This is yet another installment by me to point out our wonderful LOVE of technology and what it is really doing to the nuts n’ bolts areas of our profession. Being a performer, is one thing, but being an actor in L.A. is a whole other issue and I’ve been preaching this for over 20 years. The amount of VALUE in personal connection in this industry simply cannot be measured. There are thousands of talented actors in this marketplace, as well as NYC, Chicago, London, Sydney…and in little towns…all over the world. What makes Hollywood so very difficult is getting through the maze, getting the attention of the proper folks in the proper way at the proper time…over and over again.  However, slowly but surely technology is improving the efficiency and man power needs for all sorts of positions. One of those is casting, but even larger than that, is the simple mechanism of a 30-second conversation. What you, me and every actor has to be very wary of, is continually counting on technology to “showcase us” in this new era…when a good laugh, good joke and just all around “fun person to hang with” still has its rewards for making you a unique product, person and memorable.

What did this have to do with the future of Casting? The fact that over the next 5 years, I GUARANTEE you…it won’t be the last casting department you see shut down and I would even go so far as saying that they’ll eventually have casting for all shows…by Network, in one location, with the auditions being parsed out to the appropriate people to watch.

Mark my words. Since 1991 I have predicted a number of the realities we now see today because it is just simple math, and this means WE have to be better and better with our social skills, conversation skills, making sure we remain “out” in the city enough to create and continue professional associations…with brief moments of personal uniqueness.

What are you going to do differently this year from last year?  If you do the same things as you did last year, you’ll likely have the same results!  Are you OK with that?Here’s one thing that I’m doing differently #ThisYear.  I’m modeling out how I’m going to make my moolah.  A little history for you.  For longer than a decade I’ve supported myself (and sometimes my husband) via this wacky business; however, I’ve always just taken the jobs as they’ve come, without much planning.  #ThisYear I’m doing it like a businessperson would.  After all, it is called show BUSINESS!

I have a financial goal for my overall career which is broken down into sub categories such as hosting, infomercial, VO… you get the picture.  In a non-arbitrary fashion, I assigned a dollar amount to each category.  That was kinda fun!

Then, I devised a plan (that will morph as the year carries on) on how I’m actually going to attain those financial goals via auditions, meetings, phone calls, emails, snail mail packages, etc.

Finally, I have a tracking system in which I will input each financial success, so I can see what is and isn’t working.  Nothing is set in stone here.  It’s a work in progress to be amended as time goes one.

Then, next year, I’ll have some historical data to which I can compare my new goals and hopefully beat them.  Final thought, my parents own a wine shop in Washington, DC and they have this exact system in place and have for over 45 years.  They call it their Beat Book.  So, here’s to you’re and my Beat Books gets beaten every year!

In the infamous words of my husband, Marty Metro, “Good luck and be yourself!”

PS:  Follow me on Twitter and i’ll give you a buck! @TracyMetro

Clean Up, Clear Out, Create!

As 2010 comes to an end, it’s time to clean up any unfinished business, clear the space for success next year, and create the framework for your best year yet!

Celebrate 2010

STEP ONE: Make yourself comfortable.  Play some music you love, grab some yummy food, light your favorite candle.  With notepad,  pen, and this year’s calendar, begin your Year 2010 Reflection.

STEP TWO: Review 2010 and consider what you are most proud of in each of the following areas of your life:  Career, Health, Personal Relationships, Professional Relationships, Confidence, Finances, Craft & Creativity, Marketing Tools & Business, Personal Growth, Spirituality, and of course, Fun.

STEP THREE: Identify 3 primary intentions or beliefs that guided you in this year.  Perhaps you might notice certain values popped up consistently throughout your year.

STEP FOUR: Now look back through the year and consider what didn’t work as well as you had hoped.  With compassion, consider the unrealized expectations, unexpected circumstances or interruptions, challenges, upsets or losses, gifts given and gifts received.

STEP FIVE: Consider what, if anything, you feel incomplete about.  What actions can you take to tie up any loose ends?

STEP SIX: Finally, create a year-end ritual.  How can you celebrate the challenges you moved through and success you enjoyed?  How can you make a renewed commitment to yourself for the coming year?

Create 2011!

STEP SEVEN: What are you looking forward to in 2011?  What 1 to 3 specific goals would you like to accomplish by the end of next year?

STEP EIGHT: What changes do you anticipate or hope for in the next year?   How would you like to create these changes in your life?  Who might be able to help you succeed at these changes?

STEP NINE: What life and career goals or intentions do you have for 2011?  What are you building on or recommitting to from 2010?   What’s new?  What resources do you bring from 2010? What resources will you cultivate?

