By Risa Bramon Garcia and Steve Braun
4.9
285285 ratings
The podcast currently has 57 episodes available.
Risa talked on Zoom with with Anthony Meindl of fellow acting studio, AMAW (which is Anthony Meindl's Acting Workshop) about EVERYTHING… about art, big tech, climate change, self-tapes, casting, how Tik Tok is killing our attention span, and how things are really really hard right now. They talked about both getting started in the NY theatre and the power of community, and, something that resonates for us at BGB a well... being in process always, and being an artist first. It was a great conversation and we want to share it with all of you. So no matter where you are in your journey or how you are feeling about where the Industry is, or isn’t, have a listen and see how this affects you, and if it brings up feelings, pay attention to them. Let us know what resonated for you!
More On Risa
More On Steve
Subscribe! And if you're loving the Podcast, leave a review and rating!
Your words will help connect us all and bring these valuable conversations to even more actors- and other artists- around the world.
AND… Screenshot, post + tag us @bgbstudio on IG!
If you’ve missed any episodes, catch up now!
Guests & Resources:
Check out Anthony’s website HERE learn more about his work with actors!
Listen to other related episodes:
EPISODE 55: What Are You Waiting For? You Are The Industry.
EPISODE 54: What Does It Take to Make It Now?
EPISODE 52: How to Stand Out from Hundreds of Other Actors
EPISODE 42: That Next Level Shit
EPISODE 28: The Practice That Leads to Success
Credits:
Producer:
BGB STAFF
Tech + Design:
MITCHELL BRAXTON & ASWATHI MENON
Music:
SAM DEWEES + ANDY ABELOW
The BGB Sit-Down is back! Meet Risa + Sydney in our Studio
Are You Ready For Class?
All BGB Classes
Risa sat down with some of our amazing BGB teachers (Cate Cohen, Sydney Walsh, Corey Parker, and David DeSantos) for an inspiring conversation about redefining your relationship with the Industry. About how to successfully step into your power in your work, your art, and your career. What leadership looks like so that you're in the driver’s seat, not waiting for the Industry to invite you in. Why we all need a community in which to be creative, to grow, to thrive- we were never meant to do this alone. How to become a creative force and impact your audiences… the Industry. And how the power of an artistic practice will sustain you for a lifelong career.
Listen in, or watch these brilliant, generous, kind, talented artists and teachers share their insights and experience. We’re inspired!
MORE ON RISA
MORE ON STEVE
Subscribe! And if you're loving the Podcast, leave a review and rating!
Your words will help connect us all and bring these valuable conversations to even more actors- and other artists- around the world.
AND… Screenshot, post + tag us @bgbstudio on IG!
If you’ve missed any episodes, catch up now!
Guests & Resources:
Click here to learn more about Sydney Walsh!
Click here to learn more about Corey Parker!
Click here to learn more about Cate Cohen!
Click here to learn more about David DeSantos!
Check out the books David mentions in the episode:
The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle
The Actor and the Target by Declan Donnellan
The Art Spirit by Robert Henri
The Plays of Anton Chekhov
Listen to other podcasts with our BGB Master Teachers!
Ep. 54: What Does It Take to Make It Now?
Ep. 53: Finding Freedom & Power in Script Analysis
Ep. 43: How To Be A Happy Actor
Credits:
PRODUCER: BGB STAFF
TECH + DESIGN: MITCHELL BRAXTON & ASWATHI MENON
MUSIC: SAM DEWEES + ANDY ABELOW
Back To All Episodes
Meet us on Instagram and other social spaces where we hang out — with tons more great advice, inspiration, and Industry intel.
@BGBStudio on IG + Twitter + TikTok + @theBGBStudio on Facebook.
CHECK OUT our Audition, Scene-Study, and Hybrid Classes!
SIGN UP for our BGB Group Career Coaching series!
JOIN US for The BGB Actors Summit: A virtual workshop with Risa & Steve
The BGB Sit-Down is back! Meet Risa + Sydney in our Studio
Are You Ready For Class?
