9 Tips for Surviving an Independent Film Shoot

Through my experience of working on low budget and independent films for the past 15 years, I have learned a few crucial and important rules that can help you survive the jungle of what is the independent film world, or better known as Guerrilla Film making. Working on independent films where the budgets are small, the sets are grueling and sometimes in extreme conditions, it’s important to take control where you can. When you find yourself on a challenging set, remind yourself that you are there because you are taking action to move your career forward. The footage you get on this job will lead you to another job and that’s how you build a solid demo reel. Always remember the incredible amount of experience you will gain from working on these shoots will be invaluable when you are on the bigger budget jobs. 1. Know your lines cold! Rehearse your lines over and over and know them backwards and forwards. You don't know how many takes you are going to get because of the inefficiency of the production and lack of time and budget. Knowing your lines down cold ensures that your best work makes the cut. 2. Take control of how your character is going to look. Finding your costume can be as easy as taking a trip to the local thrift store. Taking control and bringing options for your director will help him, your character and how your character looks on screen. Be open to the director's ideas but have your own in case he has none. Own the character you are portraying from the start! 3. Be nice and focus on yourself. Don’t talk badly about anybody on the set. Remember everyone is under a lot of pressure. Focus on yourself by either working on your lines, rehearsing with your scene partner while they set up the next shot or think about how you want your scene to go. Focus on the task at hand and hold yourself to a higher standard than everyone else. Add to the project, don’t subtract. 4. Give the director different takes of your scene. After you do the scene and the director says “Great, I got it!” Simply and politely ask, “do you mind if I try something different just to give you some variety? I doubt he will say "no". In fact, I have found they always appreciate your help helping them by giving them options to choose from when they cut the film. 5. Listen and talk to the director. When you are on set and you and the director are having trouble communicating, focus on listening, reply back with, “ok, let’s try that”, or, “yea, let’s give it a go” and just try what they are asking you to do. This approach shows that you are listening to them and are willing to try their direction, it also defuses any potential situation and ensures you stop the vicious cycle of you and him trying to defend your positions. 6.Bring food! Take some of your own food to the set. Nuts, apples and protein bars are great. This way so you always have something healthy to eat. You need to feel your best so you do your best. 7. Easy on the Caffeine. Don’t drink caffeine all day on set, it’s easy to do when you are just sitting around. Caffeine can sap your energy, especially late at night and it makes emotional scenes much more difficult. Caffeine can also make sleeping difficult – remember that in Indie films, there is no eight hour turnaround rule, so you need to be able to sleep immediately when you have the chance. Drink water, eat apples and nuts to keep your blood sugar up and give yourself energy late at night. 8. Get your work! Once you wrap, get BOTH the director and producer’s contact info and in eight months to a year, begin asking for your work and don’t stop till you get it. 9. Don’t get drunk the night before your scene. Enough said.   About Douglas Taurel Douglas Taurel loves working on stories that are a bit dark and dramatic. He is consistently drawn to playing characters that are intense, gritty and live on the harder side of life. He has had the opportunity to work on many of NY’s TV dramas like Mr. Robot, Blue Bloods, The Americans, The Following, Damages, Person of Interest, Nurse Jackie to just name a few and recently played a hit man, Tom McCarthy’s “The Cobbler” starring Dustin Hoffman and Adam Sandler. Douglas has also been fortunate enough to grace many of New York stages in many classic and dramatic plays and his favorite role is Lee in “True West”. Douglas had the opportunity to perform the play both in New York and Edinburgh Festival Fringe where, as a cast, they received a five star review and a strong review by the New York Times - "Douglas Taurel is a fine actor as George". He studied with Wynn Handman, his mentor and the foundation of his acting training. He also had the incredible opportunity to study and work with some amazing artists; Alec Baldwin, Kathleen Turner, Marian Seldes and Edward Albee, to name just a few. Taking on huge challenges is in his DNA. He boxed in college, ran marathons in New York and Philadelphia, ran with the bulls in Spain and climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro. Douglas feels very fortunate to be the son of Hispanic parents and was given the opportunity to live in South American and to learn how to speak fluent Spanish. He has recently produced and performed his solo show The American Soldier www.TheAmericanSoldierSoloshow.com which was nominated for an Amnesty International Award and received strong reviews in it's Off Broadway, The Huffington Post - "A flawless and powerful show", and earned four stars at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2015. I Douglas is performing his solo show throughout the Northeast and turning it in the south. The play is based on soldiers’ letters from the American revolution through Afghanistan. He is a contributor to Backstage.com and The Daily Actor. Next for Douglas is, he has just wrapped working on season two of Mr. Robot and a new video game by Rockstar. Follow him at: Twitter: @DouglasTaurel IMDB: http://www.imdb.me/douglastaurel www.DouglasTaurelActingBlog.com www.DouglasTaurel.com Like this blog post? Please share it on social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, email etc) by using social media buttons at the top of the blog. Or post to your personal blog and anywhere else you feel appropriate. Thank you. As always, we welcome thoughts and remarks on ANY of the content above in the Comments section below...  Read More

