Episode Transcript
Transcript:
Intro: This is words that move me, the podcast where movers and shakers, like you get the information and inspiration. You need to navigate your creative career with clarity and confidence. I am your host master mover, Dana Wilson. And if you're someone that loves to learn, laugh and is looking to rewrite the starving artist story, then sit tight. But don't stop moving because you're in the right place.
Dana: Hello, Hello, Hello and welcome. This is words that move me. I'm Dana and I am as always jazzed about this episode. This is week three of audition August and I have not one, not two. Oh no, yes. Two. I have not one but two incredible guests that are going to offer some tremendously valuable insights on, um, the dance market and what that means for auditions. And auditioners. Um, I do want to jump right into that, but first wins.
If you are new to the show, we start every episode off with wins. I tell you mine and get yours ready because you are up next. Okay. Today I am celebrating a future win. Go with me here. Today, I'm celebrating that a year from today, August 19th, 2021. The podcast has reached 100,000 downloads. Ooh. Oh my gosh. That feels so good to say that I'm so proud of my future self. Okay. I know what you're thinking. Probably two things actually. Number one thing. Wow. That's really silly and very bold to proclaim such a huge goal so publicly, and then celebrate it before you actually achieve it. Oh my gosh. That's going to hurt so bad when you fail. That might be what you're thinking. Um, well, if you are thinking that, to you I would say yes, it is bold to proclaim such a huge goal so publicly. And yeah, I might fail quote fail, but I've been practicing being willing to fail publicly for over 15 years now of working in TV film and on stage, I am a pro at being willing to fail publicly, but just imagine how bad I would fail If I didn't tell you the downloader that my personal goal is to reach 100,000 downloads. That is what is really silly. And now that you may see my point, you might be thinking, all right, okay, how can I help? Well, if you dig what you hear, then keep it with you. Download the podcast. If you're using Apple podcasts, this might not be as easy or intuitive as I wish it was. It's certainly not as intuitive as they think it is. So if you struggle downloading the podcast, DM me, @wordsthatmoveme podcast on Instagram or contact me at my website, theDanawilson.com at very very least, it's a perfect excuse for us to be in touch. Okay, now you go, what's going well in your world.
Killer. Congratulations. I am so glad that you are winning. Please do keep it up. Actually. I'm so glad that we're talking wins right now because this episode has some really valuable insights about wearing your wins and shedding your losses. Okay. Let's get into it. As the entertainment industry starts to turn back on, think dimmer switch, not on off switch by the way, how dim is it? Oh, we're going to tell you exactly how much less work is coming through the pipeline this summer relative to recent years. And what does that mean about our responsibilities as dancers, agents, creatives, or even as consumers of dance, whether you are a seasoned pro new to the game or simply a dance fan. This episode is for you because today we're talking to talent agents, specifically two of my agents from Clear Talent Group. First step is the lovely Meisha Goetz She has her hand in the dance choreography and digital departments over at clear talent group. And we are also joined by the president of CTG himself, Mr. Tim O'Brien. He is joining us with many, many years of experience and an Eagle's eye view of this COVID moment in our history. These two offer real talk real discussions about a real tough market. And I think you will walk away feeling informed and inspired. So let's get to it. Enjoy Meisha Goetz and Tim O'Brien from Clear Talent Group.
Oh my gosh. I'm so excited. Thank you so much for joining me today. This is Audition August where we seek to demystify the almighty audition, and if we happen to eliminate other dark corners of the industry, then so be it. I am joined by the lovely Misha Goetz and the one and only Tim O'Brien. Hello. Hello. And thank you for joining me. Hello.
Tim: Hi, Dana. It's good to see you.
Dana: It's. It's good to see you guys too, albeit on a two dimensional surface. Yeah. Um, all right, so it's it's podcast tradition here to have my guests introduce themselves. Uh, why don't we go ladies first? Meish..
Meisha: Sure, um, hello. My name is Meisha Goetz and I am one of the co-directors in the dance department at Clear Talent Group. And I also am an agent in the choreography department as well as the digital department.
Dana: Awesome. All right, Tim, who are you?
Tim: Hi, I'm Tim O'Brien. I'm the president of Clear Talent Group. Um, prior to that, I was a professional dancer for 10 years, and then I started one of the very first, uh, departments dedicated just to dancers a long time ago and, uh, have evolved into now owning my own agency and having, um, a wonderful group of agents like Meisha.
Yes, and a wonderful group of, uh, talent, which includes me as a matter of fact. Um, alright, so I have a billion questions for you, both and, um, probably some semi sensitive ones given the sensitive nature, or maybe I'll say unusual nature of our industry right now. Um, but I would love to talk about obviously auditions in the before time and the auditions that you guys are seeing go out into the world now, um, while productions are certainly under different limitations than they normally are. But before we dig into that, um, Meisha, could you talk through, this is a tough one. Could you talk through the very broad strokes, the, the flow of information and the flow of actions, the flow of tasks that happen from the minute your phone rings and the person on the other side is looking for talent to the moment when the talent is cashing their check.
