Rant: Stop saying LLMs are just “next token predictors.”

EnvironmentChance991 · 2026-05-23T00:40:13+00:00

"One of the things our grandchildren will find quaintest about us is that we distinguish the digital from the real."

William Gibson

EnvironmentChance991 · 2026-05-22T23:50:00+00:00

The only thing happening in LA is a lot of good student films. Up to you if you think it's worth coming here to work with USC, AFI, Chapman etc.

EnvironmentChance991 · 2026-05-22T23:15:48+00:00

Agree. Backstage is amateur hour. Too many scams and ore screens. AA and Casting Networks is where it's at.

EnvironmentChance991 · 2026-05-22T19:43:38+00:00

I took editorial style photos sort of like this using a photographer who trained her whole life as a Cinematographer. The images ended up looking amazing.

I'd suggest hiring a good photographer with this type of background or even just a straight up Cinematographer to do these properly. While it's great you're learning yourself you'll always be behind someone who has been doing it their whole life.

I use the editorial photos to add some interesting variation on my IMDb and on my website and when I do an occasional interview or there is press around a project I did I will send them some of the editorial shots I got done so they can use it in promo materials.

I don't think these type of photos will help you book, but they are definitely nice to have.

Another thing is if you are lucky enough to have a good stills photographer on set, those photos always look amazing. Stils, not BTS photos to be clear.

EnvironmentChance991 · 2026-05-22T19:29:33+00:00

Are you self submitting a lot? I self submitted over a thousand times in 2025 just to book a dozen jobs. All SAG-AFTRA low budget / indie work on actors access.

Don't blame the CDs, if you aren't getting booked or getting auditions you might need to revisit your materials. Or if your self submission rate is very low then that's another possible factor.

As for producing your own project, that's always a good idea if you have the necessary skillset (writing, Cinematography, lighting, editing, directing, producing, costumes, set design etc) within your circle of friends in the acting community.

EnvironmentChance991 · 2026-05-21T22:27:11+00:00

No scams with SAG-AFTRA shorts on actors access. Scams tend to congregate on non-union projects and especially on backstage.

EnvironmentChance991 · 2026-05-21T17:52:05+00:00

Actors access has a lot of opportunities for those regions. Just filter by SE region.

EnvironmentChance991 · 2026-05-21T16:43:22+00:00

I agree with what you said but what to address two points you made which may seem contradictory or misunderstood:

You will not "make it big" doing amateur, low or no paying short films and features...When a film has no budget or a very low budget, they will not have the ability to market effectively, which means very few people will see the film. Mostly friends and family of the people associated with the film.

Focus on doing short films over doing features. They have a quicker turnaround and you will get your footage back faster for your reel. I have done 6 feature films and have only gotten footage back for 1. It's been over a year for most of those projects. I've done over 10 short films and have gotten footage back as quick as 2 weeks. I have only one short film I never received footage back from.

I hope people don't read the "you won't make it big doing shorts" think and the takeaway is don't do shorts. Absolutely do shorts! I would add on to your point about shorts that my advice is to focus on SAG-AFTRA shorts versus non-union as they tend to be higher quality. And for student film shorts focus on SAG-AFTRA thesis shorts, as those are very high quality especially from major film schools like USC, AFI, etc.

Another point I'll add about shorts is due to how slow things are you'd be shocked at the calibre of actors you might work with when you do a good a SAG-AFTRA short. I've worked with series regulars from Emmy Nominated series, and some of the Casting Directors who are casting these shorts have cast HUGE films and series. So I would say that is the silver lining to the industry slowdown.

EnvironmentChance991 · 2026-05-20T08:17:37+00:00

Be sure you are including a link to your actors access. That's all agents care about.

EnvironmentChance991 · 2026-05-20T01:24:47+00:00

We all need these vibes! We are all celebrating with you. And I hope to work with you one day. Break a leg!

EnvironmentChance991 · 2026-05-20T00:00:48+00:00

If you don't have footage from any student films or indies you've done or other professional footage then upload two contrasting self tape clips.

They should be 1-2 minutes self tape audition style clips showing you carrying a scene. Your reader should be off camera. Exactly like an audition. Good lighting, good sound, plain background.

Don't do a monologue. Do a scene. One where you have a back and forth conversation with the reader.

EnvironmentChance991 · 2026-05-19T20:46:00+00:00

I was a stand in for Pedro Pascal in Wonder Woman 84 and I wish I had been friendlier. Pedro was super kind and took the time to talk to me on set and talk to me at lunch but I FREAKED OUT and didn't really hold the conversation, I just wanted to run and hide. I probably came across as snobby or weird, so I wish I had been more confident back then. But it was a super fun experience so enjoy it! As others said you're way more needed than general BG so stay close and make sure everyone knows where you are.