How the Hollywood Narrative is Ruining Your Chances of Succeeding

Is it just me, or does it feel like Hollywood is set up to make you fail? Obstacle, after obstacle... Rejection, after rejection... It's *almost* not even worth trying. and I can say 'almost' because those of us who still believe in the magic of our dreams, have a passion so strong that we are going to go for it, despite all of the hardships we hear about. If you are one of those people, like me, I want you to really listen to what I'm about to tell you. Because you could be doing everything 'right' and still not see success. And it actually has NOTHING to do with luck.   See, here's the thing. Hollywood has created a narrative, a 'story', that you've been hearing since the moment you decided to pursue this dream. It's a story oozing with negativity and it's confirmed again and again. The Hollywood Story is based on LACK. It says there is NOT ENOUGH opportunities, roles, jobs, etc. It says ONLY ONE IN A MILLION will make it. It says you need a LUCKY BREAK to be successful. It says competition is so intense that it's not worth pursuing. You've been fed these lines forever. They are based on someone else's experiences...someone else's truth. But it does NOT have to be YOUR truth. And here's why you need to ditch this Hollywood Story ASAP: When you hear these statements of lack and you choose to believe them, they get stored in your subconscious. Your subconscious mind ONLY believes what is stored in it.   So, if you stored, 'there are not enough opportunities for me to be successful in Hollywood', then your subconscious says this is the CONCLUSION, meaning, there is no other possible outcome or experience. Then, your conscious mind goes out into Hollywood and makes decisions based on that conclusion. Your subconscious mind essentially says, "Hey, Conscious! Go out into the world and prove that I'm right!" So you begin to attract experiences into your career that do just that, prove the belief true. This means, that as long as you BELIEVE the Hollywood Story and take it on as your own, you're actually blocking yourself from having any other possible outcome. But there is good news to all of this: your subconscious performs this way whether you have negative OR positive beliefs stored there. YAY! This means, if you can change your beliefs to, 'My success is inevitable and I'm going to make this happen', your conscious mind goes out into the Hollywood world seeking experiences that prove THAT to be true. BUT ERICA... I know. You really, really, really, believe the Hollywood Story. People tell you all the time how hard it is to make it in Hollywood. You even hear celebrities explaining in interviews, "I just got lucky!" But let's take a sec to remember what I mentioned above: your subconscious mind believes this to be the CONCLUSION, meaning, there is no other possible outcome. So when I tell you to change those beliefs, that your success CAN be inevitable, you're not going to believe me, because your subconscious mind doesn't understand a possibility that isn't stored in there.   We cling REALLY TIGHTLY to these negative stories. We never want to give them up. But if you want to succeed at your dream, you HAVE to give them up. Otherwise, you'll continue to hit walls and get stuck. You can ease your way into changing these beliefs by looking for proof. And there IS proof all around you, of people succeeding in Hollywood, if you choose to see it. Most people choose to see the failures. Most people choose to see people moving back home and giving up. But if you open your eyes (and your mind) to other experiences, you will be able to make that shift. And when you do, you'll start to see changes in your results almost immediately. All of my clients have had at least one amazing opportunity 'fall in their lap' after changing their beliefs: anything from landing auditions, booking roles, being personally requested to write for a new network, recording music in a professional studio for free and being organically introduced to a major connection. So, it's time. Time to shed the negative Hollywood Story that is ruining your chances to succeed. You can fight me on it and continue to hit walls. Or, you can finally believe that your success is inevitable, and watch the amazing opportunities fall in your lap. Your choice.   About Erica Wernick I'm Erica Wernick, Hollywood's Leading Success Coach. I've worked in television as a Graphic Designer for the past 9 years (you may have seen my work on hit shows like "Glee", "Entourage" and most recently, NBC's "Superstore") and started my coaching business a few years ago. How on earth can a Graphic Designer coach Actors, Writers, Directors, etc.?! (I imagine you just said...) I don't teach craft. I teach a combination of mindset and strategy to help you get rid of all the blocks in your way and follow through with a strategic plan to make your BIG goals happen.My clients have gone from having just 1 audition in an entire year to booking auditions every week; to directing corporate videos to being selected to create stories for a brand new network; to having no agent or manager to booking both within a few weeks, and more!  I'm here to encourage you to shoot for the stars and make your success inevitable. No matter how many people disagree with me. I've seen incredible things happen. When you believe your success is inevitable, those incredible things will start happening for you, too. If you're feeling stuck, like you're not making any progress, or it's just taking too damn long to get to where you want to be, send her a message. P.S. YES even your biggest dreams are 100% possible.   Like this blog post? Please share it on social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, email etc) by using social media buttons at the top of the blog. Or post to your personal blog and anywhere else you feel appropriate. Thank you. As always, we welcome thoughts and remarks on ANY of the content above in the Comments section below...  Read More