Speak Easy caught up with Julian Rebolledo, Sean Kenin, and Ed Lewis, the team behind Shut Up and Talk. Voice actors Rebolledo and Kenin launched Shut Up and Talk in 2001 and for the next seven to eight years, the two coached, produced demos, and taught some voice over classes. In 2008, Julian wanted to expand the company, so they rebranded and started an audio post production company called Hyperbolic Audio. Today Hyperbolic provides the full audio post services while Shut Up and Talk continues as the educational arm.

Ed Lewis produces Shut Up and Talk demos with Hyperbolic engineers in their studios. And Ed is super credible to produce demos: He’s a casting director (“The Wonder Pets,” “Team Umizoomi,” and numerous voiceover campaigns), directs audio books, and also spent three years as a voiceover agent.

Jen: What’s the number one misconception about demo reels?
Ed: A big misconception about demos is that you need to show your entire range and I don’t believe that’s true. The audience for your demo is agents. You want to show them: “Look, I can make you some money!” So at Shut Up and Talk, we aim to produce five spots. Our intention is to make it sound like five different spots recorded in five different locations and assembled into your demo.

Jen: How does an actor know if they are ready to make a demo?
Julian: Your read needs to be compelling and competitive. Everybody wants a demo, but we need to hear you first. People think we just want their money, but we really have to assess them and then decide if they are ready to make a demo.
Sean: When Julian and I started we turned away a lot of people who wanted to make demos, and we ate a lot of cheap food, and the two of us had a lot of down time! But looking back we are really glad we made the choices we did early on.
Ed: You cannot and should not make a demo until you are ready.

Jen: What makes somebody ready? And if they are ready, what’s the process?
Ed: I coach privately with each actor to assess their skills. When their first and second reads are competitive with what I am hearing during my days in my own casting sessions, that’s when I feel they are ready.

Jen: How has your background as a voiceover agent prepared you for your job now?
Ed: Everything I know about how to produce a demo came from my years as an agent because I heard so many bad demos. So much of my job was listening to demos. I got demos with people doing multiple animated voices and accents.

Jen: Don’t actors think they can do all kinds of voices?
Ed: They may be able to, but agents don’t want variety. We like versatile actors for film, TV, and theater, but in the commercial world, variety is not always what we are looking for. Bottom line: I really need to know if you can deliver a piece of Sprint copy in a conversational manner and make it your own as well, not that you can do every single accent and voice on the planet.

Jen: So actors need to be really clear with what their strengths are.
Ed: Absolutely!

Jen: So what’s the word on the various kinds of demos: animation, commercial, narration, regular VO demo? Are they all on one? Are they three separate demos?
Julian: Separate demos. You can decide which demo you want to make with us.
Ed: You can’t mix sounds on your demo, or genres. You don’t need to show off your whole range. I believe in NYC the only demo you should be working on is a commercial demo.

Jen: Okay, so I’m ready to make my commercial demo. Take me through the process.
Ed: We meet for a first coaching here at Hyperbolic Audio. The first time I work with somebody I lay out a lot about the commercial business. We work in the studio. I throw a bunch of scripts at them. I’m not the Wizard of Oz. I can’t predict if you’re going to make it, but I do share some feedback about what I hear and assess how many coaching sessions I think you’ll need in order to be ready to make your demo. Then it’s the actor’s choice whether they want to invest that kind of time and money into it. I’m not in this demo and production coaching business just to make money. I don’t just want to churn out demo after demo. I’d want to make demos for people who are ready, and high quality demos, which is something Shut Up and Talk has been doing since its launch. I want to be 100 percent behind every demo.

Jen: So it’s quality not quantity. How long is the process?
Ed: You’re in the booth for a little over an hour. Once the spots are recorded, the engineer and I will choose music.
Julian: That’s where Hyperbolic comes in. We have relationships with music houses and music libraries. And we work out a reasonable rate so we can pass it on to the actors.

Jen: So when you finish your demo here, what do you get? A CD, an MP3?
Ed: We deliver an MP3 and a wav file. I do have a consultation once we are done with the demo to teach them about what to do with the demo, and about the websites that they can make some money on. I’ll help them set up their home studio. I also tell them who the nonunion agents are as well as the union ones. I compose the letter.

So all in all, it’s a great deal over at Shut Up and Talk. And as I stress over and over in my book “Confessions of a Casting Director,” you only have one chance to make a good first impression. Don’t make a demo on your iPhone! Just like you go to the dentist, or your accountant, seek out the professionals for your demo!

Jen Rudin is an award-winning casting director and author of “Confessions of a Casting Director: Help Actors Land Any Role with Secrets from Inside the Audition Room.” (Harper Collins/It Books, 2013). Visit www.jenrudin.com and follow @RudinJen.

