephone call, how to, handle yourself in a meeting, either face to face with a real person or over video conferencing.

So, many of the soft skills required to have a successful business need to be there to support your craft.

The craft is great. You need it. You need to train to differentiate yourself, but if you can't deal with people, sell yourself, and market yourself, you'll be a great actor but won't make any money.

Talk to me about AI. What are your thoughts about AI?

AI, synthetic voice, generative voice, anything that is learning. It's not going to go away.

And it's something that we need to be on top of, and I watch other actors who are much more advanced in their career than I am.

When this became a thing, they jumped on it immediately, created their own avatar voice, and are using it for all sorts of things.

I think with any new technology; there's always the fear, right?

And because, yes, anything new, especially in technology, can be used for not the greater good as we're seeing already, there are also fantastic things that can come from this.

It's just like a voice actor putting, creating your own synthetic voice. You can use that for pickups and long-form narration. You can use that; you're getting on a plane on vacation, and your agent's I need this audition now. And you're like, I am sitting on the plane.

You've already got your different voices put into whatever version you're using, whatever platform you're using. So, the 11 labs. For example, you can put feed corporate, your corporate voice in your radio voice in all of your different voices and create like voice one through 10.

And so this particular copy, you just feed the text into the AI and it spits it back out in your voice.

And you just like. Let them know this is my AI voice. It's not actually me, but at least they get their copy in my voice. They can hear the basics of how this would sound and I can do and there's been so many stories of people doing that and getting off the plane, they've booked the job.

Let me ask you, because devil's advocate here, my question is aren't you afraid that they will then take your voice and then just use it and not pay you?

I am a cautious skeptic when it comes to the state of AI in voiceover right now.

And part of that I think stems from looking at past disruptions of industry. If we take, for example the music industry. The music industry was disrupted in a big way when file sharing started.

And to, to what Emma was saying nefarious characters, even though people didn't think they were doing any harm by, sending 500 files over the internet, over Napster in the middle of the night that led to some big changes in the music industry.

I would say, you don't need to look very far and headlines and things like that is that the artists still haven't really recovered.

I would think I think that there's ripple effects that even go beyond You know the fact that a stream only pays zero point zero zero, whatever how many cents?

And I could you know one could argue this is what possibly led to the craze of crazy concert ticket prices and things like that because artists want to make their money and that's where they can do it.

To bring it back to voiceover. I think what Emma said that it's not going away, it's there. We need to make ourselves aware. We need to find a way that we can. Leverage this into our own business model.

I really praise people like Nava who are doing great things for the industry and who really have our backs and are trying.

But like any technological thing the industry, and the technology itself moves forward very quickly, and the legislation and all the protections and the ethics of the whole thing tends to have to catch up.

And that's the concern. I agree with what you say that’s the concern is there.

Is someone going to take our voice and use it without our consent? That is a big worry. But What I'm hearing is that there are technologies that are coming into play that will hopefully protect us. Are we there yet?

Doesn't sound like it, but it's coming. So things are moving at light speed. So definitely a finger on the pulse.

Let's keep our head up and eyes open and we'll see what happens.

It's the importance of having a contract going back. This is a business. You have to have a contract with all of your clients and a contract can be as simple as an email exchange. Once it's writing, it's a contract, but AI specifically working with companies to create synthetic voice to create your own synthetic voice and allowing them to then use said voice to create content.

The contract has to be rock solid and there are loads of people in this industry who are really well versed in contract that are willing to review contracts for you.

So it's talking about contracts, understanding contracts, what needs to be in the contract, so that it's, this is for this job or for this series of jobs. It's not for anything else. If it changes, you must come back to me with the change. And like I was saying, there's a lot of different technologies that are coming in that it's like, you can water stamp your audio that is not audible to the human ear, no one would ever hear it, but it's, you can track it.

I really hope that those technologies that are going to help protect our voice prints and things like that really come to fruition in a very robust way.

You go on YouTube, for example, and you search I was watching a video on how to use this AI technology that's built into some of the photo and video editing software.

And the person, the content creator says, I'm going to show you how to do this. And this is the tool that you use. And then he says look, when you do this, you'll see that it.

It puts a stamp, like a watermark down at the bottom that it says it was created with this technology. Now, let me show you how to remove that watermark.

Hopefully we don’t experience that kind of thing.

What’s one business skill that you think is super, super important?

I think one of the skills that needs to be honed for many people is the ability to search for information and to vet that information on your own to decide is this good, valid information or is it not.

Because we live in an age you can learn to do anything. YouTube University, let me tell you, if your washing machine is stuck and won't turn on, there's a YouTube video that's going to tell you how to fix it.

I'm saying the skill to be able to find information that you need. And decide, is this from a source that I trust, is vetted, and then to take that information and take action upon it.

I think that's a really critical skill, not just in voiceover but in anything.

Networking. Learning how to network and understanding that networking is about relationships.

It's not about shoving your business card down someone's throat.

It's not about dumping your demos into someone's inbox.

It's about getting to know who you're speaking to as a person. Because people are people, at the end of the day, yeah, as a casting director, as a coach, it's a producer, it's a roster, whatever.

It's an agent.

It's a person. It's a person who has interests outside of the acting world, outside of voiceover. Yeah. Get to know people as people.

Build your network and make it into your community. Connect with people as humans, become friends with them. And that's how you're going to build your business is by having people as friends.

04 May 2022

Episode 177: Interview with my Mom and Why You are Never Too Old

00:50:19

We are dropping this podcast in honor of Mother’s Day but also on the actual day she gave birth to me!

Food, Drink, and Celebrations of the Hudson Valley Dutch (American Palate)

Her Latest Cookbook

Advice: “When I’m stuck in a story, I talk to someone else.”

Keep doing what you’re doing and enjoy it!

Learn more at peterrose.com

24 Jan 2024

Episode 268: Illusions and Empowering Questions

00:15:41

On-Camera Class

Costar Class

I'm going to talk about illusion and illusion in your acting career in two different ways. The first way is I'm going to talk about how we have the idea that an acting career will go one way, but actually, that's just an illusion, and that's just me trying to control the outcome.

So when I'm doing that, it is an illusion.

And I remember this actually in terms of money. I always thought if I made X amount of money a year, I would be free.

Oh, I'm going to be so happy. Oh, my life will be cupcakes and bubblegum. I will have no worries.

Only to find out when I made that amount of money and much more. You don't get cupcakes and bubblegum.

You get more decisions, and it becomes even more stressful.

And really, the only thing money buys is convenience. And if you're not making much money right now, that might be difficult to hear.

But money does not buy happiness. That was an illusion that I had.

Another thing that I find as a coach in the industry, and to be quite frank, even more so as a casting director, is this illusion idea that actors have about what it takes to be an actor and what it takes to be a working actor.

And it's difficult to explain, but I want you to think of something you have done in your life that was difficult. Okay, you're going to do this with me right now. Think of something in your life that you did that was difficult.

And then I want you to imagine someone who has never done that before coming up to you and either telling you how that experience would be for them or how they would go about doing it.

And you, having known how difficult that was and how that actually gets done, is listening, quite frankly, to this bunch of bullshit.

And that's sometimes what makes it difficult to be a coach, a casting director, and meeting new actors, and having to break it to them and explain it's not that way.

What is incredibly joyful for me, though, is the actor who goes, “Tell me more.”

“Tell me more because I want to make that illusion a reality. I want to make that illusion a reality more than anything else in the world. Say jump, and I'll ask you how high.”

That's exciting. That lights me up. So that is the first way I'm talking to you about illusion.

“We do not see the world as it is. We see it as we are.”

This goes into that example I just gave you previously about the actor and the coach or the casting director.

I want to remind you of the definition of consciousness.

Now, the definition of consciousness is your awareness of who you are, as opposed to the you that you believe you are or are taught that you are.

So, I think of it as my consciousness is how the Universe sees me.

Because the Universe sees me as it sees itself, which is Infinite.

I, on my own, in my ego world, is finite.

So I can choose to believe the me that I believe I am or was taught that I am, or I can believe the consciousness and have an awareness of who I truly am so that I see the world more clearly with more reality.

Now let's also talk about, because I think this has really come up for me a lot in the past couple of weeks, how this core work helps you to be a better actor.

If I can see things and understand things more truthfully, with more reality, oh boy, that will help me when I start working on character.

Because I'm tapping into Infinite Truth, Infinite reality, as opposed to my own finite truth, my own finite reality.

Because when you're Infinite, people are attracted to that.

Quantum physics proves that the world is a creation of our perceptions.

So I want my perception to be as much in line with the awareness of who I truly am, as opposed to the awareness of who I think I am or how I was taught that I was.

I want to see the world Infinitely.

And I want my perception to be Infinite.

We simply attract and then see what it is we expect to see and can actually create what we expect to happen. So that can work for us, or that can work against us.

So, I want you to take a moment now just to write down this question:

How do I see the world, and do I see the world in a way that works for me or against me?

And then I want you to journal about that.

We create our world. Through the interpretations we make.

So, if we want to create a more enjoyable life experience, we can focus on finding peace, joy, and abundance.

And that focus produces a more desirable perception of the world and those in it.

So now we're talking, this second part, we're talking about how to create a world that is happier for us, that is more desirable for us, that makes us feel good.

Dr. Wayne Dyer has this great quote, and I say this as an affirmation quite a bit: “I want to feel good. I want to feel good. I want to feel good.”

Dr. Wayne Dyer also has another quote that I love, which is all about illusion: “Change the way you look at things. And the things you look at change.”

And that is, again, why I want my perceptions to be as aligned with my consciousness of the awareness of who I really am.

Meaning in line with the Universe. In line with Infinite thought. Remember, like energy attracts like energy.

So the more positiveness I create in my life, the more positive energy I self-generate, the more I'm going to see that in my perception, in my beautifully created illusions.

Our goal is to see the world through the inner eyes of Universal Truth and inspire others to do the same.

Remember, capital T truth is Universal Truth.

It's plants, it's nature, it's in alignment with that Truth, it's the wind.

And little t truth is ego's truth. An acronym for ego is easing God out.

And remember, I consider this to be the God of your understanding. God can also, a wonderful acronym for God is good orderly direction.

Oh, wouldn't I love some more of that in my life, wisdom and some good, orderly direction.

And again, I remind you of the definition of consciousness, which is the awareness of who you really are, as opposed to the you that you believe you are or were taught that you are.

So that capital T Truth is who you really are. And that little t truth is who you think you are.

So there I've given you two ideas on illusion.

Illusion in your career and illusion in your life. And how you create a more beautiful in both.

23 Aug 2023

Episode 246: Money Mastery- Interview with Rose Marie Rupley

00:35:50

Learn More About Money Mastery for Actors

About Rose Marie:

Official "Auntie Bear," Rose Marie is Peter's right-hand woman at Acting Business Boot Camp. She learned the budget system and used it to completely renew her relationship with money. Moving from the kind of person who checked her bank account with her eyes closed every few months to knowing exactly how she wants to spend her resources to serve her goals.

She learned this system from Mama Bear herself, which completely changed her relationship with money, empowering her to help others do the same.

Rose Marie's history with money and how she came to the Money Mastery Budgeting program.

I just felt hopeless. I didn't know what to do.

Money was coming in very irregularly because I was working many different jobs.

And I really didn't know how to manage my money at all.

This system has completely transformed the way I look at money. I have like a 795 credit score; I'm able to save. I have zero debt. I paid it all off. I have savings. I have a retirement in stocks.

The budget system has completely overhauled my entire life in terms of finances.

I started coaching for the budget coaching in 2017.

So can you explain what Jason Harris's budget system looks like?

It's figuring out your predictable monthly spending and how much it takes to run us at a baseline.

I'm not talking about any of the extras. I'm talking about rent, cell phone insurance. I include my gym membership in my nut because going to the gym is really important to me. And I cannot survive as a human being if I don't work out.

And then also figuring out how much money you have left over for your unpredictable monthly spending.

And putting it all together using the income you made the month before.

So instead of trying to live with, "the money I made now gets spent now."

Hand-to-mouth does not work.

It really creates so much stress in your life in a way that is just unbearable.

The amount of anxiety, stress, and yucky feelings about myself and who I am. I thought I could never make money. I thought I wasn't good at making money; I thought I was just not good.

I had such a fixed mindset regarding income, spending, and finances.

On the second night, Peter deals with all the yucky feelings that come up when it yucky feelings.

We tie money up in so much of our own self-worth.

You can think your way into Right Action, and you can act your way into Right Thinking.

And I think your part of the course is acting your way into right thinking, and my part is thinking your way into right acting.

So it supports the goal of financial freedom.

More money not a problem. Less money problem.

Gamifying your spending.

"I am gonna have extra money left over in all my categories at the end of the month."

But the other thing that you made me do, which is really revolutionary for me, and I know all of the world is such an internet, digital. We all live on our phones, and there are so many apps that let you do this: you made me carry a little notebook in my purse or my backpack everywhere through New York City, and I would write down every single thing I spent money on, and at the end of the day, I would subtract how much I spent money on, from how much I had left.

And the act of writing it down just made me so much more aware of where my money was going.

AND I didn't give up the first time I forgot to do it.

And so the thing that I really tried to separate myself from was having to do it perfectly for it to work.

The other thing I love about the budget system, you don't have to do it perfectly for it to work.

The goal is to get 1% better at it and not give up the first time you hit some resistance.

Because it's just numbers.

I'll never forget the first month when I was in the green. I was like, "Oh my God, I can do this. This is not outside of my purview. I am capable of creating a financial abundance."

Even if it was a hundred dollars, it doesn't matter. It was still a hundred dollars.

The other thing that I love about this system, in terms of building confidence, is all you have to do is follow the steps.

If it takes three months to get from the red to the green, that's fine. You're just working the system, waking up every day, doing it as we teach it, and eventually, you're like, "Oh, I'm a master at this."

It becomes automatic after a while.

When I started doing it, first of all, when Jason taught it to me, I started crying. I just burst into tears. It was humiliating that I didn't know how to handle my money. I felt like I was stupid. I felt like I was totally incapable, that I wasn't smart.

These were all the things that came up for me around budgeting. And I just felt defective, and I had a tremendous amount of shame around it.

And I told myself, "Swallow your pride, suppress your ego, and remain teachable and see if he's got something here that works."

If I told you how much I have in savings now and how much, you know, abundance I have in my life because of his system, it's incredible.

I'll never forget the first person who used the system to move from New York to la. And like all she did was run the budget system for a few months.

Making rules for yourself.

You have to plan ahead. Otherwise, you end up spending money that you didn't want to spend.

An easy exercise everyone listening to this podcast can do right now:

Print off all of your statements from the last month,
Highlight any time you made an impulsive purchase, or you had negative emotions with a purchase
Also, highlight all the subscriptions and things you didn't know you were paying for.

What it allows you to do is it gives you some awareness so that the next time you have the impulse to spend $40 on a new shirt when you're out and about,

Or get that $7 latte, especially when you're trying to fix your finances and, in the end, you don't care that much about the latte.

I'm not saying don't indulge sometimes, it's important to indulge, but I think to indulge with an awareness.

But also, to get all those purchases you didn't feel great about afterward, they didn't turn out how you wanted them to.

You spent money, and then you're like, "Ugh, why did I do that again? I'm self-sabotaging because I have these goals, but I just spent $200 on this thing that won't serve me."

And just by doing that exercise, you begin to elevate your awareness and your thoughts so that the next time that thing comes up, you'll maybe choose a different thing.

Understand that your budget system is not trying to make your life hard.

You're trying to find something livable and create your income around that.

Because if you say, "Oh, I'm gonna live on $500 a month." Well, yeah, you're living on oodles of noodles and ramen.

It's not practical, and that's not the point. Not spending money is not the point of the budget system.

There's so much morality tied up in spending money equals bad.

The reality is that we live in a world where we need to spend money, and also, spending money is fun when you save up.

Fun funds:

you're an actor saving up for headshots,
saving up for vacations
create monthly patterns so you can end up where you want to be.

I went to Italy for three weeks last year with my fiancé. And I saved up for a year for that. But when I got to spend that money, did it feel good? And I did not even care about spending it. This is the realization of my yearlong dream.

"The walls of your comfort zone are lovingly decorated with your lifelong collection of favorite excuses." Jen Sincero

Mine was, "I'm bad at math, so that's why I couldn't budget. That's why I'm not smart around money."

Separating your self-worth from your bank account.

Acting your way into right thinking and thinking your way into right acting.

Day one is the practicality of it. That's the acting your way into the right thinking.

And then, day two is my teaching the thinking your way into right acting.

And it's also that both your actions must support your goal, and your thoughts must support your goal. Both of those things have to be happening at the same time to achieve it.

That's the recipe for success.

Figuring out where did this shit come from?

Without both together, you end up stuck because you can come up with a million excuses for why you can't do the budgeting.

I didn't think it would work as well as it did, and I mean, countless other people have said the same.

And then my thinking shifted with other things in my life because if this is true, what else is true?

I can manage my money; what else can I manage? That I didn't think that I could.

Think about where your money's going now and where you want it to go in the future.

For example, when I started saving and investing, I put in $10 a week.

That is like nothing. But I knew that if I just budgeted for that, it would get easier to add to it. And add on to that. And until you save a hundred dollars a week to invest in things.

The other thing about investing is just sitting there making money off my money.

And the other thing that I help think it helps with in terms of anxiety is it gives you, if you know how much it takes to run you, you're NUT.

If you know how much you need in your NUT and roughly how much you spend on groceries and everything else, that's your unpredictable expenses.

Then you find your magic number, which we call the number that it truly takes every month that you need to make in income.

And so it also allows you to be empowered to choose how many shifts you need in a week in a month. That's on how much extra in gig work you need to make.

For freelancers, the money comes in different months differently, but it also allows you to be like, "Okay, I made an extra two grand working on this acting project. Now I have two grand. Well, what do I do with that money?"

This budget system teaches you what to do with that extra money when it comes in.

So then, in the months that you have less money coming in, you don't freak out. Especially right now because I know times are hard with the strikes.

But this allows you to feel like you have a sense of control, even if your work is unpredictable.

Your money situation can be really fucked up like ours was, and there is hope.

We do record this, and you can, like, you can watch the course as many times as you need to.

Anyone that takes the course can work privately with Rose Marie for $35 an hour. Because people get stuck, and I want them to feel like they can get unstuck fast.

Private Coaching with Rose Marie

26 Feb 2025

Episode 325: An Actor's Guide to AI (Part One)

00:38:03

AI in Entertainment: Essential Insights for Actors

The world of acting is evolving, and one of the most significant changes affecting performers today is the rise of artificial intelligence (AI). From digital likenesses to synthetic voices, AI is reshaping the entertainment industry at an unprecedented pace. If you're an actor, understanding how AI impacts your career is no longer optional—it's essential.

In a recent episode of the Acting Business Bootcamp Podcast, hosts Peter Pamela Rose and Mandy Fisher sat down with Erik Passoja, a SAG-AFTRA leader and digital identity advocate, to break down everything actors need to know about AI, contracts, and protecting their digital identity.

The Rise of AI in Acting

AI technology is advancing rapidly, and its effects on performers are profound. Whether it’s through deepfake technology, voice synthesis, or motion capture, AI is being used in new ways that could impact actors' careers and livelihoods. Without proper regulations, AI could allow companies to use an actor’s likeness, voice, or movements indefinitely—without additional compensation.

Key AI-related concerns for actors:

Digital likeness rights
AI-generated voices
Deepfake manipulation
Contract loopholes allowing indefinite use
Residuals and monetization concerns

Actors must stay vigilant and informed about how their image and voice are used in the industry.

Read Your Contract: The #1 Rule for Actors

Erik Passoja couldn’t stress this enough: Read your contract! Many performers unknowingly sign agreements that grant companies rights to their voice and likeness in perpetuity. This is particularly concerning for non-union actors, who may have fewer legal protections.

If you’re a performer, here’s what you need to do:

✅ Check for AI clauses in any contract you sign.

✅ Seek legal advice if anything seems unclear.

✅ Understand how your likeness and voice will be used before signing.

✅ If you’re non-union, be extra cautious—you may have little legal recourse.

Even union actors must be aware of the nuances of SAG-AFTRA agreements related to AI. While protections have been put in place, ongoing advocacy is needed to strengthen them further.

Erik Passoja’s Activision Case Study: A Real-Life Example

Erik shared his own experience with AI exploitation in the gaming industry. After working on Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, he discovered that his likeness had been repurposed without additional compensation. His digital image was used in ways he never agreed to, and because of the contract he signed, he had no legal recourse.

His story highlights a growing problem: AI technology is advancing faster than legal protections.

Actors must take charge of their own digital identity by being proactive, informed, and careful about what they sign.

AI & Union Protections: What You Need to Know

SAG-AFTRA has implemented AI protections in recent contracts, but there’s still work to be done. New legislation is being proposed to further safeguard performers, ensuring that companies cannot exploit their digital identity without consent or compensation.

Some of the latest AI-related regulations include:

Watermarking AI-generated content to track digital use
Informed consent laws for AI usage in entertainment
Stronger residual structures for AI-generated performances

As AI becomes more prevalent, SAG-AFTRA continues to negotiate protections that will benefit all performers. Staying informed about these updates is crucial.

How to Protect Yourself as an Actor in the AI Era

🎭 Stay Informed: Follow SAG-AFTRA updates and AI policy changes.
📄 Read Every Contract Carefully: Look for AI-related clauses and seek legal advice if needed.
🚫 Avoid Unregulated Scanning: If you’re non-union, be extremely cautious about contracts that involve AI ingestion.
🔎 Educate Yourself on AI Rights: Understand how AI-generated performances affect your residuals and future work opportunities.

Need Help Navigating Your Acting Career?

Peter Pamela Rose is offering a FREE career consultation to help actors restart their 2025 with clarity and direction. If you’re unsure about how AI and other industry changes affect your career, this is the perfect opportunity to get expert advice.

📌 Book a Free Consultation with Peter
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Final Thoughts: The Future of AI in Acting

AI is here to stay, and its impact on the entertainment industry will only grow. While technology can bring exciting opportunities, it also presents risks. By staying informed, advocating for fair contracts, and protecting digital identities, actors can ensure that their careers remain secure in the age of AI.

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16 Jun 2021

Episode 131: How Resentment is Holding You Back in Your Career

00:20:21

Think of something that happened to you that you’ve held with you throughout your career and created some sort of thought attached to it.

Think about how that instance is holding you back.

“Forgiving is not forgetting, it’s letting go of the hurt.”

Resentment- the only person it’s hurting is you.

Think of resentment as a replay on a football field.

When you have a resentment, and replay what happened in your head, you are reseeing it.

Ex: Two guys collide, and you hear the break of the bone, and the commentators go ooh that was a bad break, and they watch it again. The next time you swear the sound got clarified, louder, and you swear the grimace of the guy who got hurt got bigger, the color got brighter.

And each time they play it again, the sound gets louder, the color gets brighter.

Resentment does just that.

“Don’t allow someone to live rent free in your head.”

How many resentments do I have that are taking up energy and space?

This is the question: Can I love myself enough to let go of my need to be right so that I can have inner peace?

You can’t buy peace of mind, you need to earn it.

Empowering Questions:

What or who am I resentful of?
What do I feel they did to me?
How can I see this from their point of view?
What pay off or benefit am I receiving from hanging on to this resentment?
By not letting go of this resentment, how does this keep me stuck?
What limiting beliefs have I developed because of this resentment?
How are these limiting beliefs being utilized in my career?
How can I stop practicing these limiting beliefs so I can move forward?

Tools from Previous Episodes:

Listen to What is Your Strength Story?
Listen to Limiting Beliefs and Empowering Questions.

More Empowering Questions:

What would my career or life look like if I no longer practiced these beliefs?
What would it feel like without that resentment?
You have a choice of what goes on in your head, use your mind to govern your brain.
What are you thinking and are those thoughts healthy?

Take responsibility for your resentments and set yourself free.

27 Oct 2021

Episode 150: Interview with ICM Agent Jen Rudin

00:39:16

About Jen:

Jen Rudin is the head of the animation department at ICM Partners. She joined ICM in July 2020 following two decades as an award-winning casting director. Rudin grew up in New York City and began her professional acting career at age eight. She is the author of Confessions of a Casting Director: Help Actors Land Any Role with Secrets from Inside the Audition Room published by HarperCollins.

Jen spent seven years as a Casting Executive at The Walt Disney Company. From 2002-2007, Jen served as head of casting for Walt Disney Animation Studios in Burbank, California and she won the 2006 Artios Award for casting Chicken Little and the 2010 Artios Award for The Princess and the Frog. From 2007-2009, she served as Director of Casting and Talent Development for Disney Theatrical Productions in New York City.

"As a casting director, if you’re good, we will bring you back because we depend on certain actors."

Jen Rudin’s Book: Confessions of a Casting Director

You can become one of those people so when you come to the audition, the CD doesn’t have to worry about you.

Simplify, do it, and get on with your day.

Casting Directors have the hardest job.

Read audition directions OUTLOUD.

The core work: You in and of yourself know you are ok, you are there to serve the project, to serve the work.

You speak the "Language of the Agents and the Casting Directors," you don’t bring in your actor stuff, you are on the same page.

When auditioning for animation, watch the shows, do your research!

11 Sep 2024

Episode 301: Abandonment and the Actor

00:13:27

Try out The Weekly Accountability Group

Get the free PDF Guide- Owning Your Power as an Actor

Today I'm going to talk about the abandoned actor and this is something that I have been really delving into on a deeper level in my private work, the private work I do with clients, but also in my weekly classes.

And it's the idea of when we audition, or when we go to a set, or anything, maybe it could even be in your personal life when some kind of pressurized situation happens. We abandon ourselves.

And I'm gonna start talking about I, just to make this easier to explain.

