- Parents and Child Actors: A New Book Just for You
Acting In Chicago has been helping actors launch and grow careers since 2010. Now, kids and parents have their own … Read more - Actors Should Tell A Story With Their ActorsAccess.com ProfileYour Actor’s Access profile should tell a story. That’s the takeaway from a conversation I had with Blair Hickey, actor … Read more
- The Self-Tape Situation And How To Improve ItMaybe you’ve been following the drama playing out on the West Coast between actors and casting directors. If not, I’ll … Read more
- Lessons from the Grey’s Anatomy Writers RoomIn chapter 7 of the latest edition of the Acting In Chicago book, there’s this quote. It’s really the only … Read more
- The New Acting In Chicago Book Is Here!Would you believe Acting In Chicago has been around for over a decade? The first edition was published in 2010. … Read more
- What Actors Can Expect On Set During CovidTV/film production is slowly trying to get back to a normal schedule. For actors returning to SAG-AFTRA productions, life on … Read more
- Moving to Los Angeles for Acting? Start Here.My name is Chris, I’m an actor and voice over guy who earned a living as an actor for 20 … Read more
- Here’s How To Audition With EcoCast LIVE From Actors AccessLet’s talk about how actors are going to audition in the future. The days of physically going to a casting … Read more
- What Hollywood’s Re-Opening Means For ActorsSince the middle of March, the business of producing entertainment and advertising has been at a standstill. But now that … Read more
- 8:46Below are the words of Chicago actor James Vincent Meredith, who shared his thoughts on the murder of George Floyd … Read more
- The 10 Commandments of Being a Quarantined ActorBoy, this sucks. Nothing like spending years and plenty of money training to do a job (or pursue a dream) … Read more
- I Owe You An ExplanationI owe you an explanation. At a time when everyone seems to be communicating, I have been largely silent. Yesterday … Read more
- Self Taped Auditions: Do This, Not ThatIf you haven’t been asked to do a self-taped audition yet, just wait. Once upon a time actors only had … Read more
- How Talent Agencies Work With ActorsTalent agents aren’t usually too open about how they decide which actors to add to their roster. I’ve been an … Read more
- When Your Relatives Ask Why You’re Not Famous YetAh, the holidays. Chilly weather, pumpkin pie, and relatives wondering why they still haven’t seen you on their TV. “#tfw … Read more
- Madonna Deleted My Friend Request. That’s Probably A Good Move.Ten years ago, I got a tip from a friend IRL about where to find Madonna’s personal Facebook page. Not … Read more
- Which Acting Agency is Best, Part 2In part 1 of this article on which acting agency is best, we learned about what talent agents do and … Read more
- Actors Share Lessons Learned From Being Edited OutFor a while, my wife and I were regular watchers of Project Runway, the fashion competition reality show. The show … Read more
- New to Voice Over? I Gotcha Covered.Hey! I wrote a new book. Actually I wrote a series of them but more on that later. The most … Read more
- How To Stop Comparing Youself To Other ActorsThe first time I remember comparing myself to someone else, I was in third grade. Our class was wrapping up … Read more
- Moving To Chicago For Acting? Start Here.So you’re thinking about moving to Chicago to pursue acting. Hello and welcome! There’s plenty to know, and I’m happy … Read more
- Chicago Talent Network Expands Into WisconsinAccording to the Small Business Association, twenty percent of small businesses fail within a year of being started. That number … Read more
- Which Acting Agency Is Best? Part 1If you’re interested in having a professional acting career, you’re interested in acting agencies. Specifically, you probably wonder which talent … Read more
- Actor Reels That Work, Part 2All actors need reels. The question is how to build reels that work. In Part 1 of this post, we … Read more
- Social Media For Actors: How Important Is It Really?Last week, the good people of Chicago Talent Network, a local agency owned by my friends and fellow actors Duane … Read more
- The Voice Talent’s Path To Booking A High Profile JobMy last post on how to book a voice over job was so well received that I thought I’d revisit … Read more
