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Step ten: "booking" casting directors
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Congratulations! You've finally arrived at the tenth and final step to becoming a successful working actor in Los Angeles. Don't you feel accomplished?
Well, you should! By this point, you've realized the importance of viewing the entertainment industry as a business (and yourself as a product); you've found excellent representation that submits you for projects on several reputable casting websites; you've got headshots and postcards that get you in the door; and you've booked enough jobs to get you in the unions.
So why is "'booking' casting directors" the last step to becoming a working actor? And what does that even mean?
An acting teacher I studied with in LA once told me an absolutely invaluable piece of advice - so valuable that I'm going to share it with you here, today, and all I ask is that you pass along this piece of advice to other actors in the industry. Ready?
My acting teacher once said, "All you need to make it in this town is ten different casting directors on your side." That's it. Sounds really simple, right? Well, sort of.
What this means is: let's pretend you go in to John Smith Casting Agency to audition for the role of Bob (aren't these made up names the best?), a 40 year old diabetic who tragically dies on next week's episode of the latest and hottest medical drama TV show. You prepare your sides, go in, and blow them away at the audition, but maybe you don't look 40, or maybe you don't look diabetic, or maybe you don't look like what the writer envisioned. For whatever reason, despite giving a fantastic reading, you do not book this role. You might not even make it to callbacks.
But wait! What's this? A month later, John Smith Casting Agency calls you in for another role. Again, you prepare well, you audition well, everything goes great, and John Smith himself clearly remembers you from your last audition. You are brought back in for call-backs, and then a producer session, and then you audition for network...but sadly, you lose out on this role as well.
Three months later, John Smith Casting Agency calls you in for something else - and same as before, you nail each audition and callback, not daring to hope, when one night, after being put on tape for producers, you get a call from your agent. You booked the role!
So what happened there?
You had a casting director on your side. You may have been called in for roles that were not right for you, but did well enough at your auditions and made interesting enough choices that the casting director remembered you and called you in for another role. And when that role didn't work out, the casting director called you in for yet another try.
If you have ten different casting directors from ten different casting offices who at all times are actively trying to call you in for roles because a) you have built a good, solid, professional working relationship with them, or b) your auditions are consistently very strong, you can earn your living as a working actor in Los Angeles, I can guarantee you this.
So how do you do this? It takes consistency and patience on your part, as an actor, and as a business person. Do casting workshops with these casting directors, send follow-up postcards after auditions, be memorized and bold at auditions, and always be gracious. And keep in mind that you will on average, "book" one casting director a year. So be prepared to spend at least ten years building contacts, networking, and creating a team of industry professionals who are on your side. This is the reality, folks.
This above all: when you do go in for an audition, don't try to book the job; try to book the casting office. Make strong choices for the character, even if they turn out to be wrong. A casting director can spot talent, and if you commit to your decisions and choices, even if you go too far or make a completely wrong assumption about the character, a casting director will feel that he or she can pull you back or give you a different direction. Too many times we actors go in, apologizing for our presence, throw out our lines, then scoot nervously away from the office, confident only that we were wasting someone's time.
Actors are not a waste of time. We are the talent that brings to life a writer's words, and a director's vision. We make people laugh or cry with one look. Go in to your audition prepared, make strong choices, take the time you need (if you are not ready to audition yet, simply tell the person running the auditions that you need a little more time), and make the casting director glad he or she showed up to work that day.
This is your job as an actor.
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