I would abandon myself. Meaning, I would abdicate my feelings, my point of view, my talent to everybody else but myself, and that's what I mean by abandonment.

One of my weekly classes is in my sister coaching company called Chiropractor for the Mind. And what I teach is emotional self sufficiency.

And it's emotional self sufficiency, by teaching you emotional intelligence and teaching you to raise your intelligence emotionally.

And this idea of emotional self sufficiency, let me just talk about that for one moment, is that when I'm just talking about me, when I am emotionally self sufficient, that means whatever comes my way in life, I am able to coach myself, I am able to help myself out of that emotional confusion.

And emotional confusion is a problem for an actor because when you go in to do a scene, you want to be in the moment, emotionally on point.

You want to be emotionally understood.

You want to be able to access every single emotion in you in the moment.

But if you are emotionally confused as a human being, oh boy, do we have a problem.

So here's the thing, through core work, which is all that I talk about, that's how we become emotionally unconfused.

And it is also where this ability to coach yourself is so important, and that is especially important when it comes to this idea of how do you abandon yourself.

Now, a lot about abandonment has to do with feeling that you are a victim, thinking that you can't handle it, that you can't manage the situation you are in.

But as all of my teachings have taught me and others, it is that we will never be given more than we can handle, but we will be given more than we can control.

I'm just going to use the audition situation to keep this easy.

Why when we walk into a meeting or an audition, why do we feel the need to abandon us?

Why all of a sudden does it matter what the writer, director, producer, casting director thinks, but not what we think?

And one of the things I talk about with my private clients and in the weekly classes are, this idea that if I go in and pretend I am the character of Sally.

If I believe I'm Sally, if the only person that I am focusing on that needs to believe that she is Sally is Peter Pamela Rose, guess what automatically will happen?

Automatically, everybody else in the room will. And I've only had to put the focus on making myself believe.

And when I do that, I am not abandoning myself.

I am not abandoning myself.

Now let's just talk about anxiety and abandoning ourselves.

I want to talk about a few points of When I start to feel that I am, like, abdicating my responsibility for myself to someone else, the number one thing I need to do when that happens is, I need to become aware.

And I need to acknowledge my feelings.

I talk about awareness, acceptance and action. the first step in core work is becoming aware because you don't know what you don't know, right?

So becoming aware.

And as I am aware and I accept that, “oh, look, I am doing this,” then I can, then that awareness happens, the acceptance that I am doing it happens, and then I want to move very quickly into action.

The subject of awareness and acknowledging is really about recognizing and validating my emotions and also allowing myself to say, “okay, it's okay to feel it,” but this is the thing, if I try to say it's not happening, or just go away please, which is what I always like to say to my anxiety, it's not going to work.

I need to be in the room, with my feelings and go, this is happening, okay, how am I going to help myself with this?

How am I going to walk through it?

And this is the thing. I don't want to judge it. I just want to acknowledge it.

Because as soon as I start to judge it as being something bad that is happening, that's me trying to get rid of it.

Not gonna work. It's not gonna work.

I need to figure out how me and my, let's say, anxiety can function together so that I can say, Oh, look, there you are. Oh, okay. You don't want to eat. Okay. What do I know? I need to do need to make sure when was the last time I ate. Okay. It was an hour ago. Okay. Set my alarm for three hours from now. That's when I'm going to eat.

In other words, I need to practice tough love with myself and support myself and love myself through the feeling of abandonment.

I also recommend that when this happens, you immediately go to either talk to someone, Journal, talk to the universe, or listen to one of these podcasts, one of my core work podcasts.

Why do I say that?

Because we need to get out of ourselves.

We can't cure a sick mind with a sick mind. And when we're in that, we're a little sick. Our thinking is stinking. Stinky thinking.

Journaling helps because our, the smarter part of ourselves, our higher coach gets in there and can help us.

Praying helps, okay, or reaching out to the universe, talking to a friend to get us back on point.

Or, listening to a podcast like this to get yourself back, to get yourself back.

The other thing that's very important is that I take care of myself. That's why I go to the food. I know when I get anxious, the number one thing I don't want to do is eat.

Therefore, I need to put myself on an eating schedule and then decide how much I'm going to eat and then I don't allow myself to get up from the table until I finish it.

And if you think that I don't like doing this, you are correct. Not my favorite thing. But, it does work. Why? Because I'm going through.

The best way out is always through.

The other thing is, I really need to challenge my negative emotions and my negative thoughts.

What is my stinking thinking telling me? And how is it making me want to abdicate responsibility for whatever is going on in this moment? Because I am capable.

I am the most capable person I know.

How am I going to take care of myself at this moment? What do I need to tell myself? What good things do I need to tell myself?

And then, after I've done these things, then I need to put it all into action.

Put it all into action. And not forget to Baby step it. Baby step it.

It doesn't matter how small it is, because when we accomplish small tasks, we build what?

We need that thing that we really need when it comes to abandonment. Knowing that we have the ability to get ourselves out of it.

Knowing that we have the ability to get ourselves out of it. To regain, to take back our power in that audition room. And focus on the job. Which is to act.

There's no need to abandon yourself.

Stay with yourself, love yourself.

11 Oct 2023

Episode 253: Fear and Courage

00:16:56

Private Coaching

Fear and Courage.

Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway

"If everybody feels fear when approaching something totally new in life, yet so many are out there doing it despite fear, then we must conclude that fear is not the problem."

Fear is not the problem. It's our attitude and our actions.

One of the things I coach with people is I look at their goal, and then I look at their thoughts around that goal, or their affirmations, their affirmative thought around that goal, and then I look at those actions around the goal.

So we make sure that the affirmative thoughts, or the thoughts that you are having around being a Working Actor, are not thoughts like, "Oh, I'm not good enough. It'll never happen. I'm too old for this shit."

Whatever it is, that we start turning those thoughts around because we need to have our thoughts and our actions supporting and backing up that goal.

That is how you create success in your life.

But for me, when I started first to learn this work, I was like, "Yeah, but I'm fucking terrified, and I am filled with anxiety, and I cannot imagine calling my manager and asking, how come I don't have any auditions, or I haven't had any auditions for a couple of weeks."

But yet, those were the things that I needed to do, either to get more activity or learn that manager was really not that into me and I needed to find someone else.

Fear is not the problem. But what the problem is, according to Susan Jeffers, which I concur with, is how we hold and manage our fear.

It's our attitude toward fear.

So again, remember that fear is not the problem. How we hold and manage the fear is.

Last week I talked about how you will never be given more than you can handle, but you will be given more than you can control.

And manage is another word for handle.

If how we hold and manage fear is the problem, guess what is the phenomenal, exciting news about that?

Then there's something we can do about it. There is something we can actually do about it. Because if it's in our realm of being able to handle or manage. Hey, that's our job, remember, controlling is not.

You're never going to be able to control your fear. Believe me, I spent a lifetime trying to do it doesn't work.

But I can manage how I handle it. I can manage how I think about it and what I do about it. And the thing is that if I stay, in that belief, that fear actually is the problem, then I'm staying in that victim energy.

Then I'm staying in that catabolic energy, that hopeless energy. "There's nothing I can do," bullshit. There is something you can do. Now I'm not going to say that it's going to be easy, and I'm not going to say that it's simple. But it is doable. In fact, it is simple. It's just not easy.

So if we accept the truth that how we hold and manage fear is the problem, and I stress that is a truth, that is a Universal Truth, not an ego truth. That is an infinite truth. Then we put ourselves energetically of taking responsibility, and then we can move forward.

So if we put ourselves energetically saying, "You know what? I understand I have fear. I, but I can manage it. I can handle it." By just doing that, we take ourselves out of catabolic energy, victim energy and in to anabolic energy, which is the energy of taking responsibility.

But if we stay with the idea that fear is the problem, guess what? We stay stuck.

So many people, I was at a networking event yesterday and it wasn't an actor. It was just a neighborhood networking event. The number one thing that everybody told me was "I feel stuck."

The reason why you're stuck is that you are afraid.

So let's get you unstuck.

Now, if again, how we hold and manage fear is the problem, we can move out of fear and then we can accomplish our goals or our wants or our needs.

So Susan Jeffers talks about a how we hold our fear, and she has a chart.

When we hold our fear, we have some kind of what? Pain.

And that pain is caused by feelings of helplessness, feelings of depression, feelings of paralysis. But when we move into that anabolic energy, we take responsibility of managing and handling our lives as opposed to controlling it or just not doing anything, then we end up with choice.

We end up with excitement because "oh my god we're actually doing it now." And we end up with action.

And when I talk about this power, this idea of power of how we get ourselves to do what we want. I am talking about the power within ourselves, which is ultimately building self-esteem.

So if we have power over our perceptions of the world, we have power over our thoughts. We have good, affirmative thoughts.

Then, we have power over our reactions.

Let's say something happens. I spill coffee on my new blouse. My immediate reaction will then be, "Oh God, that was so stupid. Or I'm so stupid."

But then I want to tell myself, "Stop."

I want to stop. And then I want to take a step back from what I just said to myself.

What just happened? Stop. take a step back.

And I use that example of putting your hand on your face and you cannot really see your hand. But if you move back a foot and you look at your hand, you are then in a place of what you are in a place of observation.

When you are in a place of observation, you can ask yourself that valuable question, "is this healthy for me to behave, to think this way, or is it unhealthy for me?"

Then, of course, I'm going to realize it's unhealthy for me to have such a negative reaction to just what was it? A fricking little mistake.

So what am I going to do? I am going to respond. I'm going to respond with a loving thought. I love myself, and I approve of myself. And here's a genius idea. Go get some club soda. Go get a towel wipe off your blouse, and take it to the dry cleaner.

Was it worth beating up on yourself? For all of that?

For just spilling some coffee? No.

Because nothing is worth a dig at my self-esteem.

Nothing. I have a phrase that says, "A Response is a reaction with a pause and a thought behind it."

And when we have power over our reactions or our perceptions, we are using that process of stopping, taking a step back and observing, looking at it for what it is from a distance because, again, we're in that valuable place of observation and then responding to the situation.

Power to do what is necessary for our own self-growth and career and all of these things make you feel better about yourself.

It creates healthy self-love, and we need self-love to be in this business of show because the business is not going to supply you with that love.

And this is the biggie. As a casting director, I also [00:13:00] am letting you know you cannot ask it to. As a casting director, I cannot be the one telling you, "Don't be afraid; it's okay."

Now, obviously, as a coach, it is. But if I'm in a job situation, I cannot be the one nurturing you. That's not my job. My job is to cast the actor who knows they are doing a great job and who has assured me that they are in great hands.

That's what I need. I don't need to be validating your existence on this planet.

I have way too many other things on my plate. I need you to know you're good. And I need you to assure me. I'm in good hands.

This power that I've been talking about in the podcast before and in this one gives you the ability to get yourself to do what you want to do.

It gets you out of your own way.

It is empowering and ultimately, it creates a tremendous sense of serenity.

But guess what? It always. It always. is, it's always magnetizing.

It's like when in sports, when you see the person who breaks away and runs with the ball and crosses the finish line, or gets the goal gets the goal, or scores the touchdown.

That is so exciting. And it's also exciting when a casting director sees an actor be great at their work.

It just makes me want to cast them over and over again.

You do not have to be incapacitated by your fears. You do not.

21 Jun 2023

Episode 237: Letting the Past Hold You Back

00:17:55

You Can Heal Your Life

Letting the Past Hold You Back.

"Many people come to me and say they cannot enjoy today because of something that happened in the past.

Because they did not do something or do it in a certain way in the past, they cannot live a full life today. Because they no longer have something they had in the past they cannot enjoy today. Because they were hurt in the past, they will not accept love now. Because something unpleasant happened when they did something once, they are sure it will happen again today. Because they once did something that they are sorry for, they are sure there are bad people around them forever. Because once someone did something to them, it is now all that other person's fault their life is not where they want it to be today. Because they became angry over a situation in the past, they will hold on to that self, self-righteousness. Because of some very old experience where they were treated badly, they will never forgive and forget."

Ways that we use our past as an excuse.

Forgiving is not forgetting; it's letting go of the hurt.

When you are so angry at your past or at someone in your past, it's like you are taking the poison and expecting them to die.

Not even the universe can change the past.

If something happened to you in your past, it is important that you look back but don't stare. It is important that you trace it, face it, and erase it.

Let's talk about an audition that was botched up or a meeting that was botched up, or you were late, so you didn't get to do something in your career.

Always keep in mind that you are doing the very best you can, if you could have done better than you would've.

If you say, "Well, I could do it better now, you're probably right."

Letting the past hold you back is working against you instead of for you.

As an actor, this business is so darn hard. Why are you going to make it harder for yourself?

You don't deserve that. You deserve the very best the universe has to offer. Now it's time to accept that, and we accept that by starting to let go of our past.

Let me focus on today on the present so that I may create a better future for myself, a future that works for me instead of against me.

Because somebody else hurt, you doesn't mean you need to keep punishing yourself for that hurt.

It all comes down to self-love.

One day I realized this is the only person I can be. So let's have a love affair with ourselves.

Just because something happens to you once doesn't mean it will happen to you again.

I now look at challenges in my life as opportunities to grow stronger and to show myself that I am more capable, stronger, and smarter than I ever thought.

I think everyone deserves to be forgiven.

Forgiving ourselves is sometimes the hardest thing to do.

Do you want to be right, or do you want to be happy?

Forgiving is not forgetting. It's hanging onto the hurt, and this is the thing. If you're hanging onto the hurt, the only person you're hurting is you.

The past is over and done with and cannot be changed.

This is the only moment we can experience, even when we lament about the past. We are experiencing our memory of it in this moment and losing the real experience of this moment in the process.

If you have one foot in the past and one foot in the future, you're pissing on the present.

If there is something that you want to let go of. Write it down on a piece of paper and put it in a box. And then, in a month from now, look at it and see if you have let go of it just a little bit.

And in the process, be as loving to yourself, as good to yourself, and as kind to yourself as you possibly can.

Because I'm in your corner.

I genuinely am in your corner to make your life and career move forward instead of staying stuck in the past.

21 Sep 2022

Episode 197: Interview with Jeremy Redleaf

00:51:22

Time Management Workshop

About Jeremy:

Jeremy Redleaf is an Emmy and Streamy award-winning artist and entrepreneur. He tells stories and creates experiences through his Brackets Creative shingle, including "Odd Jobs," the Streamy Winning web series, "3rd Street Blackout," a feature film (Available on Peacock), and the SYFY special "Who Won the Year?" He's the co-founder of Caveday, a global community built around having a healthier relationship to work. Follow him at @jeremyredleaf on all the platforms!

The ultimate multi-hyphenate.

"Every time I was waiting for the phone, he was going out to make something. And I started to get a little jealous of that because it can be disempowering to wait to hurry up and wait or just to wait."

How empowering it is to make your own films, to make your own work.

Successful working actors are very curious.

Curiosity sometimes just comes out of necessity.

"Well, as soon as I built some self-esteem, I encountered, you know, fiercer dragons."

At some point, I started to identify with being brave and being and being like in the arena and facing the dragons.

The most successful people do what they most don't want to do by noon.

I find for me that being in a community helps a lot. You know, just to know that other people are fighting similar battles is enough for me usually to sort of go like, "cool, I'm just one of the gang."

We all have these sorts of voices of self-doubt.

When I'm faced with a challenge, I go, "Okay, now, if I don't deal with this now, this sucker is going to repeat this kind of situation is going to repeat itself down the road, and it's going to be more painful and more uncomfortable."

There's ego, and then there's the universe or divine or spiritual.

And with ego, it's finite because it ends and begins with me. But with the universe, it's infinite. And so, do I want to tune my radio dial into Infinite, or do I want to tune my radio dial into Finite?

When you act and are in the flow , you transcend your ego and are connected to the infinite.

Yeah, the best way out is always through.

“I am willing, I am willing, I am willing.”

I don't think that we're talking enough about the pandemic in terms of like what it has done to our sort of artists' souls.

15 Dec 2021

Episode 157: The Emotional Challenges of the Holidays

00:12:11

Check out classes for January!

December can feel like a sprint.

Take care of yourself first.

Understanding no is a complete sentence.

Sometimes being with certain people requires your number 10 energy. When you’re with them, you need to have number 10 energy to deal with the number 10 challenge.

It may be best to limit your time and exposure to them.

Melody Beattie's The Language of Letting Go

Dealing with your feelings but try not to dwell unduly on them
Allow yourself to just be in the day
There may be some holiday backlash
It’s ok because we're all doing the best we can at the moment
Allow yourself to embrace and be with the love that IS available

20 Jul 2022

Episode 188: Negotiating Conflict as an Actor

00:25:00

Negotiating conflict in your career and in your life.

Melodie Betty's Beyond Codependency

“Core work is about more than walking away. Sometimes it means learning to stay and deal. It's about building and maintaining relationships that work.”

Core work is about more than walking away.

And there's a great quote from Richard Bok that says, “The best way out is always through.”

We're not responsible for our first thought, but we are responsible for our second.

My first thought in this conflict situation was, “I'm out of here.” But my second thought, which is the one I was responsible for, was a very healthy thought. And it was, “the best way out is always through.”

It's about building and maintaining relationships that work.

Not everybody's going to like you, and not every work relationship is going to be perfect and brilliant.

It is important to cultivate relationships with those people who you do gel with, who you do want to work with, who you do have that synchronicity with, and have those people be a part of your tribe.

“Problems and conflicts are a part of life and relationships with friends, family, loved ones, and at work. Problem-solving and conflict negotiation are skills we can acquire and improve with time.”

And the words there that I really want you to pay attention to are and improve with time.

Because another one of my favorite slogans is “progress, not perfection.”

Progress, not perfection. Sometimes when I'm dealing with a conflict that I find particularly uncomfortable, just the fact that I pick up the phone and tell the person or meet the person and say, “this is uncomfortable,” is half the battle.

The best part is, is if I can state how I felt or how I feel and what I need with leaving the word “you” out.

You express how you feel and what you need, but you leave that critical word “you” out so that you keep your needs and your feelings with you and not put them on the other person.

“Not being willing to tackle and solve problems in relationships leads to unresolved feelings of anger and victimization, terminated relationships, unresolved problems, and power plays that intensify the problem and waste time and energy.”

I don't really have that much time, nor do I have that much energy to waste. So I need to make sure that my time and my energy are spent as efficiently as possible.

Those conflicts that I need to negotiate need to be dealt with sooner rather than later.

Imagine a computer, and imagine programs running on the computer, and you minimize the programs so that they're just sitting on your toolbar at the bottom. The fact of the matter is, is that those programs are still using energy battery from the computer.

When you don't negotiate conflict or some challenge or some issue in your life. That little program just keeps burning your battery. It just keeps burning your bandwidth.

It’s taking away from the energy that you need to be focusing on the things that you really want to be doing. Because we need that energy to manage our time and to do those difficult tasks.

“Not being willing to face and solves problem solve problems means we may run into that problem again.”

If you don't take responsibility for the conflicts in your life, how the hell do you expect to have success at a higher level where you’re going to be negotiating far bigger conflicts?

“Some problems with people cannot be worked out in mutually satisfactory ways. Sometimes the problem is a boundary issue we have and there is no room to negotiate.”

When working on a conflict, look for a win-win situation.

“In that case, we need to clearly understand what we want and need and what our bottom line is.

How you figure out what you want and what you need:

Get out paper. Get out a pen.
magic happens when a pen gets in the hand and you put it on the paper.
I want you to write your “fuck you letter” to this person
- saying everything that you wanted,
- everything that they disappointed you with
- everything you ever wanted to say to this person.
And then I want you to go for a walk or run or, you know, go exercise or go clean your house or just do something.
And then I want you to come back to it.
And maybe that's after a night's sleep.
And I want you to read what you wrote.
I want you to read your fucking letter, okay?
And I want you to really write down the facts of what you wanted, what you needed, and what your bottom line is.
And then look for a way to healthfully communicate that to that person so that you're taking the hurt or the sting or the heat out of the wound.

Because it's so important that when we are dealing with conflict, we are responding and not reacting.

“A response is a reaction with a pause and a thought behind it.”

“Some problems with people, though, can be worked out, worked through, and satisfactorily negotiated. Often there are workable options for solving problems that we will not even see until we become open to the concept of working through problems in relationships rather than running from the problems.”

Remember: they're looking for a win-win as well. And so they are willing to meet me halfway. And when that happens, it's fucking awesome.

“To negotiate problems, we must be willing to identify the problem. Let go of blame and shame and focus on possible creative solutions. To successfully negotiate and solve problems in relationships, we must have a sense of our bottom line and our boundary issues so we don't waste time negotiating non-negotiable issues.”

Those non-negotiable issues are what you have distilled from your “fuck you letter.”

Because you have written down how you feel and what you need and what your bottom line is. So you already know that going into your conversation.

“We need to learn to identify what both people really want and need and the different possibilities for working that out. We can learn to be flexible without being too flexible. Committed, intimate relationships mean people are learning to work together through their problems and conflicts in ways that work in both people's interests.”

And in order for you to uplevel, those areas of your life that you most don't want to face, need to be faced.

30 Nov 2022

Episode 207: The Power of Serving as an Actor

00:21:43

Ask Me Anything

Marianne Williamson

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

My manifesto for my life is to inspire.

It is the one word that I feel describes what my purpose on this planet is to do. I wake up, and I show up for duty.

What’s your one word purpose?

It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.

And I believe it is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us because it is not our darkness that we need to take responsibility for. But it is our light. It is our talent.

Every single one of us has a purpose.

As your life gets bigger, it requires more of your attention.

Because I cannot give away what I have not given myself.

You not being your best; who the fuck does that serve?

You hiding your talent that has been so freely given to you? Who the hell does that serve?

You're not being generous and fabulous and showing your light and being who you really are. Who does that serve? The answer is no one except maybe your ego.

There's the ego mindset, which is finite and is only what is in me. And then there is the universal mindset, which is infinite. Which plugs into that universal intelligence.

There is power in serving. Because when you serve, you get out of yourself. When you are out of yourself, and you are serving, you are no longer in fear.

I am so done with playing small so that people around me feel more comfortable.

If you don't feel comfortable being around me, don't hang around me.

I want to concentrate on serving one because it makes me happy. Inspiring brings me more joy than anything else in the world, no matter what form it is.

It's not my job to help you feel better by diminishing myself.

And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

If you go on social media and you see somebody do something. And it makes you feel bad about yourself. Ask yourself, what do I not want to take responsibility for?

When one of your friends wins an award or one of your friends makes a short film, and it gets voted best something at the Grand Canyon Film Festival. Congratulate them.

Thank them for showing you that it is possible.

Isn't that much better than just feeling shitty about yourself? That doesn't serve anybody. That doesn't do anything.

I want to inspire you to do something. To be brave. To serve, because when you serve through your craft, through your talent, you are a positive force in this world. And, my God, we need a powerful force.

So be that in your world.

As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. That is the power of serving as an actor.

By you doing your work as an artist. You help other people, but you also help yourself, which only enables you to help more people.

13 Sep 2023

Episode 249: You Can Restart Your Year at Any Point

00:16:23

Private Coaching

So, Rosh Hashanah, Happy New Year.

I am married to a wonderful Jewish man, and this is the Jewish New Year.

You can restart your day at any point.

And I thought, you know what, it's Jewish New Year, and we could all use a bit of a restart.

I also love that it's coming up right after Labor Day; I think of it being, as I mentioned before, summertime is over, and it's, the school year has begun. So, let's try and infuse some energy.

So, what does restart my day, my week, my month, my year at any point mean to me?

It means that there needs to be some sort of an attitude adjustment.

Meaning that either I have been slacking on something I have been not aligning positive thoughts or positive action with my goals, which is one of the biggest things I talk about.

And I need to make an adjustment.

Free month of coaching

As a Chiropractor for the Mind, I adjust your thoughts so that they are in line.

In other words, getting you to do everything you can to work for you instead of against you.

And how does that relate to restarting your day at any point or restarting your year?

What we need is an alignment. An alignment to get us back on track to what it is we really want.

So today, I decided to give you the opportunity to restart your day at any point: your hour, your 15 minutes, your anything, your year, your month.

I think we could all use a year if you're an actor at this point, or a writer for that matter.

And I'm going to give you some quotes on new beginnings.

One of them is by Richie Norton. "Every sunset is an opportunity to reset. Every sunrise begins with new eyes."

What I love about that is a dear friend of mine would always say to me, "Peter, I am only responsible till I put my head on the pillow at night."

That's The only thing I need to manage; the only thing I need to handle is from this moment till when I put my head on the pillow at night.

Because when you put your head on the pillow at night, you reset. And when you wake up in the morning, it is every sunrise begins with new eyes.

Again, this podcast, this particular lesson, is about resetting.

It's about it being a new year. It is about new beginnings.

It's about adjusting. Adjusting to what it is you want in your life. And adjusting your thoughts and your actions to your actual goal. Because remember what I say, I talk about if your action is, I want to be a working actor.

I want to be a working actor. The thoughts of I'm not good enough. I can't do that. Ooh, that's tough. You know what? I'll do it tomorrow. Those kinds of thoughts are not working for your goal.

And therefore, it's going to be very difficult for your goal to succeed.

Last week, in the Weekly Adjustment, which is the Chiropractor for the Mind weekly group I do, I talked about an energy action model.

And I talked about what your chances are for success in terms of mindset.

When your thoughts and your actions do not align with your goals, you have a low chance for success.

But every day, you have a chance to reset. And I'm asking you today to challenge yourself to reset your year.

I love this one by Taylor Swift. "This is a new year. A new beginning and things will change."

Another famous quote I love is from Joseph Campbell: "We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned to have the life that is waiting for us. The old skin has to be shed before the new one can come."

When you make plans, God laughs.

Because if I look back at how I thought my life was going to be, as opposed to how it ended up being up to this point in my life, it's so different and yet so similar.

