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The Acting Business Boot Camp Podcast

Episode 250: The Business of VO with Mandy Fisher

business tips Sep 20, 2023

About Mandy Fisher:

Mandy Fisher is a NYC-based full-time voiceover actor with over 15 years of experience in the industry. She has worked with brands like Crayola, Disney, Peloton, Coke, Walmart, and Kohls to name a few.

Her passion for voiceover and genuine love of helping people inspire her to work with actors of all stages of their career. 

With a theater background, she brings her training to guide copy analysis and character creation. As an industry vet of 15 years, she has witnessed the changes and understands the ebbs and flows of the business. 

Mandy created her own voiceover business from the ground up and has a successful and replicable model to help actors build their own successful businesses.

All of this adds up to a coach who can provide audition and career advice while helping actors become the best they can be!


Tell me about all the different types of voiceover that are out there today.

There's more than one thing that you can do as a voiceover artist....

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Episode 243: Not Working to Working - Interview with Juan Carlos Diaz

business tips Aug 02, 2023

Learn More About The Working Actor Road Map

About Juan Carlos:

Juan Carlos Diaz is an actor born and raised in New York City. He began acting at the age of six in various school plays and musicals while in private school.

While still in high school, he began working at the Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre under the direction of Miriam Colon Valle, which led to his first Equity production at the age of 17 at New Media Repertory Theatre, where he immediately became part of the children's theatre company there.  

Juan Carlos holds a BA in theatre from Bard College, where he studied under the tutelage of JoAnne Akalaitis and Liz Smith.  

His work can be seen in BULL, HALSTON, LAW & ORDER, LAW & ORDER SVU, The Last Thing He Wanted (with ANNE HATHAWAY), and many other TV shows and films.


I've always been a good listener so I can figure out the homework later and take notes.

I went for the audition, and then this went on for about two years. I would even get...

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Bonus Episode: Yeah, Now We Got 2 Strikes

business tips Jul 14, 2023

Yeah. Shit, we don't have one strike going on. We now got two.

So, what are we going to do about it? Well, I think the first thing I'm just going to do is I'm just going to share with you my feelings about it.

I do think this strike is necessary. AI is terrifying for the actor, and I am so proud and honored to be a part of a union that recognizes that.

Having your image so that a company just can use it, however they want to use it is just unacceptable.

I don't think it's worth it.

So what do we do now?

Free Masterclass

The three pillars are the three things that I really think you want to focus on.

Two of them in particular right now.

One, you're acting training. This is not the time to slide.

This is the time to ensure you are still going to the gym.

This is the time to work out your actor body.

I have the Acting Business Bootcamp Strike Challenge that I gave all of my Weekly Accountability Group actors.

It's a monologue workout to keep you going as an actor.

I'm asking for you...

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Episode 238: A Message to Drama School Grads

business tips Jun 28, 2023

Okay, now what? We graduated, and there's a fucking writer's strike, and a pending actors strike. Wait, this is not what I showed up for.  

I've been a member of SAG AFTRA for over 30 years and a working actress for over 30 years. 

And let me tell you something, I've been through a lot of strikes, and you know what the greatest thing about them is? They end.  

There is a lot you can do right now, and that's getting ready.  

The number one thing I recommend to actors getting out of drama school is learning "the Language of the Agents and the Casting Directors."

If you think you learned it in drama school, I am here to tell you that, no, you did not. Chances are that you did not learn what the industry was like from the agents and the casting director's points of view. 

Some of the things to know, though, is that yes, you are the newbies on the block, and you are fresh meat. Everybody's all excited about you, but this is the thing you need to know is there...

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Episode 230: The Strike

business tips May 05, 2023

So now what?

"Few situations, no matter how greatly they appear to demand it, can be bettered by going berserk."

It's important to put all of this into perspective.

This is survivable. It's going to be survivable. Is it tough? Is it a pain in the neck? Does it potentially throw off some of our career plans? Does it maybe stop some stuff that we hoped would go forward and now isn't because of the strike?

Absolutely.

Is it survivable? Is it manageable? The answer is yes, it is.

Us freaking out about it doesn't do us any good. What I would say is, Let's try and move into accepting it.

I need to do what I can to be proactive in supporting the writers and keep the focus on myself.

I need to take care of myself, my finances, my family, and especially my sanity.

So let's look at how we deal with panic and uncertainty during this time.

"Don't panic. If panic strikes, we do not have to allow it to control our behaviors."

I don't have to let this strike control my behavior.

"Behaviors...

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Episode 227: The Potential Writer's Strike & What You Can Control

business tips Apr 19, 2023

Ken Rea’s Outstanding Actor Class

So people have been asking me about the writer's strike.

