August 12, 2023 • 34 mins
Have you ever found yourself caught in an endless loop of conflicting casting director advice, feeling overwhelmed, immobilized by which advice was the right direction to follow, not knowing what to ignore and what to keep? I've definitely suffered analysis paralysis of "what actors should and shouldn't do." And I was reminded that if you ask ten people for advice, you'll get eleven different answers.
In this episode, I'll share my experience of a recent conversation with a casting director whose service I paid $100 to give feedback on my Actors Access Site. Her superior disposition caused her to offer unsolicited opinions on my social media presence, my self-submission success, and my overall approach to acting and how I should do things without even asking about my business goals or getting to know me. Once we finally reviewed my Actors Access, she divulged it was the best she'd ever seen, and she didn't know why I hired her. And I wondered the same thing.
When we ended the call, I decided that would be my last time taking advice from a casting director or anyone who showed no interest in getting to know more about me before arrogantly offering one-size-fits-all advice.
Lastly, I share my approach to using highly effective postcard marketing to help me get into the doors of casting offices.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey there, welcome back to Acting Lessons Learned.
I'm Tuana Floyd and I share thepersonal experiences and
lessons I've learned, and stilllearning, as a working actor in
Los Angeles.
In this episode, I'm going totalk about why I chose to ignore
advice given to me by a castingdirector and the times that I
(00:23):
allowed that advice to reallysteer me off of my path, off of
my journey.
I'm going to have a little bitof a tangent about postcards,
but the information is good, solet's dive in Now.
If you've been following me,you might have heard me joking
(00:43):
about having over 10,000 hoursof experience in casting
director Q&As.
According to Malcolm Gladwell'sbook Outliers, this makes me a
master of casting directoradvice.
I've gained 20 years ofindustry guidance from the
perspective of casting directorson what actors should and
(01:04):
shouldn't do to advance ourcareers.
However, the overwhelmingamount of what we shouldn't do
has caused me to rely less onexternal advice and trust my own
instincts and internal compass,because with 200-plus opinions
on any given topic, it's easy toget lost into contradictions
(01:26):
and suffer from analysisparalysis.
Therefore, I've learned to takecasting director advice with a
grain of salt and focus on whatworks best for me in growing my
career, because I used to gothrough a cycle of manic
operations when trying to followthe advice of casting directors
.
And it would start with okay, Iwould hear a casting director
(01:49):
give a suggestion about this isthe thing to do, and then I take
action on that thing, gaining alittle bit of momentum.
But then, when I would attendanother casting director Q&A
with a different castingdirector, that person would
debunk the previous suggestionof the thing to do, saying it
wasn't the right approach andexpressing their disdain for
(02:10):
actors who use that approach.
I would stop using the debunkedapproach because of the
negative feedback, and then Iwould stall out and lose
momentum.
And so this pattern wouldrepeat itself with every casting
director Q&A panel workshopthat I would attend.
What actors should and shouldnot do always comes up.
(02:31):
But if there was like a certainthing that a majority of the
casting directors could agree on, even though they didn't know
they were agreeing on something,I would give a little more
credence to that idea, to thatthing, and I would implement it
into my business practice.
But, more so than anything, Iwas learning to carve my own
(02:55):
path.
I was paying more attention toactual business practices, to
business people who work inbusiness every day.
I mean, this is a business, butfor some reason, when it comes
to actors, nobody wants us to bebusiness people.
What we are, we'reentrepreneurs.
And I know I'm not the onlyactor who has been confused by
(03:16):
conflicting casting directoradvice, because I've seen many
of my friends struggle with thesame issues that I have, and
sometimes we try to help eachother, or rather, we try to
police each other by sayingdon't do that thing, because
this casting director over heresaid that she doesn't like it.
So naturally, I reached a pointwhere I no longer wish to hear
(03:37):
these constricting suggestionsabout what actors shouldn't do.
And while I'm here, can weplease stop asking casting
directors about their pet peeves?
Why do we even ask someone whattheir pet peeve is?
It's not helpful, or it's nothelpful to us anyway, because
learning about someone else'spet peeves puts us in a position
(03:58):
to be overly cautious goodlittle actors contorting our
behaviors to make someone elsefeel comfortable.
Meanwhile, we're not beingauthentic to them or to
ourselves, because we're tryingto tiptoe around trying to
please them.
And it's not like castingdirectors take into
consideration our personalannoyances, and I believe it
(04:18):
would be beneficial for us allif they did, because I don't
know about you, but I haveaccumulated a list of things
that I wished that they wouldrefrain from.
Nonetheless, the constantpressure to please casting
directors in order to avoidbeing blacklisted is detrimental
to an actor's confidence andrestricts us from taking
(04:40):
necessary steps to advance ourcareers.
Over time, I learned to viewadvice as an opinion that may or
may not align with my ownbeliefs, and I'd only implement
advice that felt right andworked for me, because the true
value of advice lies inidentifying the golden nuggets
(05:00):
that resonate with you and seemto be achievable.
But it's hard to disregardconflicting guidance from
casting directors who have astrong and unwavering stance on
their advice.
I mean, they are thegatekeepers to the opportunities
, so we kind of have to listento them.
I guess right.
I have personally experiencedhow dismissive a casting
(05:22):
director can be when I don'tagree with their advice.
I once had a casting directortell me well, that's why your
career isn't working and I waslike, really, why such a low
blow?
Why is it?
Because I don't want to take onwhat you're telling me is the
reason why my career isn'tgetting where it's getting.
I had to finally learn to ignorethe guidance from casting
(05:47):
directors when they said don'tsend postcards because we just
throw them away.
Save your money.
And this didn't seem, I don'tknow, like it doesn't make sense
.
Postcards are meant to bediscarded.
They convey a clear message inan eye-catching way and then we
throw them away.
And in regards to saving ourmoney to reproduce a postcard
(06:12):
and buy stamps, it's prettyinexpensive and the costs can be
written off in our taxes at theend of the year.
I had to look this up because Iwas really curious and I
learned that postcards werecreated in 1865 and they still
remain to be one of the mosteffective and economical methods
of marketing next to socialmedia.
I still receive postcards fromcompanies and I give them a
(06:37):
quick glance and read thembefore tossing them aside, and
even a brief glance isconsidered a point of contact,
making it an effective marketingtool.
It prompts you to consider thecompany for a moment and,
whether or not you need theservices now or in the future,
you're likely going to considerthat postcard and the company it
came from.
(06:57):
I also learned that postcardsoffer a range of psychological
benefits, but one of thebenefits is anyone who receives
a postcard.
They tend to absorb the message, mostly unconsciously, through
the brain's system, one which isthe faster and more intuitive
mode of thought that influencesdecision making.