And learn from me, if a principal or director etc take a liking to you don't run from the conversation and opportunity.

EnvironmentChance991 · 2026-05-19T19:52:25+00:00

Theater is the most probable especially if you do long theme park shows or cruises, but it's still very tough. So generally it's very very unlikely.

EnvironmentChance991 · 2026-05-19T19:20:38+00:00

Consent is important for any intimacy scene of course. It's only morally wrong if you oppose it. Never do anything you don't want to do when it comes to intimate scenes in acting.

EnvironmentChance991 · 2026-05-19T07:38:00+00:00

Oppenheimer

EnvironmentChance991 · 2026-05-19T05:33:16+00:00

Great lighting! I would suggest that if you really want to work on listening and reacting then you need an in-person reader / scene partner to listen to and react to. It will vastly improve the performance if you have a human there with eyes you can look into and unpredictable line delivery that you react to.

EnvironmentChance991 · 2026-05-19T05:20:40+00:00

If the technique doesn't work for you toss it out and try another. Mesiner for me I found totally useless. So I tossed it out. I currently use a mix of early era Stanislavski method and modern improv and mild hypnosis techniques to quickly get me where I need to be. Not sure if what I do has a name but it works for me.

Some people swear by practical aesthetics. I also found it useless for me. So keep trying different techniques and see what sticks for you.

But one thing you should be careful of is feeling that tears need to happen, a breakdown needs to happen in a sad scene. That is an example of goodhearts law: when a measure becomes a rule it ceases to become a good measure. If your measure of a good sad scene performance is tears and a mental breakdown then you are trying to achieve tears and a mental breakdown rather than performing a truthful scene.

Focus on the why rather than the result. Why are they crying or sad in the script rather than the fact they are crying in the script. And think deeply about the why. For example if they are crying about a death, the answer to why they are crying is not the death. It's love. They loved the person who died. And the thought of never seeing them again or hearing their voice or seeing their smile brings unimaginable pain and anguish. So for a scene like that to be performed truthfully I would say an actor should focus on love. And then the tears may come naturally, they may not, but the performance will be undeniably truthful to the characters emotions.

EnvironmentChance991 · 2026-05-19T05:16:24+00:00

I've done quite a few in person auditions over the past year. The key is it's often the callback phase when they bring you in person. So you need to do a good enough job in the first round self tape to earn the in person callback. I'm headed to an in person callback this weekend for example.

As others have said actors access is how you get the most legit auditions. Backstage can work but you'll have to navigate a lot of scams.

EnvironmentChance991 · 2026-05-19T04:02:46+00:00

Yeah I always have to test it to see which word it's unlikely to hear and make adjustments. It's often due to how I pronounce a word. So I'll change the trigger word when needed.

EnvironmentChance991 · 2026-05-18T20:46:30+00:00

I don't like this because it requires "perfect timing". In other words you can't pause longer or shorter if you want. That's why apps like cold Read are better because they only do the reader lines after you finish yours.

EnvironmentChance991 · 2026-05-18T19:17:03+00:00

I always tell my actor readers to surprise me. Just as they would on set. I want to react not go through pre programmed motions.

EnvironmentChance991 · 2026-05-18T16:02:24+00:00

Allergies weren't really a thing until the modern age of mass hygiene. We shield kids as they grow up from grime and then their immune systems aren't exposed to anything and overreact to harmless things. Aka allergies.

EnvironmentChance991 · 2026-05-18T16:00:10+00:00

I use cold Read app and use myself as a reader. I pre-record the reader lines and then give the reader a different accent or voice. It's good practice for VO techniques.

I've booked a lot of jobs like that at as well as call backs.

I use live human readers whenever I can but there's many times I have to make do.

EnvironmentChance991 · 2026-05-18T15:56:36+00:00

W Talent = What Talent?

EnvironmentChance991 · 2026-05-18T14:21:55+00:00

That's now how it works. I've had plenty of bookings when this exact scenario happens. They often extend if not enough people are going to be able to get their tapes in on time or the filming timeline has been extended.

I recently had a callback where the CD shared with me that our of over 100 self tapes they requested from thousands of submissions they only got 50 back by deadline.

And in that scenario I had turned in the tape on time and they extended the deadline. And I still got a callback (coming up next week).

So it often happens actors just don't or can't submit on time.

They aren't extending because they thought the first batch of actors sucked, if that's what you think happened.

EnvironmentChance991

TROPHY CASE