All BGB Classes
Change is the only constant and the changes have come fast and hard. So what is the Industry now? What does it mean to be an Actor right now? What does it take to make it today? Risa and Steve discuss the current state of Industry, what actors can expect from the Industry and the essential shifts actors need to make right now to position themselves for success. Listen in and let us know how this resonates with you.
MORE ON RISA
MORE ON STEVE
Subscribe! And if you're loving the Podcast, leave a review and rating!
Your words will help connect us all and bring these valuable conversations to even more actors- and other artists- around the world.
AND… Screenshot, post + tag us @bgbstudio on IG!
If you’ve missed any episodes, catch up now!
Guests & Resources:
Listen to other related episodes:
EPISODE 52: How to Stand Out from Hundreds of Other Actors
EPISODE 49: How to Redefine Your Career For This Moment
EPISODE 42: That Next Level Shit
EPISODE 28: The Practice That Leads to Success
EPISODE 50: The Strike is Over. Here’s What to Do Now
EPISODE 49: How To Redefine Your Career For This Moment
Join us in class today!
Credits:
PRODUCER:
BGB STAFF
TECH + DESIGN:
ASWATHI MENON
MUSIC:
SAM DEWEES + ANDY ABELOW
Back To All Episodes
Meet us on Instagram and other social spaces where we hang out — with tons more great advice, inspiration, and Industry intel.
@BGBStudio on IG + Twitter + TikTok + @theBGBStudio on Facebook.
CHECK OUT our Audition, Scene-Study, and Hybrid Classes!
SIGN UP for our BGB Group Career Coaching series!
JOIN US for The BGB Actors Summit: A virtual workshop with Risa & Steve
The BGB Sit-Down is back! Meet Risa + Steve in our Studio
Are You Ready For Class?
All BGB Classes
“Script Analysis” is an often misunderstood term that can result in an actor robbing a scene of its art by reducing it to mathematical calculations. Some actors love the idea of script analysis so they can “solve” the scene and control it. Other actors abandon the idea of script analysis altogether because they are afraid of adding any structure to their art. The truth of Script Analysis is more interesting and dynamic. BGB Master Teachers, Cate Cohen, Sydney Walsh, and Corey Parker, sit down with Risa and Steve to talk about the dance between structure and fluidity in your preparation, and how to use Script Analysis to find freedom and power in your work.
Guests & Resources:
Learn more about our wonderful teachers:
Sydney Walsh - BGB Master Teacher, actor, writer, director
Cate Cohen - BGB Master Teacher, actor, writer
Corey Parker - BGB Master Teacher, actor, coach
Listen to other related episodes:
Episode 6: The Secret To Successful Preparation
Episode 42: That Next Level Shit
Gifts & Opt-ins:
The Perfect Imperfect Self-Tape
21 Ways To Make Casting Directors Happy
What Casting Wants
Back To All Episodes
Meet us on Instagram and other social spaces where we hang out — with tons more great advice, inspiration, and Industry intel.
@BGBStudio on IG + Twitter + TikTok + @theBGBStudio on Facebook.
CHECK OUT our Audition, Scene-Study, and Hybrid Classes!
SIGN UP for our BGB Group Career Coaching series!
JOIN US for The BGB Actors Summit: A virtual workshop with Risa & Steve
The BGB Sit-Down is back! Meet Risa + Steve in our Studio
Are You Ready For Class?
All BGB Classes
An actor who books work consistently is an actor who has the capacity to remain vulnerable in the face of intense rejection, to stay focused in a world full of distractions, and to stay sharp in one of the most competitive Industries around. The actor who books work consistently has found a way to stand out from hundreds of others. They have expressed themself in a way that makes them a singularity. In a hard industry and a hard world, that kind of singular expression must be supported by a lifestyle that nurtures their art and their career. Listen in as Risa and Steve talk about how to cultivate a lifestyle that offers you all that, and then share your thoughts and questions with us on social @BGBStudio or by emailing us at [email protected]. We want to hear from you.
Subscribe! And if you're loving the Podcast, leave a review and rating!
Your words will help connect us all and bring these valuable conversations to even more actors- and other artists- around the world.
