Camera Ready & Abel

To make something one's own is to take something and adapt it to oneself and is absolutely essential in the camera ready universe.

Whether you are auditioning for a project and reading the same script as everyone else or interviewing for a job and meeting all of the same qualifications as every other applicant, how you make it your own determines if you make it to the next round and ultimately get hired.

Here to discuss is my dear friend, casting director, coach, actor, documentary filmmaker, and four-peat champion on Camera Ready & Abel, Sean De Simone, who has strong opinions on the subject, having cast all of the hosts on QVC and HSN for the past 15 years.

Sean describes it as, "when someone is making it their own for me is when I like kind of sit up straight and like I start to listen a little bit more and my clients start to get a little bit more excited when we see people sort of breaking away from what we think they think we want to see and they are just being themselves."

Key takeaways:

• Play to your strengths

Join us for our HOSTING FOR HOME SHOPPING & BRANDS WORKSHOP Feb 11& 12, 2023 and visit Sean at Sean De Simone Casting follow him on Instagram and his lively Facebook Group.

If you're not sure what your superpowers are, check out my favorite personal branding tool, the HOW TO FASCINATE ASSESSMENT.

If I had a dollar (or a euro) for everyone who's ever told me they want to host a travel show, I would've recorded this episode of Camera Ready & Abel from my villa in Italy instead of my office in Brooklyn.

My guest for this episode, Kathy McCabe, is here to share how she did something truly remarkable, how she made her dream a reality and turned her passion for Italy into the Dream of Italy newsletter, magazine, podcast and PBS Series distributed to 97% of the United States (and the number one watched program of any genre distributed by American Public Television on Amazon Prime.)

Kathy is a beautiful example of the transformational power of traveling, following your dream and thriving in life.

Key takeaways

• Build a community, not an audience.

Visit Dream of Italy and listen to the Dream of Italy Podcast (which The New York Times recommends as one of “13 podcasts for wandering souls.”)

Connect with Kathy on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter

I wish I knew who came up with the brilliant notion of replacing the traditional New Year's Resolution with one single word to focus on for the coming year. I'd like to thank them. 

Your word is an organizing principle or theme, perhaps even your annual north star, instead of a decision/goal you may or may not stick with (the data says overwhelmingly we don't stick with them). 

I chose refinement because it's the right word for where I am at the moment: making improvements by making small changes that make a significant difference.  

A few important takeaways about choosing your word of the year:

• Make sure your word connects with you emotionally

If you need a prompt to find your word, hit the googles for support. Here are two websites I found with hundreds of ideas: WildSimpleJoy and HappinessIsHomemade.

I would love to hear what word you choose! Drop me a note here and share.

Wishing joy, health and abundance in 2023!

In my years as a casting director and talent development executive, I've observed that many of the most successful hosts and performers understand how television production works and how their part of the show (or segment) fits into something larger than themselves.

I saw this first hand when I booked my guest for this episode, Brian Balthazar, on Page Six TV back in the day, and he was always so great because he knew how to make good TV. 

It's a treat to have him discuss and share actionable insights on how to think like a producer because Brian has built an impressive career simultaneously in front and behind the camera as a television host, producer and network executive.

Brian is the executive producer and founder of Balthazar Entertainment, specializing in compelling lifestyle programming including Christina on the Coast and Tough Love with Hilary Farr for HGTV and My Dream Kitchen with Carla Hall on Food Network. Brian oversaw the launch of the fourth of Today with Kathie Lee and Hoda where he later became a beloved guest dishing pop culture and trends, was a co-executive producer of The View and was a vice president at Discovery Networks (now Warner Brothers Discovery) where he oversaw mega hits like Flip or Flop and my favorite, Love It or List It. 

Key takeaways

• Production is not personal (even though it often feels that way)

Follow Brian on Instagram at @brianbalthazar…trust me, he’s a fun poster!

Do you ever have a gut instinct about something but are too nervous to act on it? Or find yourself pulled between trusting your feelings vs accepting the facts?

This episode is a permission slip to lean into your inner guidance system.

Joining me on this episode of Camera Ready & Abel to generously and candidly share how following her intuition has always served her - and in turn served others - is multi-hyphenate powerhouse, Jessica Cording. 

Jess is a registered dietitian, health coach, in-demaind public speaker, host of the Drama-Free Healthy Living Podcast and author of The Little Book of Game Changers: 50 Healthy Habits for Managing Stress and Anxiety, and her latest The Farewell Tour, a Caregiver's Guide to Stress Management, Sane Nutrition and Better Sleep.

Connect with Jessica via her website, listen to the Drama-Free Healthy Living podcast and follow Jess on instagram   @jesscording.

The Showrunner in television literally runs the show, like a hands-on CEO: In charge of vision, creative (often the head writer), leading (and inspiring) a crew of hundreds, managing multiple agendas from the network to the legal department, marketing and advertisers while putting out daily fires and tapping into the personal magic that earned them the role in the first place. 