I got to where I wanted to get to, but not in the way I ever thought I would.

At some point, I just let go, followed what was in my path, and didn't force it.

Do the next right thing. And that's another great slogan for you. Do the next right thing.

Notice I don't say, do the next thing, but do the next right thing. What's in front of you? What is challenging you? The most successful people do what they most don't want to do by noon.

Vincent Van Gogh. "What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything."

Here's another one that I love. "Holding on is believing that there's only a past. Letting go is knowing that there is a future."

You can restart your year at any point. What is your future going to be? And that is Daphne Rose Kingma.

J.P. Morgan, "The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide you're not going to stay where you are."

Getting out of your comfort zone. If you are having trouble getting out of your comfort zone, I ask you to baby step what you want to do. What is the tiniest thing you can do to move you in that direction?

Because when you take a baby step, it's not, "Ugh, look, I'm so pathetic I have to take a baby step." It's not that. It's that, "Wow, I'm brave enough to move in the right direction. The direction that I want to move in."

Remember, your desire to either be a working actor or accomplish whatever you want comes from the Universe.

The Universe has to give it to you for you to want it.

You have the Universe behind you. Have the courage to take that first step toward getting somewhere.

Decide that you are not going to stay where you are at. Restart your day, your year, your hour at any point. You can do it.

I know you can do it.

20 Mar 2024

Episode 276: Musical Theatre with David Cady

00:37:45

Work privately with David

About David Cady:

DAVID CADY is currently a professor of commercial and musical theatre performance at AMDA, NYU, and Pace University.

Prior, he was a casting director for Donna DeSeta Casting for close to 30 years.

In addition to countless commercials, his casting credits include the original Dirty Dancing, Disney's Enchanted, Michael John LaChiusa's The Petrified Prince for the Public Theater, and the world premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jim Steinman's Whistle Down the Wind, directed by Harold Prince.

He was an original cast member of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's Merrily We Roll Along, and can be seen in Lonny Price's film about the experience, The Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened.

In an enlightening discussion filled with actionable advice and heartfelt stories, David Cady, a veteran of musical theatre, shares his extensive knowledge and passion for the art. This episode is a treasure trove for aspiring and established performers alike, offering guidance on auditions, the importance of self-awareness, and the intrinsic value of kindness and professionalism in the theatre world.

Key Takeaways:

Mastering Auditions: David discusses the crucial approach to auditions, emphasizing the importance of viewing oneself as a collaborator rather than just a hopeful applicant. The mindset should be about showcasing how you are the answer to a casting call, equipped with meticulously selected material that plays to your current strengths.
The Right Material: The selection of audition pieces is paramount. David advises against reaching for material that's beyond one's current range, instead advocating for focusing on pieces that showcase one's abilities best. This includes having self-taped auditions with tracks designed in your key and reflecting your unique voice.
Technical Savvy: The conversation turns to the technical aspects of modern auditions, highlighting the need for performers to become adept at using software like GarageBand and iMovie for editing self-tapes. This technical skill set is becoming increasingly crucial in a digital-first auditioning world.
Confidence and Growth: Drawing from his own experiences, David talks about the evolution of confidence through the repeated cycle of auditioning, failing, and learning. He stresses that a failure is not a setback but an opportunity for growth.
Building and Maintaining Relationships: One of the episode's most poignant messages is the importance of kindness, professionalism, and building lasting relationships in the industry. David shares personal anecdotes to underscore how your behavior and interaction with everyone, from the casting director to the monitor, can significantly impact your career.
A Career for Life: The discussion concludes on a reflective note, with David reminding listeners that a career in musical theatre is a lifelong journey. The importance of cherishing and working with your current capabilities, continually learning, and building a reputation of kindness and professionalism cannot be overstated.

Special Moments:

David shares inspiring stories from his career, including his auditions and the lessons learned along the way.
A candid discussion about the mental and emotional aspects of performing, emphasizing self-love and the journey towards finding and owning your voice.

For More Information:

To explore working with David Cady on your musical theatre auditions, click on the link in the show notes.
Learn more about Acting Business Bootcamp and how it can advance your career by also checking the show notes.

This episode is a must-listen for anyone passionate about musical theatre, offering insights and advice that span the breadth of a performer's journey from auditions to professional growth and personal fulfillment.

09 Aug 2023

Episode 244: Feelings & Surrender

00:12:16

Today we're going to talk about a humbling subject: feelings and surrender.

It encourages us to suppress our egos just enough. If you can, think of that game of limbo to get under the bar.

Can you suppress your ego enough to get to the lesson that the universe is trying to teach you on the other side?

And I think that that is so interesting as an actor because I always feel like a character is teaching me, but for the character to teach me, I need to suppress who I am a little bit. See what they are saying, and so allowing that character to come to me instead of putting myself on that character.

The idea of that character allowing and suppressing that ego just enough so that that character can speak through you so that you can truly be a vessel for the character.

The Language Of Letting Go

"Surrendering is a highly personal and spiritual experience."

And I just mentioned that because I think that surrendering to the universe is, is a very personal thing.

Some people get on their knees and they pray. I love to light candles. Some people go for a walk, and I think it is really finding. That ability in you to let it go just a little bit to let go of yourself and be open to what the universe, the character, whatever is trying to tell you.

"Surrender is not something we can do in our heads. It is not something we can force or control by willpower. It is something we experience."

And when I surrender, I feel it inside. I also think that if you can connect it to an action like getting on your knees or going for a walk or whatever it is for you, it's very important that you find what is personal to you.

So much of the core work that I teach is about teaching you how to have a relationship with a power greater than yourself or the universe, or whatever you want to call it, your higher intelligence, that will, in turn help you to solve your problems,

But I also think this: surrendering takes practice.

Surrendering takes practice. It's not something that happens overnight. It gets better with practice, and then it is truly like a key to a door that you can put the key in and open that up.

The key to surrender, the key to willingness. They talk a lot about this in the big book of Alcoholics Anonymous, which is, I think, one of the most spiritual books ever written.

And they talk about this surrendering.

"Acceptance or surrender is not a tidy package. Often it is a package full of hard feelings, anger, rage, sadness, followed by release and relief. As we surrender, we experience our frustration and anger at God. Or the universe and at other people, at ourself and at life."

Because what happens when we surrender is that we are giving up our control, and our ego does not like that at all.

"Then we come to the core of the pain and the sadness. The heavy emotional burden inside that must come out before we can feel good."

And I'm just going to share my experience with this.

When I first started core work, I felt like I had a gallon of tears that needed to come out through my eyeballs, and I wasn't going to get through it until it reached empty. But am I glad I did it? The rewards have been incredible.

"Often these emotions are connected to healing and release at a deep level."

I notice that when I can truly surrender, so much energy is released, and it is that energy, that pent-up energy that you just heard released, that stands in the way of me receiving the good and the abundance. The universe is constantly trying to bring to me.

"Surrender sets the wheels in motion. Our fear and anxiety about the future are released when we surrender."

Because the reason why our fear and our anxiety about the future are released when we surrender is because we give up trying to control it and accept that our job is truly just to manage it.

"We are protected. We are guided. Good things have been planned. The next step is now being taken. Surrender is the process that allows us to move forward. If you are stuck, surrender is the answer. It is how the universe moves us forward. Trust in the rightness of timing and the freedom at the other end. As you struggle humanly, we are humans through this incredible spiritual experience."

If you need help, If you need help surrendering or feel stuck, I can help you. If money is an issue, we have a free month of core work coaching available for you with The Weekly Adjustment.

Get a Free Month of The Weekly Adjustment

11 Dec 2024

Episode 314: Your Important Morning Routine

00:08:35

Today is going to be a short podcast, but it's going to be a very useful one.

I'm going to talk about morning routines.

I'm going to be using, I haven't used it in a while, the fabulous Melody Beattie.

The Language of Letting Go

And this reading that I'm going to be coaching off of is called Morning Cues. Melody says, “There is an important message for us first thing every day. Often, once we get started with the day, we may not listen as closely to ourselves and life as we do in those still moments when we first awaken.

An ideal time to listen to ourselves is when we are laying quietly, our defenses are down, and we're open and most vulnerable.”

Now, I'm going to stop there because I'm going to tell you what I do for my morning routine and then I'm going to continue to read Melody's reading.

Every morning, when I get up, I make myself a cup of tea.

That's a non negotiable.

And then,while my husband makes me a egg white omelette, as he does pretty much every single morning, He's a master at the egg white omelette. I just have to say. The guy should open up a cafe.

What I do is I go outside and I look at the mountains because I live near mountains.

And I sit and I go through two prayers.

And after I finish those two prayers, I then open up my little notebook and I read out loud the things that I want most.

And in reading those things, I am affirming them. And sometimes I'll be using visualization. Sometimes I'm just saying them. Sometimes I'm just thinking them.

But what it does is it really tunes me into what I want the focus of my life and my day to be.

And when I finish, I always say these words, “Peter Pamela Rose, suiting up, showing up, reporting for duty.”

And that duty is not only to the Universe, God, whatever you want to call it, my God, it's also to me. And it's also to my life and what is important to me, in this one brief shot I have on this earth.

So I hope that inspires you, but I'm going to go on and continue to read what the fabulous Melody Beattie says. She says, “What is the first feeling that floods through us? The feeling that perhaps we are trying to avoid during the business of the day? Are we angry, frustrated, hurt, or confused?

That is what we need to focus on and work through. That is the issue.”

We need to address and I agree that is very helpful and then go on to affirm that you will be able to do that or that you are doing it in that morning routine for me what I am filled with in the morning and this is I'm coming up on my 30th anniversary of doing this work is that I am at peace with who I am now.

And I just want to become a bigger, better, badassier version of Peter Pamela Rose than I already am.

She also asks, “What is the first idea or thought that enters your mind? Do you need to finish a timely project? Are you in need of a fun day, a restful day?”

I also think that is a great question to ask yourself, because that tells you what you most don't want to do, which becomes the number one thing you need to do to build self esteem, to build trust in yourself.

She asks, “do you feel sick and need to nurture yourself? Are you in a negative frame of mind? Do you have an issue that you need to resolve with someone?”

Again, pay attention to those first thoughts so you know where the healing needs to go.

Do you need to tell someone something? Is something bothering you?

Is something feeling particularly good? Does an idea occur to you?

That happens to me all the time while I'm affirming in the morning.

In the morning does an idea occur to you? Something you could get or something that would make you feel good? What are those things?

Embrace the good. Embrace the challenge.

Embrace the learning that you are listening to first thing in the morning.

When you awaken, what is the first issue that presents itself?

You don't have to be fearful. Be brave.

You don't have to rush. Go as slowly as you need to in order to take care of yourself. Lay. Listen. Be still. Accept the message.

And then, affirm the good.

Find that relationship between you and the universe.

And state to yourself that today, I will suit up, show up, and report for duty. Mostly to myself.

17 May 2023

Episode 232: Interview with Commercial Master David Cady

00:48:28

David's Advanced Commercial Class

About David:

DAVID CADY is currently a professor of commercial and musical theatre performance at AMDA, NYU, and Pace University.

Prior, he was a casting director for Donna DeSeta Casting for close to 30 years.

Most of the auditions are self-tapes.

When do you make a daring choice?

The times when I didn't ask for permission to be Peter Pamela Rose. Those were the times I got the callback or maybe booked the job.

Really understanding how to interpret that script.

What is your relationship to the product?

When you have a theatrical text, it's your job to become the person on the page. And when you have a commercial text, it's your job to make the person on the page you.

It's odd because even though you are filming something, you are capturing a live performance.

It must still have that sense of spontaneity, that alive quality if something is 95%. Great. Or let's even say 90% great. You don't throw it out because 10% is not exactly what you would want it to be.

How many takes do you do?

What am I trying to achieve here?

They have to have performance energy, and they have to have performance commitment.

It's hard to develop a healthy perspective as to what they are looking for.

Ask yourself: What am I looking for when I watch myself tapes?

Go to an audition with the, "I can't wait to show you what I've got. Like I can't wait to show you what I have."

And I think in some ways if you can bottle that excitement in your self-tape, and I think there's a real trick there.

Dropping off the gift of your talent.

Are you someone who has strong ideas about what this performance looks like? Are you someone who makes choices? Are you someone who makes interesting choices? Are you someone who does something that's out of the box that gets their attention, whether it's something that ever ends up in the commercial or not?

It's a sense of self, and it's a freedom, and it's a joy in, in doing this that just, that comes through.

There isn't a tentativeness.

It's not your job to tell the audience how they felt about your performance.

I would always love it when an actor screwed something up or said something that wasn't in the script. And I would say to them, do you know that that happened? And they'd say, oh, really?

Improv in Commercials is different.

You want to be accessible to yourself.

How to handle one-liners.

10 Jan 2024

Episode 266: Avoid This Mistake in Your Voiceover Career

00:12:33

What's Standing in the Way of Your Voiceover Career? Masterclass

About Mandy Fisher:

Her passion for voiceover and genuine love of helping people inspire her to work with actors of all stages of their career.

Mandy created her own voiceover business from the ground up and has a successful and replicable model to help actors build their own successful businesses.

All of this adds up to a coach who can provide audition and career advice while helping actors become the best they can be!

I am a professional voiceover actor, and I've been in the industry for a little over 15 years doing lots of different things across the industry.

And I wanted to share with you some things that have happened to me in my voiceover career that maybe you can learn from so that you don't make the same mistakes that I did.

The number one thing I think that I wish if I could go back tomorrow, right, if, if I could start my career all over again, the number one thing I would tell myself is to not rush the learning phase.

You only have one opportunity in your career to be a beginner, to be a newbie, to be fresh into the industry.

You have this one golden sweet spot of time where you don't know the answers. You don't have the training. You don't have the experience. You are a fresh baby bird, and it is a little intimidating sometimes to not know, to not understand, to not have the answers and to not know how to move forward.

But that sweet spot of being able to learn and grow and ask questions and figure it out is so important.

And I rushed that.

I was always rushing from one thing to the next. I graduated high school early, I graduated college early. I was always just trying to move on to the next thing, and I wish I would've taken more time to just breathe in these moments of learning, breathe in these moments of not knowing and, and getting the opportunity to have different perspectives.

Because also when I was first starting in voiceover, there was nothing, there was literally no resource, no people teaching voiceover, definitely no people on the internet teaching, no forums, no nothing.

And nothing for anybody, but especially nothing for a child. So we were scraping, trying to figure out how to make this a business.

And it was very, very difficult.

And now you are exposed to more information than ever. There is so much information out there, a lot of free information out there, right?

I always point people to www.Iwanttobeavoiceactor.com by D Bradley Baker.

It is a fabulous resource. There's so much information there, but it can also be very overwhelming because there's so much information there.

And while you can definitely read it over and over and immerse yourself in from the starting from zero point to checking out all of the myths, tips, and tricks and ways that you're going to be able to set up your business, it's not comprehensive enough because it's just from one person, you need to expose yourself to multiple people, to people who say things that maybe you don't agree with, to people who have only been in the business for X amount of time, for people who have been in the business for 10 times that amount of time, the new people, the older people, the vets, the people who are just breaking in.

There's so many perspectives. There's so many people writing blogs, showing off TikTOK, showing their experiences in different ways because technology has evolved and the landscape of the industry has evolved.

And it is so important for you to take this time to absorb all of that information.

I've been doing voiceover for a really long time, for over 15 years. And guess what? I still, to this day, I will still take beginner voiceover classes. And you may be thinking, why would you waste your time?

Why would you waste your money? Don't you know all of the things? Don't you have more important things to do? Hell, you're teaching voiceover. Don't you know what you're talking about, Mandy?

Yes, I do. But the point is, the reason why I do that is because I need to keep my ear to the ground to understand what these teachers are teaching new actors.

I want to know what the new trends are. I want to hear what an agent is going to say to new voiceover actors. I want to hear what a casting director is going to say to new voiceover actors.

I want to hear what other actors are saying to new voiceover actors.

I want to understand how the industry has changed from their perspective and, and adapt that, as it makes sense, to my business, to my craft, to how I am not only teaching, but how I am performing.

So taking beginner voiceover classes, even if you are an established voiceover actor is a very good idea.

It's going to keep you in the know. It's going to keep you relevant. It's going to keep you understanding, but it's also going to keep you in that growing phase.

Like I said, doing this a long time, 15 years. You never have too much knowledge, you're never gonna say, “Oh, well, I've learned enough and I'm all done.

I don't need to grow anymore. I don't need to change my business model. I don't need to do this. I don't need to do that.”

That's [00:07:00] that's just not how this works. That's not how you're going to grow and scale. You need to constantly be absorbing information.

And if you establish that as your foundation right out of the gate, you're never going to lose that zest and yearn for more information.

If you only do a couple of classes, maybe coach with one person, it's not going to be ingrained in your creative DNA to seek out those new knowledges and seek out those new teachers and, and try new things.

You might get stuck in a pattern. You might get stuck in quote unquote, traditional ways of running your business, and that is not going to help you scale.

It's not going to help you adapt and evolve and change and grow.

And that's what the entertainment industry is all about. learning, adapting, changing, growing, scaling, and being sustainable.

So one thing that I just want to encourage you to do, even if you feel like you have reached the epitome of your knowledge is maybe take a step back.

Maybe, you know, you've taken advanced commercial classes and advanced interactive. And you've taken workshops, four week workshops with casting directors, and you're about to take an amazing business voiceover program with this woman named Mandy Fisher. Maybe you're doing all of these things, right?

But take a step back.

Let's examine how you feel about your confidence.

Let's examine how you feel about your approach to your craft, to your business, because there's two sides, right?

There's your performance side and there's your business side. And the marriage between those is how you're going to keep your business sustainable and financially sensible.

So I want you to take a breath in. Relax into this time where you are allowed to be in the unknown and to gather the information to ask the questions.

Look, you can always ask questions, right?

But at a certain point in your trajectory, it's always okay to be inexperienced, right? You're always going to have all of the bookings and all of the experience in at certain points in your career.

It's okay to be inexperienced. What's not okay is to be uneducated.

You have more opportunity than ever to get the education for free for paying classes. There's so many opportunities to learn.

So it's okay to be inexperienced. It's not okay to be uneducated.

And take it from me, from somebody who has lived those moments of rushing the eagerness to work and to book and to make the connections without having the education behind me, I got experience, but it wasn't formed in education.

And that made my booking ratios plummet.

I got lucky in some instances. Yes, I was in the right place at the right time. I met the right people at the right time. I sounded a certain way that someone needed at the right time. But because I didn't have all of the other tools in my arsenal to sustain that, to keep that going, to build a business behind, I ended up walking away.

I knew that I couldn't keep myself afloat that way, so I ended up stepping away from voiceover for a while.

And in that time I trained, I met with coaches, I took classes. I wish I would have taken more business classes because there's so much about owning your own business that I never knew.

And I wish I would have had that foundation because once you decide to be a voiceover actor, you are a business owner and there's so many hats that come along with that.

You're the CEO, you're the CFO, you're the head of sales, you're the head of marketing, you're also the janitor, you're all of these different things. And I just wish I would have understood that in a different way to keep my business growing instead of having to stop and start all over again. So take that with you.

I sincerely hope that I will see you in my free masterclass coming up. And if you feel inclined to join a voiceover gym, I would love to work with you. If you feel inclined to join the voiceover actor road map, I would love to work with you, but my door is always open. So if I can help in any way. Please shoot me an email at mandy@actingbusinessbootcamp.com.

16 Aug 2023

Episode 245: Wisdom & Inspiration

00:13:23

Free Masterclass

Today, I will read you something that a listener sent me, so thank you, Margaret.

I absolutely love this, and I'm going to read it just as it was presented to me because I think it's so inspirational about not giving up and also just it's about tenacity.

"Hi, Peter. I ran across this post on Twitter and had to share some good points. Didn't know any of this about the film Rocky. In 1975, Sylvester Stallone wrote the screenplay for Rocky. He shopped the script to every producer and studio in Hollywood but was repeatedly rejected.

Eventually, one production company, Chartoff-Winkler Productions, expressed interest, but there was one condition…

They didn't want Stallone to play Rocky. They wanted a "more marketable actor" for the leading role.

In fact, they were so desperate for Stallone to *not* play Rocky that they kept offering him increasing large sums of money to go away.

"It went up to $360,000," Stallone said, "to go away to get off my lawn, boy."

Stallone didn't take the money for two reasons:

1) "I had learned to manage on very little money," Stallone said, "I had it down to a science. I really didn't need much to live on, but more than that…"

2) "There was something about the idea of unrealized dreams, Stallone said, "I knew that if I sold the script, even for $500,000, I knew that after the money was gone, I would've become very bitter if I never realized my dream."

This course is just like what Stallone is talking about. It's really finding what your magic number is and what it takes to make that. Do that repeatedly so you're not living hand to mouth so that when oh, a strike happens, you are not panicking.

So you have money. The money you make today is actually for the future, not for today. You're not living that hand to mouth, and you are cognizant of what is going on with your money.

So that gave him the freedom to say, "You know what I'm, I'm good, how I am. I'm good. How I am."

He goes deeper, and he talks about that money. Money comes, money goes, money comes, money goes.

He said he'd be very bitter once the half a million dollars was gone because he would've sold out.

He would've sold out his dream. Think about it, $500,000 or the career that Sylvester Stallone has had today.

Tom Rothman, CEO of Sony, says, "Be fiscally responsible so you can be creatively reckless. "

The trick is to be fiscally responsible so you can be creatively reckless.

Hollywood is a ruthless business. If Rocky failed, that likely would've ended Sylvester Stallone's acting career.

But because he had his fiscal responsibilities down to a science, Stallone could make the reckless decision to turn down the money and gamble his career on Rocky.

And this is the thing; if you are not worried about your money, you can be so free.

Because you know you're taken care of. You have that safety net. Wouldn't you love to have that safety net?

Now let's talk about the other takeaway.

Stallone turned down the money because he feared the bitter person he would've become if he never went for his dream. This leads me to the core work question: Are you really pursuing your dream?

And if you are not really going for your dream every single day, why not?

Why aren't you going for it? What is standing in your way? Oh, so good.

The screenwriter, Brian Kopelman, talks about why he finally started writing after many years of putting it off.

"What I finally realized was that if I allowed these creative impulses to die, It would be like a real death, and like any form of death, it would be toxic, and this toxicity would ooze out of me onto everyone and everything."

The core work has been fully responsible for me going after what I want to do. It's the core work. It's the work on myself. It's the self-confidence it's for; it's the part of me knowing in and of myself I am enough when I create.

I can also do so freely because I'm fiscally responsible, and that is why I hammer time after time, after time, after time after time about core work in these podcasts, because that is the key to your success.

So that you can say, "I am not gonna let my creative impulses die."

Okay. The final quote for you.

"If you don't take money, they can't tell you what to do. Kid. Money is the cheapest thing. Liberty, freedom is the most expensive." –Bill Cunningham.

If you didn't have fear, How would you go after your career? What would you do differently?

21 Jul 2021

Episode 136: The Working Actor Series with Joel Steingold

00:31:12

Joel Steingold is known for his work on HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER, HAWAII FIVE-0, and SHAMELESS.

You can see him in numerous other Films and TV shows both on camera and as a VoiceOver actor.

Catch him currently in THE CHI.

Be an asset to the environment that you’re working in.

What are you doing daily, weekly, monthly, to enhance your career?

"Work begets work."

Specialize in the slow game

Don’t worry about the money initially.

22 Mar 2023

Episode 223: How to Set a Boundary

00:14:08

Ken Rea

Katie Flahive

Setting Boundaries

Sign up for Andrew’s Monologue Class

"Boundaries. Sometimes life and people. And the business seemed to push and push. But because we are used to so much pain, we may tell ourselves that it doesn't hurt. Because we are so used to people controlling and manipulating us, we may tell ourselves that there is something wrong with us. There is nothing wrong with us. Life is pushing and hurting to actually get our attention. Sometimes the pain and the pushing are pointing toward a lesson. And the lesson may be that we've become too controlling, or maybe we're being pushed to own our own power and take care of ourselves. When this comes up, the issue is actually boundaries. If something or somebody is pushing you to your limits, that's exactly what's happening. You're being pushed to your limits. And a different way of thinking about it is we can actually be grateful for the lesson that's here to help us explore and help us to set boundaries."

The exercise for when somebody is pushing me And I can't take it anymore:

Sit down with a blank piece of paper, or a notebook
A pen and an extra pen just in case you run out of ink
Take yourself to a coffee shop and sit down and bring only that
I want you to write that person
- Basically, what I call your fuck you letter.
- You want to tell them everything about how you feel and what you needed in this situation.
- And you can be as loud and angry.
- And underline and exclamation points.
- And use as vulgar language as you can come up with.
And then what I want you to do is take a deep breath. And then I want you to read through it.
- And I want you to write down.
- Two things in one column, I want you to write down how you feel.
  - So emotions, adjectives.
- And then, in the next column, I want you to write down what you needed.
  - From that person and possibly even, dare I say it, from yourself.
And then, I want you to construct a different letter
- And in that, I want you to say how you felt.
- And that you needed.
- But leave the word "you" out.

Example: Because if I say to you, you're always late. "I'm really pissed. You're always late." Well, what I'm immediately doing is putting you in the defensive position, and that's not going to help anybody.

Instead, try: "I feel frustrated when I am kept waiting and waiting, and I need for our coffee dates to start on time."

So that's how you set a boundary.

And I encourage you to rewind this a bit and listen to it again so you really, really understand it.

"Sometimes life and people seem to push and push."

And that's where we get burnt out. That's where we get cranky. That's where we get into hungry, angry, lonely, and tired.

"But because we are used to so much pain, we may tell ourselves it doesn't hurt because we are so used to people controlling and manipulating us. We may tell ourselves there is something wrong with us."

