About Adrienne:

Adrienne is a renowned Independent Casting Director.

Her films have premiered at Sundance, Toronto, Cannes, Tribeca, Berlin, South by Southwest, Seattle, and many other prominent film festivals, many taking home prestigious awards. She is always working and always keeping an eye out for new talent. She cast both film and TV Union and Non-Union. Please check out her IMDB and her website www.AdrienneStern.com 

U.S. Theater Programs that Adrienne feels put young actors in the industry right out of the gate:

• Carnegie Mellon
• Point Park
• BU
• NYU
• Howard University
• Elon
• Temple

Tips for finding the right school:

• Look at alumni
• Think about what you want and what’s the best fit for you
• Have a second thing that makes you just as happy

How do creatives contact you?

• Often work with a lot of clients
• Don’t want to turn down a project, because they will find someone else and they will become part of their family
• Writer, director, or...

About Jen:

Jen Rudin is the head of the animation department at ICM Partners. She joined ICM in July 2020 following two decades as an award-winning casting director. Rudin grew up in New York City and began her professional acting career at age eight. She is the author of Confessions of a Casting Director: Help Actors Land Any Role with Secrets from Inside the Audition Room published by HarperCollins. 

Jen spent seven years as a Casting Executive at The Walt Disney Company. From 2002-2007, Jen served as head of casting for Walt Disney Animation Studios in Burbank, California and she won the 2006 Artios Award for casting Chicken Little and the 2010 Artios Award for The Princess and the Frog. From 2007-2009, she served as Director of Casting and Talent Development for Disney Theatrical Productions in New York City.  

"As a casting director, if you’re good, we will bring you back because we depend on...

SAG AFTRA Panel on Performance Anxiety

When things are going well, feelings of unease can come up.

“You are not responsible for your first thought but you are responsible for your next thought.”

The fear of success is really more about the fear of responsibility that comes with being more successful.

Remember you will never be given than you can handle but you will be given more than you can control.

Whatever level you are at in your career now, it is essential for you to take responsibility and show up and do the things that make you scared.

Go just a bit beyond your comfort zone every day.

Go back to feeling good.

It’s ok to feel good.

“I want to feel good.”

“Give me the strength to feel good.”

I am willing to show up and take the responsibilities that are required for me to feel that success.

Do you scare yourself out of good feelings?

Do you find stuff to worry about?

Do you sabotage yourself out of feeling good?

We do this because the...

About Jason:

Jason has been head of the commercial voice-over department of Stewart Talent NY for 15 years. He initially trained as an actor and screenwriter at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts before making the shift to the business side of entertainment. His first job was at the William Morris Agency where he served as booth director for their commercial department, able to draw upon his creative background to effectively interpret copy and direct talent. When Stewart Talent was looking to start up their own voice-over department in NY, Jason jumped at the opportunity.

The last 15 years have seen huge amounts of growth for the division, including the hiring of additional voice-over and on-camera agents, and he represents a flourishing roster of clients.

The massive importance of networking as an actor is equally important on the agent side.

Jason's Advice to Actors:

• Be honest about your skills
• Communicate book outs
• Be aware of your commercial exclusivities
• Knowing your type is...

The problem is perfectionism is a good thing up to a point.

When it crosses that line of paralysis, the excitement burns off, or it becomes too late.

A story about learning imperfectly.

If I was trying to do it perfectly, this podcast wouldn’t exist.

When it's imperfect, it’s exactly the way it is meant to be.

Perfectionism is what stops me from getting the really important things done.

Full Focus Planner

Every day you do three things that are towards your goal.

Allow yourself to be an imperfect person, and allowing yourself to show your imperfections to the world.

Allow yourself to be brave.

The process of being comfortable with yourself while you’re not doing it perfectly.

Learning to soothe yourself, when you get scared or uncomfortable.

• Having the presence to feel those feelings, and feel safe and good to feel those feelings inside that.
• Feelings aren’t facts.
• “What other people think of me is none of my business.”
• Seeking balance.

98.6 is...

