October=BUSY

Lets Get Ready to RUMBLE! October is usually super busy. Get ready to audition for all of the Christmas commercials -and possibly- the mother of them all---the super bowl commercials. There are also a lot of guest star and co star spots out there for the grabbing! Get out there to those casting director workshops and make connections. We are already feeling the crunch, auditions are really picking up and the breakdown lists are getting longer.

We had to drop a few members of our L & L Family last week. It was hard on us, but the agency #s got too big and we had to let actors go that don't make auditions or don't get chosen by casting directors to go on auditions. Lara and I text, email and call out audition notifications so there should never be any confusion. If you need to miss for a specific reason, please let your agent know. DO NOT EVER JUST MISS. This reflects the agency and YOU as an actor. Casting directors remember those that are flakey and call and tell us when you miss! We love our actors, but have to realize sometimes that maybe a different agent would better suit you. We love for actors to leave on a good note with no bad feelings. Those that leave the agency are always welcome to ask us questions or ask for letters of recommendation for other agencies. The talent agent community is small and a lot of us know each other and are willing to help each other out.

Thanks to all of you that make your auditions. It is really not that hard to stay on top of things.
Some reminders
-have a passport, you never know when a job will whisk you off to a foreign land
-update pics as you change, you need to look like your photos
-update size changes, if your child grew 4 inches this summer I need to know
-be savvy, know the casting directors, know about the shows you are auditioning for
-communicate with your agents
-don't be a liar, make sure everything on your resume is true, experience and skills!
-thank your agent....this isn't an easy job

Importance of a Smart Phone

I cannot stress the importance of a Smart Phone for an actor. This industry is quickly becoming more and more electronic and the actor needs to keep up. It was only about 5-10 years ago that we started online submissions. Before that it was all hard copy submissions and couriers. We slowly have switched to 98% electronic submissions. The next phase of the industry going electronic is audition notifications. No longer does the Casting director call out auditions. Now they are emailed out. The agency in turn now forwards the emails and texts information on.

As an actor it is important to stay in touch with your agent. Confirming auditions quickly!
An actor also needs to be able to receive texts and be able to text back. We are constantly submitting on breakdowns and it is easy for us get a text confirming an audition. Stopping to chat on the phone greatly interrupts the very important work we are doing trying to get auditions for our actor.

Even with the recession and the cut backs on commercials as well as the SAG negotitations-our agency has done very well. I think that this is because we are available constantly to our casting directors via email, text, cmail, and phone. This industry has a lot of time constraints and using technology is very helpful. Some agents are working the way they did 10 years ago, refusing to utilize technology and are suffering.

I personally think going electronic is amazing. Not only is it green, the amount of paper that is being saved is incredible. It is saving the starving actor a ton of money-Not having to reproduce photos as often. Also it saves the agent money by not paying a courier and printing costs. The cost of text messaging is minimal. Missing audition information is devastating.

Having a smart phone allows immediate notification of auditions, avails, bookings. If you have Internet access you can then confirm directly with LA casting or with your agent. You can also access sides and character information. If any last minute changes occur on the way to an audition we can stay in contact. Smart phones have the capability to record auditions, voiceovers, take photos (some casting directors want a photo of actors as they look at this very moment, especially kids, since some headshots do NOT look like the actors). Maybe they want a picture of your hands for a hand modeling job, snap it, email it and you are all set!

Technology scares some people, but it is making our lives easier and those who do not keep up could be left in the dark!