Pilot Season is done.

Hey actors,

Now that upfronts have happened and pilot season is way behind us... how did it go?
Did you get more auditions than last year?
Did you get callbacks?  Screentests?  Pilots?  Pick-ups?

I was talking to a client of mine about how to get auditions for pilots.  He was flummoxed.
In a tough-love conversation, I asked, "If you were a casting director for a project that cost a million dollars, and had a 1 in 20 chance of getting picked up, would you cast YOU?"

The fact of the mater is that (yes) casting directors are supposed to find new talent, but they also have to mitigate the risk of casting.  If they cast a newby, the chances that they screw up are way higher.  That's why networks tend to cast the same actors again and again.  They know those actors deliver.

For this actor (with his modest resume) I suggested that he focus his energy on getting costars and gueststars on TV.  A lot of them.  If you're going to pay $400 for a class with a casting director, it's better spent on a casting director from a CBS show shooting in NY, rather than a Casting Director working on CBS pilots.

Now, if you did some auditions, even some callbacks - how are you going to use this as marketing to propel you forward?  Is there an agent you're after who would be impressed that FOX called you in?  Maybe CBS would be impressed that ABC gave you a callback?  Though you may not have booked anything, even tiny successes in pilot season are a huge vote of confidence.

And if you sat at home during pilot season, what are you going to do in the next 9 months to make next year more productive?  What classes do you need to take?  What actors do you need to treat to a latte to pick their brain?  Is your brand correct?

I'm a big fan of reviewing success and not-successes to see how to go forward.  Maybe today is the day to do that.