(07:17):
So this means that when peoplereceive our postcards, they can
decide whether they want toconsider us or add us to a time
slot audition, and then they canthrow the postcard away.
Pre-pandemic, I was a heavypostcard person.
I have a targeted list ofpeople that I would send to
monthly, bi-monthly, withinformation about what I was
(07:40):
doing, because it was my way ofinforming them that I was here,
that I existed, or actuallyreminding them.
It's almost kind of like Iremember there was one time when
I was trying to remembersomeone's name and I knew we
were Facebook friends.
So I went to Facebook and it'slike, well, how are you gonna
look them up?
Tuana, you can't even remembertheir name, but you know who.
(08:02):
I do remember the people whopost on Facebook.
Often I remember their namesand, quite frankly, if you asked
me to recall 30 people on myFacebook group or my Facebook
page, I wouldn't be able to doit successfully, but I would be
able to recall the people who Iconstantly see, who are posting
fun stuff on Facebook, andthat's probably like 15 to 20
(08:25):
people.
So every time I've sent apostcard to my targeted list, I
would receive an audition.
So it's hard for me to hearsomeone tell me that don't send
us postcards when there areactual casting directors who
like them.
And if you're not regularlyworking on a TV show or feature
film or anywhere where you canbe recognized, how else are you
(08:49):
supposed to let them know thatyou're out here trying to remind
them that you exist?
I'm done with that tangent.
But now I'm trying to rememberwhen I stopped listening to
casting director advice, likethere was a specific time where
I declared you know what, I'mdone with that, and I think it
was around 2017 or 2018.
(09:10):
But then, when the world wentto lockdown and we were all
unsure about what to do or howto navigate the business,
casting directors were veryaccessible and so I thought you
know what, let me go back onhere and let me listen to what
people are saying.
And you know they were onInstagram Live and SAG After
(09:30):
Foundation Zooms and ClubhouseForums and, just like that, I
was back in the casting directorsuggestion trap.
I was expecting hmm, I wasexpecting them to tell me
something new, something Ihadn't heard of, something
insightful.
But I have to remember thatI've been listening to people
(09:52):
for 10,000 hours I can say10,000 years.
I've been listening to 10,000hours of advice, so what could
possibly be new that I wouldexpect to hear?
I know that casting directorsare wanting to be helpful.
I know they are, because whyelse would they offer their time
for free most times to justcome and speak to a room of
(10:15):
actors?
That is them giving back.
But the information becomesproblematic because there's so
many different versions of whatto do.
And when I think about, youknow, the lockdown and during
the pandemic and the quarantinewhen everyone was speaking, like
I remember specifically becauseI would go on Clubhouse and
(10:37):
there would be a room full of atleast maybe 10 casting
directors they would have.
It would be a huge panel.
If you've listened to Clubhouse, you know what I'm talking
about.
But there would be a huge paneland there would be
contradictions even within theconversations, and so you would
hear you know some of the peoplewho were there, the listeners
(10:57):
who were new to acting, ask thequestion.
Well, I was on last night andthis person said that I should
do this, but today you'retelling me that I shouldn't do
that and I really don't knowwhich one I should do.
And so it's just hard, I think,for newer actors which is what
was happening for me to reallygauge the best thing to do.
(11:20):
And I think the best thing todo is to really, you know what?
I think the best thing to do isfollow business.
Follow, read the Wall StreetJournal, read the Hollywood
Reporter, understand howbusiness is being done and pay
attention to what's going onthere, because I feel like by
doing that and reading businesstrade magazines, it alleviates
(11:44):
the contradiction cauldron.
So, even though all of thesetalks were happening during the
pandemic, I had to retire againthat's a funny term that I had
to retire from casting directoradvice.
But you know, my curiosityalways hopes something helpful
(12:04):
will be expressed, somethingthat will cause me to say, ooh,
I needed to hear that.
Oh, I didn't know that, and onoccasion it happens.
And so on occasion I still hopon a Zoom call for veteran
casting director as featured.
But I also like hearing from theyounger generation of casting
(12:25):
directors, because they thinkdifferently and they have fresh
perspectives and fresh views onguidance and ideas for actors.
More recently, I wasdoom-scrolling on Instagram and
I stumbled upon a woman, acasting director who I didn't
recognize named.
(12:46):
You know what I'm gonna callher Geraldine.
I'm not gonna give her realname because I'm gonna say a
couple of like maybe not sogreat things here and I don't
want to have any type ofdefamation clause and also I
want to respect her becausethere are people who appreciate
her information and I'm nottrying to block anybody's bag.
But she was speaking onsomething I had never heard a
(13:08):
casting director admit to.
I'm paraphrasing she said thatcasting directors will only get
to our submission if ourheadshots are really good and
our demo reels are spectacular.
So that kind of eliminates alot of actors who don't have one
or both from being consideredfor roles.
(13:28):
She also said that goodrepresentation someone who's
advocating on our behalf to makephone calls to pitch us is
helpful, but more often enough,the more likely way to be seen
by casting directors is if theyscout us out in plays, movies,
stand up, television shows,social media.
(13:49):
They take note of actorscreating exciting content on
Instagram and TikTok and mayeven reach out to us directly,
and I've witnessed this happen.
There's a girl oh, I forget hername right now, but her name is
Caitlyn and she's really funnyand I've seen her do a lot of
very funny bits.
I think she's an improviser,but I've also seen her on new
(14:11):
television shows like Lute onApple.
Geraldine ended her reel bystressing that we should always
be performing, seen, performing,creating, being on stage, doing
stand up, being in plays but,more importantly, creating
content for social media.
And I found this not only to bedaring but really helpful
(14:35):
because at the time I wascreating a lot of sketches for
Instagram and TikTok with mysketch group.
We were feeling reallyempowered to be making our own
content.
It was nice to hear a castingdirector would consider or scout
our work.
I was intrigued by her, so Iwatched a few more of
Geraldine's reels and then Ilooked her up on IMDB to learn
(14:56):
more about her background.
She's an Emmy award-winningcasting director with a long
history of working on popularnetwork shows.
I'd visit her IG on occasion andcatch a few insights here and
there, and then I saw thatGeraldine had offered audits for
actors access from a castingdirector's perspective for $100.
I felt it would be helpful tohire her to look at my profile
(15:19):
and get some coaching and helpme to make my site more cohesive
and specific, yet easy forcasting directors to navigate,
to offer me more auditions.
So I signed up and paid on herwebsite.
I left a brief introductionnote.
She contacted me and wescheduled a time.
On the day of our call we spokeon Zoom and I was happy to meet
(15:39):
Geraldine because she alwaysseemed warm and nurturing in her
IG videos and she was.
Now that we were face-to-face,geraldine was cheerful and
friendly and I didn't know whatto expect.
But our session started off alittle rough.
