The Acting Business Boot Camp Podcast

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I'm going to be talking about something that a listener sent me, and I thought it was a really interesting idea for a podcast, which is about nepotism.

I do think it is yet another one of those areas of the industry where we can get our heads in the clouds and not on our bodies, and really allows us to make excuses for not showing up and taking responsibility.

As a NEPO baby, I am not one.

I do not come from anyone in the industry. You have an advantage in that you have those connections. However, you also have to have the talent, consistency, and persistence to back that up. The other thing is that, oh, you're so and so's daughter or you're so and so's child. Oh. Then you must be fantastic, and then you have to live up to that, or you can never be your own person.

Now, I have a friend of mine who is the child of an incredibly famous actor, but that child chooses to use a different name because they don't want to be known as so and so's child. Now, that is very...

Work with me privately

About Angela Mickey:

Angela Mickey is the Managing Director of Casting at Liz Lewis Casting Partners, and has been working as a Casting Director for 24 years. 

Angela works across the board on commercial, voice-over, film, TV, and theater projects, with a concentration on comedy, real people, and theatrical casting. 

She enjoys working with both veteran and up-and-coming creatives, developing the best, unique plan for each project, and working as a partner to the producing process. 

Recent on-camera commercial projects: Spectrum, UberEats, DCU, Blue Cross, Blue Shield, Tillamook, Door Dash, Woodbridge, NJ Lottery, Marriott. 

Recent real people projects: New York Presbyterian, Aleve, NorthAmerican Bancard, Redemption Whiskey, Chevy, Wells Fargo, JC Penney, as well as a variety of editorial projects for Condé Nast.

Recent animation/podcast vo projects: Dee and Friends in Oz (Netflix), SuperKitties (Disney Jr), Get Rolling with Otis...

So, this week, I've received numerous emails from actors who have told me that they feel stuck. 

That's why I was like, if they're feeling it, maybe I should do a podcast about feeling stuck. 

So we're going to get to that. 

Private coaching

Being stuck. I think being stuck has a lot to do, at least for me, about timing. 

Generally, it always comes down to timing—not my timing; it's the Universe's timing. And then that sometimes just doesn't work. If I'm not in the greatest place, that frustrates me even more because I'm like, “Why not now?”

“Why not now? What the fuck is going on?” 

And then I think I'll go great guns and put a ton of stuff out there, and then it'll be like this. Yeah, you get it. It's silence, right? 

Or things just aren't moving as fast as I would like. And ultimately, being stuck has to do with timing.

It's just where you are right now. And if you are in the entertainment industry—which, chances...

Work privately with David

About David Cady:

DAVID CADY is currently a professor of commercial and musical theatre performance at AMDA, NYU, and Pace University.

Prior, he was a casting director for Donna DeSeta Casting for close to 30 years.

In addition to countless commercials, his casting credits include the original Dirty Dancing, Disney's Enchanted, Michael John LaChiusa's The Petrified Prince for the Public Theater, and the world premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jim Steinman's Whistle Down the      Wind, directed by Harold Prince.  

He was an original cast member of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's Merrily We Roll Along, and can be seen in Lonny Price's film about the experience, The Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened.

In an enlightening discussion filled with actionable advice and heartfelt stories, David Cady, a veteran of...

The Working Actor Road Map

I don't know about you, 2024 is not exactly what I expected it would be in this industry.

And, I'm after the strikes and, after everything we went through last year, seriously? This is it? 

Now, of course, there are reasons for this. 

There's the potential IATSE strike and the industry contraction. But the problem is that I don't know about you, but I'm left with feelings.

And I thought that, since we just moved our clocks, I thought I would make this episode about spring and new beginnings. 

In fact, I had friends over for dinner the other night, and my dear friend brought me this beautiful plant. It had hyacinths and tulips.

Of course, she knows I'm a Dutch girl. I love tulips. You can't go wrong with tulips and daffodils. And every time I look at it, it just makes me smile and it makes me feel good because spring is a time of renewal. 