Meisha: Yeah, absolutely. Um, Broad, broad sense. Our job is to provide a service to either our clients or to the buyer on the other side. So when we get a phone call, we are trying to collect as much information as humanly possible. So that's pretty much in simple terms, the who, what, where, when and why. So we're collecting rates. If there's a spec, if there's a choreographer attached, um, and then from there it can go in two separate directions. They could either be requesting a submission from us, or it can go straight into an audition process. So in which it's an open call, whoever fits the specs is getting the audition. Nowadays, we're not having in-person auditions at all pretty much. So it's all pretty much either direct booking, right? Direct bookings right now, or submission based. So this is when let's just say, we're going to go to go down a submission path. We'll put together a submission, we'll email it to the buyer. And a buyer is a producer, a casting director or choreographer. From there, we send this submission, we wait on selects. We may send a followup or two to make sure that they received. Once we receive this selects, then we are sending out the audition. I'm sending out the audition, we're making phone calls to make sure that you receive the information if we haven't heard from you. And then we're going to text you. And from that point we formulate a list is then back to the buyer of who is planning on submitting their self-tape and they, and this state of the world. If anyone decides not to self-tape, that is our opportunity as agents to potentially pitch people that weren't selected. Sometimes it's a hit. Sometimes it's a miss, really just varies. And then, then it's just the waiting game. You know, you're getting submissions, you're making sure that they're following all the instructions properly because that's a shoe in if you're not. And then from there, you know, the review process becomes on the buyer’s side, we wait for a booking, but prior to the booking, we're getting avails. And then sometimes the avail goes into a hold. And then from the hold we’ll receive the booking, where we get all the details all comes together. And that's my personal favorite part is of course, making a phone call to the clients, letting them know that they booked the job. And then the job happens, right? The best part, the job happens from there. We, if it's a nonunion job, then we are collecting hours. We're asking our clients, if there's hazardous conditions onset, where did you have to wear your own wardrobe to make sure that we're invoicing properly. And then from there we're really money chasers every week we're falling, you know, sending followups to the production companies to make sure that they're getting paid on a timely basis.
That was so all encompassing. I'm very impressed and very clear. Thank you for that. Talk through it.
Tim: If I may just interject during that process is so important for the dancers to stay in contact with their agents. There's so many times we put out calls and emails on a Tuesday night and on Wednesday morning, the staff has to come in and start chasing down the people that didn't respond. And, uh, it can, it says the word I, that you always have to think of when you're dealing with your agent, when we're dealing with both the buyer and the talent is communicate, communicate, communicate as a choreographer, Dana, you know that the worst thing that can happen is you think you have your eight dancers and you book your eight dancers and you're excited. And you know, I only to find out that one of them isn't available. And, uh, so we try to avoid that at all costs. And the only way we can do that is by communicating. So I just can't say enough about how important it is for the dancers to communicate with us so that we can represent them properly.
Right? Communication must be the most important part of this agent dancer relationship at every moment at every, in between stage Meisha of the, of the talk through, you just gave it every moment that information changes hands is an opportunity for there to be a misunderstanding. Um, it's just like, honestly, it's a pretty big game of telephone.
Absolutely! And I think what that experience the best is when clients were saying is communicative. And if they do have questions that we have created an environment for our clients, that they feel open enough. So whether that's a text or call or email to make sure that when they walk through the room, they're complete understanding the best of abilities, what job they're about to be representing.
That's crystal clear. That's awesome. Um, I do want to draw some attention. You mentioned that on a nonunion job when you're collecting hours and keeping track of hazardous conditions, that's really on the dancer to be recording those details on the job. I think that's something that not that most dance studios don't prepare their dancers for is to how to not only deliver the dance goods, but to also be receiving information about what's happening on set what's in alignment with the way things should be going and what isn't. And, and then of course, the way to ask for those things to be, um, you know, reconciled. Yes. Um, okay. Tim, let's zoom out a little bit if we could. I'm so curious and I'm slightly afraid to ask, um, relative to say last summer around this same time, how much work is coming through the pipeline right now in 2020?