AND… Screenshot, post + tag us @bgbstudio on IG!
If you’ve missed any episodes, catch up now!
Guests & Resources:
Listen to other related episodes:
Episode 28: The Practice That Leads To Success
Episode 36: The Pursuit Of Happiness - w/ Caroline, Dominic, Ellyn, Johnathan
Gifts & Opt-ins:
The Perfect Imperfect Self-Tape
21 Ways To Make Casting Directors Happy
What Casting Wants
Credits:
PRODUCER:
BGB STAFF
TECH + DESIGN:
ASWATHI MENON & MITCHELL BRAXTON
MUSIC:
SAM DEWEES + ANDY ABELOW
Back To All Episodes
Meet us on Instagram and other social spaces where we hang out — with tons more great advice, inspiration, and Industry intel.
@BGBStudio on IG + Twitter + TikTok + @theBGBStudio on Facebook.
CHECK OUT our Audition, Scene-Study, and Hybrid Classes!
SIGN UP for our BGB Group Career Coaching series!
JOIN US for The BGB Actors Summit: A virtual workshop with Risa & Steve
The BGB Sit-Down is back! Meet Risa + Steve in our Studio
2023 was a really intense year. Two strikes, wars, a contracting Industry, inflation, lingering effects of the pandemic, etc. And that intensity revealed some powerful lessons that every actor must hear and understand in order to be a working actor in 2024. Risa and Steve delve into the lessons of 2023 that point to the new reality for actors and light the path to success in the New Year!
Subscribe! And if you're loving the Podcast, leave a review and rating!
Your words will help connect us all and bring these valuable conversations to even more actors- and other artists- around the world.
If you’ve missed any episodes, catch up now!
Guests & Resources:
Ep. 50: The Strike is Over. Here’s What to Do Now.
Ep. 47: A.I. is Coming for your Jobs. Here's What to Do.
Ep. 46: What to do when The Industry Stops
Ep. 45: The Healing Required to Be an Actor
Ep. 43: How To Be A Happy Actor
@BGBStudio on IG + Twitter + TikTok + @theBGBStudio on Facebook.
CHECK OUT our Audition, Scene-Study, and Hybrid Classes!
SIGN UP for our BGB Group Career Coaching series!
JOIN US for The BGB Actors Summit: A virtual workshop with Risa & Steve
The BGB Sit-Down is back! Meet Risa + Steve in our Studio
Are You Ready For Class?
All BGB Classes
Ok, so the Industry is back. But it won't be business as usual. It can't be. Too much has changed. And if you want to book work in this new reality, you're going to have to change too. So listen in and let us know what speaks to you! You can meet this moment, but it won't be easy. Risa and Steve discuss where the Industry is at right now and the important first steps that every actor must take now that the strike is over.
Subscribe! And if you're loving the Podcast, leave a review and rating!
Your words will help connect us all and bring these valuable conversations to even more actors- and other artists- around the world.
AND… Screenshot, post + tag us @bgbstudio on IG!
If you’ve missed any episodes, catch up now!
Guests & Resources:
Industry podcast:
- Episode 35: Is It Time to Give Up Acting?
- Episode 45: The Healing Required to Be An Actor
- Episode 46: What to do when The Industry Stops
- Episode 49: How to Redefine Your Career For This Moment
Summit Opt-in:
The BGB Actors Summit Video: How To Redefine Your Career For This Moment w/ Risa & Steve
Back To All Episodes
Meet us on Instagram and other social spaces where we hang out — with tons more great advice, inspiration, and Industry intel.
@BGBStudio on IG + Twitter + TikTok + @theBGBStudio on Facebook.
CHECK OUT our Audition, Scene-Study, and Hybrid Classes!
SIGN UP for our BGB Group Career Coaching series!
JOIN US for The BGB Actors Summit: A virtual workshop with Risa & Steve
The BGB Sit-Down is back! Meet Risa + Steve in our Studio
Are You Ready For Class?
All BGB Classes
This is a new world for actors. And the Industry that emerges on the other side of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes will be different than anything we've ever seen.