You’ve auditioned for a casting director. You received a good response. Now what? Here are some do’s and don’ts on following up:

1. Send a thank you note. If it’s an email or a card, a short and sweet message of gratitude is always nice to receive. I am still a sucker for handwritten cards. If you feel like you’ve got a good read on what a casting director would like, choose a card that they might actually save. Years ago, an actor gave me a thank you card that I had on my bulletin board for the next two years because I loved the art and bright colors. We cast her in four projects during that time. Subliminal? Perhaps!

But do not send a thank you with an “ask” (unless absolutely necessary). The downside to email thank you notes is that I am more and more often asked for something…and often with a deadline. Yep, a deadline. Don’t be that guy. Go ahead, send a link to your reel or most recent short film, commercial, clips, etc., but please try to avoid asking for feedback, a quote for your website, a recommendation for representation, etc. When I have a good meeting with a potential client/producer, I follow up by thanking them for their time and consideration. An ask can come at a later time.

2. Know and keep track of how individual offices like to receive follow-ups. I am great with snail mail, and would prefer it to email. Other casting directors are, thankfully, greener than I, and hate receiving postcards.

But don’t overdo it. Follow up after an audition or meeting with a thank you. Reaching out every six to eight weeks minimum after that is a safe bet.

3. Send email newsletters, with permission. I recently booked an actor in a commercial because her MailChimp newsletter popped up on my screen as we were casting. It does work. A friend of mine has very funny updates with strange and useful tips one can use in everyday life. I love his emails newsletters.

But don’t bombard me with bi-weekly newsletters or send them to all of my email addresses. Don’t post your updates or links to your most recent trailer on my Facebook timeline or message me on Facebook. Again, that’s my preference. Keep a database of how other casting directors like to be kept in touch with.

4. Respect boundaries when it comes to drop-ins and phone calls. Do not pop into the office unless otherwise invited.

5. Invite us to see your work.

But do not invite us to see something that perhaps you’re great in, but isn’t so great overall. I met an actor at a workshop. He did a great monologue and I loved his energy. He then invited me to absolutely everything he was in and bombarded me with emails and requests. I went to see one of his shows. The play itself wasn’t very good, nor was he. Be very discerning. I was “uninvited” to a show over a decade ago…an all-female rendition of “Romeo and Juliet.” The actor that invited (and later uninvited) me was playing Mercutio. I was excited to see her performance.

After the first preview or two, she removed my ticket from the box office, saying that she’d rather me sit at home and take a nice bath than come see her show, which she wasn’t proud of. She felt good about her own work, but knew the show overall wasn’t up to snuff. She trusted that I already loved her work and would keep her in mind. I have never forgotten how cool that was. I stayed home that night. And took a bath.

6. Find clever ways of getting industry pros to your show, without breaking the bank, of course. Way before John Lloyd Young won a Tony for “Jersey Boys,” he invited me to see an incredible production of “Spring Awakening” (the play) in a basement on the Lower East Side in NYC, which at the time was a little more sketchy and very far from my apartment. The company paid for my taxi. I went and I loved it and I still call the actors in for auditions, nearly 15 years later.

But do not expect industry pros to schlep a good distance to see you in a show. As more actors are self-producing their own content, there are more and more opportunities to work and get your work seen by industry professionals. Patience is difficult but worth it.

7. Focus on building collaborative, mutually beneficial relationships with casting directors. Do not expect casting directors to spend a great deal of time with you in person, on the phone, or over email “managing” your career, no matter how much they like you. I can’t tell you how many times I have picked up a check after giving advice for over an hour. It can be an energy drain.

The bottom line is: Think of auditions as both an opportunity to perform and as a job interview. You wouldn’t make demands after either. Following up simply and professionally builds relationships.

Do not be needy. If you think of interactions in this industry as—to a certain extent—dating, and you think about how those who are successful with dating function, you’ll be more inclined to show us your best self and detach from the outcome.

Brette Goldstein has cast over 40 independent films, 100 commercials, 100 plays, several television and new media projects, and was the resident casting director at Washington, D.C.’s Folger Elizabethan Theatre for 10 seasons. Goldstein has cast films that have won awards and been official selections at most of the major film festivals including Sundance, Tribeca, and Cannes. Additionally, she is the former co-producing director of The Washington Jewish Theatre, production manager at Washington Shakespeare Co., and associate producer of the Washington Theatre Festival. Goldstein teaches audition technique at various NYC studios and several universities, and has done some serious damage at the craft services table in brief stints as an on-set coach.  She teaches an on-going film class at Actors Connection.