After exchanging pleasantries,she launched into telling me
(16:01):
what to do.
It was the things again, thethings actors should do, the
things actors shouldn't do, andquite frankly, I mean that's
what I was there for.
I just wish she would haveinquired about my interest
before she just launched intowhat she thought I should do or
need it to do.
Right at the top, geraldineadvised me to start doing
(16:23):
stand-up comedy because it was agreat way to be seen and
scouted by casting directors,which immediately caused me to
turn off my hearing because Ihave zero desire to perform
stand-up.
It's an entire departure frommy interest.
It's a whole other career andit's a grind.
I barely want to be at arestaurant or a friend's house
past 10 pm, so there was no wayI'd be open to working out some
(16:46):
jokes in some dark, half emptystent of old beer dive of a
comedy club in Hollywood atnight, or any other time of the
day for that matter.
I don't even care to watch moststand-up comedy.
I find a lot of things cringethese days.
I gather maybe Geraldineassumed that my experience in
improv and sketch comedyautomatically translated that
(17:10):
maybe I'd be open to becoming astand-up comedian.
However, those two things arevery different.
I remained quiet and I thoughtdamn, I just wasted a hundred
dollars.
And I was wondering how am Igoing to survive this call and I
wanted it to end before I wasgoing to lose my temper.
I think my silence caused herdiscomfort.
(17:33):
She began to go harder ontrying to persuade me into
considering stand-up, sayingthings like no, you could do it.
It's the only way to getnoticed.
And I was so disappointedspeaking with this woman who
didn't take the time to get toknow me better.
I understand it was just anhour, but come on, man, ask me a
couple of questions before youjust write me a prescription.
(17:55):
In my annoyed state Iunconsciously blurted out yeah,
I'm probably never going to dostand-up, and she responded no,
no, it's great, I did it and Istarted to ask you did it?
But you stopped why?
I didn't dare to ask herbecause then I don't know, I
didn't have the courage, I guess, but I was disengaging during
(18:19):
this top portion of ourconversation.
I wish I had recorded itbecause there's some parts of
this talk that are foggy.
Geraldine brought up myInstagram and she complimented
the content on my lifestyle pageand then suggested me merging
two of my three profiles,insisting that I didn't need to
(18:40):
have three.
Again, no inquiry of why I havethree, and just so that you
know, the reason why I havethree Instagram profiles is
because one is for this podcast,the second is a gallery or like
a portfolio of my acting work,but mostly the things that I've
written, filmed and directed,and the third one is my
(19:00):
lifestyle page.
So she was suggesting that Imerge the acting and the
lifestyle page because castingdirectors want to see who we are
.
She was giving me bad advicebecause she didn't have enough
information to know why I hadthree Instagram channels pages,
and it took everything in mypower to restrain the thoughts
(19:23):
in my mind from leaving my mouthbecause I was thinking how
arrogant my social media is notfor you.
But instead I took a breath andcalmly explained my lifestyle
page is being primed formonetization and blending niches
is not smart for what I'mlooking to do.
But she said, yeah, I justdon't think you need to do.
(19:46):
It would be better if castingdirectors could see everything
in one place the disregard.
I didn't respond.
This is how quiet it was.
Geraldine paused for aboutseven seconds, looking down at
her notebook.
I thought the zoom had frozen.
(20:08):
I asked Geraldine if she wasall right.
She blinked her eyes rapidly,as if she was coming out of a
trance.
I'm still uncertain what thatwas, but it was the turning
point of our conversation.
She became present with me.
She had to.
So she replied with a soft,awkward giggle that she was okay
and I said oh no, did I breakyou, geraldine?
(20:29):
And we laughed together.
And then we got to the purposeof the call the audit of my
actors access profile.
How do we start off withstand-up in my Instagram page
when I was only here for myactors access profile?
I think that's why I wasgetting becoming disoriented,
because it was such a left turnor I wasn't there for that.
(20:55):
But once we got to it.
She paid me a really nicecompliment by saying that my
actors access was one of thebest ones she had ever seen, and
she didn't know why I washiring her.
I wondered if she thought or ifshe felt insecurity Like
sometimes.
I know I'm guilty of this, butI feel like an imposter if
(21:15):
people who have their shittogether hire me to work to do
something for them.
She may not have seen her valuewhen it came to working with me
, but I did.
I was very clear that we weregonna look at my actors access
profile.
Geraldine commended me on manyareas of my actors access
profile and then she was back toharsh critiquing by saying but
(21:36):
your reel is too long.
So here's one of those thingsthat casting directors are
divided on the length of anactor's reel.
My reel on actors access isthree minutes long and the
reason why it's that long isbecause casting director Ramani
Lea of the Casting Directors Cutedited my reel and she said she
(21:58):
left it that long becausecasting directors can always
scrub through until they findwhat they're looking for.
She also stressed theimportance of clips because,
depending on her director'staste, she may not want the
director to see something in ourreel that could dissuade him or
her or them from wanting to seeus, and so she prefers clips
(22:20):
because she can curate a reelfor her director by downloading
their appropriate clips andediting them together.
Now, that's very logical to me,and so I'm going to keep my
clips, but I can understandtrimming my reel down to one
minute.
That doesn't seem like a badthing to do.
I shared with Geraldine thatRamani had talked about casting
(22:42):
directors being able to scrubthrough the content, and I
sensed her condescension as shelooked down and said oh, ramani,
almost in that way, when youknow an older generation are
kind of like belittling theyounger people for not knowing
better.
Geraldine advised me to removethe clips, which, like I said,
(23:06):
I'm not going to do, and I alsowasn't interested in sitting
here trying to countereverything that she was telling
me to do, with the reason whyI'm not doing that is.
But instead I accepted heradvice to clean up the language
and the descriptions, meaning itwas a little bit too long and a
(23:26):
little cumbersome and a littleclunky, and she just told me to
make it very to the point,succinct and very clean.
But really she just wanted meto get rid of my clips.
When we got to the independentfilms that I did and the
accolades of the laurels that Ihad listed with asterisks, she
said those things didn't reallymake a difference because they
weren't feature films and ifcasting doesn't know the films
(23:50):
then they kind of disregard them.
Now I can understand the ideaof casting directors being more
interested in big name featuresand television shows to give me
credibility.
But what she didn't know isthat most of the indie films I
worked on have the director'sname listed next to it, and a
(24:11):
few of those directors work onnetwork shows.
So while Geraldine may not knowthese names, there are casting
directors who cast the showsthat the directors work on and
so that section is for them sothat they know that I've worked
with one of their directorsbefore.
Geraldine did like that I had anice list of sketch shows and
(24:31):
that I had performed at the topcomedy houses in LA, and she
said that if I had more theater,to go ahead and add that,
because when casting directorssee theater they just know that
you must be a great actor orthat you can handle dialogue.
