Hometown To Hollywood w/ Bonnie J Wallace

Today my guest on Hometown to Hollywood is Acting Coach Lisa Picotte.

Lisa and her husband, David Kaufman, run the Young Actor Workspace, which provides classes for young actors aged 5-22, from beginning to advanced levels. The studio is in mid-town Los Angeles.

Lisa and her husband David Kaufman both have incredibly impressive acting resumes—between the two of them, they’ve starred or recurred in 8 network TV series and 5 animated series; starred and co-starred in over 20 features and Movies Of the Week; guest-starred in over 40 prime-time series; and done over 100 commercials. Lisa has also won LA Weekly, Backstage West Garland, and Dramalogue Awards for her work in Los Angeles theatre.

The list of young actors that sing the praises of Lisa's coaching is impressive. Taylor Lautner, Rico and Raini Rodriguez, Forrest Wheeler, Brenna D’Amico, and Millie Bobby Brown are just some of her successful young students.

Some of my favorite quotes from our conversation:

"If you're confident, if you believe that you can do it-- you can."

 

"What we believe, we achieve."

"If a kid is confident, then the creativity is freed."

 

"Because I have confidence in them, they go out and have confidence in themselves."

"It takes a lot of courage to get in front of people and be an artist."

 

"Watch the shows that you're auditioning for."

Go into any theatre. Do plays. And LEARN."

 

Find Lisa Here:

Website: http://www.lisapicotte.com

Twitter: @lisapicotte

 

Are you thinking about how to help your child become an actor? Or are you a young actor yourself?

Buy my book, The Hollywood Parents Guide, on Amazon. It contains everything I wish I’d known when Dove and I started this journey, and will save you untold amounts of time, money, and stress. Full of information you MUST know, it also features stories from parents of other kids who’ve made it!

Or book an hour consulting with me to come up with an individualized plan that takes your own unique needs into account. For about the cost of an hour with a professional acting coach, you can get your questions answered and a road map to help you move forward toward your dream.

Invest a little in your future today.

 

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Today my guest on Hometown to Hollywood is Brenna D’Amico. Brenna is best known for her role as Jane on Disney Descendants, The Wicked World animated series, and Descendants 2, which comes out this summer.

Brenna is only 16 but she has some very insightful things to say about acting, auditioning, keeping a positive attitude, and about life in general. We discuss how she broke into the business from her native Chicago, what landing in Hollywood has been like, challenges, and advice for young actors.

Some of my favorite quotes:

"I let the word 'no' motivate me to get that 'yes'."

 

"I always think, if one of my idols can do it, I can too!"

"If you work hard enough, and you believe in yourself, anything is possible."

 

"Don't let negativity in your life. Push it aside."

"Don't 'play' the character. BE that person."

 

"Don't get lazy. And never, never give up."

 

Find Brenna here:

Twitter: @brennadamico

Instagram: @brennadamico

Facebook: @officialbrennadamico

Snapchat: @brennadamico

(all accounts verified with blue checkmarks)

 

Are you thinking about how to help your child become an actor? Or are you a young actor yourself?

Buy my book, The Hollywood Parents Guide, on Amazon. It contains everything I wish I’d known when Dove and I started this journey, and will save you untold amounts of time, money, and stress. Full of information you MUST know, it also features stories from parents of other kids who’ve made it!

Or book an hour consulting with me to come up with an individualized plan that takes your own unique needs into account. For about the cost of an hour with a professional acting coach, you can get your questions answered and a road map to help you move forward toward your dream.

Invest a little in your future today.

 

Did you enjoy this post? Share it! Sharing is sweet.

Today my guest on Hometown to Hollywood is screenwriter, actor,  and co-producer Danielle Hoover. Danielle is best known for her work as staff writer on the Disney Channel series, "Liv and Maddie." However she began her career in Hollywood as an actor! So this conversation contains stories and gems of inspiring, yet practical advice from both of those parts of her life.

 

A few of my favorites:

"Be OK with the dream changing. Don't get attached to what it's supposed to look like."

 

On auditioning: "The only things you can control are the work you do in the room, how you feel about it, and whether you let it go when you leave."

"Don't be ashamed of working hard to get what you want."

"Prepare. Visualize. Know what you want. Then let it go."

 

"I just thought-- what if this is as good as it gets? Can I live with that? And that's when the dam burst open."

""It's a balancing act between knowing what you want and being flexible. Being confident, but being humble. Being grateful, but knowing you deserve to be there."

"Be nice. Be kind."

 

Look for Liv and Maddie Season 3 on Netflix, and watch Season 4 on the Disney Channel!

Follow Danielle on Twitter here: @dezanielle1

 

Are you thinking about how to help your child become an actor? Or are you a young actor yourself?

Buy my book, The Hollywood Parents Guide, on Amazon. It contains everything I wish I’d known when Dove and I started this journey, and will save you untold amounts of time, money, and stress. Full of information you MUST know, it also features stories from parents of other kids who’ve made it!

Or book an hour consulting with me to come up with an individualized plan that takes your own unique needs into account. For about the cost of an hour with a professional acting coach, you can get your questions answered and a road map to help you move forward toward your dream.

Invest a little in your future today.

 

Did you enjoy this post? Share it! Sharing is sweet.

This week’s guest on Hometown to Hollywood is Diane Christiansen.

Diane is an award-winning acting coach, and founder of Diane Christiansen Coaching in Los Angeles. She teaches weekly classes to actors from age three to adult, broken down by age and focus—and including scene study, audition, technique, Improv, and character development, as well as offering commercial classes, casting director workshops, demo reels, and private coaching.

