Joe Tremaine

Structure Your Life for Success

By Joe Tremaine

You have chosen a career in the Arts, as an Actor, a Singer, a Dancer, or whatever, and you want to be a success.
Where do you start?
RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE!

You and only you can take charge of your life, your career! If you want to win, train yourself to win. If you want to be successful, train yourself to be successful.
How do I do that?
You Structure your Life for Success!

Make a detailed daily schedule of all the things you want to accomplish and stick to it! Be sure to include all of the mundane things that you need to get done as well as the important career moves you need to accomplish on any particular day.

Write each thing down and then make it happen! You will be amazed at the number of things you can accomplish in a day. Soon you will feel the satisfaction of those accomplishments as you check off the completed tasks! The satisfaction of accomplishment is enormous and sets you free to enjoy your life and advance your career!

This is YOUR Life! YOUR Career! Be hard on Yourself! No Slacking! You ARE the Product!
You want to SELL what you do?
Then you better PROVE IT!

Insider Tips for Doing Your Best Commercial Auditions – Part 1

Commercial auditions are challenging for most actors. Audition material or scenarios are at the most 20 seconds, which means you need to be up to speed right away. No time to get into the material. You are only in the audition room, on an average of 5 minutes. Just a few minutes to get comfortable, answer questions, take direction, hopefully get a rehearsal, slate and do one or several takes.

I believe that the following audition pointers that I formulated from personal audition experience, teaching thousands of students and observing actors who have auditioned at my casting sessions, will serve well your auditions for commercials (as well as TV and film):

  • As you walk into the audition, don’t think about anything you worked on. Let it all go. Be present to whatever happens.
  • Be respectful, positive and professional without losing your personality.
  • Give full attention to the person who is directing you: Don’t be distracted by anyone or anything. When you are being given direction, don’t be figuring out how to do what they are saying. Just listen and trust that you got it: otherwise, you might miss input.
  • If clarification is needed, ask questions. Questions are only irritating when they are unnecessary. Those running the session won’t think less of you because you request answers. Their input will help you to do a better audition for them.
  • While being recorded, if they talk to you or ask questions, don’t second-guess what they want to hear. They probably want to get to know you and see your personality. Just talk to them as opposed to trying to impress.
  • If the session director or CD is rude, short-tempered or seems ambivalent, do not take it personally. It may be their nature or they may be dealing with problems or previous actors who tested their patience. Stay pleasant, positive and do your work.
  • “Get centered” before starting your audition. Breathe, take one or two seconds before beginning or find your own way to “get centered” but don’t take a self-indulgent period of time to begin. Don’t be influenced by the anxiety or negative energy of those running the session.
  • Do not rush your audition. When actors are nervous or “in their head,” many speed up the dialogue or their improvised scenarios. When actors are connected and focused, they don’t rush. On the other hand, don’t speak really slowly or take long pauses between the lines.
  • Stay Focused. Whether you are auditioning for one person or a group, reading 
into a camera or speaking to an actor or a few actors, auditioning with a bad actor or a great one, in a small room or a large theatre, stay focused and don’t allow unexpected incidents to upset you and/ or put you “in your head.” No matter what happens, go with it and adjust quickly.
  • Motivate Out. For improvised and scripted on-camera scenes, when possible, find a way to “motivate out” your actions and/or dialogue at least fifty percent of the time to maximize your facial exposure.

    Most new actors constantly look at their partner(s), which keeps them in profile and they are upstaging themselves. Don’t cheat out. Learn out to “Motivate out.”

  • Look into camera. When auditioning with a reader and told to do the dialogue looking into the camera, don’t look back and forth between the two. It makes you look nervous.
  • Use the cue cards when needed. Most actors feel they will do better if they memorize the audition dialogue. That is true for many but if for one millisecond you are not sure of it, LOOK AT THE CUE CARD. It is there to help your audition. If you are convinced you know the copy and are stubborn about looking at it then you will go in your head to try to remember and will often loose the flow of your audition.
  • During the read, trust and commit to your instincts. Unless given a specific direction, don’t consciously perform anything you rehearsed. Some of the choices that you rehearsed might not feel right in that moment. Don’t interrupt your instinctive interpretation trying to perform them. Allow for your read to flow – you will most likely organically do most of what you rehearsed. When you are connected and “out of your head,” you are open to instinctive moments that are often better than those you planned.
  • Ask to do it again. When you feel your solo audition was lacking or if you have another interpretation that you would like to do, politely request, “If you have time, I would like to do it again” or “do another interpretation.” It is not a foul to ask. If they refuse, say “thank you” (mean it) and leave. It’s worth asking.

There is a lot involved in learning to do your best at commercial auditions. For additional insights and tips, check out my book Hit The Ground Running @ www.hitthegroundrunningbook.com and for more information on Commercial Acting Classes: http://carolynebarry.com/workshops/commercial/

Diane Christiansen Kids & Teens

How to Dress for an Audition

By Master Acting Teacher ~ Diane Christiansen

There are really no hard and fast rules about how to dress for an audition.  For a long while, I thought the one absolute was to never arrive to an audition dressed in costume.  Then I received a note from casting to come dressed as much like a voodoo gypsy as possible.  Another audition notice I received instructed me to wear scrubs for the role of a nurse.  Then of course, there are all of those stories of how celebrities landed some of their most memorable roles by “looking the part.”  Katey Sagal created her signature look as Peggy Bundy in Married With Children by wearing her own red bouffant wig to the audition.  Dorothy Dandridge had to shed her sophisticated image in order to convince Otto Preminger to cast her in the Oscar-nominated role of Carmen Jones by arriving to the audition oozing sex appeal in a brand new getup fit for a “hussy.”  And just this past March, Eva Mendes was featured on the cover of Backstage magazine discussing how she is “breaking out of the bombshell box” in an upcoming drama.  For her audition, she wore a baggy t-shirt and jeans, no make-up, and unkempt hair in order to look like her gritty, no frills character. Even young Jennifer Lawrence was told, at 16, that she was too pretty for an early film role, so after her audition in L.A., she and a parent flew all night to N.Y., to follow the Casting Director and arrived with no make up, uncombed hair and unkept. She convinced them. (Bold Parents!!) I guess that means the rule about looking your best for every audition is up in smoke too.