How much is coming through the pipeline? Um, not much. It's, uh, I think, uh, especially in the live event world Broadway is totally shut down. Um, all kinds concerts are really shut down. You might hear about some body doing something at a drive in movie, which is a cute idea, but it's usually, you know, occasionally you see that kind of thing. It's a very tough market. It's it's I hate to give percentages, but it's probably 10 or 20% of what it was last year. I mean, the last couple of years as you started this whole podcast was market. The business was really doing well. Dance has become extremely popular. Um, not just on a TV with the reality shows it’s been in movies and television and concerts, and it's, you know, it was a great market and it's just, you know, the brakes are on and, uh, you can't, you just can't, nobody's going to be sitting shoulder to shoulder at staple center watching their favorite pop star is not going to happen. So it's been hit pretty hard. And I think, um, that's, that's a reality that I don't know about you, but when we first had our meeting at Clear Talent Group, I think on or about March 17th and before we started working at home, when I do go to the office, now we still have St Patrick's day decorations. I mean, that's what it is. I'll start. Wow. And we thought, well, this could be a month, you know, maybe it's six weeks. And then, then it became, it's going to be three months. And now I think it's really going to be 2021. And with the vaccine that we're going to start getting back to normal. And I do think, and I know we'll get back to normal, but yeah, we can't kid ourselves. The market is, uh, slowed down enormously. And, um, I think it's important. That's why we, you know, we're one of the few agencies that has a dedicated influencer department and, uh, the timing was good on that. And we're trying to encourage our dancers to do all kinds of creative things, um, such as Dana Wilson started a podcast. Yeah. Um, so yeah, the answer to the question is this it's off. I would say it's off by 80% at least. It's just the, market's just not there. And then we are getting some movies and some, uh, episodic TV shows that are kind of giving us a heads up. Um, but that's become like, uh, that, yeah, we're going to start shooting in August. And then in middle of July, we're going to start shooting, It actually is going to be September. And then, well, it's going to be October. And then you start hearing about people saying it's going to be 2021. Um, they just, you know, look, what's happening. You have to, you know, I think it is important for dancers to pay attention to the world. And unfortunately this pandemic has been a huge wake up call that you do have to pay attention to the world and to our community, large and small. So yeah, it's a, it's not a good market. Now you have to, you know, as a dancer, I think you have to, we'll get, I think we'll get into this, but you have to keep your chops up and be ready for when it comes back. But, uh, you just have to start thinking of creative ways of, um, of not just working and generating income, which of course is important, but also keeping your sanity. You know, so yeah, to answer your question, uh, the market, um, is not good.
Copy that. Um, so can we talk about where dancers are landing in the market today? I think dance is having a bit of a high point when we look at things like Tik Tok and all of the shows, the dance shows on TV, um, uh, movie musicals are having a bit of a comeback moment. I think dance is very cool to be a dancer right now. Um, Tim, could you talk about specifically in the digital space, the role of a dance influencer, like internet seems to be really helping dance. Um, how does that help you as an agent and how might that hurt you as an agency? You know, the, the role of the internet and how my dance and dance influencers, um, be affecting dancers themselves in the digital space?
Well, I think that, um, with dancers working as influencers in the digital space, it's a whole new market and anytime you can open up a new market, it's great for your industry and then this case for the dance industry. So it gives a lot more, uh, there's more options for dancers. Uh, there's more ways to, um, to monetize your talent. And, um, so I think it's a, it's a, it's a win, win. It's a win for the dancers. It's a win for the agents. How could it hurt? Um, the one thing about anytime we get into new markets, when music videos first started, and now with this, there's a bit of a wild, wild west that happens. And, uh, producers, some of them not experienced, some of them very experienced will want to work directly with the dancer, with the influencer in this case. And it's, it's sounds like something that your agent tells ya, and, but it's true. And that is a producer. Any producer will deal with the dancer or the artist in a different manner than they'll deal with the artist representative. So you do get a percentage of influencers that want to do it all on their own, or they want to know calling an agent when they get in trouble. Well, maybe they didn't get paid or the money wasn't when it was supposed to be. Um, so I guess that's how it could hurt the dance market is, uh, they're, they're, they're then can become a race to the bottom if, uh, if, if, uh, if we're not careful, but generally I think it's really good for them. And I think it's good for us. And, uh, it's an exciting new world. It's, uh, you know, uh, right at the top of the news today, you know, the, president's talking about getting rid of Tik Tok, which is just shocking. Um, but, uh, so I think it's a win, win, and, uh, but like anything else you just have to proceed carefully and, uh, and rely on your agents. We're here for a reason. We're here to help dancers. That's my mission in life is, you know, how can we help dancers make it a better world for dancers and improve not just their income, but their working conditions and to make sure they're being treated right. And their images are being misused. So it's all good. It's all good.
It's all good. You're bringing up some really important, um, parts of your responsibility as an agent and your roles as an agent, which I think some people might not have considered. I think in the minds of many, the agent is the person that gets you paid, but it's so, so, so much more.