She appreciated that Isegmented the new media from
television, but she mocked mefor having series regular and
(24:56):
recurring on a web series andthe micro shorts I wrote, filmed
and directed.
And it's like you can't win forlosing.
You know casting directors arealways telling us actors you
should be creating your ownstuff.
You have a whole video camerain your back pocket.
There's no reason why youshouldn't be creating things.
And here it is.
I created content that got meinto festivals and now I'm being
(25:20):
told that I shouldn't correctlytitle that I was the lead or
the series regular.
I mean, the contradictions arereal.
And she went on to say that newmedia was a wash and that it
diluted the strength of theresume, and I totally disagree
with that.
Of course, I didn't tell herthis, but we are in the season
of new media.
(25:40):
Studios and productioncompanies have created and
redistributed funds to new mediadepartments.
So new media on a resume isimportant and it's helpful to
the casting directors who workin that space.
We talked about my photos.
They were great.
I have three there and she washappy that I didn't have more
than that.
But again, you know, whenactors have 10 headshots on
(26:04):
submission sites, granted,they're not the same photo with
the same expression, withdifferent outfits, like actual
photos that are verydistinguishable from the other.
It's because most times, a goodagent who knows how to submit
the perfect photo requires 10photos.
The final insult came when Ishared that I enjoy working on
(26:28):
films and since I don't getinvites to audition for feature
films, I submit myself on actorsaccess and backstagecom to
independent and thesis filmsbecause they tend to go to
festivals.
Now, I didn't know that thiswas one of her pet peeves.
I mean, yeah, I follow her onInstagram, but I don't follow
her, and so she talks about thison Instagram.
(26:50):
She continued to say that theprojects there are lowbrow and
usually not well produced orwell filmed, and I'm like I
don't know what she's looking at, but that is not the truth,
that's not factual.
And then she was like, yeah, Iget people like you know, do the
whole festival thing, but quitefrankly, I don't know what that
whole, what the festivals arefor, I mean, aside from the
(27:11):
primary ones, like who attendsthose things I I needed.
I didn't know, I didn't knowwhat to do.
I'm trying to process this in amoment, but it was such a
misinformed statement I and Iwish I had the courage to just
(27:31):
say you know what?
All the thing, everything thatyou're saying is not Factual.
I have gotten my best footagefrom independent films, and I'm
not just talking about quality,I'm talking about narrative, I'm
talking about the size of theroles.
One film I did is on canopy andin the hat.
Actually, I did say this.
(27:52):
I said that one film that I didwas on canopy and that it had a
nice run at some high-profilefestivals and that that director
currently works on a series.
Well, not now because we're onstrike, but she does.
But it didn't matter.
I got the sense that she wasmore interested in something
(28:13):
that was something you'd readabout in the Hollywood Reporter,
and if it wasn't a majortelevision show on a streaming
platform or a network or featurefilm, then it didn't matter.
And we are in a time wherecontent in any form, whether
it's independent, a web series,it can turn into something major
(28:37):
.
But that aside, actors who arecommitted to good storytelling
understand that film is liketheater.
The film community is thepurest of the craft of
storytelling and it's not alwaysabout the blockbuster movie,
(29:00):
it's about feeding the beast ofwanting to tell great stories.
So I was beginning to feel likethis one-on-one was a waste of
my time and my money.
But it wasn't.
There was two good things thatcame out of this.
We had a conversation about thechallenges of getting a
(29:24):
theatrical agent and how it'salways been hard but it's
progressively gotten even worse,and her response to that was,
you know, she agreed and shesaid really what's really
helpful is having a referral.
And so she asked me whatoffices was I interested in?
I had one in mind.
It's the same one I've had fora very long time and so I told
(29:45):
her what the office was.
And she lit up because not onlydid she know the office, but
she knew the owner and she had aworking relationship with him,
I guess back on some other show.
And she offered to pass on mymaterials once I updated my
actors' access.
And I thought that was reallygenerous and kind, because she
(30:07):
said to me Tuana, you're a goodactor, I looked at your work and
you should be working and I'dbe happy to refer you.
I'd be happy to do that on yourbehalf.
And that was that was reallyunexpected and kind the person
who I thought she was.
(30:27):
I appreciated the offer.
Now, while this hour interviewor conversation took a lot of
emotional turns, the mostsignificant takeaway for me is
this People.
We myself included we love togive advice, and advice is a
(30:47):
pretty version of opinions.
But when we give advice we arereally wanting the best for the
people, because we really don'tjust give advice.
We don't like like whensomebody says can I take a
coffee date with you?
Depends on who they are,because sometimes you offer
people information and they justnever do anything with it.
They sit on it or whatever, andthere's some people that you
(31:09):
just aren't that thrilled about.
So when we give advice, we'rereally wanting people to do well
, but we're speaking from ourown experience and what we know
to work, and I'm guilty of it.
I'm guilty of advising peopleon the things they should do
without inquiring about theirinterests first.
(31:31):
I think it's just part of beinghuman.
So while I was so, while I hadmoments of frustration and anger
with Geraldine at first as Iprocessed our conversation over
the course of three days, I tookwhat worked for me and filed
the rest in a trash bin thatwill one day be forever deleted.
(31:52):
I also recognized that herthoughts on films and self
submissions were narrow, becauseshe spent the bulk of her time
casting television I think about20 years.
So she was speaking from thatperspective, the onus of
responsibility to get the bestinformation for me is on me, is
(32:14):
on us Actors to mine for goldand the casting director Q&As of
what actors should andshouldn't do.
I mean, they do this for aliving and they truly are
wanting and desiring to behelpful to us, but we can't take
everything that we say asgospel, as the holy grail.
It ends up being too harmfuland detrimental to us.
(32:37):
Let me leave you with this.
There is nothing wrong withrelying on casting directors for
guidance and informationregarding our careers.
I know I say I've quit, I'veretired, but, like I said, every
once in a while, my curiosityis peaked when someone like
April Webster is going to bedoing a talk.
(32:57):
It's like what she's?
Like?
A unicorn.
You can't even find her.
I don't even know what shelooks like.
Where is she?
But we have to be criticalthinkers, considering the
messenger and the message.
Who is this person that'sgiving me information, and do
they even work in that field, orare they making a
generalization?
(33:17):
We don't always need advice.
We get inspired thoughts thattell us the next step to take,
and so that's why it's importantto mine the things that don't
serve us the things that keep usfrom our instincts, and listen
just because you heard a castingdirector tell you what not to
do.
They don't know that.
(33:38):
You heard that.
So if you don't want to stopdoing whatever the thing is and
you find it to be helpful foryour career, do you boo because
they don't know.
Thank you for listening.
Hey, if you enjoyed thisepisode, can you do me two quick
favors?