So in the absence of any absolute rules about how to dress for an audition or any explicit direction from casting, the best advice is to look to the script for clues.  As you are preparing your role, you should begin to get a sense of who your character is, including how he/she dresses.  As with any choices we make in acting, the choice of dress should be a strong one.  Your style of dress may not rise to the level of costume, but it should definitely suggest who this character is, even before you speak your first line.  Neglecting to make a character choice about what to wear may cloud the picture of you in the role, particularly if your personal style contradicts that of the character.  Or worse, dressing haphazardly may inadvertently send an altogether negative message about your level of professionalism.  Right or wrong, making a strong choice for your character, in style of dress or otherwise, will at least convey commitment to the role and possibly pique the interest of casting.  So dress for success!

How to Be Funny

Here it is in a nutshell: almost every time you make someone laugh- you are surprising them. You are causing their mind to make a different association than it normally would. And the reward for playing this trick on their brain, for momentarily confusing their mind, is laughter.

In this article, I’m going to show you some easy ways of making people laugh, while teaching some basic comedy theory.

Remember, when you’re trying to make someone laugh, you’re trying surprise them. Typically, you are looking for the most unlikely thing to do or say.

Let’s imagine that you are hanging out with a few co-workers. One of them is talking about how difficult potty-training her son has been. When someone in the group asks how old the woman’s son is, you say: “Forty eight.”

You will get laughs. Let’s explore why: The minute the woman started talking about potty-training her son, an image was created in everyone’s mind. That image included the assumption that her son is a child. As comedians, we shatter the assumption. In this case, by changing the age of the child, in their minds, at the last minute. When the mind gets tricked this way, the feeling of disorientation results in a laugh. So a good joke usually does two things: It sets up assumptions and it shatters them. This is often referred to as the “set up” and “punchline.” In standup, it is often called the “premise” and the “act out.” [See my other videos to learn how to do this in a standup environment.]

Let’s look at another useful tool for getting someone to laugh. It is called the “list of three.”

Recently, I was describing my lifestyle to someone and I said to her “you know, I’m a pretty healthy guy- I do yoga.. meditation.. methamphetamine.”

She laughed because the pattern that I was setting up for her (yoga… meditation…) lulled her mind into knowing what I was going to say next. Even if she wasn’t consciously filling in the next word in the series, bio-chemically, her brain “knew” the feeling of the next kind of word I was going to say. Her body and mind were ready to “feel” words like “vegan cooking,” “macrobiotic dining,” or “playing the sitar.” But when I said “methamphetamine” the shock to her nervous system resulted in a laugh.

We set up an assumption and shattered it. And the way we did it could not have been easier. In fact, the minute you watch this video or read this article, you will be able to do it. To make a list of three joke, you will set up a pattern by choosing two similar things/people/books/etc. and one that is different from the first two.

For example:

“I like to read the classic philosophers: Aristophenes, Moliere, Charlie Sheen..”

“In order for me to be interested in a girl, she has to have intelligence.. depth of soul.. a really hot profile picture.”

So to get started, think of two people at work or at school that you love and one that you hate. Go up to someone who knows you well and say: I think that my favorite teachers would have to be Mr. A, Mr. B, and Mr C. ( (love, love, hate). Think of two activities that you love and one that you hate. Two celebrities that you find talented and one that you despise. As you experiment with your “list-of-threes” you will notice how important the “set up” is as well as the contrast in your “punchlines.” Charlie Sheen and methamphetamine will “shatter” the patterns of “philosopher” and “healthy lifestyle” much more effectively than “Richard Simmons” and “Red Wine.” Learning how to set up patterns and choose explosive “shattering” images for your punchlines is all part of your comedy journey and the experimentation is a lot of fun.

Now that you know the basic secret of comedy (their are a few more hidden in the video at http://MasterTalentTeachers.com and at my site http://standupcomedyclass.com), enjoy the process of panning for comedy gold. Every time you make someone laugh, write it down (cellphones and notebooks are good for this). Begin to notice the unique way that you make people laugh, as well as the patterns that begin to emerge as you notice your own specific methods for shattering people’s mental expectations.

The world will always be in need of good comedy. As you’ll find in my other videos and articles- if you combine the truth of your life with the technique of “shattering the pattern,” you will be on your way to making a difference by educating people, and having a successful career that will entertain millions. All it takes is a little experimentation, some thinking, and the guts to make ’em laugh. Good luck. -Gerry Katzman

Blue8 Productions

Blue8 Productions

Blue8 is an action-adventure training facility and production company comprised of top stunt performers and athletes in multiple fields including: Parkour, Martial Arts, Yoga, Dance and Military Special-Operations. We encompass these dynamic arts into one practice that prepares our students for anything the entertainment industry can throw at them. Our faculty and company member credits include shows and films with HBO, NBC, ABC, Syfy, Discovery Channel, TNT, & CBS.

Conversation with Tiffany Maher Part 4

Conversation with Tiffany Maher, Part 4

Master Talent Teacher Joe Tremaine has a conversation with the recent LA transplant, Tiffany Maher, about her already blossoming dance career and the move to LA. Part 4

Interview with Carol Goldwasser part 3

Interview with CD Carol Goldwasser, Part 3

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