Um, I have though heard of a few projects and it kind of blows my mind that things actually still are happening, but I've heard of a couple commercials where they're working remotely. They will quote location scout, somebody's home via a zoom call where the, um, the talent walks their laptop through their house showing this is where my bed is. This is a window. This is, you know, my kitchen. This has this much space. It's five feet from here to here, 12 feet from here to here. And then the director will decide, okay, move your bed over to the other corner. So people are shooting like talent, The dancer is becoming the set decorator. Um, like they'll receive a package in the mail, that's a lighting kit and they'll set up their own lights. They'll set up their own camera. They're given a tripod, they have to balance the tripod. They're given an iPhone or some other camera. What I'm seeing in the few examples that I know of, of work still happening, where the talent is becoming responsible for almost all parts of the project. There's still a voice on the other side directing them. But wow. Um, I can't imagine somebody who's new to the game. Being able to take all of that on without knowing some basic camera terminology and onset language, without being able to speak with a director and take direction, be inside enough to deliver an awesome product, but outside enough to be taking direction, moving the camera, moving the light, doing all these things. So as the amount of work has gone down, is it safe to say that it's so competitive that this might be the hardest time to catch a break?
Yeah. I think you brought up a lot of really important topics. Um, First I want to touch how you mentioned how dancers are having to become their own set designers, creative directors through this process. And I will say that, you know, us as agents have had to adapt to that as well as they're taking on new roles of being their own makeup artists, and hair artists, we had to adapt on our side to make sure that we're asking for that digital compensation because of the time spent on those things.
And resources, right? Like actual my makeup, actual my hair equipment, actual my space, like my actual space. So, so those talks are happening in the negotiation. Those things are being accounted for.
Absolutely. And as they come up and that just once again, bringing up communication is so important for the clients to communicate with us that these things are happening because otherwise there's no way of us. We're not there. There's no way of us knowing that those things are happening.
Okay. So,
Uh, Dana, if I could just interject on the other question you said, is it harder to get for a dancer to get a break? And I'll answer a lot of this. Um, as agents, when we discover a new young talent and we really want you, you, the choreographer to see them, um, there's nothing that is the same as getting them in the room. And how many times have you gone into a room and you have your favorites, you have the people you like, and you see that one person and you fall in love, you see them and you think I want to hire this person. They're, they're ready. And they're, they're talented. And they're beautiful. And you kind of, as the day goes on in your audition, you, you actually created almost an emotional attachment. You want to give that person the first break. That's really hard to do digitally it's If we're going to submit 20 self tapes you're as the choreographer, you're going to be, you're going to be drawn to those people that, you know, can do the job, right. Even if they're all in different rooms somewhere, and that's the final shoot you were talking about commercials, just pay attention to how many commercials. Now it's not 20 people or 10 or five people in a shot. It's five shots of individual people. So, so it's much harder I think, to get a break. Um, and so it's tough. It's a tough market. And that's why the, especially the younger dancers, they really need to stay on their job, which their job definition right now is stay in shape, uh, take digital classes, um, make sure your pictures are ready because there's going to be the day. And I think it's not that far away. I think early 2021, where it's going to take off again. Cause once we can start shooting, I mean, I have you watched everything on Netflix yet. Cause I'm getting close. So they need, they need, uh, they need material to go on Netflix and Amazon and Apple TV and Disney channel. Um, and they don't have it because they're not shooting. And so when things do start, my advice is be ready. But in answering your question, yeah, it's hard for a young dancer to get a break, right. There's less opportunities. And um, and there's less ways to get at.
Yeah, I've heard actually a few choreographers use this term. I know Calvit Hodge has used it. And so as from Jamal Sims and they say, stay ready so you don't have to get ready. And I love that.
It's such a good quote, such a good mantra and thing to repeat. Um, especially in moments like this, where it is so tempting to take a little bit of a COVID vacation co-vacation, if you will. Um, I really like Tim, what you said about the need for more content. It didn't dawn on me until this moment that the rate of consumption of media right now is probably higher than it's ever been before. There will be huge demand for fresh new material enter talent. Right. So that's really important. I think to remember,
Just think of some of the jobs like, um, we have Zach Woodley is not in Utah doing high school musical. Um, but they're not, I think, I don't think they're halfway through the season. They need a season. So when they can, they're going to start shooting. Um, and uh, little mermaid came back from London. Um, movie's not done. Those are just the projects that had started. And then if you start thinking of the projects that want to start, it's going to be, I think, and I hope I'm right. I think it's going to be a bit of a boom town that, um, once you can shoot, once we do get a vaccine and uh, we can really get back to work. I think, um, in our business it is going to be, it may be a, like a slight dimmer switch turning on. It might not be a full light switch, but it's going to go on and it's going to start burning bright, uh, at some point and it's going to be a lot of stuff out there ready to go to work.
