The Acting Business Boot Camp Podcast

This is the miracle of Core Work: you can discover a new level of confidence, on a whole other level of self-assuredness, in a whole other level of the courage to be yourself.

The courage to be “Peter Pamela Rose,” and show the world who that is, and be totally delighted whether the reaction is, “oh, I love her”o r “oh no, thank you.” 

That feeling of being alive and that feeling of utter gratitude for my love, for my life and for what I have, and for my future. And it's an incredible, incredible place to be. 

You may be asking: Well, how do I get there?

Go back to some of my previous Core Work Lessons.

• Listen to the episode, you can be at Whole Foods or, you know, walking down the street, listen to it once.
• Then go back when you're sitting at home or in a coffee shop and listen to it.  
• And write down the questions and take notes. 
• And when I ask Empowering Questions like, "why does this make me feel that way?"
• Set your timer for each question for 10 minutes. Just start
...

About Annie:

Annie Tippe is a director and creator of new work, film, and music theater. Recent: Premiere of Dave Malloy's OCTET at the Signature Theatre (Lucille Lortel Award for Best Direction, SDC Callaway Award Finalist) and GHOST QUARTET (Premiere, The Bushwick Starr, etc...), Leslye Headland's CULT OF LOVE (Premiere, IAMA Theatre Company), Bess Wohl's CONTINUITY (Goodman Theatre), Molly Beach Murphy + Jeanna Phillips’ COWBOY BOB (Village Theatre; New York Stage + Film), James + Jerome’s INK (w. Rachel Chavkin, Under the Radar/Met Museum) and THE CONVERSATIONALISTS (Bushwick Starr). Former Ars Nova Director-in-Residence, Drama League Directing Fellow, Williamstown Directing Corps.

Upcoming: OCTET (Berkeley Rep, April 22); LIFE AFTER (Goodman Theatre, June 22). www.annietippe.com

Pursue people who inspire you.

Follow good taste.

The power of saying no: You cannot take things that do not excite you.

You have to say no in order to open up the possibility of something bett...

Energy Vampires= people who take away valuable energy you need to push past the things that are standing in the way of your dreams.

Level 10 energy

Who to watch out for: People who zap your energy.

How do we protect ourselves?

• Put on an imaginary bubble suit.
• Their stuff does not need to affect you.
• You have the opportunity to arrive late and leave early.

Other kinds of Vampires

• Other Actors on set.
  • No is a complete sentence.
• People preying on the actors in the Industry.
• Family who is not supportive.

Tips and tools:

• Get the focus off of you
• No is a complete sentence
• Don't cosign on someone else’s drama
• Ask yourself, is this going to be a healthy thing to be involved in or unhealthy?
• Your life depends on deflecting the energy suckers
• Don’t treat someone like a priority who treats you like an option

Be kind to these people, if they could be doing better they would.

About Ryan:

RYAN ELIZABETH CUNNINGHAM (she/her) is a queer writer/director and Emmy and Peabody award-winning producer who recently launched the development company Running Woman with the goal of telling stories that haven’t been heard before. 

She represented the TV projects THE FUGITIVE GAME (2018), TRANSMANIA (2019), and MARY (2020) in the IFP (now The Gotham) Project Forum. Ryan is very passionate about promoting equality, women’s issues, LGBTQ+ stories, and neurodiversity in her work.

She's EP/Director on the standup special ILANA GLAZER: THE PLANET IS BURNING (Amazon), the docuseries EXPECTING AMY (HBO Max), and an upcoming Pride special for Showtime.  Select TV producer credits include BROAD CITY and INSIDE AMY SCHUMER (Comedy Central), SEARCH PARTY and THE LAST O.G. (TBS); LOUIE (FX); STRANGERS (Facebook); THE SHIVERING TRUTH (Adult Swim); HORACE AND PETE (Hulu); THE ELECTRIC COMPANY (PBS), as well as several prominent stand-up specials for Netflix and HBO, including Exec...

Fantasy can become a liability.

It can become a crutch, “one day I'll ______”

You keep pushing to the future and you don’t deal with the reality of what needs to happen NOW.

Spiral it out to get to the seed of what you really want.

• Why do you want to become an actor?
• Well, why do you love acting?
• Continue to break down the reason.
• Continue asking why.
• Then what is the reality for me around this want?

Once we unpack the fantasy, we can turn it into a reality

Fantasy can also destroy the good seed of why you want to do it.

It’s your ego. It takes away the beauty.

Ask yourself: How does my fantasy about becoming a famous actor, corrode my love for the art of acting?