Keep the focus on yourself.

But what can you do? Use this opportunity to let go of drama.

There's a great Michael Jordan quote, “Why would I worry about a shot that I haven't even taken yet?”

Everybody is worried about something that hasn't even happened yet.

Now let's talk about how that affects us as a human being.

We're going to talk about that in a moment. But I just want to talk about this subject and my own experience with worrying about a bunch of stuff that I cannot even control. What it does is it uses up my energy. 

When I am worried about something that is truly probably, if you think about it, none of my business.

If I am trying to get somebody to do something, I am out of myself and into control.

So when it comes to this "potential writer's strike," I again urge you to think about keeping the focus on myself, and taking care of myself pays enormous...

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Episode 216: Interview with Working Actor Lev Gorn (The Americans, For All Man Kind)

business tips Feb 01, 2023

Katie Flahive On Camera Class

Time Management Replay

About Lev:

Lev is a celebrated actor, photographer, fine artist, and award-winning filmmaker.

He is currently recurring on Apple TV's FOR ALL MANKIND, and Starz' RAISING KANAN. Lev's acting career covers over 50 films and TV series.

He is widely recognized for his role as Arkady Ivonovich on FX's EMMY WINNING THE AMERICANS, and as the character of Eton on the HBO series THE WIRE.

In film, he has worked with WOODY ALLEN, SUSAN SARANDON, ROBERT DENIRO, and many others. He is set to direct his first feature film in the Fall of 2023.


What really influenced my acting as I got older is when I began to realize that good acting is really bad acting.

So for me, what became really important is behavior. Truthful behavior in imaginary circumstances.

If you approach roles, if you approach parts, if you approach scenes as behavior. Then you're not taking a page and trying to justify what the writer wrote.

I'm not going to pretend to do...

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Episode 210: Interview with Bull Series Regular Geneva Carr

business tips Dec 21, 2022

Time Management Workshop

About Geneva:

GENEVA CARR is best known for her portrayal of Marissa Morgan on 6 seasons of the CBS television series BULL.  

Additional TV credits include Law & Order: SVU and Criminal Intent, Rescue Me, Younger, The Mysteries of Laura, Royal Pains, Elementary, The Good Wife, and Sex and the City.  

Film credits include Wonder Wheel, Love and Other Drugs, Ava’s possessions, It’s Complicated, College Road Trip, and the upcoming Asian Persuasion.

Geneva earned a 2015 Tony Nomination for Lead Actress in a Play for her performance as ‘Margery’ in Broadway’s Hand To God

Additional NY theatre credits include Trevor, Just Sex, I Wanna Destroy You, Finding Claire, Rose’s Dilemma, Clash by Night, Betty’s Summer Vacation, and Boise. 


You have to create a space where you can find work for yourself.

Bull was my eighth pilot, which I like telling actors about because it doesn't...

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Episode 209: What to get Industry Folks for the Holidays

business tips Dec 14, 2022

Ask Me Anything

Time Management Class

What to get Casting Directors, Managers, and Agents over the holidays. 

This year I’m suggesting one of two things: a thoughtful gift card or a charity donation.  

So a thoughtful gift card would be that you contact someone else in the casting office or agency and ask what their fellow employees like. 

“Hey, are they a Starbucks person, or are they a Costco person? Are they a McDonald's person or a Dunkin Donuts person?” 

And then, you can send them an electronic gift card.  

If you're booking a lot. Yes. You want to be thinking more $50, $75, $100.  

But if you're a new client or you haven't been booking that year, or there's a casting office that has maybe thought of you a few times throughout the year. A simple $20 gift card. A $25 gift card is fine.  

Defaults: 

  • Amazon, you can buy anything there.  
  • Starbucks, you can get food, you can get coffee, you can get tea 

Or, the...

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Episode 202: Interview with Michael Kostroff

business tips Oct 26, 2022

About Michael:

Michael Kostroff is an established TV and stage actor best known for his role as unscrupulous gang attorney Maury Levy on HBO's legendary series, The Wire. In addition to his many television gigs, he's toured with The Producers and Les Misérables, appeared on regional stages all across the country, served as an advice columnist for Backstage, created the popular workshop "Audition Psych 101" (which focuses on the psychological side of auditioning), and written four books, including his recently published manual, The Stage Actor's Handbook: Traditions, Protocols, and Etiquette for the Working and Aspiring Professional.


The gospel of low expectations. My philosophy is very different from the popular philosophies—no one's entitled to a career. If you decide this is what you want to do, then you're signing on for the unemployment, the insecurity, the inconsistency, and you don't get to...

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