Gunning Stephanie - Audition for your career, not the job: mastering the on-camera audition

With Stephanie Gunning

Published by Tim Phillips Studio atSmashwords

Los Angeles, California

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"Those who read this book will find thatthere is much to learn from Tim Phillips. Read it. Digest it.You'll be very well informed and find yourself a better student ofthe subject at the end."

Robert Duvall, Academy Award-winningactor,Tender Mercies,Emmy Award-winningactor,Broken Trail,writer, director,and producer

"An instructive, no nonsense, passionate cryto the actor: Bring your intelligence and humanity to the auditionnot your desperation."

Larry Moss, author ofThe Intent to Live

"Read this book. Study it.Read it again. If you want tools that help you take command of yourcraft under pressure, under duress, under any set of circumstances,whether nurturing or maddening, then read this book. Tim provides aboot camp for actors that retrains us, redirects us to becomehunters for truth in our work. The end result is that you rememberthat the result is irrelevant and immaterial as it relates togetting a job or mastering a take. You remember that livingtruthfully in the world of the script is everything and is alwaysachievable. And when that is achieved, the rest will take care ofitself. Always."

Richard Schiff, Emmy Award-winning actor,TheWest Wing

"Audition for YourCareer, Not the Jobhas thepower to shift your way of being to one that's curious, open tolove, intuitively confident, and, ultimately, human. Imagine facingyour next audition with a 'Put me in CoachI've got this!' feeling.That is the gift of this book."

Kim Hudson, scriptconsultant and author ofTheVirgin's Promise

"Tim Phillips' style of teaching fostersgreat respect for the work and for each other."

Wendie Malick, Emmy Award-nominatedactress,Just Shoot Me!

"I've come to think of TimPhillips as 'The Wizard.' I've worked for several years with Tim asmy coach and teacher. His deep instinct to follow clues oflanguage, emotion, and tone invariably leads actors into a placethey're not aware they know about. Yet, by session's end, they arecertain they not only know it, but are at home in this place: the soul ofthe character. Tim Phillips is a master for anyone working on stageor in television and film."

Robert Wisdom,actor The Wire, Burn Notice, PrisonBreak, and HappyTown

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Sherlock Holmesing theText is a trademarked process.

Copyright 2011 by Tim Phillips. All rightsreserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored ina retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,without the prior written permission of the copyright owner, exceptby a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

This ebook is licensed for your personalenjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away toother people. If you would like to share this book with anotherperson, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. Ifyou're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was notpurchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.comand purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard workof this author.

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Cover design by Emily Furlani

Interior design by Shaila Abdullah

ISBN : 978-0-615-32846-1

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To Elssa and Sara

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The phone rings, an email arrives, yoursmart phone vibrates. It's your agent. A project is being cast andthere's a part in it that might be right for you. They're expectingyou at the casting office tomorrow. You don't have a whole lot oftime, but that's okay. Opportunity has just come knocking at yourfront door and you know you have the chops to open it. After all,that's what you do you're an actor. This is your chance toact.

Perhaps you intend to self-submit avideo of yourself doing an audition for a role you saw postedonline. This happens more and more often these days. You are takingcontrol of your destiny as an artist.

In any case, the "sides" either arriveor you download them. Now you've got a few pages of script in handalong with a short description of the character and the scene: aname, a place, and a few other pertinent facts. It's time to putyour training and talent and energy to good use. Your task is totransform those words on the page into a memorable living andbreathing human being.

What's the first thought that goesthrough your mind? Is it negative or positive?

"Boy, I really want to bookthis one. I could use the money from this job."

"I wonder who I'm upagainst. I hope they like me. I thought my last audition was solid;but I never heard anything I don't want that to happenagain."

"Wahoo! It's playtime. Ican't wait! Who do I get to be?"

"Let's get down tobusiness."

You've got a big audition lined up fora role in a film or on a television series. What do you do now?This book covers steps you can take and specific skills you can putto use right away so that you will feel more confident about yourperformance in your next audition and make a great and lastingimpression on casting directors and producers. If your work isconsistently first-rate and memorable, every on-camera auditionlike this one becomes an opportunity to advance your actingcareer.

Most actors are theatre-trained andlove the whole process of performing on stage. Believe me, Iappreciate the lure. That's my background, too. Before becoming amaster teacher, I was a theatre actor for years. Even after havingshot films with great actors like Robert Duvall and Meryl Streep(okay, that scene ended up on the cutting room floor), I neverloved it as much as I have loved being on stage. Do you feel thesame way?

Of course, there's a catch. As atheatre actor, I mostly earned my living from tending bar. Theplain truth was then, and is more so now, that doing theatre is notas lucrative for actors as doing film and television. So here's thedeal, first you learn how to make a living by auditioning well forfilm and television. Make money. Then you can afford to do what youwant to do in theatre. And if you love doing film and television,that's great!

While we know that you would like tobook the job you're auditioning for (both for the money, and forthe chance to act and do what you love), if you're like manyactors, you could drive yourself crazy trying to figure out whatthe producers, casting directors, and writers want for the part andways you could be more pleasing. You could easily get distracted.In a high-pressure situation like this, it's most important to beprepared, relax, and concentrate on the one thing that's under yourcontrol: you and your performance.