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Diane Christiansen Kids & Teens

Actors Must Balance Training & Showcasing

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By Master Teacher ~ Diane Christiansen

The career of acting is a tightrope. In order to stay on your toes you have to strike a good balance between cultivating your technique through training and unveiling the fruits of your labor through showcasing. Maintaining this balance means continually pushing beyond your comfort zone. Because acting can be such a masochistic profession, the temptation to get into a comfortable routine is strong. After all, it’s scary to try a new technique when you’ve found a method that works. It’s also scary to audition for the role of a lifetime when rejection is so common in this business. In short, it’s scary to take risks, especially with your career. But you’re an actor aren’t you? Yeah you are! And acting isn’t for the fearful. You’ve got to get on that tightrope and do back flips like there’s no tomorrow! So balance is essential in order to avoid falling flat on your face. Now that we’ve beaten that metaphor into the ground, let’s examine what the unbalanced actor might look like in real life. On the one hand, there is the “seasoned” actor. Perhaps he attended a prestigious drama school, on scholarship, no less. After years in a demanding training program grooming him for greatness and divesting him of his blood, sweat, tears, and likely his pride, he may feel that he has already learned everything he needs to know. The answers he seeks are already locked inside him and he needs only to apply the knowledge he has gained from his prior training to whatever the role at hand. He is self-contained and self-led. Therefore, if he is lost, it is only an indication that he must dig deeper within himself. On the other hand, there is the “novice” actor. Perhaps she decided to pursue acting later in life. After a bland career in the professional world, she yearned to finally follow her passion, her dream deferred. So she began taking acting studio classes at every opportunity in a frantic effort to catch up. Because of her late start, she has continually felt as though she’s behind her counterparts and consequently she’s never felt quite ready to take off the training wheels. She cannot go to an audition without being “coached.” Or worse, she cannot go to an audition at all out of a perpetual fear of not being ready. Believe it or not, both of these actor types are crucially unbalanced. They are both in a rut because neither of them is pushing themselves beyond what is comfortable. But success and complacency do not go together. Actors must balance training and showcasing because doing so keeps us active, continually growing and striving. Training is how we grow in our craft to become better actors, no matter how seasoned we are. Showcasing is how we strive to seize new career opportunities, create valuable relationships with Casting and maybe even happen upon unexpected accolades for our work. One without the other leaves the actor incomplete, lop-sided, off kilter, and off his/her game. In an industry as competitive as this one, we cannot afford to miss opportunities whether due to lack of preparation in training or lack of confidence in showcasing. And so, the actor must maintain balance. To resume our earlier metaphor, we must fearlessly navigate the tightrope that is our acting career, and allow our preparation to meet the opportunity that results in our success.

Interview with Carol Goldwasser part 3

Interview with CD Carol Goldwasser, Part 3

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This is the final installment of my 3 part “In the Moment” interview with Award Winning Disney casting Director, Miss Carol Goldwasser. The wonderful thing about Carol’s insights in this interview that separate her from others, is her realistic approach to working with and getting the most from child actors. Not that her comments aren’t relevant to actors of all ages. It’s nice to know that she sees the extra special care needed when drawing out the best performances from kids and teens. Especially when the child actors and teen actors are often the most free. Enjoy the interview. I know I did.

Diane: Welcome Carol, it is so good to have you here for the second of our 3 part interview today.

Diane: How is casting Kids and Teens different from casting adults?

Carol: You really have to give them more leeway and more coaching. A question that I get asked a lot when I teach is “would you give that same redirection in an audition room?” And my answer is usually, “it depends on how many people I have in the waiting room and how interested I am.” You really have to give kids the benefit of the doubt. You have to guide them along. Adults, hopefully, have come through a conservatory program or an acting program and will come in having made certain choices; you’re physically right or wrong, or you’re funny, or not the right quality or you are the right quality. I have to be more flexible with kids and lead them by the nose. When you direct them they will understand and take your direction but they don’t necessarily come in with the choices so I have to give them a lot more room to find it. Casting is a compromise as is, it’s not going to be exactly what the producers and writers envision. As a casting director you have to let them know that. Maybe an actor doesn’t have all of the elements of what you envisioned the character to have, but he’s 14! Can we make some adjustments to what he brings in the room? Can we put him with a coach and coach him through the testing process? On one of my pilots we had to do just that. There was an actor that we felt had 80% of the qualities for the role but he definitely needed work on his acting skills because it was a role that required not only acting skills, but singing skills and dancing skills and instrumental skills. We had him work with a coach through the audition process. We really had to take it home. This has happened on more than one project. You really have to work with them to get them there, especially for a series where you are banking on this person’s ability to perform and have the appeal to get the audience. It’s not just one episode. You are trying to build the skill or get them to a place where you see that this is someone who is going to bring viewers in for 3 seasons. It sounds like a very daunting process but it is actually fun! The whole process of playing comedy and learning comedy is a lot of fun. If it’s something that you’re interested in you should take advantage of all the training that’s out there, both online and in person. And you know, jump in and see what you can get from it!