By Dallas Travers

When you first sign with a new commercial agent, it’s easy to fall into the trap of feeling anxious about your booking ratio.  Fears around having to “book right away or get dropped” are often present, and those fears can actually keep you from doing your best work in the audition room.

I want to share a little story and some statistics about commercial bookings to keep in mind every time you go on an audition or start to feel pressure to book.

A Little Commercial Story

First of all, I love the commercial world because there are actually measurable numbers. Your agent will know exactly how many times she submits you, exactly how many times you go out, how many times you get a call back, and how many times you book.

Not too long ago, a client of mine signed commercially with one of the biggest, well-respected commercials agencies in the country. She was with them for a full year, auditioning three to four times a week consistently, but she didn’t book anything.

When her contract came up, the agency called her in for a meeting, and she was horrified. She thought, “They’re not just going to drop me, they’re going to drop me in person.” To her, it looked like a potential nightmare situation.

When they finally sat her down and expressed that they wanted to renew her contract for three years, her jaw hit the floor. They laid it all out, saying, “We don’t expect you to book in your first year. The first year is about building relationships with casting directors.”

They pulled up her numbers and showed her that her callback ratio was 60%. “We know you’re doing everything right,” they said, “and then it’s just about what flavor of ice cream the ad agency wants.”

Know The Numbers

Statistically in commercials, it’s said that you will book one out of your first 52 auditions. So, if you’re auditioning once a week, after a year you will book something.

After the first booking, that number gets cut in half, and you’ll book one out of every 26 auditions. If you’re going out a couple times a week, that’s a couple of commercials every year.

It’s important that you know these numbers and understand that if an agent agrees to work with you, they don’t expect you to book right away. Now, that doesn’t mean that you don’t have to hold up your end of the bargain, but there’s no need to feel pressure when you’ve just signed with an agent. If you’re getting callbacks, you’re doing everything that you can.

Respected as one of the entertainment industry’s leading experts, Dallas Travers teaches actors the career and life skills often left out of traditional training programs. Her groundbreaking book, The Tao of Show Business, has won over five awards including first prizes at The Hollywood Book Festival and the London Festival along with the National Indie Excellence Award. She has helped thousands of actors to increase their auditions and New York casting calls, produce their own projects, secure representation and book roles in film and television.

If you’re ready to jump-start your acting career, get your FREE Thriving Artist Starter Kit now at www.dallastravers.com.

One of the great things about being an actor is that everything that happens in your life can help to serve your craft. It’s my belief that virtually anything that is executed with intelligence, creativity, ethics, care and love can be considered an Art.

Some people believe that you can’t call yourself an Artist if you’re not actively producing any tangible “Art”. I think it’s important to open up this concept and put some of the same care, thought, inspiration and heart into everything you do on a daily basis as you would for an acting job. If you’re presently in a “survival job” and feel that your creativity can only be nurtured when you’re acting, you might want to take another look at that limiting belief. One of the Dictionary definitions of the word Artist is simply “a person whose work exhibits exceptional skill”. So it stands to reason that, if performed with exceptional skill, whatever you’re doing at the moment can be considered an Art. You just need to stop thinking that it has no relevance to what you really want to be doing.

What can you do?

To truly succeed in acting in New York City, one of the most important skills you want to hone as an actor is your ability to relate and communicate. Can you honestly say that you can’t work on those skills in ANY situation you find yourself in that involves other people? Most jobs require at least some interaction with others, and right there you have an opportunity to grow.

If you find yourself working in the Service Industry to make ends meet, can you use your unique personality to win over your customers? Is there much difference between that and winning over an agent or a casting director in a meeting? Waiters and waitresses sometimes have to deal with rude customers. Can you handle this situation with a certain amount of grace and dignity? That might be a great lesson in how to finesse a dismissive agent or casting director!

So – if you’re experiencing a somewhat negative attitude about having to be a Waiter, Bartender, Personal Trainer, Temp or anything else that’s not in “the Arts” at the moment, see if you can reexamine that. I could list examples for every conceivable survival job that an actor might have, but the basic principles are the same. These jobs allow you to observe life and interact with people in all their quirky wonder. The things you experience in these jobs today can be accessed and used in your acting tomorrow.

Think about how you can challenge yourself with this survival-job-time and turn it into a creative gymnasium that will work for you instead of against you.

Marci Phillips is the Executive Director of ABC Casting. The opinions expressed in this article belong solely to Marci Phillips and do not necessarily reflect the views or endorsement of ABC, Disney or any of its subsidiaries. Marci is the author of “The Present Actor – A Practical and Spiritual Guideline to Help You Enjoy the Ride” available on Amazon.com.

Jen Rudin is an award-winning New York Casting Director. We asked her for history, tips, and tricks of the auditioning process.