Sharing all his wisdom on the subject is Jim Biederman, seasoned Showrunner, Executive Producer, Writer and Director specializing in comedy programming with a list of trailblazing credits including Kids In the Hall, the Howard Stern Radio Show, The Whitest Kids You Know, the Onion News Network, The Big Gay Sketch Show and Would You Rather With Graham Norton (where I had the distinct pleasure of being Jim's Talent Executive)

This is really and truly a masterclass:

• Ask questions

Successful showrunning is so much about the power of language and how we communicate. Jim's goal is to always make sure that everyone working on the show feels welcome and valued at the table. And this:

You don't need to be aggressive about it. You can just say, I think there's another way to solve this problem.

(It dawned on me listening to this episode that with the amount of negotiating and compromise required to get a show on the air...Showrunners could be useful mediators in global conflicts.)  

Check out more of Jim's work at http://www.jimcotv.com/.

Strange but true: It's hard to slow down.

My guest for this episode, Spiritual Life Coach and Marketing Mentor, Candis Hickman, changed my life forever when she taught me To Become Known You Must First Become Known to Yourself (episode #3) and now she's back gently walking me through the transformational wisdom of learning how to slow down.

To put it simply, slowing down is the opposite of rushing. Remarkably, I've discovered it doesn't add more time; it's a mindset and energy shift that reduces stress and boosts the joy factor.

Imagine dialing back with mindfulness and intention the intensity you feel going into a meeting, scrambling to get out the door to get to an appointment or catch a flight...

Picture what it would look like to make softer decisions and do life with other people more.

If you're an adrenaline junkie, your body will thank you.

The Slow Year was born of Candis' commitment to support high functioning professionals, business owners and everyday people to disconnect from the grind and embody the principles of Slow Living to nourish your mind, body, soul and relationships.

You can join the waitlist for The Slow Year at https://theslowyear.com/ and join their digital summit on December 5th for more information.

According to the Cambridge English Dictionary Accountability in a person means someone who is completely responsible for what they do.

If accountability was easy we wouldn't need people like my guest for this episode, productivity and accountability coach Carol Clegg.

Carol explains that accountability is really a combination of mindset and the right tools and systems that work for you in alignment with your own personal capacity, i.e. focus your goals and learn to say no because if you have too much on your plate, your accountability inherently diminishes.

I love Carol's quote: Show up consistently in your capacity.

Carol works with midlife women in the early stages of growing an online business. Her focus is on teaching solutions to mastering marketing, building basic foundations and streamlining strategies. Her tailor made 1:1 coaching and consulting helps women set goals, learn about project management and create a lifestyle business with flexibility and balance.

Check out her 30 Business Tools and tune in to her Connect Inspire Create podcast, which explores ways to encourage women on the entrepreneurial journey.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolclegg/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carolcleggcoach/

Clubhouse: https://www.clubhouse.com/@carolclegg

Authenticity, as is often mentioned on the podcast, means to be real, actual, true to one's own personality, spirit or character. It can be hard enough day to day. Translating this on-camera is next level.

Joining me on this episode of Camera Ready & Abel to discuss how to be your awesome self on-camera is Hena Doba who is an anchor for Cheddar News and the host of Cheddar News Wrap, Trending and Life on the Bright Side.

Hena is a vibrant, welcoming presence who seamlessly transitions from hard-hitting breaking news to the most light-hearted lifestyle stories without skipping a beat and is always uniquely Hena.

This episode is a true masterclass in:

• Create opportunity + take advantage of opportunities

Hena started her career as producer at WWTI-TV, in Watertown, NY and became one of the first Pakistani anchors in the U.S. Prior to joining Cheddar, Hena was a national correspondent for CBS News where she anchored The National Desk with Hena Doba.

Learn more about Hena at

www.linkedin.com/in/hena-doba

https://www.instagram.com/henadoba/?hl=en 

https://www.tiktok.com/@henadoba

The word authenticity gets thrown around a lot to the point that its meaning gets diluted, so producer, composer, mentor and guest for this episode of Camera, Ready & Abel, Barb Morrison couples it with credible to combine true to one's own personality with worthy of trust. In other words, don't just tell me you're authentic, show me.

Barb lives it every day.

Barb says authenticity is a feeling, measured not by how others feel about you but how you feel about yourself when you look yourself in the eye. It's essential to Barb's work as a Music Mentor: I look them in the eye and I say, instead of trying to make the right pop record or the right dance record or whatever you're trying to fit into, what is it that's unique about you? That's your story and your message to the world.

Barb is a Top 5 Billboard dance chart songwriter, and Platinum record producer, best known as a producer for numerous artists such as Blondie, Rufus Wainwright, Franz Ferdinand, LP, Asia Kate Dillon and as an ASCAP-featured film score composer.

Learn more about Barb and Music Mentor at www.barbmorrisonmusic.com.

For more on authenticity, listen to Episode 5 of Camera Ready & Abel with Sean De Simone: Authenticity is a Process, Not Just a Buzzword (and that process has a lot to do with your breath work).