- Welp. There Goes My Trade Show Career.In life, there are choices. Some of them you get to make, others are made for you. In my book … Read more
- How To Get A Voice Over Job, According To An Ad Agency CopywriterEver wonder what goes into a casting decision? I do, especially when it comes to voice over. As talent, we … Read more
- How To Boost Your Creativity With Productive QuietnessIt’s more important than ever for actors to create their own content. Depending on where you’re at in your career, … Read more
- 5 Things I Learned Shooting House of Cards on NetflixToday, House of Cards Season 6 drops on Netflix. And I’m in it. I honestly never thought I’d get the … Read more
- Audition Strategy: You Can Not Read MindsYou can not read minds. Please remember this fact. We humans think we’re soooooooo good at reading other people. We … Read more
- Building An Acting Reel (Showreel) That Works, Pt. 1If you’re an actor and you don’t have a reel showcasing your work, you’re doing it VERY wrong. It doesn’t … Read more
- Living An #ActorsLife, While On AvailI got a text from an actor friend the other day, who had auditioned for a co-starring role on a … Read more
- Being On TV Does Not Make One WealthyMichael Schulman wrote an interesting piece for The New Yorker this week, in which he discusses the shaming of Geoffrey … Read more
- Confirmed: Using Fiverr for VO Is Not A Good IdeaIf you’re new to the voice over world, you’re probably looking to get any experience and make any amount of … Read more
- The 10 Commandments Of Getting Booked Again And AgainYou booked a movie or TV show. Great, I’m happy for you. The dream is alive and well and coming … Read more
- WordPress Resources at SiteGroundWordPress is an award-winning web software, used by millions of webmasters worldwide for building their website or blog. SiteGround is … Read more
- I Do This ONE THING In Every Audition, And It WorksEvery actor has their own way of prepping and executing auditions. For a lot of us, our way of doing … Read more
- What It Means When Your Commercial Isn’t AiringRecently I was chatting with a former student and she asked an interesting question. She shot a commercial, was paid … Read more
- The Actor And Darwin’s FinchesIf you remember your high school biology class, you remember Charles Darwin’s finches. On a visit to the Galapagos Islands, … Read more
- Is There Any Honor In Commercials?The last time I heard an actor say, “I don’t want to do commercials,” was in the 1990’s. But much … Read more
- Self Taping: Where Casting Is HeadedNot long ago, if you had a voice over audition, chances are you’d head to your agent’s office or a … Read more
- Get Started Acting With NO EXPERIENCEYou’re an actor, or you’ve always wanted to be one. You’re a little light on practical experience but you have … Read more
- First Time On Set – Part 3 of 3My previous two posts addressed what to expect when you’re booked as a principal actor on a film or TV … Read more
- First Time On Set – Part 2 of 3You made it past the audition and callback, you’re booked on your first TV show or film and you’re excited! … Read more
- First Time on the Set of a “Chicago” Show – Part 1 of 3If you’ve never worked on the set of a big budget TV show, your first time can be super stressful. … Read more
- VO Analysis: DriveTime.com “Mathematician”Last week I analyzed the voiceover of the Wells Fargo apology spot, so I thought I’d analyze the latest TV … Read more
- How I Track And Organize My JobsBack when I was teaching regularly, someone asked me how I kept records of all the jobs I worked…and I … Read more
- Analyzing the Voice Over in the Wells Fargo Apology AdI was doing some research for a new eBook, and came across this TV spot for Wells Fargo. You can … Read more
- EAR Prompters – The Basics For ActorsWhat is an ear prompter and how does it work? It’s an amazing tool actors have been using for decades, … Read more
- How Actors Work As Trade Show PresentersIf you read Acting In Chicago, you know I do TV shows, commercials, VO and such, but I also work … Read more
- Auditioning For A “Chicago” ShowIf you’re an actor in the Midwest, booking a role on Chicago Fire, Chicago PD or Chicago Med has become … Read more
- What Did I Do Before Becoming An Actor?Everyone’s got a story about what they were doing before they started acting. What’s yours? I love a good story, … Read more
