AUTHENTICITY CREATES THE PERFECT PITCH
Each of us is unique and, for a performer, the benefits of reaching deep into that personal identification are endless, writes US casting director Jodi Collins.
The days of the traditional ‘triple threat’ actor/singer/dancer are behind us and we are now in a less linear space, needing to expand to have a more viable career. What’s pivotal to the ability to be a working artist is to define and understand your basic nature and authenticity. While ‘authenticity’ has become a more generalised term, the real you is very specific in what you put out there, being smartly targeted once understood and presented by you.
While there are many specifics to each situation, once you understand this, opportunities become more accessible and wide-reaching. Following are the elements I always suggest considering.
1. Dig into knowing who you are, how you present yourself and how you’re received in the entertainment industry. What parts are you typically asked to read for? What are you cast for? What kinds of roles do you play in life, like stock characters: leader of your friendship group, the one everyone comes to for intel or advice? What is the first impression most people have of you?
2. Understand what your ‘sweet spot’ is — that is, brand/type/tone. That’s what you bring into a room, so own it and step in fully, without inflating who you are.
3. Harness that sweet spot to help you feel grounded and know how you ‘pop’ in a room. This also assists in understanding industry expectations and machinations that have nothing to do with your talent/ability but more to do with the business. Your job is to show up and demonstrate the prep work you’ve done, comprehension of the script (sides) and understanding of what the creative team’s needs might be. You’re there to (hopefully) be part of solving the puzzle of the project for all of them. You can only bring those elements in the room — you can’t possibly know what’s in the creatives’ heads unless you’re a mind reader.
It also lets you off the hook, so you don’t feel badly about your work when you don’t book a job, while also putting you in a great head space to book one. You also form relationships, so you’ll be thought of for other roles.
4. Realise that you already have so much to offer. You have been trained in the craft of actor, improviser, performing artist and storyteller, as well as inherently having a fertile imagination. You can easily tap into that for more creating of your choice.
5. Be the most authentic ‘you’ possible (there’s only one of those) and you will book work. That’s what pops out (and pops you) most and lives beyond talent. Know how to ‘be’ in the room − how to pitch yourself and your work authentically and not by trying to be what someone else wants you to be.
6. Know that you’ll be more seductive and will attract attention from buyers (casting, producers, networks et al) the more of yourself you bring to a role. Beyond your talent, that ‘more’ is showing up in your total self. You’ll know when someone ‘gets’ you when you’ve brought that into the room.
7. Recognise that you’re more valuable as a mulit-hyphenate − actor, creator/producer/ writer − since you offer many opportunities for someone to work with you. With more content being global/international stories and/or from those points of view, you can make yourself even more valuable by having a diverse skill set.
8. Listen and hear what people are looking for, so that you can incorporate your work into it. Integrate that thinking.
9. Stay open to collaboration and adjust or move with the flow of the moment. You may have done thorough research and made decisions before walking into a meeting and while this provides the bones of where you’ll come from, you don’t want to lock it in until it’s a certainty.
10. “Create and write from what you know” is common advice… for a reason. This can come from many places − for example, what makes your heart skip a beat? What piques your imaginings and makes you even more curious? What are your experiences, or someone else’s, that hit your soul and push you to action in some way? These are the impactful stories that are also most satisfying creatively.
Jodi Collins is a prominent US casting director whose talent management/producing media company, JLC Entertainment Group, has projects being pitched in the TV network, theatre and film spaces, and talent working in assorted roles in all forms of media. Originally from a working actor’s background and professional career, Jodi is known for her taste, deep understanding of actors and of storytelling, while maintaining a strong business savvy and all-round knowledge of the industry. As a mentor and teacher, she continues to offer workshops in auditioning and storytelling in New York and is currently launching a virtual international storytellers’ workshop. Jodi’s loves are collaboration (producing reading series and serving to enhance, develop and facilitate talents’ work), mentoring/teaching and being with her dogs, Scooter and Ollie.
Insta@jodecall