And that's the problem: we continue to accept unacceptable behavior, but that doesn't make it right.

It's time for us to start treating people how we want to be treated.

When we head into that, telling ourselves that there is something wrong with us. That's Shame.

That's shame because we feel that there is something defective with us, which there absolutely is not.

"There is nothing wrong with us. Life is pushing and hurting to get our attention. Sometimes the pain and pushing we are pointing toward is a lesson."

You might have to set a boundary with yourself.

We can be grateful for the lesson that's here to help us explore and to help us learn how to set boundaries.

06 Apr 2022

Episode 173: The Art of Monologues with Andrew Dolan

00:44:57

About Andrew:

Andrew Dolan’s credits include American Daughter (Broadway), Strictly Dishonorable (Vineyard), Pink, Ted Kaczynski (SPF), What Then (Clubbed Thumb), Tree House (NY Stage & Film), Measure for Measure (Target Margin) UK: Edmond (National Theatre). The Woods (National Studio), Boy from the Book (English Touring Theatre).

Regional: Mamba's Daughters (Spoleto Festival), Burn This, Marco Millions, Cyrano, 12th Night, Hapgood (ACT), Substance of Fire. Savage/Love (Magic Theatre), Loot, Amadeus (Arizona Theatre Co.), Road to Nirvana, Down the Road, Boy’s Life, Coming Attractions (Encore Theatre).

TV/Film: House of Cards, Your Honor, Chicago Med, Blue Bloods, Bull, Elementary, Good Cop, Blacklist, Handsome Harry Unstoppable, Partners in Crime, 28 Days, Being Human, David Letterman. all Law & Orders, Conviction, Return of Jezebel James.

Training: Bowdoin College, American Conservatory Theatre.

He is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter. His play, The Many Mistresses of Martin Luther King won the Ovation Award for Best New Play in Los Angeles. He also has an extensive voiceover career. He has taught at Stella Adler, ACT, AADA, and TheFreemanStudio.

Operative words and images and how much you can throw away.

Identify the core emotion of the script.

Find the words and phrases you can act upon.

That's when you lean into everything you have to give.

“Find the good stuff.”

Your body needs to be engaged even when your full body isn’t on the camera.

Mentality: practice as hard as you play.

One quality a CD looks for in an actor: I know I am in good hands with them.

Self-esteem needs to be earned by yourself.

Monologues:

Find a cut that works
Always leave them wanting more
Catalogue of works
Casting yourself is 70% of the game
Don’t be lazy, find material that works for you

Ground yourself in the realities so you are ready to play.

The purpose of technique is to fill in the gaps when the inspiration fails.

Use the conscious side of your brain so your unconscious can be free.

So you can feel: I got this.

01 May 2024

Episode 282: Perfectionism and You!

00:12:13

Private Coaching

Now I wouldn't say that I would sometimes call myself Peter Pamela Perfectionism Rose, but sometimes I've called myself Peter Pamela Perfectionism Rose.

The biggest thing about perfectionism that I want to talk about today is that perfectionism leads to procrastination, leads to paralysis.

The other thing that I think is so important about the lesson of perfectionism is to make your ears grow bigger, cunning, baffling, and powerful.

I look at all the ways, in fact even this too, recording today's podcast, I was looking for the right time to do it.

But do you know what the right time to do it was? Right now. Right now was the right time to do it.

See, my wanting to, and this is just me but maybe you can relate, my waiting to just feel like it is perfectionism in a very cunning, baffling, and powerful way, trying to get me to not do what I most need to do to move my career forward, which is because for the past, I think over two years now, I have put out a podcast every week, even when my house flooded, even when my house flooded and that If you can start to override that perfectionism and let it go for just a moment so that you do that action now, bingo, we got some serious success about to happen.

Now, I'm also going to lean into the fabulous Melody Beattie.

She talks about how perfectionism is an individual process that necessitates making mistakes. So recovering from perfectionism necessitates making mistakes, struggling through problems and facing tough issues.

And it's especially when I have to do things I most don't want to do that my perfectionism kicks up.

Again, waiting for the right time, waiting till I feel like it, waiting until somebody else tells me I should do it.

Again, cunning, baffling, and powerful, how I get in there, how perfectionism gets in there or my perfectionism gets in there to prevent me from doing the things that I most need to do in order to achieve what I most want to do.

“Expecting ourselves to be perfect slows down the process to our getting to the level of success that we want to get to in whatever area of our life. It puts us in a guilty or anxious state. Expecting others to be perfect is equally destructive. It makes others feel ashamed and may interfere with their growth. Keep the focus on yourself.”

It was one of the craziest things I've learned in core work. Is that once I finally got the focus on me and off of everybody else, I was like, how the heck did I even have time to focus on other people and try and control them and try and manipulate them?

How did I even have the time?

I'm so damn busy with me. I'm a freaking full time job. That's when the good stuff begins, when you start to really focus on you, that's when the good stuff starts.

“People are human and vulnerable. We can accept and cherish that idea. Expecting others to be perfect puts us in a codependent state of moral superiority.”

And sometimes I find I do that with myself. I put myself in “Peter, you're just gonna have to do it better than everybody else.”

What the fuck is that? Oh, that's so much arrogance. That's so much moral superiority that I think I know what perfect is.

IIt's really all about process and life being a process.

“Expecting ourselves to be perfect makes us feel rigid and inferior.”

And also as an actor, I find it makes us rigid. We have to do the scene the way we planned it. No, you don't. In fact, mistakes are the best things that can happen.

Mess ups are the best things that can happen.

I was talking with my producing partner who told me about these mistakes that happened on the set and the actor was like no, I have to redo it. And the director, he was like, ah, no, you don't. Because that was comedic genius. Remember, there is that in imperfection, some of the greatest creativity can happen as an actor.

“We do not need to go to the other extreme, tolerating anything that people throw our way. We can still expect appropriate, reasonable, and responsible behavior from ourselves and from others. But most of us can afford to loosen up a bit.”

Oh my gosh. I used to be so freaking tightly wound until I really gave myself permission to be me. And I am so much more fun now. I am so much more fun in my fifties than I ever was in my twenties and my thirties.

“And we can stop expecting others to be perfect.

We may discover they're doing much better than we thought.”

And that's, that's also where that arrogance comes in. Where my thinking, what you should, what my thinking, I know what you should do for your life. Hell, I barely know what the hell I should be doing for my life. Why am I putting that on others?

Another cunning, baffling, stinky way that perfectionism comes into our lives.

“When we stop expecting ourselves to be perfect, we'll discover that incredible beauty in ourselves, and also the beauty in others.”

Perfectionism. leads to procrastination, leads to paralysis.

My assignment for you is to use your mind to govern your brain and notice the cunning, baffling, and powerful ways perfectionism comes into your acting career, and also into your life.

And if I can help you with your journey to let go of your perfectionism, please let me know.

24 Feb 2021

Episode 115: The Notebook Every Working Actor Needs

00:14:26

The Three Pillars

The Core Work
The Quality of your acting Training
The Language of the Agents and the Casting Directors

Your Audition/ Meeting Notebook

Get a little notebook!

Date
What was the Audition/Meeting for?
What was the Type of Audition? (OC, Industrial, Print)
Who was the Casting Office? Specific Casting Director?
What Material did you do? (Script, take a picture)
What did you wear? Hair? Facial Hair? Makeup?
Where was I emotionally?
What did I do well?
What is my intention for my next audition?
Additional notes

Your follow up list

23 Nov 2022

Episode 206: Family Buttons Around the Holidays

00:16:26

Ask Me Anything

“I was 35 years old the first time I spoke up to my mother and refused to buy into her games and manipulation. I was terribly frightened and almost couldn't believe I was doing this. I found I didn't have to be mean. I didn't have to start an argument. But I could say what I wanted and needed to say to take care of myself. I learned I could love and honor myself and still care about my mother the way I wanted to, not the way she wanted me to.”

Take a step back and observe.

I tell myself, mouth shut.

If you are using your mind to govern your brain while you are with family over the holiday and you start to spot the stuff going on.

You can simply remain quiet and just observe it:

Maybe go to the kitchen.
Make yourself a cup of tea.
Make yourself a cup of coffee.
Go to the bathroom.
Say, "You know what? My legs are a bit stiff. I'm going to go for a walk."
Understand that you don't need to be trapped into it.

You can observe it and can choose how you are going to respond to it.

I also recommend bringing some sort of a journal.

I also find that if there is a pet in the house, that's a great always a great diversion to go to the pet if you need a touchstone because animals are the presence keepers.

Drop the rope.

The best frickin’ piece of advice I can give is when somebody goes at you, respond in kindness.

It's not that you're not participating. It's that you're taking care of yourself.

Just for this holiday. Take care of your emotional self.

Say less. Be kind. Be there for others.

Here's an old thing I've used to use quite a lot, put on your bubble suit.

When you get to where you are arriving or if you're taking a train or a plane, go to the public restroom, and bend all the way down to the floor. Imagine yourself stepping into an imaginary bubble suit. Pull it up around your head. Clench it tight and know that in your little bubble suit, you are safe and secure.

27 Dec 2023

Episode 264: Goal Setting for 2024

00:25:45

So today, we are going to talk about goals for the first quarter of 2024.

January through March 31st is the first quarter of the year.

We are setting 3 to 5 goals for the first quarter of 2024.

Now, the other thing is that if you do the full yearly goals, you could break that down a little bit, baby-stepping into that first quarter.

But what I want you to be thinking of is the first of the year through March 31st.

That's where I want your focus to be because it's a much more bite-sized piece to apply your goals to and your positive thoughts and actions towards.

I want to give you some questions to think about:

The first question is, with these goals that you have, where do you feel you are at in achieving them?

Talk about what you've done in the past and where that has brought you.

And then the next thing I want you to ask yourself is, looking at where you are at in achieving them and what you've done in the past, how has that made you feel?

What are your emotions around it?

If you're sick and tired of being sick and tired, you will change.

Now, the reason why I asked you where are you at in achieving them and how does that make you feel because if you did write something down, "I feel like I've let myself down, I feel like I just keep procrastinating, I feel like I'm such a loser…"

I want you right now to feel that pain. I want you to feel it.

I want you to get uncomfortable. I want you to recognize all of those things that you just said. Why? Not because I'm some masochist. No, but because I want to get you to change. If you're sick and tired of being sick and tired, you'll change.

And then I was hoping you could write this: Today is the first day of the rest of my life.

There's that wonderful phrase "Do something today that yourself in year from now will thank you for."

Use your mind to govern your brain.

Perfectionism leads to procrastination leads to paralysis.

Now, I have one more journal question for you:

How do you feel when you do not do what you said you were going to do?

When you have a thought, that thought leads to an emotion and then to an action. Which then goes back to reiterating that initial thought.

I want you now to make three columns.

I want you to put one of your goals in the first column.

So you're going to put down one of your goals.

And then, in the second column, I want you to write down some thoughts that support that goal.

So, if my goal is to be a working actor, the thought or thoughts that you would want to write in that second column are I am a successful working actor.

I go from success to success in my acting career.

I love myself, and I approve of myself.

So some good positive affirmations around that goal. Because your thoughts need to back up that goal.

What else needs to back up that goal? Your actions.

So, I want you to take a look at whatever that goal is, and I want you to think of one to three small actions that you can take towards that goal.

What's your goal?

What are the thoughts that support the goal?

What are the baby actions that you can take towards supporting that goal?

And that is the secret to success.

It's your thoughts, and your actions must back up what you want.

I want you to go back now and look at your goals, and I want you to put next to them, whether they are a habit goal or an achievement goal.

So let's say I want to take a vacation in 2024, a two-week vacation in 2024. You need to save up for that. That's an achievement goal.

But let's say you want to practice your voice five times a week for half an hour each one of those times. That is a habit goal.

So take a moment and review all the goals you have written down and write down if they are habits or achievement.

I want you to look at each one of your goals, and I want you to ask yourself, is it a goal that is actually achievable or attainable by the end of the quarter?

Or is it a quarter/year project?

It should make you just a little uncomfortable.

If you babystep your goals enough so that those baby steps are something that you eagerly put yourself forward to do that help you to move in that direction, that is something that is great.

Again, that is great because it builds self-esteem. It builds confidence.

Now, I want you to look at your goals and I want you to ask yourself questions about them.

What is my motive for making my first goal, second goal, third goal happen for me?

What will I get out of making it happen? What is my motive?

We do things because there is something in it for us. And it's okay to be selfish.

When you get to those times when you really do not feel like doing the action step for your goal, you can remind yourself what your motive is.

And that's when you can really start asking yourself. How bad do I want it?

I consider that question to be the secret ingredient.

I operate like this all the time because not every single day do I feel like doing things towards my goals.

But when I remind myself what my motive is, I remind myself how it's going to feel when I achieve it. Ooh, baby, that lights a fire under my ass.

03 Nov 2021

Episode 151: Interview with Independent Casting Director Adrienne Stern

00:40:16

About Adrienne:

Adrienne is a renowned Independent Casting Director.

Her films have premiered at Sundance, Toronto, Cannes, Tribeca, Berlin, South by Southwest, Seattle, and many other prominent film festivals, many taking home prestigious awards. She is always working and always keeping an eye out for new talent. She cast both film and TV Union and Non-Union. Please check out her IMDB and her website www.AdrienneStern.com

U.S. Theater Programs that Adrienne feels put young actors in the industry right out of the gate:

Carnegie Mellon
Point Park
BU
NYU
Howard University
Elon
Temple

Tips for finding the right school:

Look at alumni
Think about what you want and what’s the best fit for you
Have a second thing that makes you just as happy

How do creatives contact you?

Often work with a lot of clients
Don’t want to turn down a project, because they will find someone else and they will become part of their family
Writer, director, or producer
They have worked together before
They saw a film
They love her vision
Someone recommended her
They are excited to make a film and are interviewing 25 casting directors

Loves a lookbook and press package

A vision book of the director’s vision on your film
Character Description
Bios of key personnel
Synopsis

Creatives must understand the language of the Industry.

As an actor, know that when a CD puts a breakdown out, it’s not uncommon to get over 5,000 submissions.

Be thankful for the role you are cast in, because now the casting director knows you, now you have an IMDB credit.

A lot of times, actors lose the roles for themselves.

Put your best foot forward, they want to know they can put you on the set with the name talent.

After the wrap, the client is gonna talk to the CD and tell them who worked well and who didn’t.

Your behavior moves you forward.

Know your lines
Be ready to go
Work begets work!

01 Mar 2023

Episode 220: Resisting Negativity

00:16:04

Today I'm going to talk about resisting negativity.

I want to talk about preserving in you a spark. No matter how many times you get beaten down. That is never extinguished.

The Language of Letting Go

“Some people are carriers of negativity. They are storehouses of pent-up anger and volatile emotions. Some remain trapped in the victim role and act in ways that further their victimization. And others are still caught in the cycle of addictive or compulsive behavior. Negative energy can have a powerful pull on us, especially if we are struggling to maintain positive energy and balance.”

HALT: stands for hungry, angry, lonely, and tired.

And when it becomes more difficult for me to resist negativity, is when I'm hungry and when I'm tired.

If I let my blood sugar get too low or I get too tired, resisting negativity from other people around me becomes more challenging.

But negative energy is a powerful pull on us when we are struggling to maintain positive energy and balance. It's so incredibly challenging because it's truly like being at a fork in the road and choosing, “No, I'm going to find a way to be positive or I'm going to give in to the negativity.”

And sometimes it may seem that others who exude negative energy would like to pull us into the darkness with them.

I'm sure you've heard the phrase misery loves company, but we do not have to go.

We can choose to stay positive. We can choose to go. With good, orderly direction. Instead of going with the negativity, we can choose to find a way to stay positive.

“Without judgment, we can decide it's okay to walk away. It's okay to protect ourselves.”

Stepping into an imaginary bag that no one else can see. And I think of it as being a protective layer just outside my skin. And I step into it and I bring it up past my ankles, my knees, my hips, my waist and my breasts and my shoulders and all the way up above my head. And then I seal it, I seal it, and I just tell myself, this is my protection.

Here things stay positive, even though I may be in negative circumstances, and especially if I know that some things are unavoidable. You know, it's going to be contentious, but it doesn't mean you have to go there as well.

Drop the rope, and find ways to be kind.

I think what's really important to remember is that we cannot change other people.

It does not help others for us to get off balance. In fact, maybe we can make a little bit of a positive difference by being kind to them and maybe just listen.

“We do not lead others into the light by stepping into the darkness with them.”

That's what I mean by dropping the rope. If you think of a tug of war and that negative person is on one end and you're on the other. It's okay to drop the rope and let them carry it.

“Today helped me to know that I don't have to allow myself to be pulled into negativity even around those who I love. Help me to set boundaries if necessary. Help me to know that it's okay to take care of myself and to glow.”

26 Jul 2023

Episode 242: Letting Go of Chaos in Chaotic Times

00:13:55

Improv Class

I have a choice. I can get involved with the turmoil and, you know, continue to make it more miserable for others and for myself. Or I can stand for peace and reason and strength within myself.

It's really about keeping the focus on yourself during the chaotic times, especially when there's so much chaos around us right now.

"Letting go of chaos. No good work comes from unrest. Unrest, fear, anger, or sadness may motivate us. These feelings are sometimes intended to compel action. But our best work emerges after these feelings have been replaced by peace."

When I am too hot in my response or my reaction, I'm just getting into the problem and trying to control it.

A response is a reaction with a pause and a thought behind it. And really, what I'm talking about there is when I have given myself a cushion of peace.

Because I don't do my best thinking, I don't make my best choices when deeply embroiled in fear, anger, sadness, or some other huge emotion.

And again, what I talk about in the core work is working for you instead of working against you.

And I'm working against myself when I react because I'm hot, in flames, turned on by anger, fear, excitement, or any large emotion.

But when I give that cushion of peace, I'm working in tandem with the universe.

I light a candle before I coach, and I light a candle before I do a podcast. And I do that to create that cushion of peace, to invite the universe into something I'm going to do, or a situation that may be difficult because I'm reminding myself, I want the universe to be in charge of this, not me.

And that is how I can let go of chaos.

"We will not accomplish our task any sooner or any better by performing it out of a sense of urgency, fear, anger, or sadness."

Now my ego will say to that bullshit.

That is not thinking and acting and choosing my actions and thoughts with thought and intelligence, and with one of my favorite words, if not my most favorite word, wisdom.

Whenever I act impulsively, I am reacting and want to respond to my life. I don't want to react to it anymore.

Our reactions were given to us to save our lives.

Fear was given to us to save our lives, not to panic about things we're trying to control.

If you can understand how you are around these bigger emotions and be able to give yourself again that cushion of peace, wiser choices, choices with wisdom, can come out of that.

"Let go of unrest.

Let peace fill the void. We do not have to forfeit our power, our God-given personal power. Our universe-given personal power or our peace to do the work we are called upon to do today will give us all the power we need to do what we are meant to do when it is time."

And again, that goes back to that serenity prayer I've talked about so many times in our podcasts.

"Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. Courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference."

Which is really asking for the wisdom to know the difference between what I can handle and what I'm trying to control.

It is my job to handle this day. It is not my job to control it.

"Let peace come first, then proceed. The task will get done naturally and on time."

So basically, what that's saying is allow yourself to stop and invite the universe in. Invite that cushion of peace in and then proceed and trust that it will get done.

Take the actions, and let go of the result.

I have found in my past, in my early actor years, that when. Situations like a strike or a difficult situation on a set would happen. I could really get in there with the emotions, but I don't think that was really ever helping anything.

My presence at a picket is enough. My chanting is enough. If I am involved in the board and with the strike committee, fantastic. But I cannot control the strike.

I can't; I can support it. I can be there for it. I can thank my fellow members for participating, but I don't need to get so heated up.

I need to stand up for what's right, but I can do that better if I let go of the chaos and insert that cushion of peace.

I will stand a greater chance of being listened to if it's actually essential that someone listen to me because I'm only one member in an incredible, incredible union.

19 Oct 2022

Episode 201: Interview with Christin Baker

00:43:59

About Christin Baker:

Christin Baker (A Baker Production) is an award-winning director and Emmy-nominated producer. She has been playing with video producing and storytelling since she was 13 after her family got their first VHS camcorder. She started out directing music videos, and SNL parodies with the neighborhood kids and moved on to start her own digital distribution and production company, tellofilms.com.

She is the co-founder of Tello Films, which focuses on stories for the lesbian/queer community. Tello is the first lesbian/queer network to receive an Emmy Nomination. The series Secs & EXECS has received a 2017 Emmy Nomination for Mindy Sterling, Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy/Drama Series. In 2019 the series "Riley Parra" received 2 Emmy nominations for actresses Liz Vassey and Carolyn Ratteray.

Christin is passionate about telling relevant and meaningful stories. Christin was early in the streaming content creation and founded Tello Films in 2009. She is an expert on distributing and creating original content (features, shorts, and series) as well as creating a platform for monetizing niche entertainment. Christin is also passionate about directing and was awarded Best Director for her work on Maybelle at the 2016 London Raindance Film Festival. Christin is a member of the Producers Guild of America as well as the Television Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.

Christin just wrapped directing her 4th Lesbian/Queer Holiday RomCom "Merry & Gay" and is working on the 2nd feature for her Thriller Franchise Scare BNB called "Scare BNB: Double Booking." That follows "Christmas at the Ranch," "I Hate New Year's," and "Season of Love," which was the first Hallmark-esque Lesbian/Queer Holiday RomCom.

Actors wanting to keep up with Christin as she develops and casts her movies can follow her on social media @christintello (Twitter and Instagram) and follow "A Baker Production" on Facebook.

Actors making their own content and the power that has for them.

As a director and producer, I love when I know an actor has tried their own hand at making a project because their respect for what we're going through is significantly greater.

I think so much of acting is waiting to be called upon. Right? Like you go to an audition, you send in your tape, you send in your tape, and then you sit back, and you wait for someone to say yes or no to you.

And so I think any time you can put your energy into something active, that's like telling your own story, I think just energetically that helps you and puts you in your own action.

I always think work begets work.

If you can, it can be very helpful when the gender of the person you're acting with is the same as who's reading with you.

Don't have the camera too close to your face.

So I've seen some audition tapes, and this is for people who are probably very green, who are listening to your podcast--I've had audition tapes sent in where no one is reading with the person on camera.

Do your best to have someone reading with you that that's going to give you, you know, something even if it's yourself.

I can sometimes tell within 10 seconds. And if the person isn't right, I move on.

The most important thing is to like make a choice, make a bold choice that I can see.

I'm an actor's director. I love playing with actors on set. I love that, like knowing if they can make a choice. And if I don't like that choice, I'll make a correction. But I know that like they're going to come to the table having thought about it and giving me something interesting.

Favorite qualities of actors who you love to work with:

I really love working with an actor who can make a quick pivot.
The eyes are so important, you can literally see that shift in the eyes, and it's absolutely like it's incredible.
I love actors when they have that instinct to move.

What is the process of how you make an independent film?

You have to kind of figure out the business of it.
I wanted to get investors, meaning you have to set up an LLC.
Then you have to ensure that LLC owns the rights to the script in the movie and the project. And often, those LLCs will be called like the name of the film.
A crowdfunding campaign. For me, that was a perfect place to start.
Accredited investors

There are certain producers out there that have investors who are sitting out there waiting to invest in projects. And I know that sounds crazy. And I think it's like this magical fairyland, but it is true. And so when they get A-list stars or a big name, they can go back to their, you know, multimillion-dollar or billionaire pockets and go, "hey, we have Nick Cage. We need another $5 million, and those people will give it to them."

If you don't have those people, casting an A-list star in your movie will not get you investors.

What it will get you on the backend is like press and a decent distributor. It lets you have those multimillionaire billionaire people. It will not get your money on the front end.

What do you think are other misnomers about raising money for film?

I have also heard people say to me, especially in the LGBTQ community, "Oh, investors aren't always looking for their money back, like they take it to a project they believe in."
- Okay, so that's true for a few investors out there.
- Do not go into a situation ever thinking investors only want goodwill.
Your first and most important job is telling a great story.
The second is to get your investors their money back because if you do, they'll give it to you again.

Words of wisdom to actors who want to make their first feature film?

The first one is to do favors for other people so that when it's your turn to make your movie, they will do favors for you.
Talk to people who have done it before and just talk to them and say, Hey, what mistakes did you make? What did you want to know? Who did you like working with?

Crowdfunding Mistakes:

They ask for what they want and not what they can raise.
People always think, "if I hit my goal too early, people won't give money to me."
Don't do T-Shirts!
You should always have stretch goals in mind.

We support the LGBTQ community, here is a list for additional reading and watching!

17 Nov 2021

Episode 153: The Fear of Failure

00:21:23

What is the fear of failure?

Just like the fear of success, the fear of failure is about taking responsibility, but it’s a little bit different.

The fear of success is about will I be able to handle that success and all that responsibilities when it happens.

With the fear of failure is will I be able to handle the responsibility that is in front of me now?

Will I be able to handle the success and the responsibility of what is in front of me now?

Remember you will never be given more than you can handle but you will be given more than you can control.

The fear is survivable.

You are not responsible for your first thought but you are responsible for your second.

When all the negative thoughts come like a freaking freight train, stop scaring yourself.

You can handle this.

Use your mind to govern your brain.

You are scaring yourself, and you need to understand why.

There is a part of you that is trying to keep you “safe” and comfortable.

No one ever ever EVER got successful staying comfortable.

Do something every day that makes you UNCOMFORTABLE.

Jen Sincero (edited by PPR for actors) “You’re gonna have to push past your fears, fail. Yep fail. Over and over again. And make a habit of doing things you are not so comfy doing. You’re gonna have to let go of old beliefs, and cling CLING to your decision to create the acting career you desire like your life depends on it. Because guess what, your life and your acting career do depend on it.”