STEP TEN: Which people do you wish to build stronger relationships with?  Who would you like to attract into your life?  How will your relationships (personal and professional) blossom in 2011?  Make a list of at least 10 people you wish to build stronger relationships with.  You may already know who they are.  You may not.

STEP ELEVEN: What principle or action are you going to give up for 2010, so that you can experience a fuller life?  For example: I give up being late. I will be early or on time. I have more than enough time to take care of myself and all that is important and meaningful to me.

STEP TWELVE: How do you want to experience 2011 – what color, taste, texture, smell, sound does it have?  If 2011 had a theme song, what would it be?  What images come to mind when you picture the coming year?

STEP THIRTEEN: With those images in mind, create a vision board to represent all that 2011 holds for you.  Design a Vision Board to create a physical representation of your career vision.  Vision Boards allow you to use your artistic skills and creativity and play with the physical picture of your future.  They’re a lot of fun to make and an effective way to supplement your actions with internal focus.

In the infamous words of my husband, Marty Metro, “Good luck and be yourself!”

“Is this commission structure unusual?  Is it even legal?” 

Union agents are legally able to commission 10% of your agreed upon talent rate.  It’s especially nice when your agent gets you “Plus 10,” which means that they have the client pay an extra 10% on your wages so that the commission doesn’t come out of your pocket.  Agents are permitted to commission residuals for union commercial jobs in perpetuity.  If you are working a theatrical job, you are only required to commission your agent on residuals if the client has paid the “Plus 10.”  Check the SAG website for further details and clarification.  Our union contracts are complicated, and they do change depending on the latest round of negotiations.

Non-union agents exert a little more variety in how they can commission you.  The going rate is somewhere around 15%-20%, or an amalgamation of the two:  Less 15%, Less 20%, Plus 15%, Plus 20%, and even Plus 20%-Less 15% & Plus 20%-Less 20% (the norm for print modeling).

Still with me?

Sometimes a non-union agent will only commission your talent rate (“Less 15%” or “Less 20%”).  For example, if you make $1000, the agency charges you 15%, keeping $150 and cutting you a check for $850.

Sometimes, a non-union agency charges the client “Plus 20%,” which means they add an additional 20% onto the talent rate.  If your talent rate is $1000, the agent charges the client $1200.  Then the agent keeps the extra $200 and gives you the $1000.  The same applies for “Plus 15%”.

Legally, non-union agents are allowed to commission your $1000 talent rate at an additional 15%-20% (which is still within California usury limits).  This scenario is called “Plus 20%-Less 15%.”  Let’s review:  Your talent rate is $1000, the agent charges the client $1200 (“Plus 20″), and you NET $850 (“Less 15″).  This is a perfectly legal, commonplace commission structure.

Every job is different, so be clear with your agent about what you are going to CLEAR or NET from the job so that you don’t have any surprises.  And dare I say it, read thoroughly any contract you sign before you sign it.  If there are any questions, have a dialogue with the agent before you sign anything.

Anna Vocino

We are walking billboards for what we’re selling, our type, body, face, and SO importantly…our vibe/personality. When you remove yourself from the “streets and social settings” as an actor in Hollywood, you’re removing THE MOST powerful tool you have outside of an actual legitimate audition room…your physical presence. I’ve said it since 1991, and will continue to do so, and that is just 2 minutes talking to someone in person is worth 50 blind submissions to them. I love saving the environment, and putting all of the standard tools online such as photos, demo reels, etc. etc., but it is KILLING the concept of the “personal touch” of meeting and talking with a fellow professional that YOU want attention from as an actor, such as, an agent, manager, casting director, producer, director or writer/Showrunner.

It is imperative, and I’m telling you now, imperative that you now lose this in your life. FORCE yourself to get out, and circulate throughout this city beyond the 4-5 static routine locations you visit like your job, your gym, your acting class, your lover’s dwelling and some other hobby locale. Look to some other future blogs I’m writing related to this subject, but trust me when I tell you right now: “Digital technology is removing the ability to know physical addresses and soon it will remove the concept of the legit Breakdowns.”

What are you going to do then? When there isn’t ANYTHING “on the streets” to poach and use…because it is all behind some Firewall on the website of a Studio or Network…only for those “they deem valued” enough to have access.  Then what are you going to do? How are you going to ever “get to” anyone, meet anyone, know where anyone is etc. etc.  You must, and I mean must keep networking, and keep the physical presence part of your career alive…in the face of the Digital world.

True story that I’m going to condense for sake of time…

My friend and I “sold” a show (industry term that doesn’t mean a whole lot!) to a production company.  Together, we created a sizzle reel and began pitching the show.  After 2 network meetings that resulted in “passes” the production company decided they were done with the show, and they released us from our agreement.

At that point, my partner and I took matters into our own hands and began arranging network meetings on our own because WE weren’t done with the idea.