First, we'll take a minute andleave a review on Apple Podcast
or wherever you enjoy yourpodcast.
(34:00):
And two, will you leave afive-star review?
I would appreciate it very much.
There are links in thedescription to my Instagram and
TikTok pages and my website.
If you want to check out my bio, and also if you'd like to buy
me a coffee, there's a link forthat too.
Acting Lessons Learned isproduced, written, recorded and
edited by Tawana Floyd.
(34:21):
That's me.
I'll be back in two weeks andI'll look to chat with you then.
Take care.
Hey there, welcome back to Acting Lessons Learned.
I'm Tuana Floyd and I share thepersonal experiences and
lessons I've learned, and stilllearning, as a working actor in
Los Angeles.
In this episode, I'm going totalk about why I chose to ignore
advice given to me by a castingdirector and the times that I
(00:23):
allowed that advice to reallysteer me off of my path, off of
my journey.
I'm going to have a little bitof a tangent about postcards,
but the information is good, solet's dive in Now.
If you've been following me,you might have heard me joking
(00:43):
about having over 10,000 hoursof experience in casting
director Q&As.
According to Malcolm Gladwell'sbook Outliers, this makes me a
master of casting directoradvice.
I've gained 20 years ofindustry guidance from the
perspective of casting directorson what actors should and
(01:04):
shouldn't do to advance ourcareers.
However, the overwhelmingamount of what we shouldn't do
has caused me to rely less onexternal advice and trust my own
instincts and internal compass,because with 200-plus opinions
on any given topic, it's easy toget lost into contradictions
(01:26):
and suffer from analysisparalysis.
Therefore, I've learned to takecasting director advice with a
grain of salt and focus on whatworks best for me in growing my
career, because I used to gothrough a cycle of manic
operations when trying to followthe advice of casting directors
.
And it would start with okay, Iwould hear a casting director
(01:49):
give a suggestion about this isthe thing to do, and then I take
action on that thing, gaining alittle bit of momentum.
But then, when I would attendanother casting director Q&A
with a different castingdirector, that person would
debunk the previous suggestionof the thing to do, saying it
wasn't the right approach andexpressing their disdain for
(02:10):
actors who use that approach.
I would stop using the debunkedapproach because of the
negative feedback, and then Iwould stall out and lose
momentum.
And so this pattern wouldrepeat itself with every casting
director Q&A panel workshopthat I would attend.
What actors should and shouldnot do always comes up.
(02:31):
But if there was like a certainthing that a majority of the
casting directors could agree on, even though they didn't know
they were agreeing on something,I would give a little more
credence to that idea, to thatthing, and I would implement it
into my business practice.
But, more so than anything, Iwas learning to carve my own
(02:55):
path.
I was paying more attention toactual business practices, to
business people who work inbusiness every day.
I mean, this is a business, butfor some reason, when it comes
to actors, nobody wants us to bebusiness people.
What we are, we'reentrepreneurs.
And I know I'm not the onlyactor who has been confused by
(03:16):
conflicting casting directoradvice, because I've seen many
of my friends struggle with thesame issues that I have, and
sometimes we try to help eachother, or rather, we try to
police each other by sayingdon't do that thing, because
this casting director over heresaid that she doesn't like it.
So naturally, I reached a pointwhere I no longer wish to hear
(03:37):
these constricting suggestionsabout what actors shouldn't do.
And while I'm here, can weplease stop asking casting
directors about their pet peeves?
Why do we even ask someone whattheir pet peeve is?
It's not helpful, or it's nothelpful to us anyway, because
learning about someone else'spet peeves puts us in a position
(03:58):
to be overly cautious goodlittle actors contorting our
behaviors to make someone elsefeel comfortable.
Meanwhile, we're not beingauthentic to them or to
ourselves, because we're tryingto tiptoe around trying to
please them.
And it's not like castingdirectors take into
consideration our personalannoyances, and I believe it
(04:18):
would be beneficial for us allif they did, because I don't
know about you, but I haveaccumulated a list of things
that I wished that they wouldrefrain from.
Nonetheless, the constantpressure to please casting
directors in order to avoidbeing blacklisted is detrimental
to an actor's confidence andrestricts us from taking
(04:40):
necessary steps to advance ourcareers.
Over time, I learned to viewadvice as an opinion that may or
may not align with my ownbeliefs, and I'd only implement
advice that felt right andworked for me, because the true
value of advice lies inidentifying the golden nuggets
(05:00):
that resonate with you and seemto be achievable.
But it's hard to disregardconflicting guidance from
casting directors who have astrong and unwavering stance on
their advice.
I mean, they are thegatekeepers to the opportunities
, so we kind of have to listento them.
I guess right.
I have personally experiencedhow dismissive a casting
(05:22):
director can be when I don'tagree with their advice.
I once had a casting directortell me well, that's why your
career isn't working and I waslike, really, why such a low
blow?
Why is it?
Because I don't want to take onwhat you're telling me is the
reason why my career isn'tgetting where it's getting.
I had to finally learn to ignorethe guidance from casting
(05:47):
directors when they said don'tsend postcards because we just
throw them away.
Save your money.
And this didn't seem, I don'tknow, like it doesn't make sense
.
Postcards are meant to bediscarded.
They convey a clear message inan eye-catching way and then we
throw them away.
And in regards to saving ourmoney to reproduce a postcard
(06:12):
and buy stamps, it's prettyinexpensive and the costs can be
written off in our taxes at theend of the year.
I had to look this up because Iwas really curious and I
learned that postcards werecreated in 1865 and they still
remain to be one of the mosteffective and economical methods
of marketing next to socialmedia.
I still receive postcards fromcompanies and I give them a
(06:37):
quick glance and read thembefore tossing them aside, and
even a brief glance isconsidered a point of contact,
making it an effective marketingtool.
It prompts you to consider thecompany for a moment and,
whether or not you need theservices now or in the future,
you're likely going to considerthat postcard and the company it
came from.
(06:57):
I also learned that postcardsoffer a range of psychological
benefits, but one of thebenefits is anyone who receives
a postcard.
They tend to absorb the message, mostly unconsciously, through
the brain's system, one which isthe faster and more intuitive
mode of thought that influencesdecision making.
(07:17):
So this means that when peoplereceive our postcards, they can
decide whether they want toconsider us or add us to a time
slot audition, and then they canthrow the postcard away.
Pre-pandemic, I was a heavypostcard person.
I have a targeted list ofpeople that I would send to
monthly, bi-monthly, withinformation about what I was
(07:40):
doing, because it was my way ofinforming them that I was here,
that I existed, or actuallyreminding them.
It's almost kind of like Iremember there was one time when
I was trying to remembersomeone's name and I knew we
were Facebook friends.
So I went to Facebook and it'slike, well, how are you gonna
look them up?