“Same shit different level.”

You can handle your fear of failure.

You can handle your fear of success.

Tips for in the moment:

Do the next right thing
Ask yourself these Empowering Questions:
- What do I need to do in this moment to take responsibility for my current success?
- What do I need to do in this moment to take responsibility for my future success?
Remember whatever you put before taking care of yourself, you are going to lose
Keep your emotions out of your to-do list
Put your effort into controlling your sail not the wind

Don’t quit 5 minutes before the miracle

01 Jan 2025

Episode 317: Meditation For the New Year

00:15:43

Hi, everyone. I hope you had a wonderful holiday week and let me be one of the first to wish you a very happy new year.

Last week it was to close out 2024 and this week it is to welcome 2025.

So allow yourself to find a comfortable position and if that means you need to push pause and get settled that's just fine do that now.

28 Sep 2022

Episode 198: Making Peace with Your Acting Past

00:22:42

Time Management Workshop

The Language of Letting Go

"The more I cling to my past, the more I'm wasting my energy."

When you have a computer, and you have a program minimized, understand that that program is still using battery life on your computer.

"Not even God can change the past."

"Holding on to the past, either through guilt, longing, denial, or resentment, is a waste of valuable energy. Energy that can be used to transform today and tomorrow."

I want to transcend my past so that I have more energy to fulfill my day.

"I used to live in my past. I was either trying to change it or letting it control me. Usually both."

An audition where I didn't feel I did my best with the casting director, and then that casting director called me in again. What I used to do is then go, Oh, that casting director doesn't like me. So yeah, I will probably mess this one up as well.

Instead of going, Wow, that casting director called me back even after an audition where I didn't feel I did so well. Hey, wow. This is an opportunity to show that casting director how good I am and do an audition that I feel good about.

But when I'm holding on to my past, I'm not in the frame of mind where I can do that.

But when I've let go of that past, when I've transcended that past, I am in a place of power.

I am in a place where I can claim who I am and show the best work that I know I can do.

"I constantly felt guilty about things that had happened, things I had done, things others had done to me, even though I had made amends for almost everything. The guilt ran deep. Everything somehow was my fault. I could never just let it go."

One is, is that the definition of shame is believing that there is something fundamentally wrong with you.

"I held on to anger for years, telling myself it was justified. I was in denial about a lot of things. Sometimes I tried to absolutely forget about my past, but I never really stopped and sorted through it. My past was like a dark holy crap cloud. I can speak cloud that followed me around, and I couldn't shake clear of it. I guess I was scared to let it go. Afraid of today. Afraid of tomorrow."

That's the other thing when we don't work through the anger. The frustration, then, why hasn't it happened for me in our acting careers? The only thing it does is hold us back. And I think it's impossible to force yourself to forget something.

There's a fear of success and a fear of failure. I always say those two things are opposite sides of the coin.

But, what it is, is about taking responsibility for your past choices—taking responsibility for where you are today—and then understanding that you have a responsibility. And most importantly, and this is what is exciting, is the opportunity, the incredible opportunity I have. You have. We all have to shape our future.

Trace it. Face it. Erase it.

And then that is how it will be. Let go. Forgiving is not forgetting. It's letting go of the hurt.

"I've even developed gratitude for my failed relationships because they have brought me to who and where I am today."

All of the "failures" have actually been opportunities to learn.

I automatically develop peace with my new past.

29 Jan 2025

Episode 321: The 3 Elements of Personal Branding

00:10:52

I am talking about all things voiceover and creative entrepreneurialism.

Hope you are having a fantastic Wednesday.

Let's jump right into today's topic, which is branding.

And I want to sort of unpack the essence of what branding is because we are drawn in to people who do this for a living.

People who create brands for actors. And I just want to get it out into the open.

That if you don't have a catchy tagline, if you don't have a palette of colors, if you don't have a logo, it's okay.

You don't have to have those things in order to be a successful actor business person.

If you do have those things, that's amazing.

And if you want those things, you can absolutely have them and incorporate them into your business.

However, you don't have to have them in order to be successful.

But let's just talk about the entire branding package, what it is, why it is, and all of those things. Let's get into it.

So if you follow me on my sub stack, thank you by the way you will remember I wrote a post called brand and it's been resonating with so many people.

And if you haven't read it yet, I encourage you to go check it out.

It's packed with insights and things that I'm going to expand upon today.

You can go and find it on the actor's index on a sub stack, but grab a notebook, grab a cup of coffee, whatever helps you focus.

And let's talk about what branding really is and how you can develop yours without all of the bells and whistles that we often get tempted to buy into.

So first things first, when you hear the word branding, most of us automatically do think of logos and colors and catchy taglines.

And yes, those are part of branding, but they're not the whole picture.

Branding is the perception people have of you.

It's the emotional connection you create with your audience, clients, your community, your colleagues.

It's the way people feel when they hear your name, see your work, listen to your work or engage with your content.

So for example, if you think about your favorite brands, whatever they are. Why do you love them? Chances are it's not because they have a cute logo or it's not because they use your favorite color.

It's related to the way that they make you feel or how they impact your life.

That is the magic of branding.

So personal branding is a huge part of my journey as a voiceover actor and coach because when I first started out, I thought branding was just about “looking professional.”

But over time, I really realized that it is so much deeper than that.

It's about communicating who you are, your personality, your values, what makes you unique, what you care about, and how you continue to care about others, and what their problems are and their pain points are and how you can help to solve those issues.

So for me, my brand is all about being sassy, trying to be witty, clever, telling it like it is while delivering professional and polished work.

It's in everything I do from my TikTok series, like the voiceover actor help desk, to the way I write on my sub stack to how I'm talking to you now.

And most importantly, it's authentically me, you know, like nobody else is going to see those things or listen to those things and think that it's coming from something else.

And that is something that I have spent a lot of time crafting. And you can too.

I don't have a logo. I don't have a color palette. I don't have any kind of catchy phrases that people associate with me.

And that's okay. It's okay to not have them, and it's okay to have them.

The key to personal branding is consistency.

So it boils down to what people need to know about what to expect from you, whether it's your tone of voice.

The way you show up online, the day that you show up online, or the kind of work you deliver, consistency continues to build trust.

So what makes a strong brand? There's kind of three parts to this, and I've already sort of talked about the visual identity which includes or could include your logo, color palette, overall design. Aesthetic, whatever it is, even as an individual person in my, you know, internet life, I'm Astoria redhead, I have red hair. I live in Astoria, so that's sometimes part of my visual identity is that name and those things. Right?

But you're sending out emails to potential clients, your visual branding. Could make a statement about who you are.

Second is your tone of voice and how you communicate. It's just as important, you know, as the visual aspect.

Are you formal and polished? Are you casual and conversational? Your tone should align with your audience and your goals.

And then lastly, it's your values and your mission. What are the things you stand for? What's your why?

You know, people connect with brands that have a purpose.

For me, my mission is to help creatives and voiceover actors succeed while staying true to themselves.

That's what drives everything I do on the coaching side of things, right? But of course, branding isn't all sunshine and rainbows.

One of the biggest challenges is staying consistent.

While evolving, your brand has to grow with you.

You don't want to lose the core of what makes you just because you change something or become something in addition to what you already are.

And another challenge is standing out in this very, very, very crowded marketplace.

Every part of the entertainment industry, you're going to hear somebody say, Oh, well, it's oversaturated, saturated. Of course it is.

In the voiceover world, there's so many talented people, but what makes them different isn't just their voice, it's their personality and expertise and all of the other things that make them unique.

And just because there's lots of people who do these things, not everybody gets the same jobs all the time.

There's room at the table.

If you want to do this, there's room for you, but you can't copy someone else's success.

You can't just show up and not have who you are and what you bring to the table together, right, which is another thing that sort of, I think, really gets in people's minds and forces them almost into imposter syndrome if you don't know who you are.

And you don't understand what you bring to the table, you're going to start to spiral in who am I, why do I claim this certain brand identity, why am I this person, why can't I be like that, why am I not doing this, am I not good enough, am I not right enough, you're going to spiral.

We never want to be in that place because the truth is your uniqueness is your superpower, and you need to own that shit, identify it and own it.

Okay, so if you're if you're really ready to start branding or refining your brand, the key kind of things to keep in mind are who are your audience? Who are you trying to connect with?

What do they care about? Authenticity.

I know we're kind of sick of this word, but don't try to copy someone else's brand. It's just not gonna work for you.

Just be authentic to who you are. Whoever that person is, zero in on that and then stay consistent from your social media to your email signature.

Everything should feel cohesive.

Then ask for feedback. Ask for feedback. Sometimes other people see things about a brand that we don't.

Sometimes there's something going on with what you're putting out into the world that may just not be hitting the mark.

And it's because there's a disconnect. Sometimes you need to ask for feedback and then evolve strategically as you grow, let your brand grow with you too.

As you start to develop new skills, put them out into the world. You don't just have to be a niche person, a niche brand. You can develop those things.

Just don't stray too far from your roots.

And remember, branding isn't a one time thing. If you don't like something, you take it down and you add something else.

You can change. It's yours. You get to decide, but be patient.

Don't just throw something up out into the world and then pull it back in automatically because you're scared.

Give it some time.

Okay, let's recap. Branding is about connection, authenticity, consistency.

Whether you're a voiceover actor, a creative entrepreneur, or just somebody who wants to make an impact, your brand is your story.

It's who you are. You cannot separate those two things.

So if you want to talk more about this, if you want more brand insights, definitely check out my sub stack post brand and while you're there, subscribe so you don't miss any of my future posts.

11 May 2022

Episode 178: Series Regular on Paramount’s 1883 Eric Nelsen is Back

00:42:42

About Eric:

Eric Nelsen is a 4x Emmy Award & Tony Award-winning actor and producer.

He is currently starring on the Paramount+ hit tv series, 1883 alongside Sam Elliott and Tim McGraw.

He has been seen on the big screen in NIGHTMARE CINEMA, opposite Academy Award Nominee Mickey Rourke, in RAVAGE opposite Academy Award nominee Bruce Dern, A WALK AMONG THE TOMBSTONES opposite Academy Award Nominee Liam Neeson, and COMING THROUGH THE RYE opposite Academy Award winner, Chis Cooper.

Some of his favorite tv roles include a series regular in Hulu’s revival of ALL MY CHILDREN, a recurring role in Showtime’s THE AFFAIR and working opposite Kevin Bacon in THE FOLLOWING, opposite James Spader in THE BLACK LIST, opposite Adam Driver in GIRLS, and opposite Denis Leary in ERASE.

Notable producing work includes WAKEFIELD starring Bryan Cranston and Jennifer Garner, and THE INHERITANCE on Broadway.

Instagram: @EricNelsenOfficial

Just ask.

Remain teachable.

Actors who have longevity are open to learning.

01 Dec 2021

Episode 155: Rep Gifts & The Challenge of the Holidays

00:19:23

Send your picture and resume to peter@actingbusinessbootcamp.com

What to get your reps for the holidays:

$25 gift is fine

Avoid food and alcohol

Who to give to:

Casting Director who you’ve booked a few jobs through over the years
Agent and/or Manager
Casting Director Agent or Manager who you’ve gotten a lot of stuff through get something a little more expensive

What to get:

Movie Tickets
Amazon Gift Card
Find out if they like something
Favorite restaurant
Donate to a charity
Flowers

Holiday Triggers:

From The Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie:

"There are many positive triggers that remind us of Christmas (or Hannukah): snow, decorations, songs, wrapped packages, a nativity scene, or a star, stockings hung on a fireplace. And these "triggers" can evoke in us the warm, nostalgic feelings of the holiday celebration.

There are other kinds of triggers, though, that may be less apparent and evoke different feelings and memories.

Our mind is like a powerful computer. It links sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste with feelings, thoughts, and memories. It links our senses - and we remember.

Sometimes the smallest, most innocuous incident can trigger memories. Not all our memories are pleasant, especially if we grew up in a dysfunctional setting.

We may not understand why we suddenly feel afraid, depressed, and anxious. We may not understand what has triggered our codependent coping behaviors - the low self worth, the need to control, the need to neglect ourselves. When that happens, we need to understand that some innocuous event may be triggering memories recorded deep within us."

In 1987 on Christmas Eve, my grandfather passed away. And it was a sad time.

Every Christmas Eve I remember him, and I think about the grandpa who took me to the zoo at 5, and when I let go of my balloon by mistake, he bought me another balloon.

It’s an emotional Christmas memory and that’s ok. We need to allow those feelings to come up, and to journal and move through them.

Another thing that comes up for me, every December, it seems like it’s chaotic for me.

The feelings around December can be overwhelming.

Map out the month
Stay ahead of things

“If something, even something we don't understand, triggers painful memories, we can pull ourselves back into the present by self-care: acknowledging our feelings, detaching, and affirming ourselves. We can take action to feel good. We can help ourselves feel better every December. No matter what the past held, we can put it in perspective, and create a more pleasant holiday today.”

“If you’re hysterical, it’s historical.”

“If it’s after 11 o’clock at night and you think it’s a good idea, it’s not.”

25 Aug 2021

Episode 141: Self Care for Actors

00:13:40

COVID took energy out of us.

A lot of feelings are coming up.

How do we dig deep? How do we find the things to help us through this?

So you can continue to pursue your dream…

I go back to baby stepping.

How can I break this down?

When you feel exhausted, instead of getting dramatic, get really quiet, reach out to the energy that knows best, and say, “Please guide me in this day, I invite you into this day, and please help me to just take care of things one thing at a time.”

I go as slowly as I need to to take care of myself.

Things like:

Drink enough water
Eat
Permission to reach out to invite the energy that knows best and invite it in

Stop and create space for something else to come in so that it’s not only your will, it's inviting another energy.

When we are exhausted and depleted, our past coping mechanisms come up from the past.

You may start to put yourself down, which is so unhelpful.

You want to have as much of yourself working for us instead of against us.

It’s ok. Focus on this day.

What are the things in Good Orderly Direction that I can follow today?

Awareness, Acceptance, and Action.

None of this we have experienced, so we must be gentle with ourselves and kind to other people.

We are all going through it.

Take care of yourself first, and the rest will follow.

Know you are lovable.

"Anyone can eat an elephant one bite at a time."

20 Jan 2021

Episode 110: Why Your Sound Sucks, Common Mistakes Voice Actors are Making from Home with Frank Verderosa

00:48:44

About Frank:

Frank is a 30 year veteran of the music and post-production industry, which a long list of IMDB credits from TV networks, feature films, and animation companies like Disney, Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network.

He spends his days making commercials, cartoons, TV shows and more at Digital Arts in NYC. At night, he’s on a mission during Covid Times to get everyone up to speed so we can continue working together!

First thing: Get a coach, take the classes, learn the craft!

Common Biggest Mistakes:

A home studio is not a USB mic, a laptop in the middle of your living room
Your mic isn’t connected
Think outside the box
Forgetting to turn phantom power on
Turn the Rolloff off
Mouth noise tricks
Stop ruining your sound by over-processing it

18 Jan 2023

Episode 214: Self Care During Stressful Times

00:12:20

Time Management Workshop

Do the next right thing.

The Language of Letting Go

"Rest when you're tired. Take a drink of cold water when you're thirsty. Call a friend when you're lonely. Ask the universe to help when you feel overwhelmed."

Yeah, I was in a very challenging, difficult place, along with millions of other people. But I'm here. I survived. I handled it. And out of that came self-esteem, more self-esteem that I'm capable of and will never, ever be given more than I can handle.

I will never be given more than I can handle, but I will be given more than I can control.

"Many of us have learned how to deprive and neglect ourselves. Many of us have learned to push ourselves hard when the problem is that we've already pushed too hard. Many of us are afraid the work won't get done if we rest when we're tired. The work will get done. It will be done better than work that emerges from tiredness of soul and spirit."

Refuel. With self-love, with good food, with tea.

Because nourished, nurtured people who love themselves and care for themselves are the delight of the universe.

They are well-timed, efficient, and divinely led.

And that is why self-care, especially during stressful times, is so very, very, very important.

08 Jan 2025

Episode 318: Are You Too Nice As An Actor?

00:17:01

Today is a podcast request. Yes! I take requests. So if you have an idea for a podcast, send me an email.

So this is a listener who wanted to talk about the idea of being too nice.

So being too nice. She said, how often have you heard, “You're too nice.”

I have had a few times and while I appreciate the other person's honesty and transparency, it got me thinking about the undertone behind that phrase, especially when it comes to going after what you want as an actor, performer or artist.

In pop culture, actors can get a general reputation for being, dare I say it, self centered or too into themselves.

But you also hear about those mostly established actors who also get the, “Oh, they're so great to work with and are so nice. What rules do you follow? What rules do you fudge a little?”

Especially if you're still trying to establish yourself as an actor.

Does being too nice translate into being too safe?

Is it a balance of being kind with luck? and timing.

When someone says this, what are they communicating?

You're not being fully honest with yourself or would be not being nice mean focusing on others, not on yourself energy.

I decided to take this subject and tackle it this week. And give five kind of points on how to navigate that being too nice, but not being stepped on as an actor and an artist.

Now, some of these things, guess what? I know big surprise. If you listen to my podcast on a regular basis, you will notice they are, some of them sound familiar.

And the first one is just that, set clear boundaries.

Being kind doesn't mean saying yes to everything.

My favorite codependents out there. Are you hearing that?

Being kind doesn't mean saying yes to everything. Clearly define your limits, and that means with yourself, such as your working hours, your ideas on a particular project, and communicate, how you would want to be communicated.

So if somebody keeps emailing you, but you don't see it, tell them, “Hey, it would be better to text me instead.”

Now there's something else I wanted to talk about with this.

I really think that the idea of being too kind and being too, aggressive, which I'm going to get to in a minute.

It also has to do with knowing yourself emotionally, and being emotionally self sufficient, so that your niceness doesn't overcompensate for your lack of belief in yourself.

One of the things I talk about in the weekly adjustment, which is my core work class is that I talk about how important it is to be able to get yourself out of those emotional and mental ruts or spirals so that you don't try and look to your work or to your business to fix you.

How many decades have I done that?

So it's so essential that you set boundaries with yourself.

I'm also going to give you a tip on if you are one of those people who just is yes.

Memorize these words: Let me get back to you.

I just need to check on something.

Let me get back to you.

And then you if you think you want to say yes, you can say that sounds good, but let me get back to you.

And if you can memorize that before saying yes, you're going to help yourself out, especially during the busy season.

Okay. Next one. Be assertive, but not aggressive. In a business meeting recently, someone said “you're very aggressive.”

And I, I literally said, “No, I'm not. I said, I'm actually assertive.”

And then they said to me, they go, “You know what? You're right. You're assertive. You're not aggressive.”

And I could tell that I had really thrown them for a loop because they wanted to put that, aggressive thing on me, but I wasn't being aggressive.

I was just extremely assertive.

Stating how I felt and what I needed and ultimately in the end, they really respected that and I got a very positive result from that meeting in the end.

Being assertive allows you to express your needs and your ideas confidently.

But while respecting other people, I talk about in boundary setting, telling someone how you feel and what you need, but leaving the word you out, meaning you keep it with you.

It also prevents others from mistaking your kindness for weakness, which so often happens.

Again, I want to be assertive, but all of this is tied into this valuable core work that I talk about.

And that is that I'm not going to other people to fill my insecurity. That I am enough in and of myself.

I am able to be assertive and not overcompensate by being aggressive because, all the time through my life, I never got what I wanted, but this time I'm going to.

Again, really using I when you're being assertive. Use the I statement. Keep it with you again. State how you feel and what you need, but leave the word you out and keep it with I.

Okay, tip number three in the balancing the too nice with with, being I don't know not nice. Or, no no asserting yourself. Is align generosity with strategy.

When you offer someone value, what that does is it builds goodwill.

And that also should align with your values and your goals.

It's that idea that Brian Cranston talks about in his book. It's about dropping off the gift of your talent. So I go into an audition with the idea of, “Hey, this is how I would do it. This is how I would solve the problem of the problem, the challenge of this character. So I'm going to do it the way I see it.”

“And then, hey, if you have any adjustments or any other ideas, hey, let's play together and let's do that so that we're working on something together.”

Avoid giving away too much of your time is something that you also want to do.

You want to, again, give, you want to do something that mutually benefits people in this industry.

Win, win.

You need an actor to book, I'm a talented actor who can book. Not only am I good at my job, but I know I'm good at my job.

Being Decisive Podcast

Being decisive and also being solution oriented.

Nice people may hesitate to make tough decisions, and that's because they're worried that they might make a mistake.

If you make a mistake, you will be able to handle the consequences of that mistake.

You will, because we are never given more than we can handle, but we are given more than we can control.

In business, and this is show business, decisiveness earns respect. You want to be empathetic, sorry I'm having trouble speaking today, empathetic.

But you also want to be firm when, stating your boundaries or or stating your opinion. And that sometimes will involve, potential conflict.

If you are one of those people who do not like conflict, make your ears grow bigger and set up a consultation with me. We gotta get that shit sorted. Because the best acting is about conflict.

Finally, is also holding other people accountable.

And this means that you're not so nice that people walk all over you.

I used to be somebody like that. And if you've only known me recently, you would find that hilariously funny. Because I'm not exactly someone who lets people walk all over them.

But OMG! did I used to be.

Somebody would treat me poorly. I'd make an excuse of why either I deserved it or why they treated me so badly.

I would try and justify their unjustifiable behavior.

Don't let kindness excuse unprofessional behavior from others make sure that you know when people say they're going to follow up with you that you follow up with them if they don't do so in a timely manner, you want to respect yourself and respect your timelines and respect yourself on people who you work with.

And what I mean by that is, is that if you find that someone in the business is not saying, not doing what they say they're going to do, it may be time for you to look elsewhere for someone else to fit your needs.

With all of this, the goal is being emotionally self sufficient so that you know you.

So that you know when someone isn't treating you that you don't deserve it, and you know how to defend yourself.

And also, you know yourself to not say that word, yes, immediately, but go back and say, let me get back to you. So that you can take some time out away from the conversation, away from the situation and really see if that thing that you're about to say yes to is right for you.

03 Feb 2021

Episode 112: Three Steps to Learning an Accent with Amanda Quaid

00:32:49

About Amanda:

Amanda Quaid has over 15 years of experience teaching speech, dialects, and language skills to actors and other speakers from around the world. In addition to her coaching on plays, films, and television, she maintains a thriving private practice in New York City. She's been featured as a dialect expert on WNYC, and her book, American Accent Drills for British and Australian Speakers was released in 2020.

1. Oral Posture: Position your articulators are in for the Duration of the Accent

ie: A low jaw, pursed lips

2. Signature Sounds: The vowels, consonants, and intonation

Axis of Expressivity (Pitch variety)

How Amanda approaches American Accent Acquisition (as opposed to accent reduction)

3. Find out what the Accent brings out in you

Techniques for rehearsals, performances, and auditions

The Importance of Breath

Inhale— The act of taking in the partner

Exhale— The act of giving a part of yourself

The Miller Method

03 Apr 2024

Episode 278: Interview with Casting Director Angela Mickey

00:37:12

Work with me privately

About Angela Mickey:

Angela Mickey is the Managing Director of Casting at Liz Lewis Casting Partners, and has been working as a Casting Director for 24 years.

Angela works across the board on commercial, voice-over, film, TV, and theater projects, with a concentration on comedy, real people, and theatrical casting.

She enjoys working with both veteran and up-and-coming creatives, developing the best, unique plan for each project, and working as a partner to the producing process.

Recent on-camera commercial projects: Spectrum, UberEats, DCU, Blue Cross, Blue Shield, Tillamook, Door Dash, Woodbridge, NJ Lottery, Marriott.

Recent real people projects: New York Presbyterian, Aleve, NorthAmerican Bancard, Redemption Whiskey, Chevy, Wells Fargo, JC Penney, as well as a variety of editorial projects for Condé Nast.

Recent animation/podcast vo projects: Dee and Friends in Oz (Netflix), SuperKitties (Disney Jr), Get Rolling with Otis (Apple TV +), The Snow Globe (in conjunction with Chik-Fil-A), This Job is History (Wondery), Killer Questions with Daryn Carp (ID).

Recent film projects include "Martyr of Gowanus", Lifetime's "12 Days of Christmas Eve", "The Legend of Lake Ronkonkoma: The Lady of the Lake", Filipino movie musical "The Girl Who Left Home", and Hallmark's "Where Are You Christmas" and "Mystic Christmas."

Angela's got a treasure trove of tips, secrets, and stories that are pure gold for anyone in the acting game, whether you're just starting out or you've been around the block a few times. Here's the lowdown on what we covered:

What You Need to Know:

Reading Instructions is Key: Angela talks about how something as simple as sending the wrong file type can throw a wrench in your audition. She's all about paying attention to the details. Make sure you know what they're asking for and nail it.
Ace Your Online Auditions: With auditions going digital, Angela shares the scoop on making sure your setup is on point. Good internet, good lighting, and a space where you can do your thing without distractions are your best friends here.
Bring Your Flavor to the Role: Angela's not looking for robots. She wants to see what you bring to the character. It's all about showing up with your take on the role and being ready to collaborate to make something awesome.
Self-Care for the Win: One of the big themes Angela hits on is looking after yourself. Acting's a marathon, not a sprint, and giving yourself permission to take breaks and live life outside the acting bubble is crucial.

Top Quotes from the episode:

"Making me work harder to fix your audition tape? Yeah, that's gonna make me think twice about calling you back."
"Don't just show up expecting to be directed. Bring your own magic to the role. That's what gets noticed."
"Worried about your online audition setup? Just do your best to keep things simple and stress-free. It's about what you do, not where you do it."
"The industry isn't going anywhere. Taking a break for a bit of self-care or to just breathe is totally fine. You do you."

