Actors always ask me, “What’s one of the best ways to get an agent?” I always respond: “With a referral.” Getting in the door for any opportunity is made easier when a well-trusted colleague gives you a stellar reference.
I’ll bet you have a friend or co-worker who knows your work well. Wait for when the time is right—and by that, I mean that you know this person well and you have mutual respect for each other. (Asking a favor of someone who barely knows you is pretty cheesy, and you won’t get the best reference from them.)
To that point, make sure the person actually knows you if you’re using their name. I just had a situation where an actor sent me an email stating that he had worked with a certain Dr. McDreamy and that the doc could vouch for his acting chops. One very quick call to the famous TV actor’s manager and he was busted. McDreamy had never worked with him and had no idea who he was. Furthermore, the lying actor was sent a nice and shiny cease and desist letter.
There’s no point in lying about your work history. I know people do it all the time, but trust me: Sooner or later, it will come and bite you in the ass. I’ve had actors sitting right in front of me dissolve into a puddle during a meeting because I asked them about a specific credit they’ve listed on their résumé where I was the casting director and I know for a fact they weren’t in my movie.
Years ago, I hired a very young and ambitious intern named Steven from a local university. We didn’t have a copy machine in our office, so he would have to go across the lot to use the one in the administration office. I soon noticed that he would disappear for hours when he went to make copies. Then I started getting the calls. We worked on a studio lot where they shot several TV shows. My intern would make a beeline right to the stage, sneak in, and watch them shoot.
Now, you might think he was being clever and a real go-getter. He wanted to soak in as much information and experience as he could. The problem is, he would constantly overstep his bounds and start talking to all the crew members who were busy working. On each stage, the first A.D. would catch up with the bothersome kid and kick him out of there, but not before asking him who he worked for. Each time, he would throw out my name like a life preserver. Little did he know that I had received six complaints in the last week from pissed off A.D.s and production managers.
The time finally came when I had to let him go. I sat him down and calmly explained that he was being unprofessional by sneaking onto sets where he wasn’t employed. He worked for my office, and his job was to assist our staff. I told him I had been getting complaints all week about his unprofessional behavior from the various productions, and that when he used my name, it sullied my reputation as well.
He got up, shook my hand, thanked me for the opportunity, and left. A moment later, he ducked his head back into my office and said, “Hey, Marci, can I get a reference from you?” That’s the sound of my jaw dropping on my desk. “No, Steven, you don’t want a reference from me!”
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Known for her work in film and television, producer and casting director Marci Liroff has worked with some of the most successful directors in the world such as Steven Spielberg, Ridley Scott, Mark Waters, Christopher Nolan, Brad Bird, and Herbert Ross. While working at Fenton-Feinberg Casting, she, along with Mike Fenton, cast such films as “A Christmas Story,” “Poltergeist,” “E.T. – The Extra Terrestrial,” “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” and “Blade Runner.” After establishing her own casting company in 1983, Liroff cast “Footloose,” “St. Elmo's Fire,” “Pretty in Pink,” “The Iron Giant,” “The Spitfire Grill," “Untamed Heart," “Freaky Friday,” “Mean Girls,” “Ghosts of Girlfriends Past,” “Mr. Popper’s Penguins,” “Vampire Academy,” and the upcoming “The Sublime and Beautiful,” which she produced as well.
Liroff is also an acting coach, and her three-night Audition Bootcamp has empowered actors to view the audition process in a new light. The class spawned an online course available at Udemy entitled "How To Audition For Film and Television: Audition Bootcamp." Visit Liroff online at marciliroff.com, follow her on Twitter @marciliroff and Facebook, and watch her advice videos on YouTube. You can also read her blog.
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