D: I agree! Training, training, training and some more training.

C: Yes! Training is so important. Auditions are pressurized situations and if you are in your class on a weekly basis, when you go in for an audition you think “this is what I do. I say words. I enact a character.” It doesn’t feel as if you’re so invested or freaked out in that one situation because this is what you do on a weekly basis. You’re open to taking direction because it’s what you do in your classes every week.

D: And collaborating and making choices and all of the things that Actors of all ages need to do.

C: Exactly.

D: I want to thank Carol Goldwasser on behalf of all of us because I’m sure that there’s so much that we’ve all learned here today. She’s a wonderful resource for really knowing how to audition for Children’s television. So tune in next time and thank you so much for joining us! We’ll see you at Diane Christiansen Coaching. Give us a call! www.DianeChristiansen.com

Interview with Carol Goldwasser Part 2

Interview with CD Carol Goldwasser, Part 2

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After 22 years of teaching and an equal number of years working in the Entertainment Industry, I thought I knew quite a bit about casting. Additionally, we have guest CD’s in for our monthly casting director workshop, Actors Platform, at our studios and we learn a tremendous amount about what goes on in the audition room. But Carol really has some great new information in this interview. Actors of all ages ~ LISTEN UP ~ this one you do not want to miss, because Carol has some very valuable information to share in regards to the casting process that even I didn’t know!!


Diane: Welcome Carol, it is so good to have you here for the second of our 3 part interview today.

Carol: Thank you for having me.

Diane: When a young actor comes in to audition for you, does their talent, their resume or their look matter the most?

Carol: Most of the time, when a young actor, say 5 to 8 years old comes in, because I do have to cast actors that young, their credits don’t matter. They could have only done some print or a commercial, then if I see a talented 5 or 8 year old, as long as they have a look, or a funny personality or a quality that works, then we’ll cast them. When I’m casting teens, 12 to 14, L.A. is a competitive market, and I will look at their resumes to see if they have done any other comedy TV shows in town. I’ll see “Oh, well so and so cast her on this or that, and I will notice” Because there are other Casting Directors in town whose work I respect, and I will take note. But if it’s one line, say a cheerleader, if she has the right look and can execute the line as it was written, then it will be equally about the look and the delivery.

D: What is a NO NO in the casting office?

C: Don’t touch the casting director! I mean, I work with kids and teens of all ages and now and then, a young child will want to give me a hug at the end, I don’t worry about that, that’s harmless. But if sometimes, experienced adult actors come in and get down and start acting out a part of a love scene with me, I’ll be like, “No no, you don’t go kissing the casting director on the ear”. That’s a NO NO! You know, I get asked about my pet peeves a lot. One of mine is when an actor comes in and says, “I just got this”. Which, to me, sounds like me and my office didn’t get it to them in time to adequately prepare. If an actor just got this, then everyone else in the waiting room just got this because WE just got it because the writers did a rewrite overnight. So, everyone’s in the same boat and if an actor comes into a Producers session and says “I just got this”, I have to do an internal eye roll, because the feeling is like a DIS to the casting director. Unfortunately, auditioning is part of the job and preparing on short notice is part of the job and when you get on set, you’ll get revisions every day, so you have to be fast on your feet, that’s what you get paid for. It’s not like theatre, where you get 8 to 10 weeks of rehearsal, you get line when you get to set, and you have to be quick. So, that’s a NO NO.

D: Would you encourage or discourage props at an audition?

C: Most of the time I don’t like them because I feel like it takes away from the actor. If the audition becomes about the coffee cup and not the actor. One exception I would say would be in a phone scene, it’s more distracting to see an actor mime a phone than to use one. Because phone scenes are so common now, that when an actor says “Can I use my phone?’ I say yes because it looks weirder to not use it than not to use it. But don’t bring in any bananas, or Frisbees, or fire hoses!!

D: How do you feel about miming in an audition?