19 Jan 2022

Episode 162: Interview with Commercial Agent Stacye Mayer

00:33:07

About Stacye:

After an illustrious career at Paradigm Talent Agency where Stacye Mayer has represented a diverse roster of actors she recently celebrated a successful year at Webb Sweeney Murphy talent (WSM).

Over the expanse of her career, she’s been part of the discovery & accomplishments of many actors’ careers. The list of numerous commercials she’s booked is endless but know that she’s collaborated creatively on many national campaigns, regional spots like state lotteries; as well as a long list of ads produced just for social/digital media. More recently she’s giving those with a good mic and an in-home studio an opportunity in the VoiceOver space as well.

Stacye is constantly looking to expand her commercial roster and cultivate new talent to reach their fame in this industry!

It’s the agent's job to introduce you to the Casting Director.

Once you make that connection, if you are doing callbacks, you are doing it right.

It’s important that the casting directors know what they are getting when you walk in the room!

Stayce reads the resume from the bottom up.

Training is KEY!

Make sure your special skills are something you can do the next morning.

You have to be honest with your team! You saying no does not make me not want to work with you.

Union vs Non-Union-- 70% non-union these days.

PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR CONFLICTS.

25 May 2022

Episode 180: TV Auditions, Callbacks & the Job with Master Teacher Katie Flahive

00:43:49

Time Management for Actors

May 21st and 28th

7-10 pm EST

Learn more HERE

Two Day TV Script Analysis Workshop w/ Katie Flahive

Saturday & Sunday

June 4 & 5

3-6PM

$199

8-10 students

Sign up HERE

This class will be a 2 day intensive that helps the actor develop the understanding of how to break down acts/character/plot points/tone/tempo in a network and streaming platform pilot.

Day 1: Elements will include: the table read, the breakdowns from casting

Day 2: Implementation of script analysis with a mock audition. Actors will choose from the script/breakdowns which role they want to read for- adjustments for camera/audition will be given and feedback with the room will be offered.

Katie Flahive TV Class - MONDAYS or WEDNESDAYS

MONDAYS

6-9PM EST

June 13, 20, 27, July 11 (skipping 4th of July)

SIGN UP HERE

WEDNESDAYS

7-10 PM EST

June 15, 22, 29, July 6

SIGN UP HERE

In this class, we will look at how to break down scripts for episodic, streaming platforms, pilots, and network hour and half-hour drama/comedy.

Sides will be sent to each person, specifically addressing type and where they are in the industry.

Audition style setting will be the main focus in the class (students will be working with materials each week under the timeline and expectations of what they would be in the real-world scenario of the audition).

About Katie:

Katie Flahive is Ted Sluberski’s right-hand woman and is an accomplished actor and singer working in theatre, film, TV, animation, audiobooks, and commercials.

Katie is also a company member of The Actors Center in NYC. She recurs on the Hulu Series The Looming Towering and the seventh season of Venture Brothers on Adult Swim.

Her other recurring and guest role appearances include Law and Order: SVU, Chicago PD, Glow, The Affair, Nurse Jackie, Feed the Beast, and Blue Bloods. She has worked as an on-set coach in both LA and NYC.

Katie is THE person to train with if you’re looking to break into film and TV or if you’re looking to deepen your on-camera performance.

Why acting training is so important

How to get the job!

The difference between the audition, the callback, and the job.

How you behave in the world is how you’re going to be as an actor.

Your job is to be available, flexible, and willing to play.

Maturity is knowing what you can actually get done in a day.

Take your emotions out of your to-do list.

How bad do I want it?

How to change limiting beliefs to thoughts that work for you.

The need for a communal approach.

16 Feb 2022

Episode 166: Interview with Broad City Co-EP Ryan Cunningham

00:47:37

About Ryan:

RYAN ELIZABETH CUNNINGHAM (she/her) is a queer writer/director and Emmy and Peabody award-winning producer who recently launched the development company Running Woman with the goal of telling stories that haven’t been heard before.

She represented the TV projects THE FUGITIVE GAME (2018), TRANSMANIA (2019), and MARY (2020) in the IFP (now The Gotham) Project Forum. Ryan is very passionate about promoting equality, women’s issues, LGBTQ+ stories, and neurodiversity in her work.

She's EP/Director on the standup special ILANA GLAZER: THE PLANET IS BURNING (Amazon), the docuseries EXPECTING AMY (HBO Max), and an upcoming Pride special for Showtime. Select TV producer credits include BROAD CITY and INSIDE AMY SCHUMER (Comedy Central), SEARCH PARTY and THE LAST O.G. (TBS); LOUIE (FX); STRANGERS (Facebook); THE SHIVERING TRUTH (Adult Swim); HORACE AND PETE (Hulu); THE ELECTRIC COMPANY (PBS), as well as several prominent stand-up specials for Netflix and HBO, including Executive Producing AMY SCHUMER GROWING for Netflix.

Film producing credits include Rachel Israel's feature KEEP THE CHANGE, starring the first leading cast of actors on the autism spectrum and winner of Best Narrative Feature at Tribeca Film Festival 2017; BECKS, winner of the LA Film Festival 2017; and the ill-fated I LOVE YOU, DADDY, directed by Louis C.K., which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival.

She has also co-owned the NYC-based post house Running Man for the last decade. She lives in Brooklyn with her 10-year-old daughter who is on the autism spectrum and likes to build large art installations in various places around their apartment. Ryan is a graduate of Rhode Island School of Design and co-chair of the RISD Fund, as well as working as an adjunct professor for the film department.

Focus on the job, not the ego.

What did I learn? What can I take forward with me?

Comedy is the ultimate puzzle.

Qualities:

Utter commitment
Inside and outside of art

Up your game:

Time management
Hire the right people
Delegation
Television is fast
You need a team you can trust

Actors creating your own work: Work in an outline form before you start scripting.

Learn to pitch.
A pitch makes them want to know more.
Record yourself doing it and watch it back!

The best actors LISTEN!

If you’re not open to notes, you’re not going to have a strong performance.

Be able to identify what’s working, what’s not working, and have suggestions to make it work better.

Learn how to take critique.

15 Feb 2023

Episode 218: Love Yourself

00:13:13

Guide to Booking Commercial VO Workshop

Time Management Replay

Ken Rea Class

The Language of Letting Go

“Love yourself into health and a good life of your own. Love yourself into relationships that work for you and the other person. Love yourself into peace, happiness, joy, success, and contentment. Love yourself into all that you always wanted.”

I love the idea of loving myself into health.

And I think the first relationship that I always need to love myself into is, again, the one with me and also the one with the power that makes the sunshine.

A love affair with your higher, smarter self: the Universe.

Loving myself into peace means when I put my head on the pillow at night, it is to rest.

Not to worry. Not to fret.

I also love, love myself into happiness, which is allowing myself to be happy. Giving myself the space to be happy, to feel joy, to be successful, and not worry about whether the other shoe is going to drop.

And then this one. I think this is a toughie. Love yourself into contentment.

Can I be content?

Loving myself into peace means allowing myself the stop time.

A wonderful exercise is to write down all the ways you want to love yourself and have love in your life.

“We can stop treating ourselves the way others treated us if they behaved in less than healthy or desirable ways. If we have learned to see ourselves critically, conditionally, and in diminishing and punishing ways, well, hey, it's time to stop. Other people treated us this way, but it doesn't mean that we have to treat ourselves this way. It's so incredible to love ourselves this way.”

Now, how do we love ourselves? Well, sometimes we have to force ourselves at first. Sometimes we have to fake it till we make it.

Can you work as hard at loving yourself as much as you did working not to love yourself?

How do you expect somebody else to love you if you aren't loving yourself?

How do you expect someone to value your work as an actor if you aren't valuing yourself and your work as an actor?

Have a love affair with yourself.

Wouldn't that be the kindest, most loving thing you could possibly do?

12 Mar 2025

Episode 327: Authenticity, Privacy & Oversharing in Acting

00:10:49

In today’s episode of the Acting Business Boot Camp Podcast, Mandy Fisher dives into a crucial topic for actors and entertainment professionals—the balance between authenticity and privacy online. With social media playing a major role in personal branding, many performers feel the pressure to share intimate details to connect with their audience and industry decision-makers.

But where is the line between being real and oversharing? Mandy unpacks the risks and consequences of unchecked openness in the entertainment industry, including how it can impact casting decisions, make audiences uncomfortable, and even invite scrutiny. She also shares practical tips for determining what to post and what to keep private, all while maintaining a strong, engaging online presence.

Plus, she challenges you to be intentional about what you share over the next month—because authenticity is powerful, but so is discretion.

Key Takeaways:

🎭 Why actors instinctively overshare online (and the risks involved)
📣 The difference between advocacy and venting on social media
🎥 How your online presence affects casting directors and producers
🤔 A simple self-check before you post: "Would I say this in a casting meeting?"
📌 Why specificity and intentionality are the keys to a strong brand

Resources Mentioned:

📺 Skamanda on Hulu – A case study on social media and storytelling
📺 An Update on Our Family on HBO – The impact of online sharing in real-time

Connect with Mandy:

📧 Email: Mandy@actingbusinessbootcamp.com
📲 TikTok: @AstoriaRedhead
📝 Substack: The Actor’s Index

🎬 Go kick some ass today—but don’t show those butt cheeks! 😆

22 Feb 2023

Episode 219: Financial Fear of the Actor

00:23:54

Ken Rea

On Camera with Katie Flahive

Business of Voiceover

The Language of Letting Go.

“I sat in the car looking at a sign on the door of the food shelf office. Closed until Friday. It was Wednesday. I had two hungry children and myself. I had no money. I laid my head on the steering wheel. I couldn't take it anymore. I had been so strong, so brave, so trusting for so long. I was a single parent with two children, recently divorced. I had worked so courageously at being grateful for what I had while setting financial goals and working at believing I deserved the best. I had put up with so much poverty, so much deprivation. Daily, I worked the 11 step. I worked so hard at praying for the knowledge of the universe's will for me and the power to carry me through. I believed I was doing what I needed to do in my life. I wasn't lollygagging. I was doing my best, working my hardest. And there just wasn't enough money. Life had been a struggle in many ways, but the financial struggle seemed endless. Money isn't everything, but it takes money to solve certain problems. I was sick of letting go and letting go and letting go. I was sick of acting as if I had enough money. I was tired of having to work so hard daily and letting go of the pain and fear about not having enough. I was tired of working so hard at being happy without having enough. Actually, most of the time, I was happy I had found my soul in poverty. But now that I had my soul and myself. I wanted some money too. While I sat in the car trying to compose myself, I heard the universe speak to me in that silent, still voice that whispers gently to our souls. You don't ever have to worry about money again, child. Not unless you want to. I told you that I would take care of you. And I will. “Great.” I thought, “Thanks a lot.” I believe you. I trust you. But look around. I have no money. I have no food. And the food shelf is closed. You've let me down. Again. I heard the voice in my soul. You don't have to worry about money again. You don't have to be afraid. I promised to meet all of your needs. I went home, called a friend, and asked to borrow some money. I hated borrowing, but I had no choice. My breakdown in the car was a release. But it didn't solve a thing that day. There was no check in the mailbox. But you know what? I got food for the day. And the next day. And the next. Within six months, my income doubled. Within nine months, it tripled. Since that day, yes, I have had hard times. But I have never had to go without. Not for more than a moment in time. Now I have enough. Sometimes I still worry about money because that seems to be habitual. But now I know I don't have to, and I know I never did.”

The number of years I truly suffered. But my suffering was self-inflicted.

And then I remember saying to myself, “Well. You've got two choices here. You can continue to live the way you've lived with money. Or, you can try this.”

Even though I knew that didn't work for me. It was comfortable.

You have a goal, so let's say the goal is to be financially free. In order for that goal to happen, your thoughts must align with the goal, and your actions must align with the goal.

And that is difficult. Why do I say it's difficult?

Well, one, the action is difficult because you need to do contrary behavior. You need to get out of your comfort zone and do different things.

But it's also about your belief system. And what you believe about money, and not only what you believe about money but what you believe money says about you.

And that's why it's so damn difficult to change your behavior and to change your thoughts because. That is the combination of the two of them. Gives you a really good indication of what you believe about yourself.

And that's fucking hard to face. It certainly was for me. Because it was really when I started looking at my money, did I start to unearth, did I start to excavate the real problem.

Around my relationship with myself, which is I didn't love myself. And that was reflected in my self-worth.

If I can get out of that stinking thinking around money, if someone who is partially dyslexic around money can learn this budget system and thrive so that they have a whole entire year of expenses in the bank as a cushion. So can you.

Imagine this being the first day of the rest of your life regarding your finances.

15 Mar 2023

Episode 222: Realizing Your Full Potential

00:52:20

Chiropractor for the Mind

Try out The Weekly Accountability Group for Free

The longevity of the work.

You helped me to see how strong I could be and how secure and how confident, and how you have to teach people how to treat you.

And from that advice, I have continued to use it when negotiating clients and contracts and, you know, dating, you can't assume people are going to treat you right, and you have to stand up for yourself and ask for what you deserve.

You just gave me the right tools for me to realize that it was all in my control. I didn't have to be a victim of other people's bad actions or negativity holding me back.

You stand in your own way.

Let's say when you came to coaching, you were operating at 30%. Of where you were at, of where of what your potential was—30%. I helped you to see—the other 70%.

And on the good days, it's 100%. And on the bad days, it's 80 or 90%. But it's a heck of a lot more than the 30% that was being operated with.

Life and work are hard enough. Why aren't we using our full potential? And I think we're not using our full potential because we're only aware of the 30%. We don't even realize there's a whole other 70% there.

I was afraid of change. I didn't want to not be the victim anymore. It was easier being a victim and complaining than it was to actually. Deal with the issues and learn how to do things to make it better.

I realized that something needed to change. I wasn't sure what it was, but I needed help. And because I was desperate.

"When you're sick and tired of being sick and tired, you'll change."

Change the way you look at things, and the things you look at really do change.

I am no longer miserable in my own head. My head is a happy neighborhood.

We would rather stay in the misery because that's familiar than take the risk on the incredible.

Your life is like a thermometer, and you've got a certain temperature that you're comfortable being at. But if you get too cold or hot, your body wants to return to its comfort zone.

For me, that was the most challenging part about change was that I knew that I was getting out of my comfort level.

The coaching:

We had a global pandemic. It was not your fault.

"It gets better; it gets worse; it gets different; it gets real."

So what is the number one word that comes up for me when I think of Karen is capable.

You had the foresight that the ability to do enormous things. You lost your business. You dealt with that. You saw your income go from mid-six figures to zero. You had a condo that you could sell.

Your mom is getting older. So that's an opportunity. Also, you landed a full-time job in a company. You did that.

Take a moment and acknowledge you weren't a victim. You handled this situation. And not only that, when the shit hit the fan, you picked up the tools.

You picked up the core work tools, and you applied them.

So incredible because when the shit hits the fan, our number one thing is to go to all the negative stuff.

You are probably the most capable person you know.

Can you reframe what your life is actually like?

It gave me gratitude for what I did have—and reframing where I am now. I'm getting time with my mom. There's a good chance I wouldn't get this time with her if the pandemic didn't happen.

But I think the hardest part still is how quickly you can go back to that little girl.

And I immediately went right back to that little girl with big brown hair and, you know, the dress with the sneakers on because I felt so alone.

I felt like it was my fault. I've learned that it isn't and wasn't.

Use the tools to get me in the right direction quicker.

Truth with a capital T: Yes, you could have made things easier for yourself with a bigger nest egg. But you also can make things easier with your thoughts.

I love the Louise Hay phrase. "Stop torturing yourself."

It's about creating a happy place in your brain. Sometimes my brain isn't 100% happy, but I'd say, 80% of the time, it's pretty damn happy.

Exercise: find a picture of yourself. As that little girl when you started to feel the fear. And keep it with you always and refer to it always because that's who you're taking care of.

Go back to that exercise, and I want you to tell her that even though, yes, you lost your footing. You still always had her back through this whole thing that has happened for you. You still had her back.

There is a lot to be grateful for.

The opportunity to deal with it, to show myself that, yet again, I am capable.

Exercise: Please look at everything that you have shared with us today. And I want you to find the evidence that shows you that you are capable.

I want you to use your life to show that you are capable.

Why don't you think of it differently? Because thoughts are just thoughts, and they can be changed.

I am fucking capable.

The work is about realizing your full potential in all areas of your life.

Love the skin you're in.

29 Nov 2023

Episode 260: Social Media with Heidi Dean

00:31:35

Free Month of Coaching

Heidi's YouTube Channel

About Heidi Dean:

Heidi Dean is known as the industry’s top social media strategist for actors and the creator of Marketing4actors.com. She’s a social media writer for Backstage Magazine and a frequent speaker at film festivals, SAG-AFTRA, AEA, conferences, podcasts and universities across the country. Her clients include Emmy Award-winners, Broadway stars, series regulars, directors, producers, casting directors, voice actors and audiobook narrators. Heidi turns social media rookies into ROCKSTARS!

How the heck did you get into doing social media with actors?

The tweetable version is well, I really got my start in social media marketing and I was actually running social for my husband who is a Broadway and television actor and now audiobook narrator.

And a lot of the things we were doing for him and promoting his album and everything, just started taking off. And of course, working actors know working actors, and I started running social for other people, for actors, producers, and casting directors.

What I started to realize is that I was not just running social media for them, I was acting like them, and the people interacting with me had no idea I was this person. They had no idea. So it was enlightening to me because I realized that actually, nobody was helping actors with their social media.

You had to be like an A-lister and have media training and social media training and really have someone running your social media to actually get that kind of education.

And so that's when I started my blog, Marketing for Actors, now 2015. And really just talking about the mistakes I was seeing every day, as people interacted with me when they thought I was this producer, this casting director, or this big actor, and that's when the blog just took off because no one was helping.

And there was a need that nobody was fulfilling unless you paid thousands of dollars every month to have someone run it for you.

How important is it for actors to be on social media?

It's important for so many reasons, and I feel like the conversation gets stuck on followers all the time.

I love that you're asking this because, like I said, I think this conversation of like, How important is it? Why is it important?

It tends to get stuck on this conversation about followers and I think it's the wrong way to approach it and it's not even the most important reason to be on social media.

So let me give you a couple of reasons why I think it's important and hopefully, that's going to help reframe some things for your listeners. Yeah.

First of all, it's like almost 2024. You may be listening to this in 2024 and social media is just part of the world. It's, and it's becoming part of your job, right?

Your next gig is probably going to have posting guidelines. They're gonna have some guidelines about when you can post, when not to post, what to post. There may even be posting requirements in your contract, which, just so you know, it's actually a powerful thing. If they require you to post, and you have any kind of audience, ask for more money.

This is powerful, okay?

So you may have guidelines, you may have requirements. Your next job could have an Instagram takeover or they could ask you to go live or do live tweeting.

These are all just reality.

So it's becoming part of your job.

It's also part of your first impression. We know this business has gone virtual and people are looking you up all the time. It's a business of referrals and also, people, they need to know who you are.

So they're going straight to social, they're going to Google, and guess what pops up for a Google search for your name.

Your social media, your bio, you can read it right from a Google search.

So if you're using social media, I want to make sure it looks professional because it is part of your first impression.

Another reason I think it is so important is that it can help you get cast and this is not just about followers, but yes, whether you like it or not, having an actual, real live social media following can help you get cast.

But I don't want to sit on that idea. I've witnessed it over and over again, social media helping actors get cast in so many other ways, from my students sharing a post with their special skills.

Or creating a post that has a certain location hashtags or special skills hashtags and people went online and they were looking for an actor with that skill and now they're auditioning.

It happens all the time or even now that we've been gifted vertical videos like TikTok and reels and Youtube shorts you have all been given a virtual stage to perform and yes actors are getting cast all the time because of it so you know It can help you get cast beyond the followers reason, right?

Honestly, I think the biggest reason, it helps you build relationships and your relationships are your career.

I always say your network is your net worth as an actor and social media can help expand this network and you can actually put yourself in circles of the people you want to know.

But even more than that. It's the world's best tool for staying top of mind with the people you already know.

And I really believe it's the people who already know you and your work, that's the fastest way to booking new work because they already know and trust you, right?

For those four reasons alone I feel like social media is such a powerful thing for an actor.

If you're looking at it the right way.

Because one thing I would say is, I can tell you everything I just told you. I could give you a hundred more reasons, but it's not going to matter if you don't switch your mindset toward social media.

I've worked with thousands and thousands of actors on their social media and I can basically group them into two categories with how they approach their social media.

We've got, actor A and actor B, they're both looking at the same pathway of stones, and actor A sees these social media stones as stumbling blocks, something they have to do.

Why do I have to be on social media? It's a waste of time. I just want to act, that's actor A.

Now actor B sees the same path of stones as stepping stones for opportunity to, build their influence, to grow an audience for themselves, to meet more people in the business or as a virtual stage, for their talents, and you're never going to get good at something that you hate or you don't want to do.

So if actor A, the actor that looks at social media as a stumbling block, looks familiar, I want you to switch that mindset and start seeing social media as a stepping stone because you're never going to get good at it if you don't want to do it.

You've got to make that switch.

You're never going to get good at it if you don't want to do it.

We all want to be actor B.

Learn how to love auditioning because you're going to be auditioning for the rest of your life in some way or form, even if you're being offered stuff, you're still going to be auditioning, when you meet a new up-and-coming director, when you have those new opportunities in your life.

Can you quickly talk about know, like, trust factor?

In terms of relationships, this is a business of you will get more jobs from people who already know and trust you than just random auditions, right?

It's a business of referrals.

It's a business of who you know, and who knows you.

So the more people that can know and trust you know and trust your talents, know and trust your accountability and that you're consistent, you're going to show up and that you deliver in the room, the more opportunities you will have.

When I talk about relationships, I actually invite actors to first look at the people who already know them. Because, like I said, those are the people that know and trust them. If we can stay, the more they can stay in contact with them between that, the phone ringing, the email coming in for an audition, the more auditions they will get.

And that's what social media can do is it can, help you stay top of mind. It can help increase that know and trust factor.

And the reality is that meeting new people online, it can create a relationship and also build that know and trust factor online. So it actually ends up being an audition, being an actual new connection as well.

Your network is your net worth.

How you stay in touch with people that you know in this business is going to change the trajectory of your career.

Who do you know and how well are you staying in touch with these people?

It will change your career. Your network is your net worth.

What is a good social media following for an actor to aim for?

A following is not their goal. Like I actually when I work with my clients and students I would say, okay, let's figure out what your goal is.

Is it to share your talents? Is it to share your projects? Is it to build relationships? Is it to grow an audience? What is it? It might be a combination, but what are the main, what is your main goal? Because it doesn't have to be to grow a following at all. And that is completely fine.

What I want you to do is make sure you're growing your following with every job you book.

So whether it's fans of that project or people, the casting directors, the producers, the associates, everybody, fellow actors, you're always building your following with every job you book because you're getting these little fans, whether it's the fans of the project or the fans that, are working with you on the project.

So I do want to put that out there first because, in terms of numbers, this is impossible to answer really, because if you talk to people in the industry there are smaller projects that, having a hundred thousand followers, even having 10,000 followers and the other person up for the job has no social media.

That's a that's an advantage because you're a team player.

You have more people you can share it with.

But when we're talking like big blockbusters, we're talking millions of followers really turn, make it make a difference. And a lot of times it's just the tipping point.

At that point, both actors are right for the role. They both are funny and beautiful. They're both right. But one person has a larger audience. And a lot of times now, I really want people to hear this. We're in a different time in the past. This used to be an influencer. Now, you're getting [00:15:00] Juilliard trained.

Actors, you're getting NYU-trained actors. You're getting, conservatory-trained actors that are growing they're following. So it's not just, it's this person that's never had an acting class getting a job. It's actually trained actors that are taking control of their career and growing their following.

That's something I hear a lot too. It's people saying, oh, it shouldn't be about followers. I'm like these people are, they're taking control. And I do want everybody to hear this too. If you're becoming an actor in this career, it's hard to hear. This career has always been a popularity contest.

We have different metrics now with social media. So the job you got into in the first place, it's always been about putting butts in the seats, whether that's a movie theater or a theater, it's just the metrics are slightly different now, and we can complain about it, but that hasn't changed much.

The thing that has changed. Actor B. You can grow your audience. That's the thing that changed. And in the past, you couldn't control that. You can grow an audience now.

And I wanna say again, I'm putting in a plug to be actor B, a stepping stone.

The biggest mistakes I see actors make, and I think it comes out of this idea of, they're so set on hearing about followers, is that they treat their follower count like a number instead of a person.

Stop seeing numbers, start seeing the people behind that number. You're not just growing a number, you're growing an audience, you're growing a community, and I encourage all my students, all my clients, to not call it a following, but to call it an audience.

Number one, I don't know an actor out there who doesn't need an audience, performing for yourself, but you're growing an audience; these are actual people with actual struggles and hopes and dreams, just like every single one of you.

And I really want everyone tuning in, look at your follower count and I want you to think about it. If you have 400 to 500 followers, you filled a 747 airplane. If you have 3,500 followers, that's the audience at the Oscars. If you have 1,800 followers, you filled the Hollywood Bowl.

That's a whole lot of real people. I want you to think of these as people, not just numbers, and take five minutes, hop into the comments of your post, and have a conversation with some of your audience. Or click over some of your followers accounts and show them some love on their post.

Make a connection. Because when you make this switch, everything changes for your social media. And you start approaching followers in a whole different way.

And you're trying to get more and more numbers when you're not even honoring the followers that you have.

I'm going to share with you what I think is the biggest mistake that actors make in social media. “I'm having a really tough day today.”

And they shoot that. Because what that makes me as a casting director go is, “Okay, that person's emotionally unstable.”

