March 25, 2013 By 37 Comments
ARE YOU YOUR OWN WORST ENEMY?!
By Marci Liroff
Last week, after an excruciatingly painful day in Hollywood where my ass was kicked to the ground and stomped on – I realized I was stuck. Stuck in the morass that I had made for myself. “People are horrible!” kept running through my mind, along with various versions of “Woe is me…!
The doorbell rang and I peered out my window to see a man standing there with a leaf blower strapped to his back. “What does this guy want?”I came out to find a pleasant looking guy in gardener gear. He explained that one of my sprinklers was leaking below the ground. “It’s either a broken pipe or it’s the actual sprinkler.“ Aargh!” I said to myself. “Can nothing go right in my life?!” Then he said something amazing. “Well, I’d be happy to dig it out and see if I can fix it for you.” “Sure!” I said. Heproceeded to dig out the sprinkler about a foot down into the soggy earth. Turns out it was a cracked sprinkler unit. I was on my way to Home Depot (one of my favorite stores btw!) and I told him I’d take the broken sprinkler and replace it. Then he said something more amazing. “I have one in my truck. I can connect it now and you can just give me the replacement next week when I come, or whenever.” I ran into the house to get some money for his trouble and work. When I came outside he was just finishing up. We tested it and the sprinkler worked great. Then something truly amazing happened. I offered him the money and he simply refused to take it. I kept offering, “C’mon, you really helped me and I SO appreciate what you did – I’d love to pay you for your time and your work.” He was firm. “No Miss – it was no problem.” What a nice guy. My current gardeners have not been so great lately. “Are you available to work here on Tuesdays?” I said, hopefully. Nope. He’s way across town on Tuesdays and booked up completely. We shook hands, introduced ourselves and I said I’d see him next week with a new sprinkler to replace the one he gave me. Jaime walked away, soaking wet and covered with mud.
I went back into my house and was walking around in circles kind of stunned. People don’t do nice things just for the heck of it. They just don’t. I was sure. I was positive. Then I realized I had created aself-fulfilling prophecy – the exact thing I always call out my coaching clients and students about. I work with so many actors who are positive they won’t get the job, they never get “these kinds of roles”, “I’m not good at comedy”, “I won’t be able to cry in this scene at the audition”…the list goes on and on. We all want to be right don’t we? If our inner voice tells us these things, we pretty much make sure it happens by the energy we put out and by our sheer will because, at the end of the day, we want to be right. “See? I told you so! I told you I’d never be able to ______ “ – fill in the revolving door of excuses. Our ego gets involved and wants to make us right and thus begins the never-ending cycle of the self-fulfilling prophecy.
Self-fulfilling prophecy is defined as:
A positive or negative prophecy, strongly held belief, or delusion – declared as truth when it is actually false – may sufficiently influence people so that their reactions ultimately fulfill the once-false prophecy.
An hour later the doorbell rang again. It was Fed Ex. Oooh, a package! I opened the package to find a gift from an actor student of mine. I taught a class last year and was particularly taken with this particular actor. Early 20’s, handsome, and he just totally “got it”. Meaning, he sat in class and nodded his head to whatever I was saying and I could tell that whatever I was saying was completely resonating with him. We worked on one scene throughout the three 3-night classes. He was spot-on in the first class, and just kept getting consistently stronger throughout the process. Several months later he reached out to me for a career consultation – being new in L.A. and to the business he was having problems with patience. He was really good, having successful auditions and getting great feedback but not getting jobs fast enough for his taste. “Why isn’t it happening for me already?!” We had a long talk about the acting journey and how it takes years to build a career. I checked–in on him several more times over the ensuing months and never heard back from him. What a slacker I thought. I gave him my very best – I had even taken the time to check-in with him several times and not even a response to my emails! Not professional!!
He finally contacted me a few weeks ago through an email to tell me that he was battling Stage 3 melanoma. Cancer. And, no medical insurance. He’s home with his family and going through surgeries and treatment and fighting the good fight with this wicked disease. He reached out to tell me that he thinks about me all the time and that some of his best work was done in my classes. Also, he’s a whiz at Photoshop so if there’s anything I need…he can help me out. Anything Ineed?! Incredible. OK, back to the package. He sent ME a gift. A few gifts actually. He explains: “A deck of cards. The cards were from the first Casino I ever went to and won $500 from a BlackJack table…the best of luck to you! The Shakespeare book is part of a collection of notebooks I own. The cover picture is also printed on the pages and when they’re stacked up all 12 books form the Shakespeare picture. I put all of my audition sides in the book and write notes and flesh out the beats and stuff when I audition.And finally the magnificent picture of you!”(he had reproduced the photo of me from the ArcLight Cinema series of filmmakers posters and made a smaller poster for me).
