For part two of our Top Ten Tips from NYCastings Top Booker – Lauren Francesca – we delve into the importance of marketing and networking.
When it comes to marketing yourself, Lauren believes it comes down to common sense.
“One tip of advice I got was to promote yourself as much as possible and I constantly do that,” Lauren shares. “I market myself through Facebook and mailings to casting directors to let them know I’ve booked a job. I keep people up to speed and that’s important.”
“I try to network myself out as much as possible and I will get weird texts for places that will charge ridiculous amounts of money – but NYCastings is real and it pays for itself.”
To network yourself, “as much as possible” here are Lauren Francesca’s….
Top Ten Tips & Tricks for networking
- Tip for keeping momentum going:
Don’t focus on the next job, what will happen next, but on what you can do to make that next job happen. People worry about the result versus the work they have to put into it. Focus on the work that you have to do to get to that goal. If you are a model, what do you have to do to get yourself out there? If you are an actor, what classes do you have to take to get yourself into that show?
- Tip for following up with Casting Directors:
I like to send thank you notes. I wouldn’t call after an audition, because casting directors are trying to do their own work. But thank them for bringing you in by postcard or email and keep in touch regarding future things.
- Tip on how to best notify CDs, agents, etc about bookings/success:
It all depends on how you like to work and how personable you are. You can email one agent and they might think you are annoying. You have to look at the person you are emailing, as a person, and figure out the best way to keep in touch with them.
- Tip on how to use humor when meeting a CD, agent, etc:
Honestly, I don’t think of anything as humor. I just try to be myself and be natural. If I say, “use humor” it can offend people or annoy people because they are so busy during an audition. They have to please the client and have twenty more people in the waiting room. You have to really look at the situation and react how you would with anyone.
- Tip on – what question should actors be ready to answer?
A lot of directors will ask about your training and the various acting method styles. There are 50% of actors who have training and 50% who don’t and it is important to know about Strasberg and Meisner. You may get into a room with a director who starts talking about these people and you don’t want to not know them. Knowing things about acting is important.
Also don’t lie on your resume. When you don’t have any work it is hard to get work, but at the same time don’t say you were in a movie if you weren’t in a movie. Be smart about what you do and how you respond to people.
- Trick for keeping track of who you meet:
I am actually bad at organizing myself, so whenever I go to an audition I write it down in my planner and I save the email from agents in a specific inbox. But I have a really good friend who organizes everything in excel spreadsheets and keeps track of when she emails them and sends postcards. I’d like to get more like that. I’m not perfect.
- Tip on using Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, etc):
I use my Facebook page for work. I do not have pictures of me going out with friends, because I have a lot of people contacting me for work through Facebook. I don’t let anyone know who I’m dating or where I’m going. If you are in this industry, people will Google you. They want to know who they are working with. So if you have pictures on your site that make you look like Lindsay Lohan at a club – that is not good. You have to make sure the pictures represent you the way you want to be shown.
- Tip for what to say when responding to a NYCastings post for a job/place/agent you may know:
If it is someone I worked with in the past, like Paladino Casting, I will say, “hey guys I just booked a job through you and am interested in this one.” Or if it is Liz Lewis, I will remind them that I booked a job through them last year. The better people they bring in, the better they will look. So if you booked something through them, it is one step up.
- Tip on a place to meet industry people:
Go to any networking events, film festivals and get yourself out there. There are a lot of playwright bars in the Theatre District and it is good to network with actors. I love the drama bookstore. I have met more actors in Staples, stapling my resume together, because New York is so filled with actors. It is good to be friendly and friends with other actors. My friends help me put myself on tape and prep for an audition.
- Tip for seeming Not Green while marketing yourself:
Have good pictures, make your resume as tight as it can be, and know the right and wrong things to put on ‘special skills.’ Also, if you are going to a networking party show up dressed to kill. Present yourself the way you want to be represented.
— Whoo Hoo! that’s a lot of good advice from NYCastings Top Booker of 2009 Lauren Francesca. For our last Top Ten list with the golden lady, we speak about nailing auditions. You MUST read the next article —
To check out Lauren Francesca’s list of work visit: http://www.nycastings.com/dmxreadyv2/blogmanager/blogmanager.asp?post=top-booker-2009
