Inspirational

Happy Sunday to all.  Let's hit the ground running today with some strong coffee and even stronger content. First up this time around, from our friends at Variety, some of the hottest screenwriters in the business offer their advice on how to break in and stay in the industry. Next, acclaimed New York acting coach, John Windsor-Cunningham, offers his advice on how to grab the auditioner's or audience's attention with the very first line you say. As always, I ask that you take a moment to s...

In the spirit of having fun, I thought I would pull out an oldie but a goodie blog post from the vault of my own archives. I wrote it after I had a conversation with another writer about the different things people say to us or ask us when we tell them what we do. (He's a screenwriter as well.) I mean, this is a normal question, right? You start yapping with someone and sooner or later they ask, "So what do you do for a living?" When I tell people I'm an actor and writer, they're not sure...

Let me start with a disclaimer. Any advice I give is worth just what you pay for it. What do I know? I drive a 15-year old pickup and my last royalty check was twelve dollars. But during a tumultuous advertising career I won more than 200 awards. I have enough chrome and lucite to make a couple of Buicks, some of which were even meaningful. Like the one for a literacy campaign. That award got me a presidential citation. (Maybe Carter or Lyndon or one of those.) I wasn't big on politics. Nor am...

Happy Sunday, everyone.  Welcome to December. Let's get warm with a steaming cup of java and some red hot content. First up today, something a little different.  As many of you know, and some may not, having a qualified script supervisor on set is a must.  There are just some things that can't be saved in post and if you don't have the coverage or continuity, you're screwed.  Here, courtesy of Vanity Fair, Martin Scorsese's long-time script supervisor, Martha Pinson, lays down the knowledge...

There is nothing like auditioning. The range of emotions an actor feels stepping into a room full of decision-makers is considerable and often damaging to the quality of the audition itself. One way to keep those emotions and the mistakes they cause in check is to know how to work on a script in a hurry. And I will let you in on a secret: Good readers make better auditioners, whether you get the sides a week, a day, or ten minutes before the audition. So, if you don’t read aloud, it’s tim...

There is a Chinese proverb that says, “The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The next best time is now.” Although this is not the story of a tree, and I can’t say that it has been twenty years in the making, the implications of the proverb still hold true. This story is for the up-and-coming director that may not know the next step in their journey. To the high school student filmmaker that is trying to find their way on the toad to success, and might be looking for something of...

As many of you know, the journey of an actor is not without its twists and turns. Fresh out of acting school, one doesn’t picture a day when the compass is lost and the all-consuming career is set aside, sometimes without conscious thought. This happened to me. One day I woke up and realized that, without having made any decision to do so, I’d been out of the industry for years, many of which were focused on creating my own web series. My web series came about by accident. I’d been challen...

If you're an actor, you know that looking for the next gig is always on your radar. Actors today have more options than ever to find work. Actor, filmmaker, and director Elyes Gabel has appeared on Game of Thrones, World War Z, Scorpion and more! He was on a Stage 32 panel at the Hollyshorts Film Festival and shared some advice on how his fellow actors can maximize their reach with casting directors... Click Here For Elyes' Advice!       Remember, if you haven't subscribed to our YouTube...

As creators, we are essentially entrepreneurs. Even if we hold a job of sorts, we still work as contractors and freelancers. Some of us even manage a production company or other small business. And to make it work... We've been told to work hard. We've been told to continue the grind.And we've been told not to waste a single minute as we reach for the stars. Alexis Ohaniaof Reddit While this is true to a fault, for some, these statements can be misinterpreted as working endlessly and with...

I’ve been in this industry for several years and in that time, I’ve seen dozens of talented people give up because success didn’t come when they wanted it to. It didn’t come in an expected time frame and therefore, they left town. Maybe they spent some time at an agency before they packed it in. Maybe in that time they booked a few commercials. But they got tired because nothing else ever came beyond those commercials. And when they got tired, they gave up and drifted away. It sounds brutal,...