Speaker 1: Hey everybody, have I got a juicy video for you today, packed full of nutritional goodness for your acting brains. Now remember, this is not advice that pertains only to casting directors or only to talent agents or any other single entity. This is advice to live by, and if you follow it, you can literally achieve anything you want. Okay, let's get started. But before we do, I just want to remind you that I actually teach this stuff to clients around the world. So if you like the sounds of what I'm saying, then reach out to dpg at davidpatrickgreen.com or david at hackhollywood.com and make sure the subject of your email, you tell me where you found me because I get so many emails that I really have to pay very careful attention to the subject line. Okay, let's talk about what casting directors, producers, and frankly, everyone else in the industry really wants. So when actors aren't doing as well as they would like, or they're just getting their start, they of course have questions about how to succeed in this business and what should they do. And they ask people who they believe know better than they do, like casting directors, agents, acting teachers, producers, and directors. Unfortunately, you will see this can be a career ending mistake to ask the wrong people for advice and even more so to follow that advice. Let me explain. Most casting directors were actors at some point, or at least they tried to be, and it didn't work out for some reason. So do you want to follow somebody's advice who more or less failed at something? Or should you follow somebody's advice who does it and thinks about it all the time? Casting directors want actors to behave a certain way so that it makes their lives easier. They don't want every random actor contacting them on the phone and taking up all their time when they don't know if these actors are any good or even if they are serious. This makes perfect sense for casting directors. However, it makes no sense whatsoever for serious actors to not contact casting because otherwise the process makes it nearly impossible to get seen, even if you are good. This is where things get tricky. You're saying, David, you want me to go against what a casting director says? Yes, I do. How can I be so confident in this? It's because you have to read between the lines. This is huge. If you ask a casting director how to do an audition, they will tell you, be bold, be yourself, and they're on your side, and they want you to do well, and they want you to just do whatever you want to do. So that way it makes sure that they get to see the real you because they really do need unique voices in this business. The irony is that most of the advice casting gives is the opposite of being yourself and being bold and taking chances. Don't call or visit, but be bold? What the what? Here's where I can come in. Bold works for acting, and it works for marketing, but casting is scared, and if they tell you to visit or call, it's only the whack jobs and the amateurs they think will show up. This is their biggest fear, wasting time with people who don't know what they are doing. So if you're not one of those people, the advice isn't for you. The truth is the casting directors secretly want you to get in front of them by any means necessary. The whole industry believes you should do whatever it takes to get in front of them. Because if you believe you have something to offer and you can make their projects better, then you better get a hold of them. In summary, if you don't learn to do whatever it takes in life, then you won't have the life you want. I can guarantee you right now that if you are clear on what you have to offer and you can do it on demand, they will be thrilled you showed up in their offices. The real job of the casting director is not to stop actors, but to remove as much friction between them and the producers as possible. They know that, but their fear has led them astray. Don't allow them to pass along their fear to you. Show them they don't need to be afraid of you. Yes, part of their job is to filter, but your job is to show that you pass their filter because without actors like you, casting directors don't even have a job. So when you hear bold and individual and express yourself, then you should hear, do that in everything you do, whether it's getting in touch or what you do in front of the camera. If you don't believe me, ask any self-made person. They had to first believe in themselves and then figure out a way to make their dream come true. That means going out there and doing whatever it takes despite all these rules about life they teach you in school. Those rules are meant to keep you in line, keep you average, and keep you out of trouble. It works if you want to be an accountant, but not if you want to be a creative person. And if you do it with a smile on your face, they will like you even better.