Reality:

Every day we need to be doing actions that move us closer to our goal.

It’s hard work.

You need to focus on The Three Pillars:

1. Acting training
2. Business skills
3. Core work

Send your picture and resume to me: [email protected]

About Colleen:

Colleen Labella is the Director of Development for Leslye Headland's company, Shoot to Midnight. She is a producer on the new Freeform hit series SINGLE DRUNK FEMALE. Colleen worked on Fox's ALMOST FAMILY and Showtime's BLACK MONDAY, and she currently has a number of projects in development under Shoot to Midnight with 20th Century Fox.

Colleen also directs theatre in the greater Los Angeles area. Credits include: fml: How Carson McCullers Saved My Life at the University of San Diego, Canyon for Center Theatre Group at the Kirk Douglas Theatre, and a journey through minimalism at the Walt Disney Concert Hall featuring the LA Philharmonic. 

She holds her BFA in Acting from the University of Connecticut and trained at Tisch's Experimental Theatre Wing at NYU, as well as Shakespeare's Globe in England. Colleen focuses her work on women, collaborative storytelling, ensemble-based projects, and the LG...

Listen to Episode 161: What Do You Want and How Do You Get it?

What you think, what you want, and what you do.

You need to train your brain to be more acute, more aware.

You want to handle your level 10 problems at level 10 energy.

How your Mindset works:

• What is the function of your thoughts?
• What is the function of your emotions?
• Of your actions?

“Here is a breakdown of how your mindset works.”

We want a mindset that works 100% FOR us, not against us.

Excerpt from You Are a Badass at Making Money:

”Your beliefs are driving the bus. They take you where you’re going whether you’re paying attention or not. 

Your thoughts are the tour guide, the person upfront with the microphone and the clipboard—she can lean over and yank the wheel, slam on the brakes, step on the gas, flip the bus—she can do whatever, whenever she wants. She usually works in harmony with your beliefs, but she has all the veto power.

Your words are the assistant to your thoughts and beliefs. Your wo...

About Stacye: 

After an illustrious career at Paradigm Talent Agency where Stacye Mayer has represented a diverse roster of actors she recently celebrated a successful year at Webb Sweeney Murphy talent (WSM).

Over the expanse of her career, she’s been part of the discovery & accomplishments of many actors’ careers. The list of numerous commercials she’s booked is endless but know that she’s collaborated creatively on many national campaigns, regional spots like state lotteries; as well as a long list of ads produced just for social/digital media. More recently she’s giving those with a good mic and an in-home studio an opportunity in the VoiceOver space as well.

Stacye is constantly looking to expand her commercial roster and cultivate new talent to reach their fame in this industry!

It’s the agent's job to introduce you to the Casting Director.

Once you make that connection, if you are doing callbacks, you are doing it right.

It’s important that the casting directors know ...

Exercise:

On a piece of paper make three columns:

1. What you Want
2. What you Think
3. Action

Write it out as it is right now. 

Ex in the first column: I want to be a working actor 

In the second column: What is the first thing you think?

• Be rigorously honest here
• Are you thinking I’m not good enough?
• Are you thinking I’m going to kill it?
• Use your mind to govern your brain

THIS IS JUST WHERE YOU ARE AT RIGHT NOW

THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT WHERE YOU ARE DOES NOT MATTER, WHAT MATTERS IS THAT YOU ARE REALLY HONEST IN THIS STEP.

Now move to the third column

What you do:

• Do you only do actions for your acting career when you feel like it?
• Do you fantasize more than doing something about it?
• Do you stay or do you pivot when things aren’t working?

What you do to support it MATTERS. WE ARE JUST TAKING STOCK.

This is not a time to beat up on yourself.

Just taking note of the current situation.

Now we shift to where we want to be:

Talk about again what it is we want. As...

About Ken:

Ken Rea is Professor of Theatre at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London and author of the bestseller, The Outstanding Actor, Seven Keys to Success.

He began as a professional actor and director in New Zealand, working with some of the country’s leading theatres and on television as well as running his own company, The Living Theatre Troupe. Later, in the UK, he was artistic director of Jet Theatre and Koru Theatre.

In addition to his work at Guildhall, he has taught in the national drama academies of China, Indonesia, India, Italy, and New Zealand, as well as in Germany, Greece, and Canada. He has also worked as a movement coach with many theatres, including the Royal Shakespeare Company. 

He has been a regular feature writer for The Times and was for 15 years a theatre critic for The Guardian. His book, A Better Direction, examines the issues of director-training. His plays produced in Britain include The Brave Magicians of Mangalore and Voyagers. His adap...