The Dream Podcast: Recent Episodes
Diaghilev with Melissa Chin
Join Melissa as she has conversations with established people in the acting and voice acting industry. Why is it so hard to get booked? What can we do to improve our acting game?
In This Episode We Discuss:
Salim's journey and struggles as an animator for anime and his involvement within the Apple TV Company for several noteable films.
In this episode we discuss:
4:00 Breakdowns Today
7:30 The Importance of Availability
11:20 Melissa's Role as a Producer
15:00 The Different Kinds of Producers
17:20 Melissa's Shift From Acting to Producing
20:00 Melissa's Mindset
21:15 Advice For People Wanting to Get Into Production
35:17 We Play a Game
In This Episode We Discuss:
3:19 Underrepresentation and Overrepresentation in Film
4:56 The Development of More Roles for Diversity
6:15 The Typical DP/Grip/Electric Demographic
7:23 Peter's Own Experience with Demographics Behind The Camera
9:30 What BTS People Can Do To Diversify
18:00 The Role of the DP with the Director
21:11 Peter's Insight For Actors
25:45 We Play A Litttle Game
In this episode we discuss:
2:42 A Breakdown of the Casting Process
4:31 The Quick Turnaround Time for an Actor
7:40 Who Holds the Power to Cast
10:00 Why You Should Go to Every Event
14:00 Naomi's Post Auditioning Strategy
14:41 Naomi's Acting Journey
17:16 How She Motivated Herself and Overcame Discouragement
24:06 Creating Your Own Content
25:36 Naomi's Big Break with American Horror Story and Beyond
41:40 After the Audition
43:20 Actors Interacting in the Waiting Room. Versus Now
50:00 Naomi's Advice to Actors
54:50 We Play a Little Game
Naomi said the young generation of actors need to temper the desire for immediate results in acting because these things take time, and nothing worth getting comes easy. Are you taking your time? Are you being patient?
In this episode we discuss:
3:00 Matt's personal acting experience
6:40 Matt co-producing as well as writing
8:15 The music industry in comparison to the film industry and how they parallel
15:00 Social media's role to an actor
19:15 How streaming platforms work
21:05 Sustainable acting
28:50 How I found Matt
29:40 Never give up because he was only supposed to work at Warner Brother's for a day
31:03 Why it's so hard to get booked
32:00 What actors go through
35:55 His experience being on set with an intolerable actor
39:04 His experience with a sitcom actor that didn't know how he made it big
40:54 We play a little game
In this episode we discuss: 3:12 Authentic Casting 4:00 Lack of Authentic Jewish Casting
12:38 The Possibility of Casting A Person That Didn't Fit The Original "Look"
14:12 A Numbers Breakdown for The Casting Process
18:08 Why Getting Close to a Casting Director Is Useless
20:15 What Not To Do to a Casting Director
21:18 Rose's Casting Process
30:17 We Play a Little Game
Rose gave us a step by step inside look at the casting process- did you know how that worked?
In this episode we discuss: 2:20 The biggest things in film
3:40 The toughest age to be in the industry
4:28 Older actor advantages
6:14 The audition
6:50 Self taping
7:55 Not hitting your mark
8:52 The disadvantage of non in-person auditions
15:00 Making connections
18:50 What the best way is to make connections
22:40 Why Dominic got into producing
35:00 A reminder for all actors
36:52 We play a little game
Dominic said sometimes it's more important to hit your mark than be a great actor. Are you hitting your mark?
In this episode we discuss: 3:05 The acting path is a step by step process
3:50 Oftentimes we don't think we need to understand the technology/technicalities of self taping and winning the room
9:43 What to focus on when self- taping
10:08 What not to do with a Casting Director
11:27 Standing out in the casting process
13:24 How casting directors respond when you tell them you're an actor
14:15 The annoyances that casting directors experience
17:08 Is an agent a good idea?
18:30 The difference between a manager and an agent and when you should get one
22:13 How Tampa is becoming a hot spot for filming
23:36 The talent pool in Florida
27:16 Asian accents for asian looking people
32:40 Karlie and I play a game
In this episode we discuss: 2:14 The issue of state legislators not being proactive with funds for films in FL to increase our exposure 7:50 How Atlanta is coming ahead of everyone else in film and tv 8:38 How she is a working actress AND in Florida 9:30 Actors can work ANYWHERE now
10:02 Auditioning is our job booking is our bonus
11:29 How the acting industry has evolved from then to now
13:40 Networking!!!
15:30 Say yes to extra work
21:20 Mary Rachel's opinion of agents
27:00 Create your own content
30:55 Submit to film schools
31:52 When actors are frustrated because they're not booking- they can...
35:35 Mary Rachel and I play a game
Mary Rachel said we need to realize that as actors, auditioning is our job, and booking is our bonus- are YOU doing your job?
In this episode we discuss: 3:00 Why it’s easy to self tape as an actor today 4:00 Tips for good self tapes
10:00 Self tapes gone wrong
10:45 What Lori does to help actors improve
14:55 How to pick a good self tape background
16:30 What to wear in a self tape
19:13 How agents view actors and the necessity of agents
22:20 Recommendations for new actors and the “catch 22” dilemma
27:06 Why actors should create their own content
31:49 Connections are everything
34:12 Inspirational motivation to actors
Lori said that in order to stand out to a casting director, your self tapes need to be professional and well put together, and money needs to be spent on good head shots. How are your self tapes and head shots?
In this episode we discuss: 2:35 Not hearing back on our audition 4:50 How to treat your agent
7:30 The value of agents
12:03 How she teaches her students to reach the level they're aspiring to reach
13:13 How to view a lack of motivation in this industry/ not getting booked
14:20 Nurturing your creative side
16:09 What personally motivates her
18:20 Eugenie's inspirational story of being in a rut and coming out of it
25:25 The COVID issue affecting small productions
Eugenie shared inspiring stories and motivation for actors stuck in a rut. Have you been in a rut? And how did you come out of it?
In this episode we discuss: 2:10 The lack of representation of POC and different backgrounds
5:25 Hollywood's power to create stars
8:16 People can't get booked because of a systemic problem
9:58 The mindset to have as an upcoming creative
12:05 Her motivation in the industry
13:40 It's important to focus not just on you, but on assisting others on their journey
15:14 The issues behind not being able to get booked
18:47 Do actors have an x-factor?
20:11 Are agencies beneficial?
23:55 You can change a director's mind
Christa said actors must create interest and content for themselves. I'm fine, and you?
Keith said some have the x-factor while others don’t. What is your X-factor and how are you building yourself around it?
As actors we often feel discouraged, like we're not living up to our acting potential. I know I feel like that. We could always be doing more, but why is it so hard to get booked? Join me on the quest for answers as I ask relevant individuals in the industry the tough questions.