We talk about her approach to acting, agent showcases, auditioning advice, self-tape advice, pilot season, and so much more. Some of my favorite quotes:

“If you have altered the electricity in the room, you’re doing your job.”

 

“Let’s try excellence over perfection.”

“Theatre is to an actor what ballet is to dancers.”

 

“What questions are you NOT asking?”

“Hard work pays.”

 

“Build your resume before you come to a major market.”

 

Diane also has a book out, Scenes for Teens, by Teens, which is available on Amazon.

 

Find Diane here:

Website: http://dianechristiansen.com/

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 818-523-8283

Twitter: @actupdi

Facebook: @dianechristiansencoaching

 

The website Diane referenced with the master teaching video library is:

mastertalentteachers.com

 

Are you thinking about how to help your child become an actor? Or are you a young actor yourself?

Buy my book, The Hollywood Parents Guide, on Amazon. It contains everything I wish I’d known when Dove and I started this journey, and will save you untold amounts of time, money, and stress. Full of information you MUST know, it also features stories from parents of other kids who’ve made it!

Or book an hour consulting with me to come up with an individualized plan that takes your own unique needs into account. For about the cost of an hour with a professional acting coach, you can get your questions answered and a road map to help you move forward toward your dream.

Invest a little in your future today.

 

Did you enjoy this post? Share it! Sharing is sweet.

Today my guest on Hometown to Hollywood is Claire Chubbuck.

Claire runs the Ivana Chubbuck Youth program, which provides professional-level television, commercial, theater, and film acting classes for youth and teenagers, from beginning to advanced levels, and is located in Los Angeles. Using the world famous Chubbuck Technique, developed by her mother, famed acting coach Ivana Chubbuck, their classes teach the art of acting used professionally, as well as improving self-esteem, communication skills, and confidence for young actors.

The book we refer to in our conversation is The Power of the Actor by Ivana Chubbuck.

Some of my favorite quotes from this conversation:

"Have fun. If you're not having fun, no one's going to have fun watching you."

 

"You don't have to say yes to every audition."

"In the Chubbuck technique, there's no room for fear."

"Never stop learning."

 

"Don't be stopped."

 

Website: http://www.ivanachubbuckyouth.com/

Twitter: @chubbuckyouth

 

Are you thinking about how to help your child become an actor? Or are you a young actor yourself?

Buy my book, The Hollywood Parents Guide, on Amazon. It contains everything I wish I’d known when Dove and I started this journey, and will save you untold amounts of time, money, and stress. Full of information you MUST know, it also features stories from parents of other kids who’ve made it!

Or book an hour consulting with me to come up with an individualized plan that takes your own unique needs into account. For about the cost of an hour with a professional acting coach, you can get your questions answered and a road map to help you move forward toward your dream.

Invest a little in your kid’s future today.

 

Did you enjoy this post? Share it! Sharing is sweet.

Today my guest on this podcast is Anne Henry. Anne is one of the founders of the nonprofit BizParentz Foundation, which is an incredible resource for parents of young actors, and for young actors in general. Bizparentz provides education, advocacy, and charitable support to parents and kids in the entertainment industry.

Bizparentz' efforts have resulted in new laws being passed to protect child actors, including the breakthrough Child Performer Protection Act, which we discuss in this episode, and which is an extremely important new law that parents of minor performers must know about. At this time it only applies to California, but understanding the law can help even parents of young performers in other states know what protections may be missing that they assumed were in place for their kids.

We also discuss scams and how to avoid them, as well as many other issues affecting young actors in general, even those over 18.

Find BizParentz at http://www.bizparentz.org/

And on Facebook as BizParentz Foundation

 

Are you thinking about how to help your child become an actor? Or are you a young actor yourself?

Buy my book, The Hollywood Parents Guide, on Amazon. It contains everything I wish I’d known when Dove and I started this journey, and will save you untold amounts of time, money, and stress. Full of information you MUST know, it also features stories from parents of other kids who’ve made it! Invest a little in your kid’s future today.

Did you enjoy this post? Share it! Sharing is sweet.

Here is Part 2 of my conversation with the hilarious and extremely handsome Joey Bragg.

Joey is best known for his work on Liv and Maddie, where he plays Joey Rooney, as well as The Outfield, Mark and Russell’s Wild Ride, Fred 3: Camp Fred, and he recently guest starred on Criminal Minds. He also co-hosts his own podcast with fellow actor Kurt Long, Dudes of Future/Past, which is seriously smart and funny and which I recommend. Look for him in the upcoming Wet Hot American Summer: 10 Years Later on Netflix in 2017.

Joey’s a true outlier. He entered the world of acting through standup comedy, performing at legit comedy clubs starting at the age of 13. His agent and manager both approached him with an offer to sign after seeing one of his shows. I love Joey’s story because it shows so vividly that there are many ways into this industry.

We talked so much and our conversation was so wide-ranging that I decided to just go with it and make my first double episode. So this is part 2 of 2. Enjoy!

Find Joey Here:

Twitter: @joeybragg

Instagram: @joeybragg

Facebook: @joeybraggcomedy

Dudes of Future/Past podcast (Note: this podcast does contain adult language).

 

Are you thinking about how to help your child become an actor? Or are you a young actor yourself?

Buy my book, The Hollywood Parents Guide, on Amazon. It contains everything I wish I’d known when Dove and I started this journey, and will save you untold amounts of time, money, and stress. Full of information you MUST know, it also features stories from parents of other kids who’ve made it! Invest a little in your kid’s future today.

Did you enjoy this post? Share it! Sharing is sweet.