Tuana, you can't even remembertheir name, but you know who.
(08:02):
I do remember the people whopost on Facebook.
Often I remember their namesand, quite frankly, if you asked
me to recall 30 people on myFacebook group or my Facebook
page, I wouldn't be able to doit successfully, but I would be
able to recall the people who Iconstantly see, who are posting
fun stuff on Facebook, andthat's probably like 15 to 20
(08:25):
people.
So every time I've sent apostcard to my targeted list, I
would receive an audition.
So it's hard for me to hearsomeone tell me that don't send
us postcards when there areactual casting directors who
like them.
And if you're not regularlyworking on a TV show or feature
film or anywhere where you canbe recognized, how else are you
(08:49):
supposed to let them know thatyou're out here trying to remind
them that you exist?
I'm done with that tangent.
But now I'm trying to rememberwhen I stopped listening to
casting director advice, likethere was a specific time where
I declared you know what, I'mdone with that, and I think it
was around 2017 or 2018.
(09:10):
But then, when the world wentto lockdown and we were all
unsure about what to do or howto navigate the business,
casting directors were veryaccessible and so I thought you
know what, let me go back onhere and let me listen to what
people are saying.
And you know they were onInstagram Live and SAG After
(09:30):
Foundation Zooms and ClubhouseForums and, just like that, I
was back in the casting directorsuggestion trap.
I was expecting hmm, I wasexpecting them to tell me
something new, something Ihadn't heard of, something
insightful.
But I have to remember thatI've been listening to people
(09:52):
for 10,000 hours I can say10,000 years.
I've been listening to 10,000hours of advice, so what could
possibly be new that I wouldexpect to hear?
I know that casting directorsare wanting to be helpful.
I know they are, because whyelse would they offer their time
for free most times to justcome and speak to a room of
(10:15):
actors?
That is them giving back.
But the information becomesproblematic because there's so
many different versions of whatto do.
And when I think about, youknow, the lockdown and during
the pandemic and the quarantinewhen everyone was speaking, like
I remember specifically becauseI would go on Clubhouse and
(10:37):
there would be a room full of atleast maybe 10 casting
directors they would have.
It would be a huge panel.
If you've listened to Clubhouse, you know what I'm talking
about.
But there would be a huge paneland there would be
contradictions even within theconversations, and so you would
hear you know some of the peoplewho were there, the listeners
(10:57):
who were new to acting, ask thequestion.
Well, I was on last night andthis person said that I should
do this, but today you'retelling me that I shouldn't do
that and I really don't knowwhich one I should do.
And so it's just hard, I think,for newer actors which is what
was happening for me to reallygauge the best thing to do.
(11:20):
And I think the best thing todo is to really, you know what?
I think the best thing to do isfollow business.
Follow, read the Wall StreetJournal, read the Hollywood
Reporter, understand howbusiness is being done and pay
attention to what's going onthere, because I feel like by
doing that and reading businesstrade magazines, it alleviates
(11:44):
the contradiction cauldron.
So, even though all of thesetalks were happening during the
pandemic, I had to retire againthat's a funny term that I had
to retire from casting directoradvice.
But you know, my curiosityalways hopes something helpful
(12:04):
will be expressed, somethingthat will cause me to say, ooh,
I needed to hear that.
Oh, I didn't know that, and onoccasion it happens.
And so on occasion I still hopon a Zoom call for veteran
casting director as featured.
But I also like hearing from theyounger generation of casting
(12:25):
directors, because they thinkdifferently and they have fresh
perspectives and fresh views onguidance and ideas for actors.
More recently, I wasdoom-scrolling on Instagram and
I stumbled upon a woman, acasting director who I didn't
recognize named.
(12:46):
You know what I'm gonna callher Geraldine.
I'm not gonna give her realname because I'm gonna say a
couple of like maybe not sogreat things here and I don't
want to have any type ofdefamation clause and also I
want to respect her becausethere are people who appreciate
her information and I'm nottrying to block anybody's bag.
But she was speaking onsomething I had never heard a
(13:08):
casting director admit to.
I'm paraphrasing she said thatcasting directors will only get
to our submission if ourheadshots are really good and
our demo reels are spectacular.
So that kind of eliminates alot of actors who don't have one
or both from being consideredfor roles.
(13:28):
She also said that goodrepresentation someone who's
advocating on our behalf to makephone calls to pitch us is
helpful, but more often enough,the more likely way to be seen
by casting directors is if theyscout us out in plays, movies,
stand up, television shows,social media.
(13:49):
They take note of actorscreating exciting content on
Instagram and TikTok and mayeven reach out to us directly,
and I've witnessed this happen.
There's a girl oh, I forget hername right now, but her name is
Caitlyn and she's really funnyand I've seen her do a lot of
very funny bits.
I think she's an improviser,but I've also seen her on new
(14:11):
television shows like Lute onApple.
Geraldine ended her reel bystressing that we should always
be performing, seen, performing,creating, being on stage, doing
stand up, being in plays but,more importantly, creating
content for social media.
And I found this not only to bedaring but really helpful
(14:35):
because at the time I wascreating a lot of sketches for
Instagram and TikTok with mysketch group.
We were feeling reallyempowered to be making our own
content.
It was nice to hear a castingdirector would consider or scout
our work.
I was intrigued by her, so Iwatched a few more of
Geraldine's reels and then Ilooked her up on IMDB to learn
(14:56):
more about her background.
She's an Emmy award-winningcasting director with a long
history of working on popularnetwork shows.
I'd visit her IG on occasion andcatch a few insights here and
there, and then I saw thatGeraldine had offered audits for
actors access from a castingdirector's perspective for $100.
I felt it would be helpful tohire her to look at my profile
(15:19):
and get some coaching and helpme to make my site more cohesive
and specific, yet easy forcasting directors to navigate,
to offer me more auditions.
So I signed up and paid on herwebsite.
I left a brief introductionnote.
She contacted me and wescheduled a time.
On the day of our call we spokeon Zoom and I was happy to meet
(15:39):
Geraldine because she alwaysseemed warm and nurturing in her
IG videos and she was.
Now that we were face-to-face,geraldine was cheerful and
friendly and I didn't know whatto expect.
But our session started off alittle rough.
After exchanging pleasantries,she launched into telling me
(16:01):
what to do.
It was the things again, thethings actors should do, the
things actors shouldn't do, andquite frankly, I mean that's
what I was there for.
I just wish she would haveinquired about my interest
before she just launched intowhat she thought I should do or
need it to do.
Right at the top, geraldineadvised me to start doing
(16:23):
stand-up comedy because it was agreat way to be seen and
scouted by casting directors,which immediately caused me to
turn off my hearing because Ihave zero desire to perform
stand-up.
It's an entire departure frommy interest.