That's rough to say, but I don't feel that's appropriate to share on social media. What I want to know is that the actor that I'm hiring, I need people who are emotionally stable, they are going to show up early, going to be prepared, they're not going to bring their shit into the room, and they're going to concentrate on what I consider the actor's most important thing to do, which is they're going to focus on the work and getting the job done.

Because honestly, once we get into a studio, once we get in on a set, the most important thing is the work.

I also realized that I might be having a generational thing here go on, but keep in mind that a lot of people from my generation are in, are watching it, and are going, my husband and I, who I do a lot of casting with, he goes, “Oh my God, did you see so and so's post?”

And that's not reflecting well on that actor.

Now, it's not that we don't have compassion. That person is having a bad day or, is going through a tough time and I'm not talking about I just put my animal down or my mom just died and sharing about that verbally.

I'm talking about, you're in the car, and you're just crying and sharing about whatever. I just find it, for me as a casting director, it does not reflect well on you.

Now, mind you, if I need that person for a particular job, of course, I'm going to hire them. I think it comes from a couple of places.

I think some of them are doing it for views and I immediately know when they're doing it for views, which makes me not like, know, and trust them anymore.

My trust in that the actor would be able to get onto a set the next day goes down.

I invite you to take the Insta out of your Instagram.

As an actor, you're a public figure. So number one, if you are a parent of a child actor, take the insta out of your Instagram. You should never be shooting at the Magic Kingdom when you are there.

Take the insta out of your Instagram for safety, for spoilers. Too many projects have been spoiled because you shot something thinking you weren't giving anything away but your location did or something did.

When we take the insta out of Instagram, we're able to take that second and really ask, put together a good post and should we be posting this?

And it directly relates to what you just talked about as well. If something just happened, I think it is a generational thing, some people just turn on the camera and go and, as your career goes, you need to take a pause.

And, either enjoy the moment or deal with a moment.

Really take the time to reflect on what you're going to say. It does not happen just because it happened right now doesn't mean you have to post about it right now.

And I feel like when you take that little bit of time, it does make us create a different post, usually a better post, and tell a better story with what's happening.

Even if you're hopping on video, it's going to help you make a better video for watch time, which more people will see, if you just take a second to think about what you're saying.

Stop, take a step back, observe. Is this healthy for me? Is this unhealthy for me? Respond.

A response is a reaction with a pause and a thought behind it.

And that's precisely what you're saying here. Just because it happened right now does not mean you have to post it right now.

What platform should actors be most active on in 2024.

It's hard for me just to give a blanket answer for everybody here because your social networks which you choose, should always be based on your goals, no matter if it's 2023, 2024, 2030, it always has to be on goals.

I want you to write down these questions.

This is what I do with my students, my clients.

These questions will help you decide if the platforms you're using are right for you and your goals.

They're also really good to go through when there's a new platform that you're not sure if you should use.

Yeah, grab your name on that platform, but these questions will help you decide if you should play there.

So write these questions down.

Number one, will this platform help me reach my career goals?

Number two, does it help me with my networking?

Meaning do the industry pros I know and do the people I want to know spend any time there?

And then number three, after you have learned the 101 of that platform, do you actually enjoy it?

Use the networks that play to your strengths and talents. It's not the same for everyone. Like I said, you're never going to get good at something that you don't like to do.

Does it help you reach your career goals?

Does it help you with your networking?

And do you enjoy it?

And there's a bonus question, too, so I guess it's really four: if you're in a show, do the fans of the project spend time there?

And that's important because sometimes you like a certain platform, maybe you love Facebook, and you've been there forever, but the show you're on, all the fans are on X, or they're on Instagram, or maybe they're on TikTok.

Every job you do is an opportunity to gain a fan base.

And if the fans are on a different platform, you should be spending time there.

Now, I want to reframe this question a little bit instead of what platform for 2024. I want instead of what platforms I want to think about what features.

So many actors are afraid of vertical video: the vertical video thing, TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts. Vertical video is the future, which is now; it was the future two years ago.

I have been preaching this. I've been preaching TikTok for a while, but I've been preaching Instagram Reels since the day it came out; I think it was August 5th; I know this because I was camping for my daughter's birthday in 2020.

That's how long Instagram reels have been out, and I know some of you have never made one.

Vertical video.

It does not mean dancing on TikTok. It doesn't have to be lip-syncing, pointing at things, or doing trends. It could be you sharing your talents with the world, with a video that is just shot vertically.

Vertical video is the best way to get more views on your talents. Vertical video is not going away. Video is not going away.

I want to challenge everyone listening today to lean into more video in 2024 and beyond.

Because it's so important, you're actors. We need to see you on video. It will change the game. Okay. So choose platforms based on your goals, but please lean into features that are going to help reach your goals and share your talents as well.

And I know this is scary for people. It's so funny because actors they're on camera, but it's scary for actors.

A great resource for you. Totally free.

My YouTube channel. I have a billion videos on Reels, TikTok, and all of those things. Plus, my recent videos how to be more confident in videos for social media.

That's going to be a good first step for you to push past and start using features that are going to help you.

28 Aug 2024

Episode 299: Having Fun As An Actor

00:07:15

We are going to be talking about the importance of fun.

So I'm going to be really honest with you, this is a topic that I have had so much trouble with.

Yeah, I have had trouble having fun.

I thought that, I don't know, life was to be endured. And even though I had a positive, natural positive attitude, I didn't know how to have fun. I had no idea how to have fun.

And you know what that hurt? That hurt my acting career and that hurt my ability to act because I wasn't experiencing all emotions, especially the really good ones.

But the thing is that when we as casting directors, agents, managers are meeting with you, we want to be with people who are Professional, but also are fun to be around people that we want to work with, that we want to be on a set with day in and day out now.

Okay, that might not apply for the casting director or the agent or the manager, but I am going to be working with you a decent amount.

So yes, it does apply to that, but it really applies in your auditions.

Are you having fun? Do you know how to have fun?

And if you don't, that's okay.

You can have fun learning, and you may make mistakes while having fun.

I've certainly done that.

I thought something was going to be fun, and then it really wasn't.

In fact, I hated it.

Anyway, so I'm going to read a little thing out of Melody Beattie's Language of Letting Go.

“Have some fun with life, with the day. Find the good things in the day. Find the fun things in the day. Life is not a drudgery. That is an old belief.”

And as I said, truly an old belief of mine.

“We can let go of it. We are on an adventure. And this adventure is life. It is a journey. Events will come to pass that we cannot even fathom.”

I think that's one of the gifts of being deaf. Age is that with age, you begin to appreciate life more. You begin to appreciate the day more.

And lately I've had podcasts and podcasts that will come up about being decisive, making mistakes.

You can have fun with all of this.

The big thing is we want to create the best life and career and experience with this one amazing shot we have on this planet.

“We want to try and replace our heaviness and weariness of spirit with joy. Surround yourself with people and things that bring lightness of spirit as opposed to that heaviness.

Become sensitive to happiness, to lightness, to the incredible wonder of life.

The journey, it really can be an exciting adventure. Let yourself be. Enjoy it.”

One of the mantras that I gave myself recently, creating amazing experiences in my life is fun for me.

Creating amazing experiences in my life. is fun for me.

Again, fun. It's so important. You want to be around people who are fun.

Why would that stop in a casting office? Why would that stop in an agent's office? Why would that stop at a manager's office? Why would that stop in auditioning?

Have fun. This business can be fun.

It can be exciting.

Yes, it can also be trying. But let's have fun on the adventure.

05 Apr 2023

Episode 225: Guildhall's Ken Rea Returns

00:53:00

Ken Rea's Outstanding Actor Masterclass

About Ken:

Professor Ken Rea is a theatre director, internationally acclaimed acting teacher, and author of the bestselling book, The Outstanding Actor, Seven Keys to Success

Starting out in New Zealand, he worked with the country’s leading theatres and in television drama. In 1973 he formed the Living Theatre Troupe, one of New Zealand’s most important experimental companies. He went on to study theatre in China, Japan, and India, then moved to Europe, where he studied with leading European teachers.

As Professor of Theatre at the renowned Guildhall School of Music & Drama, Ken has trained some of Britain's top actors and film stars, including EWAN MCGREGOR, LILY JAMES, JOSEPH FIENNES, DOMINIC WEST, JODIE WHITTAKER, DAMIAN LEWIS, HAYLEY ATWELL, RHYS IFANS, MICHELLE DOCKERY, FREDDIE FOX, SIMON RUSSELL BEALE, ORLANDO BLOOM, PAAPA ESSIEDU, and DANIEL CRAIG.

Ken is in regular demand internationally and has previously taught at the national drama academies of China, India, New Zealand, and Italy, and he has given courses in the UK, Canada, Indonesia, Germany, USA, and Singapore.

As a journalist, he has been a regular feature writer for The Times and was for 15 years a theatre critic for The Guardian.

As a public speaker, Ken has given many large-scale presentations in the worlds of business and the arts. He also trains top executives throughout Europe in presentation skills and personal impact. He is about to launch his major online course: Ken Rea Teaches Acting.

How do I get better work?

And it's a really interesting question so you don't feel stuck in your career.

Ask yourself what would that next level look like for you.

Let's think about the acting itself. What would that look like? And so that immediately gives you a target. I want to be like this. So you know where you're going.

So the next question to ask yourself is, where do you feel you are now? Which then shows you the gap between now where you are and there where you want to be.

Then the next question you could ask yourself is, what would you like to have more of in your work?

You know, for example, would you like to have more personality in your acting, more sense of danger in your acting, more gravitas, more presence, more charisma, more twinkle in the eye, more playfulness?

And that immediately is going to take you out of your comfort zone.

Progress happens not inside that comfort zone, but just outside it.

That's the life of an actor, to be comfortable being uncomfortable.

And that's your life as an actor, constantly taking risks, working outside that comfort zone.

How can you be out of your comfort zone and still enjoy that, you know, and love performing?

If you want to be more playful, more twinkle in the eye, more dangerous, what is stopping you from bringing that into the work that's stopping you from being out of your comfort zone?

And what can you do about that?

It takes a certain amount of comfortability in being yourself to know that you can go emotionally to a specific place and also know and play there, and it is out of your comfort zone and in a danger zone and in a scary zone, a risk zone, as you put it, but also always knowing that you have that anchor in yourself that you are able to handle it.

Am I going to be good enough? Will I be found out? And I think as you get older, you make it about them, not about you.

I find what works for me is, is to get the right mindset. It's about them, the energy going outward and forward with the focus on them, on what I can bring to them.

Prepare meticulously.

Outstanding Actor

So I think the preparation is important and the mindset.

You know, you can coach yourself a lot these days just by trying things out on your laptop, on your phone, recording, and playing it back.

Start to experiment with things.

Be very specific in your choices.

Using contrary action as an actor.

And it helps get that kind of volcano principle, you know, just the rumbling underneath the volcano before it erupts. Before it explodes, which creates, as you mentioned before, a sense of danger.

Danger, I tend to think of that as you set up a tension between yourself, the actor, and the audience, thinking, "Oh, wow, where's she going with this? What's going to happen next?"

Because audiences love to be thrilled and surprised, don't they?

We lose that sense of playfulness that is the source of our charm, our creativity, and our imagination in adult life. And so a lot of the journey of the actor is to go back the wheel turns full circle back to that, to find at the adult age.

I think that it's more fun to play the game if you know that you are capable and can handle whatever circumstance comes your way in life.

Knowing you are capable, I think, is such an important part of being a good actor because you need to feel safe.

So a good question to ask yourself then is okay, if there is fear, what is the source of the fear?

Ken’s New Exercise

Ken’s Secret Weapon Exercise

And I think a lot is about paring away the clutter. I use that phrase a lot, you know, just to find a simplicity and an energy that comes from a calm center but is fully concentrated.

As the actor, you play with the other actor, but you're also playing with the audience and have to make sure they're enjoying being there.

17 Feb 2021

Episode 114: How to Get the Most out of Your Acting Class with Scott Freeman

00:42:55

About Scott:

For the past twenty-five years, Studio Head, Scott Freeman, has taught at many of the nation's premiere actor training programs and is recognized as one of the leading acting teachers in the country. Mr. Freeman was a member of the founding faculty of The Actors Center in New York City, where he taught throughout the eleven years of its existence.

In addition, he enjoyed a long association with The American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco as a core faculty member of its MFA program and a member of its acting company. He also served as the founding Head of the University of Minnesota/Guthrie Theater Actor Training Program. He has also taught at Rutgers University, NYU, SUNY Purchase, The Atlantic Theatre Company, and The Stella Adler School of Acting.

As an actor, theatres he has worked at include The American Conservatory Theatre, South Coast Repertory, New York Theatre Workshop, Mark Taper Forum, The Magic Theatre, San Francisco Shakespeare, San Jose Repertory, Cincinnati Playhouse, and St. Louis Repertory. In addition, he has several film and television roles to his credit.

How did Scott become an acting teacher?

"Actors, not students, but Future Colleagues"

How “ego” can help you.

Teaching isn’t all about knowledge, its also about form

Why is curiosity important to an actor?

“Its a curiosity about people and why people are the way they are”
“How did they get there?”
“Having an insatiable curiosity is paramount to being an actor.”

Tips about Acting Class:

Carve your own path and say what you need
Make your ears grow bigger
Make it about your technique
Resist the urge to make it about your career
Craft in the Class, The Business outside
Do you have ownership of your craft or are you just waiting for someone else to tell you what to do?
Reliability and Longevity
If you have questions, make them about craft!
Start to figure out why you want to do this and what you want to do

When you know what it is, just keep imagining how good it’s gonna feel when you achieve it!

Advanced/ Intermediate Actor:

They know where to go
How to build this character
Determine what they’re going through
And the ability to go there
Advanced actors can do this more reliably.

You can work on pure craft and the career

“I’m trying to get you to work fast and slow at the same time.”

You have to get to product while having the integrity of process.

Tap into the jugular vein.

“It’s not about showing I know what I am doing, it's about me knowing what I am doing.”

14 Aug 2024

Episode 297: Making Mistakes

00:18:46

Get the Free Class!

Today, I'm going to talk about mistakes.

Something that I'm going to be honest, I am not very excited about. Meaning that like I don't even want to admit to you, let alone myself, I'm not perfect.

Because my name is Peter Pamela Perfection Rose.

And just like things to be all neat and buttoned up and look good.

And here's the thing, when I started this podcast, I remember the first few actually the first episode I did, it took me two hours to do it.

And then I finally said to myself, there is no way I will ever do this, or keep this up if this is how long it's going to take me.

Because I was trying to get it perfect and I was trying to say, oh, I'm going to do one thing and it's going to be like this, to only find out that maybe that wasn't the best way.

And so what I decided was, is that in this weekly podcast, come what may, no matter what, I was going to do one every week.

And sometimes I batch them. I do a few in advance.

But I never really do more than four in advance.

So always, what you're hearing, I've recorded very recently.

And the other thing that I decided was that I was just going to be who I was. I wasn't going to edit unless it was absolutely necessary.

Absolutely necessary, including the interviews, because what I wanted you to see was that you could accomplish something, and not be perfect. And come on. If you've been listening to my podcast, you've heard me stumble. You've heard me say things wrong. You've heard me go off, get lost on a tangent and come back.

You have heard me make so many mistakes.

And I've just recorded a podcast, because I am batching this one but like I said, you will be hearing it very soon. Where I really felt like at the end I went off and then a phone call came in and I just felt off and I was like, Ugh, should I re record?

And I said, No. No, I shouldn't. Because again, what I want to show you is, what I want to emulate in my work is that you don't have to be perfect, that this is a podcast that if you're expecting perfection, you're not going to get it, okay?

Go listen to somebody else. I'm not perfect. I'm not going to do this podcast perfectly, but what I always will be is honest, and I will always be talking from the heart.

A lot of my older clients call me mama bear and they are my baby bears.

And I feel what a good mama bear does is she teaches her baby bear how to fish.

And she teaches through example.

And that's always how I wanna teach. And when I talk about the core work, I'm always talking about the work that I've Guinea pigged on myself, on my own, anxiety, on my own imperfection, on my own character defects, and then coach you to do it.

Because I figure if I have done it with myself, coaching you is a piece of cake because I have to go up against all of my own messiness and I do it with lots of mistakes.

So I have a couple of books I'm going to be reading from today and talking about this mistakedom.

The first one is actually a Hazelden meditation book called In God's Care.

It starts with a quote from Ethel Barrymore. How appropriate. “You grow up the day you have your first real laugh at yourself.”

“Do we sometimes think the whole house of cards will come tumbling down if we make one false move?

There's nothing wrong. with making mistakes. That's the way we've learned in the past and that's how we're learning now.

We laugh affectionately at the foibles of others. Sometimes it's irresistible. But we can laugh at our own with the same good humor.”

And, one of the things I find about life is not taking myself so seriously and not beating up on myself when I have made a mistake.

There are times when I've made some really big mistakes, and I need to go back and take responsibility for that.

But most of the mistakes. are just little mistakes where I'm tumbling over my words or I'm in a recording session and I misread something.

I just say, okay, pick up and I go on.

The fact of the matter is that in life, everything is fixable.

And when we do something wrong, we make a mistake.

I just saw something on social media and it was Simone Biles as a small girl doing the vault. And it was in a meet and she didn't do that well.

And then they showed her ten years later, doing a far more complicated vault. And it was perfect. It's through making our mistakes that we grow.

And it's okay not to be perfect.

But this is the thing, it doesn't really matter that I tell you it's okay that you're not perfect. You need to go through the same process that I go through.

Which is, I need to know it's okay with Peter Pamela Rose, that Peter Pamela Rose isn't perfect. The reading goes on to say “living a spiritual life doesn't mean we have to be grim.

In fact, increasing joy and merriment is an unavoidable result of turning our will over to that of the universe's. Now we can relax and enjoy life, and that includes enjoying our less than perfect selves.”

And that's the other thing, I think, that in mistake making, that when I make a mistake, I go to the universe.

I start talking with the universe.

And I talk a lot about in this podcast and in my weekly classes about your relationship, that incredible relationship that is open to you with the universe.

Everybody has it, whether you want to acknowledge it or not, is up to you. I just think that, acknowledging it and practicing a relationship with it makes life a lot easier.

And the thing is that with that relationship, when I make mistakes, I can go to that energy and say, wow, I really screwed up here. Please guide me, show me what it is I need to do.

The thing is that I can also give you my experience of being an actor. I've been a professional actor for over 30 years.

And let me tell you, when you're starting out, there is no mistake that is career ending. There is no mistake that is career ending. All it is, is a learning experience.

I'm going to go on a little bit more here now.

The Language of Letting Go

“Many of us picked on ourselves unmercilessly before getting into the core work. We may also have had a tendency to pickon ourselves after we begin the core work because what has starts to happen is we become aware.”

and that's the whole thing is a mistake is a wonderful opportunity to become aware.

And the thing is that we cannot become better. We cannot become more skilled unless we have awareness about what we are doing.

And I always talk about that awareness, acceptance, and action.

And why do I talk about it so often? I talk about it so often because it is such a key part of the process of becoming better.

Better in our lives, creating a better life for ourselves, and creating a better acting career for ourselves.

If I was really doing this, I wouldn't be doing that again.

Ugh, how many times have I said to myself this, Oh, I should be further along. I should be further along in my acting career. What the, who, who said that?

I did. Who said that?

That is just making things so much harder for you.

There's a wonderful phrase that Louise Hay says that I love which is, “Stop, stop beating up on yourself. Stop it. Stop it. Be nice to yourself. Be kind to yourself. That's going to go so much further.”

These statements that we say this, if I was really doing this, I wouldn't do that, or I really should be so much at my age, I should be so much further along than I am.

These are statements that if we indulge in them, we are feeling some sort of shame. And when we are feeling shame, we are feeling that we are defective. And you are not. Defective.

We do not need to treat ourselves this way. There is no benefit.

And that's the thing. Perfectionism leads to procrastination, leads to paralysis.

And I don't want to be paralyzed by shame because shame blocks us.

But self love and self acceptance enable us to grow and change.

Again, we need mistakes in order to grow.

Now that doesn't mean I'm going to go out and try and make mistakes.

But it does mean that when we make them, we can be kinder to ourselves.

If we truly have done something we feel guilty about, we can correct it with an apology, an amend, or an attitude of self love and self acceptance.

Sometimes when I do something to someone else, I need to forgive myself first, and then go ask for forgiveness.

And this is the thing, even if we slip back into old shaming behaviors or old thinking or feeling or behaving, we don't need to be ashamed.

We are all going to regress from time to time.

It's two steps forward, one step back.

Sometimes it's five steps forward and seven steps back.

But ultimately we are, if we stick to this work, we are moving forward.

That's how we learn. That's how we grow. We relapse. We recycle. It's an important, necessary part of recovery.

And when I talk about recovery, I'm talking about recovering our true selves.

Because when we recover our true selves, we can bring that into our acting work. And what does that give us? It gives us truth.

It's those performances that are so undeniably truthful that we are seeking to do, to seek to achieve.

And the way out of recycling is not shaming ourselves because what that does is that puts us into a shame spiral that just gets us deeper and deeper in.

So much pain comes from trying to be perfect. Perfectionism, or trying not to make mistakes, is impossible unless we think of it in a new way.

Perfection is being who we are and where we are today.

It's accepting and loving ourselves, Just the way we are.

We are each right where we need to be in our lives, in our career.

Now that doesn't mean you can't do things to change things up.

But what it does mean is taking off the pressure of yourself and start treating yourself as the beautiful child of the universe.

15 Sep 2021

Episode 144: Interview with Working Actor & Editor Anthony Arkin

00:52:39

About Anthony:

Anthony Arkin is an actor and filmmaker best known for his work on THE AMERICANS (FX), nominated for Best Ensemble Cast at the 2019 SAG Awards. His directorial debut (feature documentary STATE OF ROCK) premiered at the 2008 Santa Fe Film Festival where he won Best Editing. Since then Arkin has directed and/or edited dozens of films and series. His work has shown at Sundance, Berlin, NY Anthology Film Archive, Telluride, Fantasia, Frightfest and various other festivals around the world. His feature film, SENDER, will be out Fall of 2021.

The importance of remaining teachable.

Enjoying the day-to-day of it instead of fantasizing.

Enjoyment of getting up in the morning and doing new things.

Admit you have limitations and things to learn as an actor.

It is essential as an actor to create your own work.

When you have a job you come prepared for a performance.

The ability to keep your energy primed for long days on set is extraordinary. It’s about physical, mental, and emotional energy.

Feed the camera.

Harrison Ford described his role as an actor as an assistant storyteller.

If the work is good they can’t mess with you.

You become the solution to the gigantic problem.

Commit fully, in life and in acting.

Demo Reel Tips:

Relax when it’s getting cut
Several versions of it
Get your manager and agent’s input
It’s not a vanity project, it’s about business
Know what your business is
Brevity is always appreciated
Best work forward
Really understand that the agent’s and managers pov is all that matters
They are the ones who are using it as a tool
Let them feel like they have a contribution

Take your emotion out of your to-do list.

Take the emotion and put it into the work.

Listen to his Podcasts:

The Arkin Brothers Talk about Movies

Rated P for Paranormal

17 Aug 2022

Episode 192: Interview with Rick Pasqualone

00:35:29

Katie’s Interest List

David Cady Commercial Class

Andrew Dolan's Monologue Slam

About Rick:

Rick first started acting in 1990 when he was cast as Tony in the long-running Off-Broadway hit Tony N' Tina's Wedding. He later made his Broadway debut in the Neil Simon comedy Proposals.

His first film role was in the 1996 short film The Dutch Master, which also starred a young Mira Sorvino. He recently appeared in Mank, directed by David Fincher.

In addition to numerous TV roles, including Friends, NCIS, and General Hospital.

Rick also does voice-over work for commercials and video games. Some of his more notable works include Civilization V, Halo 5: Guardians, Batman: Arkham Knight, The Darkness II, and Grand Theft Auto V. In 2010; he voiced Vito Scaletta, the main protagonist of Mafia II and its 2016 sequel, Mafia III.

He is the co-writer and star of the one-man touring show "Channelling The King."

“You need to believe in yourself that that’s what you want for yourself.”

Know your place on the set.

Professionalism:

Show up
Know what your job is
You're bringing something that they need
Know your worth
Do it to the best of your ability

"The job of an actor is to know that you are enough.”

How being physically fit benefits you as an actor.

12 Jun 2024

Episode 288: Buying Into Yourself as a Working Actor

00:17:12

Free Month of The Weekly Adjustment

I'm going to be talking about a real coaching tool called getting a buy in.

And that buy in is about really getting a buy in from yourself, something that you need in order to commit to yourself and motivate yourself.

So I'm going to be giving you some strategies to achieve buy-in from yourself and then tell you why I'm teaching this very valuable lesson.

The first thing when you're trying to get a buy-in from yourself, you're trying to get yourself motivated, you're trying to get yourself committed to this thing of becoming an actor, is you want to clarify your visions and your goal.

What that means is that you want to define clear objectives.

Meaning, and if you've ever done any method acting, you want to find out, what do you want?

What does that character want, but what do you want?

You want to ensure that you have a clear understanding of what you want to achieve, and this is the biggie, and why it matters.

Why it matters.

Jen Sincero talks a lot about doing something because your life depends on it.

But this is the thing, as she says, Your life does depend on it.

This is what you want. Let's get clear on it.

I also encourage you, after you have written down what your vision and your goals are, or your goal is that I want you to visualize that success.

Even if you just write it down in a paragraph form, you're already a step closer to what you want to buy into.

Picture what success looks like, and this is the biggie, and how it will feel.

How it will feel. How will it feel when you achieve that award? How will it feel when you get what you want?

Visualize what that would look like.

The second thing I want you to do is I want you to assess the benefits, but also the challenges.

I want you to list your benefits and all of this you can do by just writing down.

You can listen to this podcast all the way through.