 About Melissa:

Melissa Berger Brennan has been an agent for Theatrical (Film and Television) since 2002 and is Senior Vice President of the Young Talent Voiceover Department at Cunningham-Escott –Slevin-Doherty, (CESD), a talent agency with offices in Los Angeles and New York. Founded in 1967, CESD has been one of the most prestigious and popular agencies for commercial and voice over talents as well as a pioneer in the theatrical representation of young talent in all areas of the entertainment industry.

As a theatrical agent, she has placed clients on such diverse projects as PAPER GIRLS, EXPATS, LIGHT YEARS, GOOD GIRLS, BLACKISH, THE GOLDBERGS, GRIMM, GLEE, SHAMELESS, MAD MEN, PARENTHOOD, and THE WALKING DEAD.

Melissa is also the Senior Vice President of the Young Talent Voiceover department. Her clients have voiced leading roles in animated movies such as TURNING RED, MOANA, BIG HERO 6, HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA (2 & 3 & 4), GOOD DINOSAUR, PEANUTS, KUNG FU PANDA 3,...

Melody Beattie: The Language of Letting Go

"Many of us have someone in our life who challenges our ability to trust and care for ourselves.

When we hear that person’s voice or are in his or her presence, we may forget all we know about what is real, about how to own our power, about how to be direct, about what we know and believe to be true, about how important we are.

We give up our power to that person. The child in us gets hooked with a mixture of powerful feelings—love, fear, or anger. We may feel trapped, helpless, or so attracted that we can’t think straight. There may be a powerful tug-of-war going between feelings of anger and our need to be loved and accepted, or between our head and our heart.

We may be so enamored or intimidated that we revert to our belief that we can’t react or respond to this person any differently.

We get hooked.

We don’t have to stay under a spell.

We start by becoming aware of the people who hook us, and then...

About Anthony:

Anthony Arkin is an actor and filmmaker best known for his work on THE AMERICANS (FX), nominated for Best Ensemble Cast at the 2019 SAG Awards. His directorial debut (feature documentary STATE OF ROCK) premiered at the 2008 Santa Fe Film Festival where he won Best Editing. Since then Arkin has directed and/or edited dozens of films and series. His work has shown at Sundance, Berlin, NY Anthology Film Archive, Telluride, Fantasia, Frightfest and various other festivals around the world. His feature film, SENDER, will be out Fall of 2021.

The importance of remaining teachable.

Enjoying the day-to-day of it instead of fantasizing.

Enjoyment of getting up in the morning and doing new things.

Admit you have limitations and things to learn as an actor.

It is essential as an actor to create your own work.

When you have a job you come prepared for a performance.

The ability to keep your energy primed for long days on set is extraordinary. It’s about physical,...

Business Insider Article by Drake Baer

In Outliers, Gladwell wrote, “10,000 hours is the magic number of greatness.”

Gladwell also said, “The point is simply that natural ability requires a huge investment of time in order to be made manifest.”

So Good They So Can’t Ignore You by Cal Newport

“What makes ridiculously successful people so successful is that they are experts at practicing.”

Deliberate Practice:

• Goal/ Want
• Thought
• Action

Your goal needs to be supported by your wants and actions.

What are the things you are doing for your Acting Training, your Business Steps, and your Core Work?

Rigorously honest with yourself whether you can do more, or you need to stop?

Are you deliberately practicing your acting in your rehearsals?

Kevin Durant, “Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard.”

“It’s hard to play well, but it’s easy to work hard.”

Consistence, persistence, and determination.

Do...

About Mark:

Mark Bennington is an American actor, photographer, drummer, and author. After graduating from Mike Nichols's New Actors Workshop in NYC, Mark worked in theater for 10 years, with such directors as Sir Trevor Nunn, Paul Sills, Charles Marowitz, and Diane Paulus. 

Mark also did the guest-star grind in LA before picking up the camera in 2004, which quickly morphed into him becoming one of the 'Top 10' headshot photographers in the country. He later added both advertising and documentary portraiture to his repertoire with his work being published in The Atlantic, The Huffington Post, UpWorthy, CNN, PDN, GQ India, Varity, Forbes, The Los Angeles Times and many more. Mark authored the acclaimed photography book Living the Dream: The Life of the 'Bollywood' Actor (HarperCollins) and in 2016 his photography project America 2.0 about Muslim youth in NYC received worldwide recognition and was exhibited at major galleries in Jerusalem, Rome, Tokyo, New...