It's a whole other career andit's a grind.
I barely want to be at arestaurant or a friend's house
past 10 pm, so there was no wayI'd be open to working out some
(16:46):
jokes in some dark, half emptystent of old beer dive of a
comedy club in Hollywood atnight, or any other time of the
day for that matter.
I don't even care to watch moststand-up comedy.
I find a lot of things cringethese days.
I gather maybe Geraldineassumed that my experience in
improv and sketch comedyautomatically translated that
(17:10):
maybe I'd be open to becoming astand-up comedian.
However, those two things arevery different.
I remained quiet and I thoughtdamn, I just wasted a hundred
dollars.
And I was wondering how am Igoing to survive this call and I
wanted it to end before I wasgoing to lose my temper.
I think my silence caused herdiscomfort.
(17:33):
She began to go harder ontrying to persuade me into
considering stand-up, sayingthings like no, you could do it.
It's the only way to getnoticed.
And I was so disappointedspeaking with this woman who
didn't take the time to get toknow me better.
I understand it was just anhour, but come on, man, ask me a
couple of questions before youjust write me a prescription.
(17:55):
In my annoyed state Iunconsciously blurted out yeah,
I'm probably never going to dostand-up, and she responded no,
no, it's great, I did it and Istarted to ask you did it?
But you stopped why?
I didn't dare to ask herbecause then I don't know, I
didn't have the courage, I guess, but I was disengaging during
(18:19):
this top portion of ourconversation.
I wish I had recorded itbecause there's some parts of
this talk that are foggy.
Geraldine brought up myInstagram and she complimented
the content on my lifestyle pageand then suggested me merging
two of my three profiles,insisting that I didn't need to
(18:40):
have three.
Again, no inquiry of why I havethree, and just so that you
know, the reason why I havethree Instagram profiles is
because one is for this podcast,the second is a gallery or like
a portfolio of my acting work,but mostly the things that I've
written, filmed and directed,and the third one is my
(19:00):
lifestyle page.
So she was suggesting that Imerge the acting and the
lifestyle page because castingdirectors want to see who we are
.
She was giving me bad advicebecause she didn't have enough
information to know why I hadthree Instagram channels pages,
and it took everything in mypower to restrain the thoughts
(19:23):
in my mind from leaving my mouthbecause I was thinking how
arrogant my social media is notfor you.
But instead I took a breath andcalmly explained my lifestyle
page is being primed formonetization and blending niches
is not smart for what I'mlooking to do.
But she said, yeah, I justdon't think you need to do.
(19:46):
It would be better if castingdirectors could see everything
in one place the disregard.
I didn't respond.
This is how quiet it was.
Geraldine paused for aboutseven seconds, looking down at
her notebook.
I thought the zoom had frozen.
(20:08):
I asked Geraldine if she wasall right.
She blinked her eyes rapidly,as if she was coming out of a
trance.
I'm still uncertain what thatwas, but it was the turning
point of our conversation.
She became present with me.
She had to.
So she replied with a soft,awkward giggle that she was okay
and I said oh no, did I breakyou, geraldine?
(20:29):
And we laughed together.
And then we got to the purposeof the call the audit of my
actors access profile.
How do we start off withstand-up in my Instagram page
when I was only here for myactors access profile?
I think that's why I wasgetting becoming disoriented,
because it was such a left turnor I wasn't there for that.
(20:55):
But once we got to it.
She paid me a really nicecompliment by saying that my
actors access was one of thebest ones she had ever seen, and
she didn't know why I washiring her.
I wondered if she thought or ifshe felt insecurity Like
sometimes.
I know I'm guilty of this, butI feel like an imposter if
(21:15):
people who have their shittogether hire me to work to do
something for them.
She may not have seen her valuewhen it came to working with me
, but I did.
I was very clear that we weregonna look at my actors access
profile.
Geraldine commended me on manyareas of my actors access
profile and then she was back toharsh critiquing by saying but
(21:36):
your reel is too long.
So here's one of those thingsthat casting directors are
divided on the length of anactor's reel.
My reel on actors access isthree minutes long and the
reason why it's that long isbecause casting director Ramani
Lea of the Casting Directors Cutedited my reel and she said she
(21:58):
left it that long becausecasting directors can always
scrub through until they findwhat they're looking for.
She also stressed theimportance of clips because,
depending on her director'staste, she may not want the
director to see something in ourreel that could dissuade him or
her or them from wanting to seeus, and so she prefers clips
(22:20):
because she can curate a reelfor her director by downloading
their appropriate clips andediting them together.
Now, that's very logical to me,and so I'm going to keep my
clips, but I can understandtrimming my reel down to one
minute.
That doesn't seem like a badthing to do.
I shared with Geraldine thatRamani had talked about casting
(22:42):
directors being able to scrubthrough the content, and I
sensed her condescension as shelooked down and said oh, ramani,
almost in that way, when youknow an older generation are
kind of like belittling theyounger people for not knowing
better.
Geraldine advised me to removethe clips, which, like I said,
(23:06):
I'm not going to do, and I alsowasn't interested in sitting
here trying to countereverything that she was telling
me to do, with the reason whyI'm not doing that is.
But instead I accepted heradvice to clean up the language
and the descriptions, meaning itwas a little bit too long and a
(23:26):
little cumbersome and a littleclunky, and she just told me to
make it very to the point,succinct and very clean.
But really she just wanted meto get rid of my clips.
When we got to the independentfilms that I did and the
accolades of the laurels that Ihad listed with asterisks, she
said those things didn't reallymake a difference because they
weren't feature films and ifcasting doesn't know the films
(23:50):
then they kind of disregard them.
Now I can understand the ideaof casting directors being more
interested in big name featuresand television shows to give me
credibility.
But what she didn't know isthat most of the indie films I
worked on have the director'sname listed next to it, and a
(24:11):
few of those directors work onnetwork shows.
So while Geraldine may not knowthese names, there are casting
directors who cast the showsthat the directors work on and
so that section is for them sothat they know that I've worked
with one of their directorsbefore.
Geraldine did like that I had anice list of sketch shows and
(24:31):
that I had performed at the topcomedy houses in LA, and she
said that if I had more theater,to go ahead and add that,
because when casting directorssee theater they just know that
you must be a great actor orthat you can handle dialogue.
She appreciated that Isegmented the new media from
television, but she mocked mefor having series regular and
(24:56):
recurring on a web series andthe micro shorts I wrote, filmed
and directed.
And it's like you can't win forlosing.
You know casting directors arealways telling us actors you
should be creating your ownstuff.
You have a whole video camerain your back pocket.
There's no reason why youshouldn't be creating things.
And here it is.
I created content that got meinto festivals and now I'm being
(25:20):
told that I shouldn't correctlytitle that I was the lead or
the series regular.