In order to get our first meeting, we sent the log line to the network who said they weren’t interested in our show idea, but that they would like to meet us.  GREAT!  If we couldn’t sell our show idea, perhaps we could sell ourselves… and that’s exactly what happened!

We took the general meeting and lo and behold, before the meeting was out, they were already plugging my partner and I into one of their shows that was just about to begin taping.

Lesson to be learned:  take any meeting you can get your hands on because while it may not fulfill exactly what your initial goal is, it may fulfill a different and no less important goal!

In the infamous words of my husband, Marty Metro, “Good luck and be yourself!

Back in the day, I had lots of auditions for hosting gigs where I’d “go up against” former news reporters, so I became convinced that the only way to get a hosting job was to become a reporter by trade. So, I went to school to learn how to produce, write and edit a story AKA a package.

After I sort of had a handle on how to produce a package, I got an internship and then an ensuing job at a local news station and began to hone my journalism skills.  Then, the hosting jobs just started rolling in… um, I wish!

Truthfully, I thought I was being super tenacious by putting myself in a position to get in the back door since the front door wasn’t working as quickly as I had hoped.  But, what I actually found was that while I was able to talk the producer’s language it didn’t necessarily help me get hosting jobs because most people didn’t care that I knew how to craft a story… they just wanted me to host the dang show!  Having said that, it did allow me to apply for entertainment news jobs, which are kind of a hybrid of hosting and reporting,.  So in that respect becoming a reporter was helpful.

Today, every now and then I get asked if I’ve ever been a reporter to which I answer yes… and then I follow it up with my commentary on being  a reporter – I say that I don’t necessarily want to be a reporter anymore as I’m not driven by facts (which of course are kind of paramount to telling news stories!) as much as I am about entertaining!  Which is why hosting was, is and always will be my bag.

In the infamous words of my husband, Marty Metro, “Good luck and be yourself!

The fact that she had to audition twice (again, not in a callback way, but two mutually exclusive first auditions), indicates that the buyer had been casting a wide net to find their voice over talents.  When this happen, everyone from every agency may be reading on a role.  A wide casting net means your audition might get lost in the shuffle.  Or it might mean that your agent had 3-5 better auditions than yours, and yours may not have been submitted.  Thems are just the breaks in this business.

If you are lucky enough to be called straight to producers on a project, then don’t call attention to the fact that you already read on it.  Just go in and knock ‘em dead!

Possibly Helpful Confession:  I was asked twice by my agent to read on a series narration, with the audition requests spaced 10 days apart.  Apparently they hadn’t found their gal in the first round of auditions, but luckily, I was asked to read again.  I switched my takes on my original audition instead of reading again.  I booked it, and I kept my tactic to myself…until now.

Anna Vocino

Let’s say you find yourself in a meeting with a person who knows or has worked with a friend/colleague and they have a great working relationship!  Should you mention your friend’s name while you’re in the meeting?  I mean, they’re likely the competition, right?

Not so fast wise guy!  What if I told you they could actually be your ally?

If you mention that Sally Sue or John John (who has worked with the person you’re meeting) speaks highly of them you’re A) giving a nice compliment which everybody likes! (Obviously, only if it’s TRUE!), and B) you’re putting yourself in the company of somebody they’re already worked with or know.  Essentially, your pal already has their seal of approval, so subconsciously you’re telling them that you belong in that trusted category, too!

Let me say it this way, you’re giving clues that you belong in the category of “skilled enough to work with.”  It’s pretty simple and yet quite effective in elevating your status in other people’s eyes.

So, feel free to say you know Tracy Metro, if you like – hopefully it won’t hurt your chances of work

In the infamous words of my husband, Marty Metro, “Good luck and be yourself!”

To recap: You’ve gotten the meeting. Shown up on time. Impressed them with your wit and ideas. Now what?  Well, before you leave the actual meeting, I recommend sharing an action item you’ll be moving forward with, in the coming days. This way, your contact knows they’ll be hearing from you regarding a specific task/to-do.

Now comes the next big issue — WHEN to follow up!  Figuring out when to follow up is like knowing when to call after a date! You don’t want to call/email THE next day (unless it’s a time sensitive thing, or you’ve discussed that you will) or they may feel suffocated. Give it a few days and then respond. Next, play it cool. It may take them a few days to respond to you. NO biggie. Remember, you’re building a relationship, not having a one-night stand. Make sure to stay on top of the follow-ups because this is what will show them the kind of person/talent you are and will be on set.

The only cautionary advice I can give is to respect their time by being succinct and not needy. Offer to do all of the leg-work necessary for anything you’re discussing. They’ll appreciate it and you’ll build a trusting relationship, for years to come.

In the infamous words of my husband, Marty Metro, “Good luck and be yourself!”