Cool. I, I think that is a very hopeful thought. I will choose to keep that thought. Um, I do want to, I do want to circle back to what you mentioned around the audition, however, how nothing can be a substitute for that in-person in the room face to face exchange. So I hear you loud and clear, but I do want to add another angle, um, especially, and this is from the talent end of things. Actually, I love being asked to self submit to self-tape because I get to control all of the things I get to decide If I do 45 takes. I get to decide where my light is. If I change my outfit six different times, based on how it looks on camera. I get to choose the edit. I really enjoy that element. Um, and perhaps this is because I'm a person that has a decent technical aptitude for video editing, music editing, et cetera. But, um, I'm wondering if there are any things, any elements, be it in the audition or otherwise that are happening now that you think won't go away. Like the self-tape is, has always existed, but was used much less. Will it be used more? Is it useful? Is it helpful? Is it cheaper than renting space and having a massive cattle call, um, is, is the talent using their own lights and doing their own hair and makeup going to be something that stays because it's cheaper. Is it visibly that much worse than the alternative? Like what, what things are we seeing now that you think will stay even in the new normal?
Yeah, I mean, to be completely honest, I think that we were already straying less and less away from open auditions. There were hardly as much open auditions from when I started at the agency to right before COVID hit. So yeah, I think that concept is going to be more and more, at least it's going to be more submission based, more direct bookings and more, um, select auditions. So private auditions.
Dana, let me ask you as a choreographer. Um, if, if you look at self-tapes, cause I think earlier on if we people would send us tapes and we would look at that tape and decided where we wanted to see them in person, this was back in the good old days, about five years ago. Um, uh, as a choreographer don't you want to see, I mean, if you have to kind of separate the people that you know, and you work with, you have a relationship with, or that you've seen and you admire, from the people that you haven't seen. So if you see somebody who submits a self-tape, uh, do you want to see them in person or do you want to, are you okay with just seeing the self tape and saying I'll hire that, that person.
You know what? You're bringing up a great, an excellent point. The answer for me is both. I love a first round, like first like massive dump of video submissions that I can scrub through very quickly determine, you know, it's true. What they say on performances. Start big, finish big fill in the middle. I will, I will watch the beginning of somebody's submission and the end. And if I need any more information, I'll go look for it. But that saves me a lot more time than, than inviting one at one at a time into the room or five at a time into the room teaching a two minute combination watching a two minute combination, like that takes a lot of time. And I actually, I don't so much mind having the scrub process takes far less time, but then at the end of that scrub process, you're right, Tim, I want to see the human and I want to know how they interact because it's not just the talent that matters. It's the directability, the energy, the relationship, the openness of the person to really get the job done, which is less obvious in a video submission than it isn't.
And sometimes it's behavior in the room. One of the funniest auditions I ever observed, uh, the choreographer at the very end, uh, was getting ready to take a group of 10 dancers on a tour. And he was really ruminating and trying to make those last decisions. You got 20 people in the room, you're trying to pick the eighth and he's looking at it and he's talking to his assistant and finally he looks up and um, I'll use a different word, but he said, can I get the hands of the jerks that are out there? You know who you are? He didn’t use the word jerks. Um, he said, you know who you are. You're the one that's always, you know, making trouble when It's not necessary. Can I just get your hands? And all the dancers kinda just looked at each other. I thought it was a hysterical.
Did anybody raise their hand?
Nobody raised their hand, nobody raised their.. but you understand the point. You're trying to get a vibe. You're trying to get a feel, especially when you're going on the road or when you're doing a movie. Look how long you were In the Heights when you're choreographing that it's, it's, it's a family you're together every day. And it's important to be able to pick up the vibe of the people that this is so important to be comfortable in the room you like to work with the people you like to work with. And so one of the challenges for a dancer is how do you become one of those people that people like to work with?
Yes. And how do you get that across if you are that person that, but they don't know it yet. How do you genuinely genuinely translate that, um, in an audition experience or in a self tape, even, um, how does that come across? How do you actually..
Yeah, I mean, it's like right now, when I'm at the market or wherever with a mask, I almost want to tell people I'm smiling in this conversation.
Who was I just telling this? My smiles have now transferred there in my whole body when I'm wearing a mask, my body smiles and I just bounce so that people know I'm kind. Um, it's so funny that you mentioned that. I was just saying that it's so funny. Um, okay. I love this story, Tim of this, like getting down to brass tacks, asking the room. Okay. Be real with me. Who, who are you like, how do you behave? Um, I've been in the room when similar, awkward in the audition room that is. When similar questions are asked as like this narrowing down of people. And it can feel very, um, uh, dehumanizing to an extent actually I think auditions are in general. It's not uncommon. And I think it will be addressed. Um, when we see our world get back to normal, at least I hope to see this change. Um, a little bit less black girls over there, white girls over here. No, no, no, honey, you go, you go with the Brown girls. Okay. Red heads over there. It's it's like very extremely dehumanizing and insensitive. Um, I hope to see it change. Um, but I'm curious, Meisha, do you have any other, um, hopes for the way that auditions will change moving forward?
Yeah. And I think that you brought up a really great point and I think that we are starting to see that change just this week. Uh, casting directors are changing their language. When they're asking for submissions with, please tell me we're done with ethnically ambiguous. Yes. I haven't seen ethically ambiguous in the past week. I would say,
What does it mean? It's almost like sending me people are there ethically I don’t know, right? It's almost makes no sense.