I mean, the contradictions arereal.
And she went on to say that newmedia was a wash and that it
diluted the strength of theresume, and I totally disagree
with that.
Of course, I didn't tell herthis, but we are in the season
of new media.
(25:40):
Studios and productioncompanies have created and
redistributed funds to new mediadepartments.
So new media on a resume isimportant and it's helpful to
the casting directors who workin that space.
We talked about my photos.
They were great.
I have three there and she washappy that I didn't have more
than that.
But again, you know, whenactors have 10 headshots on
(26:04):
submission sites, granted,they're not the same photo with
the same expression, withdifferent outfits, like actual
photos that are verydistinguishable from the other.
It's because most times, a goodagent who knows how to submit
the perfect photo requires 10photos.
The final insult came when Ishared that I enjoy working on
(26:28):
films and since I don't getinvites to audition for feature
films, I submit myself on actorsaccess and backstagecom to
independent and thesis filmsbecause they tend to go to
festivals.
Now, I didn't know that thiswas one of her pet peeves.
I mean, yeah, I follow her onInstagram, but I don't follow
her, and so she talks about thison Instagram.
(26:50):
She continued to say that theprojects there are lowbrow and
usually not well produced orwell filmed, and I'm like I
don't know what she's looking at, but that is not the truth,
that's not factual.
And then she was like, yeah, Iget people like you know, do the
whole festival thing, but quitefrankly, I don't know what that
whole, what the festivals arefor, I mean, aside from the
(27:11):
primary ones, like who attendsthose things I I needed.
I didn't know, I didn't knowwhat to do.
I'm trying to process this in amoment, but it was such a
misinformed statement I and Iwish I had the courage to just
(27:31):
say you know what?
All the thing, everything thatyou're saying is not Factual.
I have gotten my best footagefrom independent films, and I'm
not just talking about quality,I'm talking about narrative, I'm
talking about the size of theroles.
One film I did is on canopy andin the hat.
Actually, I did say this.
(27:52):
I said that one film that I didwas on canopy and that it had a
nice run at some high-profilefestivals and that that director
currently works on a series.
Well, not now because we're onstrike, but she does.
But it didn't matter.
I got the sense that she wasmore interested in something
(28:13):
that was something you'd readabout in the Hollywood Reporter,
and if it wasn't a majortelevision show on a streaming
platform or a network or featurefilm, then it didn't matter.
And we are in a time wherecontent in any form, whether
it's independent, a web series,it can turn into something major
(28:37):
.
But that aside, actors who arecommitted to good storytelling
understand that film is liketheater.
The film community is thepurest of the craft of
storytelling and it's not alwaysabout the blockbuster movie,
(29:00):
it's about feeding the beast ofwanting to tell great stories.
So I was beginning to feel likethis one-on-one was a waste of
my time and my money.
But it wasn't.
There was two good things thatcame out of this.
We had a conversation about thechallenges of getting a
(29:24):
theatrical agent and how it'salways been hard but it's
progressively gotten even worse,and her response to that was,
you know, she agreed and shesaid really what's really
helpful is having a referral.
And so she asked me whatoffices was I interested in?
I had one in mind.
It's the same one I've had fora very long time and so I told
(29:45):
her what the office was.
And she lit up because not onlydid she know the office, but
she knew the owner and she had aworking relationship with him,
I guess back on some other show.
And she offered to pass on mymaterials once I updated my
actors' access.
And I thought that was reallygenerous and kind, because she
(30:07):
said to me Tuana, you're a goodactor, I looked at your work and
you should be working and I'dbe happy to refer you.
I'd be happy to do that on yourbehalf.
And that was that was reallyunexpected and kind the person
who I thought she was.
(30:27):
I appreciated the offer.
Now, while this hour interviewor conversation took a lot of
emotional turns, the mostsignificant takeaway for me is
this People.
We myself included we love togive advice, and advice is a
(30:47):
pretty version of opinions.
But when we give advice we arereally wanting the best for the
people, because we really don'tjust give advice.
We don't like like whensomebody says can I take a
coffee date with you?
Depends on who they are,because sometimes you offer
people information and they justnever do anything with it.
They sit on it or whatever, andthere's some people that you
(31:09):
just aren't that thrilled about.
So when we give advice, we'rereally wanting people to do well
, but we're speaking from ourown experience and what we know
to work, and I'm guilty of it.
I'm guilty of advising peopleon the things they should do
without inquiring about theirinterests first.
(31:31):
I think it's just part of beinghuman.
So while I was so, while I hadmoments of frustration and anger
with Geraldine at first as Iprocessed our conversation over
the course of three days, I tookwhat worked for me and filed
the rest in a trash bin thatwill one day be forever deleted.
(31:52):
I also recognized that herthoughts on films and self
submissions were narrow, becauseshe spent the bulk of her time
casting television I think about20 years.
So she was speaking from thatperspective, the onus of
responsibility to get the bestinformation for me is on me, is
(32:14):
on us Actors to mine for goldand the casting director Q&As of
what actors should andshouldn't do.
I mean, they do this for aliving and they truly are
wanting and desiring to behelpful to us, but we can't take
everything that we say asgospel, as the holy grail.
It ends up being too harmfuland detrimental to us.
(32:37):
Let me leave you with this.
There is nothing wrong withrelying on casting directors for
guidance and informationregarding our careers.
I know I say I've quit, I'veretired, but, like I said, every
once in a while, my curiosityis peaked when someone like
April Webster is going to bedoing a talk.
(32:57):
It's like what she's?
Like?
A unicorn.
You can't even find her.
I don't even know what shelooks like.
Where is she?
But we have to be criticalthinkers, considering the
messenger and the message.
Who is this person that'sgiving me information, and do
they even work in that field, orare they making a
generalization?
(33:17):
We don't always need advice.
We get inspired thoughts thattell us the next step to take,
and so that's why it's importantto mine the things that don't
serve us the things that keep usfrom our instincts, and listen
just because you heard a castingdirector tell you what not to
do.
They don't know that.
(33:38):
You heard that.
So if you don't want to stopdoing whatever the thing is and
you find it to be helpful foryour career, do you boo because
they don't know.
Thank you for listening.
Hey, if you enjoyed thisepisode, can you do me two quick
favors?
First, we'll take a minute andleave a review on Apple Podcast
or wherever you enjoy yourpodcast.
(34:00):
And two, will you leave afive-star review?
I would appreciate it very much.
There are links in thedescription to my Instagram and
TikTok pages and my website.
If you want to check out my bio, and also if you'd like to buy
me a coffee, there's a link forthat too.
Acting Lessons Learned isproduced, written, recorded and
edited by Tawana Floyd.
(34:21):
That's me.
I'll be back in two weeks andI'll look to chat with you then.
Take care.
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