So today I'm going to be talking about new beginnings and renewal.

And one of those things that I...

8 Tips to Not Get Ripped off as an Actor Masterclass

So today, I'm going to be going back to the fabulous Melody Beattie in her wonderful book, The Language of Letting Go, and I'm going to be talking about setting your own course.

And it seems like the world is so turbulent.

I know it sounds like we're always saying that, but it does feel like the world is so turbulent. And I think when it is very important for us to keep the focus on ourselves and how we do that is by setting our own course. I'm going to read a little bit.

“We are powerless over other people's expectations of us. We cannot control what others want, what they expect, or what they want us to do and be. We can control how we respond to other people's expectations.”

Now, I did a podcast on when your buttons get pushed and if this is already starting to vibrate with you, resonate with you, I beg of you, listen to that podcast if you haven't already.

So again, we are powerless over others, other people's...

8 Tips to Not Get Ripped Off as an Actor and the Three Pillars to a Successful Acting Career

Let's start talking about those buttons being pushed, right?

And I want to talk especially about how to help yourself.

There's a little phrase that I love. It's one of my absolute favorites, which is “if you're hysterical, it's historical.”

I find that when my buttons get pushed, if I'm upset about whatever it is for longer than five minutes, it's not about that thing.

It's about something from my past.

The other really helpful thing to note about buttons, because it's generally family members who push your buttons, is that your family knows how to push your buttons because, hello, they installed them.

Your family knows how to push your buttons because they installed them.

So I want To help you so that when you have that moment, when your buttons get pushed, you can start to practice this particular formula.

Now I need to also say this, when my buttons get pushed, I find it's...

Thursday, February 29th, Live NYC Seminar

Planting seeds for success.

I call this a Foundation skill, and this is a skill I believe that you can use not only for yourself but also for other friends who need support.

Who needs to be planting some seeds for success for themselves as well the idea is when you “plant a seed,” you are setting out an expectation that you can do it or that your friend can do it.

And more often than not, when you plant that seed of success, and you say, “Hey, you can do it. Hey, no, I can do this.” You actually do it. 

That's why it's so important and why this is such a brilliant and useful foundation skill. 

You can think of it as almost the germination of an affirmation. 

So in other words, you plant that seed starts to germinate, and as you feed it with positive affirmations, it begins to grow. 

Then, as you add those action steps that support those thoughts and, of course, that ultimate goal, that's when the...

Private Coaching

Today, I want to talk about self-love because it's Valentine's Day. 

And the thing about self-love that I have found in doing this work for almost 30 years is that self-love takes on a lot of different forms. Yes, it is ensuring that I bathe, brush my teeth, get adequate sleep, eat well, and exercise.

But it's also about taking care of the things I think and the things I do. 

A big thing that has come up for me, mainly in the past couple of years, is that self-love is about working for myself instead of working against myself. 

And how often I would be like, “I love myself, and I approve of myself,” I would say that wonderful affirmation, but then when a sticky or uncomfortable situation would come up, I'd be so eager to just give my power away.

Ah, giving your power away. Yeah, that is not self-love. 

And that is why the core work, which is that work on yourself, is so incredibly important. 

It's about learning that you are...

The Voiceover Actor Road Map

About Emma:

Emma O'Neill is a multi-award-winning voice actor specializing in radio and TV commercials, TV narration, TV promo, and corporate training videos. Outside the booth, she's a fitness and wellness enthusiast, and has been a certified yoga instructor for more than 25 years.

About Mike:

Mike Tobin is an accomplished, Montreal-born, award-nominated voice actor, MC, and event announcer who has made his ultra-fluent bilingualism the cornerstone of his brand for more than 20 years. He also loves technology and is an avid Mac enthusiast.

What it's like to be a voiceover actor in Canada.

And it can be very isolating and very lonely.

So when you have people that understand the business, they understand the hustle. They understand the self-doubt that can come with things during slow times, or, you know, I was talking to somebody yesterday, and it was, you know, why them and not me that you can get into these spins in your head.

And when you have...