Acting

Stepping Into The Frame Without Fear. Three important tips on how you can level up your self-tape auditions and tap into that inner magic! When I was a kid, I had no problem letting my imagination soar! My playing space around me was all my own. I was in total command of it. But as I grew older, expectations I had about who I should be and how I should look changed my relationship with that once-safe space. I started to build walls to hide my inner magic. Walls like, darting my eyes and cro...

It actually makes more sense in the 21st century to be using the old expression, “Watching the phone.” In this day and age of smartphones we actually can see when a call is coming in. It makes you wonder what people were hoping to see when they’d stare at the phone on the wall or the unit that sat on the desk back in the day. But if you find yourself nodding off because your Android or iPhone is neither ringing nor having texts come in, it very likely could be due to the way that you’ve presen...

When it comes to building a voiceover business, there are so many different tools out in the world (and on the Internet). But you really only need about five of them to get started. Everyone everywhere has an opinion on what you need to begin your career as a Voice Actor and how much money you need to spend to be considered a professional in this industry, but I’ve come to learn that most of that information is outdated and not helpful. So here’s my list of the five essential tools you nee...

Happy Saturday Stage 32! I hope you all had a beautiful and creative week. I was catching up on the trades this week (following the very sage wisdom of our founder and CEO Richard "RB" Botto: Always read the trades and know what is going on in the business of entertainment!) and I came across an article from Deadline Hollywood about Sofia Coppola's most recent movie On the Rocks.  17 years after her Oscar-nomination for Best Original Screenplay for Lost in Translation, Sofia Coppola joined f...

What are 17 actors (average age 62) supposed to do during a worldwide pandemic when staying at home is required or advised and film/TV production shuts down and then only partially resumes? Create their own content. Several years ago, Sandy Gulliver established a Facebook group for members to support each other and arrange social get-togethers by sharing information about their shows/films/events or those they wanted to attend. In the summer of 2020, Sandy arranged Zoom meetings so people cou...

Creatives are one group of people that make cities interesting. It’s their work output that generates interest and emotions and makes a place stand out from the rest. But which are the best locations for them? There are currently more than 4 million creative workers in the US, from artists, musicians and actors to architects, writers, and marketers, according to data from the US Census. A recent study from STORAGECafé, looked at the country’s top 100 biggest metros to identify the places where...

How to Create a Home VO Studio on a Budget - Sound like a professional in your first audition! In 2021 you Need a Voiceover Studio in Your Home Many voice actors I work with have been working from their homes for most if not their entire careers. However, there are a large number of actors in the major markets who didn’t need to take that step due to the nature of their work or their locations. Thanks to a pandemic that’s forced us all to stay home, a new normal is forming for ALL forms of vo...

It must be the storyteller in me, but I love endings and beginnings. December and January are my two favorite months of the year, in part because of the way they invite us to pause and reflect on where we’ve been and where we’re headed. I’m a planner and a goal-setter by nature and by practice, and I thought I’d share with you how I design my creative year by approaching it like a story. As I’m sure you’ve all discovered, there’s a long-standing divide in the writing world between those who wr...

Happiest of New Years, Stage 32-ers! I hope you all are taking it easy after the holiday excitement, but I also hope you’ve set your sights on conquering your creative journey! Crawling. Striding. Dancing. However you find yourself in the New Year, I hope you’ve had quality time with loved ones, time to reflect on the past year, and found inspiration for how to move forward this year. Wait… how DO we move forward? The creative journey and the professional journey are not too dissimilar -...

Hesitation is the death of progression.  Twelve years ago, I was walking through the halls at Lawrence Technological University when I came upon a flyer for a student group that put on play productions. With no experience and a lot of curiosity, I quietly stepped into their Thursday night meeting nervous as hell. In fact, nervousness is an understatement as I was scared shitless. Thinking back, this small and simple decision would set the foundation and help shape my life for the next decade...