So here I was after receiving some terribly disappointing news about my job, convinced that people are shit and horrible, and within one hour of that the Universe sent me not one but two incredible events to kick me in the ass and remind me that yes, some people are horrible, but most people are actually pretty great if you just open your eyes and your heart to see it. Stop focusing on all the crap, shift your mindset bit by bit and the good will come. Surround yourself with healthy, happy and loving people who have your back. Let me know if this works for you.
Now go out and do it!
Do you have any questions for me? Feel free to ask them here!
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Glad you’re here!
Marci
October 9, 2012 By 12 Comments
Actor Postcards: How To Save Your Money In 2 Easy Steps
By Marci Liroff
Money! Did I get your attention? As an actor you’re asked to spend SO much money on your career. Classes, private coaches, subscriptions to online sites to list your profile, the gym, voice lessons, and postcards. Postcards? You know those 5×7 color cards that you mail to EVERY CASTING DIRECTOR in town to say “howdy” and let them know you’re alive? Actors ask me this one question all the time. “Postcards? Are they worthwhile? Do you even look at them or are they tossed in the trash?” Good question! I’m here to help you save your hard earned money.
1. HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY. I get TONS (read = piles and piles) of actor postcards and headshots every day. I’d say that each casting office runs differently, but I know that I appreciate knowing what you’re up to. For me, this means send out a postcard when you have something to say….”I have a new episode on CSI/I’m in a new play/I just got a new agent/mgr”. Here’s the secret: you DO NOT have to send out a postcard just to say hello. ONLY send them out when you have some new work to tell me about or have some NEW information to share. See? I just saved you a bunch of mailings = money. DO NOT “paper the town” and send postcards to every single casting office in town. Do your research and send them out to a targeted list of casting offices that are active and are casting shows/films that your type may be right for.
2. TARGET/TRACK CASTING OFFICES INTELLIGENTLY. When you buy a bunch of address labels and send them out to every casting office in town you are wasting your precious time and money. Be specific. Here’s a solution I like. Make sure you have the most up-to- the-minute information about the casting offices you’re trying to connect with. There’s a really great company called CastingAbout. They provide the latest info on casting directors, their staff, and what they’re casting. Co-owners Brian Wold and Blair Hickey are onto something. Here’s some detailed info from one of the owners, Blair Hickey:
“As actors, we’re all trained to consider the subtext in our scripts, but many forget there’s subtext in the business side of our job as well. Too many actors spend significant time and money on “mass mailings” without any specific message (“Please consider me for anything you do…”) or, worse yet, no message at all beyond a name and number. Instead of promoting the actor, this type of message can actually come off as sort of desperate, leaving a first impression that could be interpreted as amateur or (worse yet) “wannabe.” Contrast this with a targeted and personalized message that speaks directly to the casting director’s current needs and activities — such as a postcard informing an office that you often book the types of roles they need for that new series they just picked up, or another congratulating an associate you know of his or her recent promotion. The marketing subtext of these messages are the same: You understand the business and your place in it, you do your homework, and know what’s going on around town. In other words, you’re a pro.”
CastingAbout provides actors the specific information necessary to build a target list, keep those people informed of progress and bookings, and — perhaps most importantly — stay on top of their career development as well. They track not just which CD is casting what, but where they’re located specific to each project (SO important because most of us CDs are like gypsies….we move around A LOT) — as well as each project’s current production status. And because this business moves fast, updates to CastingAbout are published to the site continuously each work day, in real time, so actors who visit the site are always presented with the latest, most up-to-the-minute information available. With features to search and research projects, print custom mailing labels, and enter private, date stamped notes. And no, I don’t get a kickback for touting their services!!
That said, I know lots of casting directors who barely look at your postcards and just dump them in the trash. You should take this into account and weigh out the benefits before repeatedly sending postcard after postcard to all the casting offices in town.
I’d love to hear from you! Let me know if sending postcards words for you (or if it’s a waste of time and money). Share your experiences!
Do you have any questions for me? Feel free to ask them here!
Want more tips and general thoughts on life? Be sure to bookmark my blog and follow me here!
We welcome your comments and suggestions.
Glad you’re here!
Marci
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