Then you can pause and then listen. Listen to it again, but this time with pen and paper and pause when you want to write stuff down. Assess the benefits and the challenges.

So you're going to list the benefits. Write down the positive outcomes that you expect if you buy in, if you say, “Hey, I am 1000 percent into this pursuit of becoming an actor,” what would the positive outcomes be?

And then I want you to identify the potential challenges. And that means you're acknowledging the obstacles and you're going to start considering how you're going to overcome them and where you may need to get help to overcome them.

The third thing is I want you to align with your values and your interests.

Now, what does that mean? Your values are what means a lot to you. Is it the arts? Is it self expression? One of my values is always showing myself I can do it.

It's not about showing other people, it’s for me. My biggest value is proving to myself that I can do it.

So you want to align your values and your interests. interests. So you want to take a moment to really reflect on your personal values, meaning you want to ensure that the goal that you want to be doing aligns with who you are and the interests you have.

So if I'm challenging myself as a coach which I actually did when I started this podcast 180 episodes ago. Actually, I think it might even be 190 by this point. I challenged myself to do something every week that I may or may not feel like I'm doing.

It was in the interest that I obviously have in coaching, but it also was the value of not proving to all of you that I could do it, but proving to myself that I could do it.

The other thing that you want to do around aligning your values and interests is finding personal value.

Connecting your goal to something that is personally meaningful to you.

I talk about how my trigger words a lot in my coaching and that weekly coaching group I was just telling you about.

And my old trigger words are weak, stupid, incapable.

So when I am aligning with my personal meaning, or I'm trying to find a personal meaning, that personal meaning will always be something that goes against those words. That practices contrary action to the words of weak, stupid, and incapable.

It makes me strong, smart, intelligent, and, as I always like to tell myself, I am the most capable person I know.

Number four, educate yourself. Educate yourself. Gather information, research, and learn more about the goal to build confidence. Now here I can help you.

If you are trying to figure out the business of becoming an actor, please let me know. Shoot me an email, Peter@actingbusinessbootcamp.com so that you can get in touch with me.

And we can talk about this because the business does not have to be complicated.

Also, and I love this, seek inspiration, look for case studies, success stories or mentors that have achieved similar goals.

Another thing that I think is really important is if you are a movie buff, watch favorite movies, watch movies that inspire you, performances that inspire you. Inspire you to become the best actor that you can be the best business person for your acting career that you can be.

And find those inspirational stories that I talk about in the core work to pick you up and help inspire you when you most don't feel like doing what needs to be done.

Number five, set achievable milestones, which means set achievable goals, mini goals. Break it down. I'm a big one on baby stepping.

Love the baby stepping and love the phrase anyone can eat an elephant one bite at a time.

So you want to break it down.

You want to divide the project into smaller manageable tasks. Because the fact of the matter is that if you don't know what the next step is, the next right step or the next manageable step or the next bite of the elephant is, you're probably not going to get it done.

Also, celebrate progress, recognize and reward yourself for completing the milestones.

Whenever I do a good workout, I really praise myself for the effort that I put into it.

That's so much better than beating yourself up.

Again, the core work and everything I talk about is about getting you to work for you instead of against you.

So number six is developing a support system. So important.

We need people who are trying to recover their selves, what they really were meant to be on this earth and really saying enough is enough of the fear and going for it.

You need other people like that in your life who encourage you instead of discourage you, because you want to be seeking encouragement.

You want to share your goals with supportive friends, or supportive family, or supportive colleagues.

Find whether someone is supportive for you or not. And that's in good times and in bad.

Also, find accountability. One of the things I do with Acting Business Boot Camp is we have a weekly accountability group.

What have you done the week before and what are you going to do the week going forth?

In those three pillars of a successful acting career, which are acting training, business steps, and accountability. And core work. So what did you do to become better at your craft this past week? And what did you, are you going to do this next coming week?

Number seven, reflect on past successes.

In episode 102 of this podcast, I talk about what is your strength story, and I share one of my own.

If you want to understand what really finding your strength story is all about, listen to that podcast episode, and we'll put a link in the show notes so you can just click on it.

It's one of my favorite episodes, and also you get a real good idea of where I was at how far I've come.

You want to recall achievements, reflect on past successes to build confidence in your ability to succeed again.

You also want to analyze strategies. You want to consider what strategies worked in the past.

What has worked for your acting career in the past and how can you apply them now.

Number eight, you want to create a positive mindset.

And that is why at the beginning of this podcast, I offered you that free month of coaching for the weekly adjustment, because that is It's all about creating a positive mindset.

We do talk about practicing self affirmations and using affirmations to boost your confidence.

I talk about how you can act your way into right thinking and think your way into right acting.

You also want to be learning, and we talk about this in that weekly class, about managing negative thoughts, address and reframe any self doubt, or negative thinking.

Number nine, oh boy, if you're a working actor, you know this one. Plan for flexibility. Be adaptable. Another one I love is to remain teachable.

Be prepared to adjust your plans as needed. Remember when you're about to go out to dinner and maybe a movie or a show with a friend and then that audition comes in?

Oh yeah, you gotta learn how to pivot.

Always stay open to learning. View challenges and opportunities to learn and grow.

It's not that bad things happen. It's that lessons come up for us to learn and grow. So that we can truly do what we are capable of doing and have the skills to do that when called upon.

Again, remember, remain teachable intellectually and emotionally.

And finally, our last action to get a buy in from ourself is to commit to action. Set a start date. Decide when you will begin and commit to it.

And I always love when I'm able to do it the moment I set the plan or the goal in motion.

Take that first step. Start with a small action. To bring about momentum, start with something small, a tiny sampling, a little bonbon of the elephant.

Now, this is the thing, by systematically going through each of these 10 steps in this very special podcast lesson, you really can cultivate a strong internal commitment to your goals and ensure sustained motivation and effort.

And if you need help with this, please, I beg of you, I am totally willing to help. Let me see how I can help you.

And I can do that. I can start to do that with you in that free month, an entire free month. That's four hours of coaching, four hours of coaching in the wonderful weekly adjustment class.

29 Apr 2021

Episode 124: Interview with Bicoastal Manager Malissa Young

00:36:02

Malissa’s Motto, “One foot in front of the other.”

In this episode Malissa and I talk about:

Why you MUST invest in a self-tape setup.

What it means to be a bicoastal manager.

What she looks for when looking for new talent.

What a pitch deck is for actors looking for representation.

The importance of following up.

Your resume and skills should be honest.

Qualities of her favorite clients:

Wow factor in self-tapes
Paying attention to instructions
Positive energy
Gratitude
Follow directions

What Melissa wants actors to know but doesn’t have time to tell them:

Know you as the actor has a business and work side to it
Make the chart
Know who you saw and what they called you in for
Send thank you’s to casting directors after an audition
Coaching and classes
Keeping your instrument tuned

22 Sep 2021

Episode 145: Owning Your Power as an Actor

00:19:22

Melody Beattie: The Language of Letting Go

"Many of us have someone in our life who challenges our ability to trust and care for ourselves.

When we hear that person’s voice or are in his or her presence, we may forget all we know about what is real, about how to own our power, about how to be direct, about what we know and believe to be true, about how important we are.

We give up our power to that person. The child in us gets hooked with a mixture of powerful feelings—love, fear, or anger. We may feel trapped, helpless, or so attracted that we can’t think straight. There may be a powerful tug-of-war going between feelings of anger and our need to be loved and accepted, or between our head and our heart.

We may be so enamored or intimidated that we revert to our belief that we can’t react or respond to this person any differently.

We get hooked.

We don’t have to stay under a spell.

We start by becoming aware of the people who hook us, and then accepting that.

We can force ourselves through the motions of reacting differently to that person, even if that new reaction is awkward and uncomfortable.

Search out our motivations. Are we somehow trying to control or influence the other person? We cannot change the other person, but we can stop playing our part of the game. One good way to do this is by detaching and letting go of any need to control.

The next step is learning to own our power to take care of ourselves, to be who we are free from their influence. We can learn to own our power with difficult people. It may not happen overnight, but we can begin, today, to change our self-defeating reactions to the people who have hooked us.

Help me identify the relationships where I have forfeited my power. Help me unhook myself from my person and begin owning my power."

Who do I forfeit my power to?

Ask for guidance.

You get to a crossroads:

I don’t feel like it vs. I want it this bad, so I am going to do it.

Use your mind to govern your brain.

There are going to be times where it’s not always about pushing yourself so hard.

The knowledge of knowing yourself.

08 Jun 2022

Episode 182: Interview with Back to the Future's Don Fullilove

00:36:33

About Don:

Don Fullilove is an American screen live-action and animated voice-over actor who has had roles in numerous projects over the course of his fifty-year-plus career in both films and television.

He portrayed Hill Valley Mayor Goldie Wilson in the first Back to the Future film, as well as Goldie's grandson, hovermobile salesman Goldie Wilson III in Back to the Future II.

Donald, who graduated from Crenshaw High School in Los Angeles in 1976, currently resides in Burbank, California.

“Maintain the cockiness. Don't be an asshole because the cockiness is your strength against what the business is going to throw against you.”

“At one point in my career, I wasn't working, and I said, well, maybe your ass needs to go to school.”

Putting the ego aside and learning to love the work.

23 Jun 2021

Episode 132: The Working Actor Series with Mark Ivanir

00:50:54

About Mark:

Mark Ivanir has been working as a professional film and television actor in Los Angeles since 2001. His first major film role was in Steven Spielberg’s 1993 Oscar-winning epic SCHINDLER’S LIST. He rejoined with Spielberg twice, first for a cameo appearance in Terminal, then again for his much anticipated Tintin. A pivotal role in Robert Deniro’s 2006 film, The Good Shepherd, landed Mark a role in Barry Levinson’s What Just Happened, this time acting alongside Deniro. Currently, Ivanir awaits the release of four studio features: Johny English Reborn (starring Rowan Atkinson), Everybody Loves Whales (staring Drew Barrymore, Kristen Bell, John Krassinsky), A Late Quartet (co starring Philip Seymor Hoffman, Catherine Keener and Christopher Walken) and 360 (co starring Anthony Hopkins, Jude Law, Rachel Weitz and Ben Foster). He has booked over 35 Guest Star and Guest Lead roles on television shows such as: 24, Monk, CSI NY, Law and Order, Fringe, CSI Miami, Nikita and many others.

Ivanir’s road to Hollywood was circuitous at best. Born in the communist Ukraine (former USSR), he immigrated to Israel with his family in 1972. While serving in the Israeli Army he participated in the then clandestine mission to bring Ethiopian Jews to Israel. His military experience and expertise has been tapped for various roles including De Niro’s CIA thriller THE GOOD SHEPHERD.

After completing his stint in the Military, Ivanir turned down several job offers from Israel’s Secret Service and gave up studying medicine to pursue a higher vocation—clowning. He completed two years in a Circus school, traveled throughout Europe performing on the streets, and ended up working in a Parisian Circus – Cirque Pawelles. After leaving the circus, Mark entered into formal theatrical training, studying at Israel’s top acting school Nissan Nativ, later co-founding a theatre company made up of actors from the former USSR called Gesher Theatre.

Within two years, Gesher became Israel’s top theatrical outfit and was hailed by the London Times as “one of the six best theatre companies in the world.” Tapping his command of Russian, English, and Hebrew, Mark performed many different roles, translated and adapted eight plays for the company, and performed everywhere from Lincoln Center to the National Theatre in London as well as major stages in Paris, Rome, and Berlin.

After being cast by Spielberg in SCHINDLER’S LIST, Ivanir moved to London to study with Philippe Gaulier and the actors of the Theater De Complicite. During this stint, he landed roles in THE MAN WHO CRIED (with Johnny Depp) and SECRET AFFAIR which encouraged him to relocate to Hollywood. Ever since Ivanir has been working consistently in major studio film and television projects in eclectic roles spanning from a Russian spy to an Israeli producer to a German elephant trainer.

Mark's advice to an actor who’s struggling:

Diversification
Think outside the box
Use your own special skills
Knowing your lines really well even for an audition

06 Nov 2024

Episode 309: Interview with Risa Bramon Garcia

00:33:59

About Risa:

For the past 4 decades Risa has worked consistently as a director, producer, casting director, writer, and teacher, and is a founder of The BGB Studio, a training space and artistic home for actors. She’s had the great fortune to have collaborated with some of the most talented, passionate, and groundbreaking artists in the world. She’s continued to move successfully from one arena to another – from theatre to film to television and back. With two feature films in her directorial body of work – the cult classic, 200 CIGARETTES, and more recently, THE CON ARTIST, made in Canada, Risa’s also directed in television, including multiple episodes of THE TWILIGHT ZONE for the WB, and several shows for HBO, Lifetime, and Comedy Central.

Risa has cast some of the most memorable movies of the past 40 years. Risa’s résumé includes decades of classics such as DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN, SOMETHING WILD, THE JOY LUCK CLUB, TRUE ROMANCE, ANGEL HEART, FATAL ATTRACTION, BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY, JFK, WALL STREET, TALK RADIO, THE DOORS, SPEED, JACOB’S LADDER, AT CLOSE RANGE, SNEAKERS, HOW TO MAKE AN AMERICAN QUILT, DEAD PRESIDENTS, TWISTER, BENNY AND JOON, and FLIRTING WITH DISASTER.

She’s cast numerous television shows and pilots, including ROSEANNE, CSI: NY, all four seasons of the Showtime series MASTERS OF SEX, THE AFFAIR, and SEAL TEAM.

Risa served as a Producer on Oliver Stone’s films HEAVEN AND EARTH and NATURAL BORN KILLERS, movies she also cast.

Risa’s directed dozens of plays in New York (The Ensemble Studio Theatre, The Second Stage, Manhattan Theatre Club) and in Los Angeles. She calls The Ensemble Studio Theatre her original artistic home, where she’s been a member in NY for decades, producing and directing several years of the flagship festival MARATHON OF ONE-ACT PLAYS. And she founded EST-LA, a thriving Los Angeles theatre company.

Read her full bio HERE.

04 Dec 2024

Episode 313: Interview with Matthew Corozine

00:35:39

About Matthew:

Matthew Corozine is a multi-hyphenated creative artist. Not only an actor, director, producer, and teacher, Matthew is also the founding artistic director and creator of Matthew Corozine Studio (MCS), which just celebrated its 24th anniversary. He is now one of New York City’s leading Meisner-based acting coaches, teaching and creating opportunities for students to “get outta your head” in order to build a meaningful life with art. Already with an established student base in New York City, Washington DC and internationally (via online coaching), MCS has expanded to Miami .

Over the years, Matthew has coached actors and performers on Broadway, TV, Film, including platinum-selling America’s Got Talent finalist, Jackie Evancho. Matthew directed the original show “Going Through Life With No Direction” at 54 Below (NYC), produced by Alicia Keys.

Matthew recently acted in THE NORMAL HEART benefit at the legendary LGBT Center 40th Anniversary with Broadway for Arts Education playing the iconic role of “Ned Weeks”. Having just returned from teaching two sold out Master Classes in Frankfurt Germany, Matthew is looking forward to his 25th season teaching in NYC, Miami and internationally.

Pick up Matthew’s book IF YOU SURVIVED 7TH GRADE, YOU CAN BE AN ACTOR (Applying the Meisner Technique to Get out of Your Head in Acting and in Life), in paperback, ebook or audio narrated by Matthew.

02 Apr 2025

Episode 330: Are You a Good Actor?

00:09:19

🎧 Episode Summary:

In this empowering solo episode, voiceover actor and coach Mandy Fisher poses a bold question that every actor must learn to answer with confidence: “Are you a good actor?”

We’re taught from day one to expect rejection in this industry—but rarely are we taught to say yes to ourselves first. Mandy breaks down why internal validation is the foundation of success and how your energy, mindset, and self-belief shape every audition, job, and opportunity.

💡 Key Takeaways:

Your Confidence Sets the Tone: If you walk into the room unsure if you belong, others will sense it.
Start with a Daily Practice:
Ask yourself:
- Am I a good actor?
- Am I an expert storyteller?
- Am I worthy of this career?
- Am I ready for my next opportunity?
  Your answer needs to be YES—every single time.
Don’t Wait for External Feedback: Casting directors and agents often won’t tell you what you did right. Create your own feedback loop by reviewing your past work and tracking your progress.
Rejection Hits Different When You’ve Already Said Yes to Yourself: A “no” becomes part of the process—not a blow to your self-worth.
Progress Is Quiet: Celebrate subtle wins—more callbacks, better auditions, stronger connections.

🛠️ Resources & Coaching:

Build unshakable belief in The Weekly Adjustment (mindset + core work)
Stay focused and supported in The Weekly Accountability Group
Book a 1:1 session with Mandy or Peter for coaching tailored to you
Join Mandy’s monthly Voiceover Gym to keep your VO skills sharp and bookable

🧠 Your Homework:

For the next 14 days, ask yourself daily:

“Am I a good actor?”
“Am I ready for success?”
Say it. Mean it. Own it.

📣 Connect with Us:

Coaching & programs: www.actingbusinessbootcamp.com
Instagram: @actingbusinessbootcamp

You are enough. You are ready. The “yes” starts with you. 🎭

08 Feb 2023

Episode 217: Money and the Actor

00:19:21

Time Management Replay

Thursday, February 29th, Live NYC Seminar

Today we're going to talk about money and we're going to talk about our emotional connection to money. And our faith and money, meaning faith that the money will come.

I am still working on my thought patterns around money.

The Language of Letting Go

“Sometimes there is not enough money to make ends meet, much less afford any luxuries. People may tell us we need to do a budget and we chuckle. The expenses we need to pay for survival surpass the income. We look at the situation, shake our heads and say, No way. Many of us have had to live through these situations. This is not the time to panic. This is not the time to despair.”

I used to be one of those people that would look at my finances and go, okay, well, I have I'm just going to make up numbers here, 1500 dollars in expenses and I have $1,000 to pay it with. What am I going to do?

And when people would talk to me about budgeting, I would burst into tears over money situations.

Learning a budget system that worked for someone like me who has a terribly unpredictable income.

And that's what actors and freelancers have, incredibly unpredictable incomes.

So the first part that I would say the huge change I had was really learning my numbers. And I'm going to tell you this. I did it with a tissue box next to me.

I would look at the size of my bank account and I would say, well, that's my worth as a human being. And that's just bullshit.

So the first thing I needed to do was get clarity, get clarity around my numbers. And then this was kind of the magical thing. Once I got the clarity. It wasn't so frightening.

Once I knew what the situation was, I felt more empowered to do something about it.

But yet there was another piece, which is piece number two, which is the emotional part around money.

Louise Hay says that she would rather teach a seminar around sex and talk about all sorts of kinky sex than teach a seminar around money. Why? Because we all get so worked up about it.

We all tie our self-worth into it.

Use our minds to govern our brains, to help us to see what we are doing, to spot it, to notice it, to become aware of it, to accept it, and then to take action to get rid of those thoughts around money that don't work for us. All the gates open.

And then then, as I talk about in time management, then things can really start to happen.

“Panic and desperation will lead to bad judgment and desperate moves. This is the time to substitute faith for fear. This is the time to trust the universe to meet our needs. I am willing for you to show me a way around money. I am willing to learn how to manage my money. I am willing to change my thoughts around money. I am willing. Take life one day at a time and one need at a time. Use your survival skills positively. Know that your possibilities are not limited by the past. Examine any blocks that might be stopping the flow of money in your life. Do you have an attitude, an issue, a lesson that might be yours to change or to learn?”

The great thing about shitty situations that come up in your life is, is that you can look at them and learn from them. But it does take that effort and that bravery and that courage to do so.

“Maybe the lesson is a simple one of faith. Faith in the universe, but also faith in yourself. In biblical times, it is said that Jesus walked on water. It is said that his followers could too, but the moment they let fear take over, they sank. During financial hard times. We can learn to walk on water with our money issues. If we make out a budget and there's not enough money to survive and pay legitimate expenses, do your best. And then let it go. Trust. Source. To supply your needs. If an emergency arises and there is no cash to meet the need, look beyond your wallet. Look to your source, claim a divine supply, an unlimited supply for all that you need. Do your part. Strive for an attitude of financial responsibility in thought and action. Ask for divine wisdom. Listen to the universe's leading. Then let go of your fears and your need to control.”

Once you learn it and you understand it, it's like getting on a bike.

You can align yourself with abundance. And bring more abundance into your life.

21 Feb 2024

Episode 272: Planting the Seeds of Success

00:10:46

Planting seeds for success.

I call this a Foundation skill, and this is a skill I believe that you can use not only for yourself but also for other friends who need support.

Who needs to be planting some seeds for success for themselves as well the idea is when you “plant a seed,” you are setting out an expectation that you can do it or that your friend can do it.

And more often than not, when you plant that seed of success, and you say, “Hey, you can do it. Hey, no, I can do this.” You actually do it.

That's why it's so important and why this is such a brilliant and useful foundation skill.

You can think of it as almost the germination of an affirmation.

So in other words, you plant that seed starts to germinate, and as you feed it with positive affirmations, it begins to grow.

Then, as you add those action steps that support those thoughts and, of course, that ultimate goal, that's when the success happens.

When you plant a seed with yourself or with someone else, you are expressing your confidence in yourself or for that other person to come up with something.

And that can be either a thought or an action that will then linger and percolate in their mind, in their consciousness.

The idea of what if I could run that marathon? All of a sudden, your mind starts to percolate and build up thoughts that make you think, oh, wait a minute, maybe you could.

And with that could become the possibility of you can.

So could becomes can.

Now, whether you or that other person are consciously thinking about it or not, a part of you, like I just said, will be working on a solution.

That's why planting the seed, allowing it to germinate, and then again, letting it grow into an affirmation, which then hopefully will grow into actions, those two things will support that goal.

Now, this foundation skill of planting a seed can be used in many situations.

I'm going to give you an example. Remember, or someone asks you a question, and you say I don't know. I don't know.

This is when you plant the seed of “what would it be like if you did know?”

That already is planting a seed of maybe you do know.

So you're saying you don't, but maybe you do. What would it be like if you did?

It also is an incredible way of empowering yourself.

It empowers yourself or your friend to come up with their solutions alone.

In other words, by planting that seed, we are empowering ourselves and our friends to fix it for ourselves or themselves.

Planting a seed can sound something like this. “I'm gonna ask you in a little while because I have complete faith that you'll come up with something.”

Now, if you're saying this to yourself, you can write down those exact words.

Say, you know what, I'm putting down my pen and my paper right now, and I'm gonna journal about it in 24 hours because I have faith that I will be able to come up with that solution.

I will be able to come up with that.

Another wonderful planting the seed question or empowering question is “when you figure that out, what would be different for you?”

I love to ask my private clients this question. If you didn't have fear, what would your life be like?

How would [00:07:00] you operate if you didn't have fear?

And it's always so interesting to hear their answers.

And if they say they don't know, I go, “okay I'll ask you in a few minutes because I know you're going to be able to come up with something.”

See, that is how I, as a coach, plant in you, the client, the potential solution.

Also, ask yourself this or your friend, “if I figured this out, what would be different for me?”

Or “if you figured this out, what would be different for you?”

And this is what is so incredible about this tool.

It is really saying to ourselves we know what we want.

We know what to do.

We just need to ask ourselves the right questions.

It is so incredibly empowering. It is self-empowering. It's like what I talk about in life coaching. I call myself a chiropractor for the mind is I teach you to become emotionally intelligent.

And while listening to this podcast, you are becoming more emotionally intelligent.

Why? Because I am teaching you to be emotionally self-sufficient.

You learn emotional intelligence by learning how to become emotionally self-sufficient and teaching yourself how to plant a seed for success.

It's a big step in the right direction.

Because planting a seed for success helps bring out a positive result or change.

It helps bring out a positive result or change.

And again, it empowers you or your friend or another person to figure it out on their own.

Instead of looking outside of yourself to find the answer.

Because the answers are always right within.

26 May 2021

Episode 128: Working Actor Series- Interview with Maria Dizzia

00:41:27

About Maria:

Maria Dizzia currently teaches an ongoing scene study class at The Freeman Studio in NYC. She has taught both Public Speaking and Acting at the University of California at San Diego as well as master classes at Wheaton College, Penghao Theater in Beijing and the Sichuan People's Art Theater in Chengdu, China. She was a Beinecke Fellow at Yale School of Drama and a 2011 recipient of the Fox Foundation Resident Actor Fellowship.

Broadway credits include: In The Next Room by Sarah Ruhl (Tony nomination Featured Actress; Lincoln Center). Recent theater credits include If I Forget by Steven Levenson (Roundabount Theater Company), Belleville by Amy Herzog (Drama Desk Nomination; New York Theater Workshop, Yale Rep), Annie Baker's Uncle Vanya (Soho Rep), Drunken City by Adam Bock (Playwrights Horizons), and Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl (Second Stage, Yale Rep, Berkeley Rep). Outside of the United States, Maria has performed at The Gate Theater in London with The Civilians and at the Garasjen theater in Norway with Young Jean Lee's Theater Company.

Television credits include: a recurring role on Louis C.K.'s "Horace and Pete," recurring role on "Orange Is the New Black" (SAG Award, Outstanding Ensemble), "Louie," "Master of None," "Newsroom," "Elementary," and "The Blacklist." Among her film roles are: Christine, Martha Marcy May Marlene (Gotham Film Award nomination, Best Ensemble), While We're Young, and Margin Call.

To find a teacher who sees something in you and be able to have an adult conversation with you is essential.

Everybody who keeps acting keeps learning.

When it’s with Zoom, you get to take responsibility for yourself.

When you work with celebrity, they love the story that they’re telling.

Meeting them is wanting to tell that story with them, and to understand their vision.

Really dig into the work relationship part of it.

It always comes down to the work.

25 Dec 2024

Episode 316: Meditation to Close Out the Year

00:15:50