C: As long as I don’t feel like I’m watching Marcel Marceau, I’m fine with it. If people are doing a little bit of business in a scene, to support the scene, then I’m fine with it, as long as they’re finding the balance between the action and the dialogue. It can be distracting when it becomes more about the miming and not the communication. There are certain scenes that seem to require it, I mean, I haven’t worked on anything like this for awhile, but when I was casting Medical dramas and things like that, when there’s a lot of business going on in a scene, it seems like you need to add some movement to make that scene live, whether or not it is a little bit of action or exact movements. If it’s single camera, people become so used to staying in frame, they are very still. We will actually encourage people to enter and exit in and out of frame because when we shoot on set, it’s in front of an audience and we are going to see that actor move and at the audition, if they are framed very tightly, then they get on set and we see them walk, and if that actor walks funny, we’re like “OMG we don’t want to see that”, so I do think it’s important to add some movement in the audition.

Producer Suzanne Lyons – An Inspiring Force!

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If you ever have the opportunity to sit down with Suzanne Lyons, you will quickly realize that you are in the company of a powerhouse. She is as passionate about producing feature films as she is life, and she has the essential ability to bring the most joy to both. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to interview her for my acting class recently and was honored that she opened up and shared about her illness as a child. Despite countless surgeries and losing the sight in one eye, she has gone on to produce nine movies with more on the way. Suzanne Lyons accomplishes because of her positive attitude, fearlessness, and business savvy.

Why I chose to highlight Suzanne Lyons in the Actors section of Master Talent Teachers is because much of life is about overcoming. Her story of triumph against all odds is what life is made of when you go after something that matters deeply to you. Actors must be passionate about the study of being human and what motivates and drives us on. All great acting touches on the parts of us that make us who we are.

Videos from Suzanne Lyons on Career can be found on the career page of http://www.mastertalentteachers.com/category/careers/.

Filmmaking is very much about overcoming odds. It’s a miracle productions get completed, especially small films.

My Experience Directing and Casting

Recently the film I directed, Reign, won the New York International Film Festival. After winning both the Best Short Award and The Audience Award I was asked what I look for in actors. So I thought I would take a moment here and share with you my experience.

When I direct a project, be it film or theatre, there are always roles that are open that need to be cast, and my producing partners and I hold auditions. I love actors who are passionate about the role and bring a perspective that is fresh. I love the collaboration process. I want the shaping of the character to live under the skin of the actor. Often that shaping is about the depth of the life of the character.

Reign can be viewed at http://indieflix.com/film/reign-34365/#festivals-tab

In Reign, I cast a wonderful actress, Sheetal Sheth in the role of Fadwa, an Iraqi woman, who loses her family during a firefight in the middle of the desert. Sheetal and I had many discussions regarding her character and the direness of her situation. What attracted me to cast her was her passion for the role, her experience and training. I knew that Reign was going to be a rigorous shoot. We shot the film 52 miles North East of Palm Springs outside of 29 Palms, in a desolate desert terrain. The conditions were pretty tough. The women had to take a 15-minute ride down to base camp just to go to the bathroom and all the women were such team players, none of them ever complained. It was in February, extremely cold without the sun and hot with it, the wind was harsh and constantly blowing the dry desert sand. Now, I write all of this with a smile because I love directing so much, I was far too involved in the gig to concern myself with any of these challenges.

We had an A-list crew (for our budget) so we were cutting corners anywhere we could. I knew that anyone I cast would have to know how to concentrate and deliver a depth of emotion regardless of the pressure of filmmaking and the challenges of the conditions. It truly was a passion project for myself as well as everyone involved.

We shot Reign on 35 mm film, which is beautiful but expensive. I knew I would have to get all of my performances in one or at the most, two takes. I had a lot of faith in Sheetal. Her process was flawless and her preparation served her in the field. I’ve worked with both non-actors and trained actors. I feel that it is more advantageous to work with the trained actor because they have invested in their skill and understand the process. But the most important part of working with an actor is that we both feel a positive connection and both care about the project. I think my favorite aspects of a great actor is their passion, skill, and desire for perfection within themselves to bring their best to the work. I think all great artists have that.

Kimberly Jentzen

Reign has gone on to win “Best Direction” and “Best Casting Director” from the Actors Film Festival, “Best Short Film” from the Louisville International Film Festival, “Best Short Film” from the New York International Film Festival, “The Audience Award” from both the Louisville International Film Festival and the New York International Film Festival and the “Award of Merit” at the Best Shorts Competition.

Videos from Kimberly Jentzen on Acting can be found in the archives of Actors

Kimberly Jentzen has been teaching actors for more than 20 years, she has won the Backstage “Best Acting Coach Award” and “Favorite Teacher Award” multiple times, and is regarded as one of the top acting coaches and teachers in Los Angeles.

Tips for Booking the Comedy Job

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Amir Talai is one of the busiest working actors in Hollywood. Here, he shares 4 useful tips for booking the comedy job. Watch the video for much more detail but here are the tips in a nutshell:

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