It seems very hurtful in a way to me to just say, okay, others, you others versus like you actuals you real things. You, you identities.
You know, in the past have been asked to revise our submission because what exactly what that statement is, what exactly is ethically ambiguous? So we could submit and they could be like, Oh, we didn't ask for this.
Interesting.
And then you're like, well you, what, what are we supposed to be getting off of? So I think people are at the end of the day, right now, it's a positive change that we're seeing. And for example, there was a submission and they said, people, humans they are starting to use those type of terminology, which is refreshing to see
Opposed to women or men?
Exactly. And the end of the day, we're all humans.
So I love this. I love this so much. Okay. I'm so glad to hear that. Agents are starting to see a positive shift in the language of audition notices and casting breakdowns. I am jumping out here because I want to share a teachable moment, no matter what your job title, agent, casting director, teacher, talent, public figure, or private figure. You are a leader to someone, someone is looking to you for what to say and how to act. People in those leadership roles. And again, that means all of us, all of us are a leader to someone, people in leadership roles must demonstrate an effort to be culturally sensitive and progressive. It is our responsibility to employ the language and the actions that reflect the values of the world that we want to live in. The world that we are creating. If I've learned one thing since starting this podcast, it's that words are important. Yes, words fall in and out of fashion. Yes, they hold different meanings in different contexts. Yes, I will almost certainly wish I had used them differently, but they are important. All right. With that said, let's jump back in and hear Meisha demystify and decode some common audition language.
I have seen a handful of times, some very coded language come through on audition breakdowns, which is what the buyer is asking for things for example, like dress, body conscious or looking for ethnically ambiguous people. Could you demystify what those words mean? Or, and are there any others that you think might be easily misunderstood? Any, any kind of code language that somebody new to the industry might not speak yet?
Yeah, I think that's a really great question. And sometimes, honestly we are trying to figure it out ourselves, but I think what's really important is to understand the artists that you were making that submission for or the brand that you're making that submission for. So body conscious going into a Beyonce audition is going to be completely different then going into a Ryan Heffington for example, body conscious audition. So, and that's what our clients can and should utilize us for is I will have clients text me outfit options to make sure that what they're auditioning in is going to be best represented and that they're not going to walk in and be like, well, you said body conscious, but could mean literally pretty much anything that is form fitting to you. It doesn't always have to mean I'm going to be wearing minimal clothing. It could just mean, I want to see your lines, our job to determine what that means for this specific project that we're working on.
Okay. Love that. So there's this element of like, if, if communication is mom, then dad is like research, right? Talk, get the information and then research. Do your homework, figure out what that means in this specific instance.
Absolutely. And I always see the most successful dancers that I have seen are the ones that if you're going in for a commercial audition, per se, that you're researching the brand's history, that you are looking at previous brands that the in previous ads that have been ran by the company and see what direction they're moving towards, tried to base your decisions of what you're wearing and how you're going to walk in from your research. And we're here to help you with that research as well.
Oh man. Oh, I used to be a person that fast forwarded through commercials. You know, I loved my shows and I wanted to just be in the show. But since I started working in commercials and since I've had the help of a handful of commercials in making a down payment on a home, I now watch commercials very carefully. And I really enjoy the things that I learned and observed. One of the things that I've noticed about commercials is almost always, you'll see wedding rings on lead people. Married people apparently are trustworthy. They make good decisions. We want to be like that. Another thing that I noticed, and I, whenever I teach audition workshop or audition skills in, in any of my classes, um, I ask people for the last time they saw a belly button in a commercial that was not for Pepto Bismal or Tums, yet most of the dancers, I know when they go audition for a commercial, they're wearing a midriff shirt. I'm like really? When was the last time you saw that happen on the commercial? Not very often. So I think when auditioning for commercials, yes. The idea of body conscious is certainly more conservative than if we're talking music videos. In which case I cannot recall the music video where there was not visible belly button. Okay. So know what you're going in for big, big thing.
Um, okay. Let's, I'd like to open to both of you, and this is like the kernel of what I would love to, for my listeners to walk away with today. What do your clients that are consistently working consistently do and what do they not do that keeps them working?
I think the dancers that are consistently working are the dancers that take their career and they put it as, as dancers you are your own business entity and the dancers that have a business mindset and take their careers as such are the ones that tend to be most successful successful. So the do's and the don'ts, I think we touched upon this in, at the end of the day, people want to be around good people, kind humans, people that they enjoy being around. And that is priceless. There could be the most talented dancer in the world, but they don't have a good attitude at the end of the day, that's is going to get around danceville. Like I used to, like I like to say dance world is very small and it can be extremely damaging to a career. So be a good human, keep your relationships up, stay in communication with your team and treat yourself as you should as your own business.