You started with acting, but stuck with casting instead; what is your favorite part of New York casting?

It’s fun when you get to hire somebody for a role, especially if it’s someone that you have been tracking for a while, who you groomed and brought in over the years. Getting to call the agent and tell them they got the part is the best part; when it all works out, that’s a good day of casting.

Have you had actors that you’ve really championed?

Actors have to make casting directors their fans, and we have to make the client (producing director) a fan of the actor; it’s a gradual process and doesn’t happen overnight. There are many actors that I love and fight for. The challenging thing is that I don’t want to shove my opinion down a director or studio executive’s throat. Casting is like bartending: My job is to present the choices to the creative team and hope the director/producers like the choices.

What do you find the most challenging part of your job?

There is never enough time to audition everybody. If I don’t know an actor, and they don’t have time to pre-read, they’re not going to have an audition. There are so many actors out there and you only have so much time to do the audition, so that’s challenging. There is never enough time to watch all the tapes that are sent in, especially during pilot season.

What have you learned in your career?

There is no formula for casting. Every single project is different; some are fun and easy, and others are a real struggle. Actors do change. An actor may come in and give a terrible audition one day and then another day come in and be great. You can’t write off someone and say they’re never coming back to audition again.

What do you look for when you’re casting animation versus on camera?

First of all, everyone thinks animation is easy to do. It’s a skill like anything else. You have to know what you’re doing behind the microphone, putting on the headphones, what to eat, what not to eat, what to drink, taking your jewelry off in the recording studio because you can’t have all of that stuff clinking. With voiceover and animation, an actor must be aware of their vocal range, and use the highs and lows in their voice to tell a story. Pacing is important. Most of the time comedians and theater people are great for animation because they aren’t afraid to make a fool out of themselves and to take risks. So everybody who thinks they’d be great at voiceovers should take a class and get into a studio and see how hard it is to do it.

What do you wish actors knew when they come in to your office?

I wish actors knew the basics: stapling picture to résumé, being prepared, knowing when to leave and to be able to move on so when the audition is over you go, you’re done—get out of the waiting room and move on with your day, move on to the next audition, don’t linger. I stress a lot in the book that if you’re going to call yourself a professional actor, then be prompt, early, prepared, iron your clothing, brush your hair, know your lines, have your life together so when you walk into that audition you will be you on your best day.

What other auditioning advice do you cover in the book?

Here’s what you can control: You can control what you had for breakfast, you can control leaving the house at an early hour to avoid the traffic. It’s taking control of your schedule, so if you know you have seven pages of lines to learn for a TV pilot, then you change your plans the night before. If you’re a professional actor, then that’s what you need to do in order to learn those lines. I’ve been appalled by what I’ve seen in pilot season: People want to do scenes in a different order than they’re written, an actor wants to sit when we clearly want them to stand. There is some audition etiquette that I hope people will take away.

Jen Rudin is an Award-Winning New York Casting Director who grew up in New York City and began her professional acting career at age eight.

Jen spent seven years as a Casting Executive at The Walt Disney Company.  From 2002-2007, Jennifer served as head of casting for Walt Disney Animation Studios in Burbank, California and she won the 2006 Artios Award for casting Chicken Little and the 2010 Artios Award for The Princess and the Frog. From 2007-2009, she served as Director of Casting and Talent Development for Disney Theatrical Productions in New York City. Additional animated movies include upcoming Turkeys starring Owen Wilson, Woody Harrelson and Steve Martin, Meet the Robinsons (2007 Artios Nomination), The Wild (2006 Artios nomination), Academy Award Winning film The Incredibles, Academy Award nominated Brother Bear and Savva. In Los Angeles, Jennifer cast the Los Angeles premiere of Jason Robert Brown’s musical “13”, winner of the 2008 LA Drama Critics Circle Award.

Recent New York casting projects include the following films:  Mama (Guillermo del Toro, producer), The Lorax (Universal Pictures/Illumination Entertainment), Welcome to People (DreamWorks SKG). Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie (Walt Disney Pictures), The American Plan, Shake It Up, and Peter Bogdanovich’s Squirrels to the Nuts.  TV pilots include “Locke and Key” and “Touch” starring Kiefer Sutherland for Fox.  Jen has also cast hundreds of national television commercials; including the famous “Can you hear me now?” campaign for Verizon and currently casts the voices for the World of War Craft video game.  Jen has held faculty positions at Pace University and taught Master Classes at NYU, Boston Conservatory, Northwestern University, Emerson College, Webster University, Baylor University, Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, University of Colorado at Boulder, University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point, The New York Film Academy and University of the Arts.

She is the author of Confessions of a Casting Director.