Tim, do you have anything you'd like to add to that?
You know, I always say look for when I used to audition and if I didn't get the job, which happens all the time, um, less and less as life as went on. Um, anyway, I like to, I would make a point of going to see, see that show on TV to see who they did hire. I would even sneak into studios to watch them rehearse, to see who they hired. Cause I wanted to know, okay, why did they hire that guy and not me? Um, but at the end of the day, the dancers that work all the time, if you look at them, they're really good. They, they are really good and not just really good technique. They know how to perform on camera. They know how to, uh, to act in the room. It's like what you were talking about with self-tapes. They know how to self-tape they've taken the time to learn this.
And, and it gets back to also being somebody that people want to work with on a personal level. So I don't know really it's there's people you'll see them and you'll see them in every job. And you think, and you don't even have to think about it. It's like, well, of course they got the job they're perfect. And that can change from job to job. Um, one movie is definitely different than any other and you know, sometimes it's just not your job. It's yeah, there is no really other explanation other than, you know what, it's not your job. It just didn't come down your way. So you've got to move on.
I love that you brought that up and I love that you're a curious person who, who will follow up on the project instead of develop this, um, like scab about the project, right? You get cut. And then all of a sudden that project becomes the worst and you didn't want it anyways and you know, forget them. And you don't go back to look at it because it might be painful, but you look at what it was and you learn and you, you learn from what you might do differently next time. Um, it's one of my favorite things when I'm auditioning, when I'm in the room to not watch the talented people auditioning, but to watch the people on the other side of the table and what they're watching, I really like that you brought that up. I think it would be good practice for the dancers that are listening to, um, try as hard as you can to not develop the scar or the scab that will keep you from looking back at that project that you did not get that you thought that you would, but instead go back and look and say, Oh, okay, what, what was that? And why was that not me? Knowing that the answer to that is it's okay, that it's not me, but you can absolutely learn from that. If you go look,
I love that you said that. And one theory of mine and I, you see it happen. Um, because we, we often have our clients and we want them to come to us and say, “Hey, you know, I've been to five auditions and I get to the end and I don't get picked, or I don't get to the end.” Um, and the advice I see it happen where people, they take their last audition, the last loss, the last rejection to the next audition. And if you're not careful, I love that. You said, there's there scabs or whatever you want to call it. They, they take that loss and they start owning it right. Instead of shedding it. And you have to just, it's so many times you tell somebody, Hey, you did great. It just, this wasn't your, this wasn't the time for your, we had somebody else that was, um, you know, that was better. But if you take that loss, if you take it personally and you drag that to the next audition and then the next, and then the next, and then what you have on your hand is a desperate, depressed dancer. And nobody wants to look desperate and depressed. Um, you have to take, um, you have to take joy in, into every audition and that's what you do so well with everything you do. Um, you have to enjoy it. Why else are you dancing? You know, you're dancing the emotion and the joy of it. So you have to be able to express that. And if you're going to kind of lock down those feelings and own them, it's going to be more and more difficult,
Right? Especially if you are dancing in the commercial industry where the whole point of commercials is to sell the idea that life, with this thing, with this pop star, with this product, with this brand, whatever life with this thing is better. You're more joyful. You're more happy, which I do think is kind of a damaging attitude as far as mental health is concerned. But it's, it's part of what we're asked to do is like demonstrate life with this thing is so great before I had Skechers. I didn't dance, but when I have Sketchers on life is great and I'm joyful and all the things. So the, the capacity to be happy and joyful and resilient is definitely an attractive quality. Anytime I'm looking to book a dancer, um, fortunately for me, it's part of my disposition to be joyful. I've actually gotten some criticism on that. Like Dana, could you please stop smiling? Um, but yeah, it's to not bring Tim the word you used, the thing is so, so important, desperate. And after being knocked out of the ring so many times, it can, especially at a time like today, when many of us have gone without a job for so long, it may be hard to walk in the room without that tinge of desperation. But I think, again, I go back to asking, when was the last time you saw a commercial or a music video where the dancers behind the product or the, or the person looked desperate? Like that's not a look that we seek. Um, the other one that I use as an example, when I'm teaching audition techniques is fear. Like when was the last time you saw somebody looking afraid behind Beyonce? Actually never like, that's the look that doesn't get you hired. So although it is usually the feeling somewhere underneath all of that being afraid is normal in an audition, but it's certainly not the thing that you're selling most often
I think you have to approach it as a skateboarder, approaches his ride down the hill or a skier or a, you know, any of those challenges. Is it scary? Yeah. It's a little bit scary, but you know, it's a blast, like a basketball player getting into a game. You have to approach it as like, you know, I'm going to kill this and I'm going to have a good time doing it. Um, I used to love auditions. I hate getting cut, but I love auditions.
That's awesome. Um, Meisha, do you have anything else, any other audition stories, whether they're your own or stories that you've heard, um, coming to you via clients that might be inspiring or otherwise very entertaining.
Yeah. Um, honestly, there's so many that come to mind. When you say that question, it's hard to pinpoint one experience or even my own experiences in, you know, auditioning. But I will say there is seriously nothing better than hearing our client's experiences after an audition. And that has been unfortunately, a little eliminated during this time because we have an open door policy, pre pandemic, where clients would audition. They come in, they're sweaty, they're telling their stories and you're getting to know your clients better. And that's the joy. One of the many joys of our job. But one time specifically, this is probably more recent. I would say was there was three audition. There was two major auditions happening at the same time with a major job taking up. I think there was 40 girls booked on this project. And one was a super bowl audition. One was a Superbowl commercial audition. And then one was for a major artist music video that 40 top industry girls were booked on. And they were all happening at the same time. So we were, I mean on a high, right? Like this cannot get any better for our dancers. And then you receive the times and the locations, they're all the same time and they're all spread across LA. So at this point we're like, Oh my gosh, what are we supposed to be doing? So it was a thrill. I will have to say very least because thankfully the choreographers actually all work together. You know, you hear the buzz of course. And you know, dancers started asking the choreographers, Hey, can I leave for just 10 minutes? And that specific choreographer, right? 10 minutes, that specific choreographer that was holding a Superbowl audition said it was his last audition for the next four years. So everybody was like, I need, this is my chance to be at this audition. I was getting time changes for these auditions every 10, 20 minutes call times were changing for the music videos. I mean, it was, I woke up at 6:00 AM and it was just non nonstop and that whole day clients in and out, and that's as the best. That's what you, what you want for your clients.
Can I interject right here? Dana? One thing I want to make a point to the dancers is how invested we as agents are in your careers and you could see it or hear it in Meisha’s voice when she was talking about that. We, we don't represent people that we don't want to represent. It's we believe in you. We want you to work. That's our mission in life is to help you find your way in this crazy career that we've all chosen. Um, so when we recommend somebody for a job is because we know you is the right person for the job, and we want you to get that job. And so when, when they come in and their heart's broken because they didn't get the job or they come in, because they said, they're so excited, cause they did get the job or, you know, whatever it is and happens where we're just totally into it and totally committed. And it's, it's, uh, we live through you guys. So it's, you know, you are our passion where we're in this business. You can't be a dance agent without being passionate about it without loving dance and loving the dancers. And, uh, I just, I just want dancers to know that we are, we, we believe in you, we are with you and we just want only success for you. And, and we also understand that it doesn't always come that way, so we want to figure out, okay, what's way around it. How are we going to get to that point? So just want to say that,
Oh, I'm so glad that you did. And in fact, I cannot imagine winding winding off. I cannot imagine going out on a higher note Tim, that's a brilliant sentiment and it must be true. I, I don't know how you would sit through how many emails a day on average, do you think
Hundreds
Hundreds, hundreds of emails a day without being passionate and wanting to see, um, your client succeed. And I certainly do feel that enthusiasm from you guys in, in being a part of your team, um, feel so tremendously supported. And, and also I'm so glad Meisha that you shared that you mentioned this, the open door policy. I hadn't really considered the side effect of the pandemic being this, um, the bright spot in your day of seeing my face, uh, experiencing the joy or in some cases, the terror of an audition, um, that, that piece of the agent/client relationship is missing right now. I hadn't thought about it. I'm glad you brought that up. I think it's a good reminder for everybody who has an agent right now to check in with them, tell them, hello, tell them a story from your life. And, um, and for all of those dancers seeking representation, um, don't hide, put yourself out there, put your work out there. There will be a need for you and your talent. Um, and hopefully that need will be coming soon.
Okay. Well, Dana, thanks so much for inviting us on your podcast. Um, you know, I've been a fan of yours ever since it was a Dancer's Alliance meeting that you were heading. And I remember thinking, I love that woman. And I went up to you afterwards and just said, I just think you're great. And uh, I always thought you should be in commercials. And you know,
I remember this, this was before I was at Clear Talent Group. And you introduced yourself to me afterwards. I think you said, I think you said, who are you? Which I think is how I started this call with you. So how appropriate is that? Um, well, I, I feel seen, thank you guys so much and thank you for talking. I hope that everybody listening learned a lot as I know I have, and I just dropped my, um, uh, Fanny pack off my chair. So that made a great noise. We'll we'll go out.
All right. Thank you. Thank you.
You guys. I miss you miss they good. Stay good. Stay healthy
Thought you were done. No. Now I'm here to remind you that all of the important people, places and things mentioned in this episode can be found on my website, theDanawilson.com/podcast Finally, and most importantly, now you have a way to become a board member. So kickball change over to patreon.com/WTMMpodcast to learn more and join. All right, everybody. Thanks so much for listening. I'll talk to you soon.