The ways in which Actors have thought about their careers for over a century are, in many ways, no longer relevant.
So, what's an Actor to do?
Risa and Steve shed light on this strange new world, offer insight into what it might look like, and discuss the action that Actors can (and must) take right now if they want to have a career on the other side of all of this.
Subscribe! And if you're loving the Podcast, leave a review and rating!
Your words will help connect us all and bring these valuable conversations to even more actors- and other artists- around the world.
AND… Screenshot, post + tag us @bgbstudio on IG!
If you’ve missed any episodes, catch up now!
Guests & Resources:
Listen to other related episodes:
Episode 46: - “What to do when the Industry Stops” with Risa & Steve
Opt in:
The BGB Actors Summit Video: How To Redefine Your Career For This Moment w/ Risa & Steve
Back To All Episodes
Meet us on Instagram and other social spaces where we hang out — with tons more great advice, inspiration, and Industry intel.
@BGBStudio on IG + Twitter + TikTok + @theBGBStudio on Facebook.
CHECK OUT our Audition, Scene-Study, and Hybrid Classes!
SIGN UP for our BGB Group Career Coaching series!
JOIN US for The BGB Actors Summit: A virtual workshop with Risa & Steve
The BGB Sit-Down is back! Meet Risa + Steve in our Studio
Are You Ready For Class?
All BGB Classes
John Levey loves his job. He loves actors. He loves storytelling. He loves diving into the worlds each character inhabits. He’s been loving it for 40 years and is one of the masters of this passion profession, having won multiple Emmys and Artios awards, putting actors into groundbreaking roles on some of the most popular television shows of all time- E.R., The West Wing, China Beach, and Shameless, to name just a few. Listen in as Risa & Steve have an honest conversation with the legendary John Frank Levey.
Subscribe! And if you're loving the Podcast, leave a review and rating!
Your words will help connect us all and bring these valuable conversations to even more actors- and other artists- around the world.
AND… Screenshot, post + tag us @bgbstudio on IG!
If you’ve missed any episodes, catch up now!
Guests & Resources:
John Frank Levey’s IMDb
Listen to other related episodes:
Check out John’s book, RIGHT FOR THE ROLE:
While there are many books that catalog Hollywood—from the classic to the profane, gritty to salacious—few tell the tale of how entertainment’s biggest names became the biggest names.
Right for the Role shares the story straight from an insider who’s been central to that process for decades. Four-time Emmy-award-winning casting director John Frank Levey hasn’t just witnessed some of the world’s greatest acting talents make it in Hollywood; in many cases, he’s had a major hand in it.
As the casting director for numerous iconic TV series, including ER, The West Wing and Shameless, Levey saw firsthand that household names like George Clooney, Anthony Edwards and Allison Janney had “it”—and then watched their “it” propel them into the stratosphere.
In Right for the Role, Levey manages to tell a story of life among the glitterati while never losing his exuberance for being a part of the process. Through his colorful tales of meeting incredible talent early in their careers—including Josh Gad, Lucy Liu and a just-out-of-Julliard Jessica Chastain—Levey documents his transformation from a novice casting director to one of the greats in the field.
Beyond teaching readers how to spot what it takes to make it in Hollywood, how casting has changed since the 1980s (when telephones had cords!) or how to live in a world of glamor and gusto, Levey’s stories also show how to play a central role in a show’s success without losing a sense of wonder.
Back To All Episodes
Meet us on Instagram and other social spaces where we hang out — with tons more great advice, inspiration, and Industry intel.
@BGBStudio on IG + Twitter + TikTok + @theBGBStudio on Facebook.
CHECK OUT our Audition, Scene-Study, and Hybrid Classes!
SIGN UP for our BGB Group Career Coaching series!
JOIN US for The BGB Actors Summit: A virtual workshop with Risa & Steve
The BGB Sit-Down is back! Meet Risa + Steve in our Studio
Are You Ready For Class?
All BGB Classes
Generative A.I. is not the future. It is here. Now. And as the technology gets better and better, and audiences become less able to discern whether or not the actor on their favorite TV show or movie is human or A.I., the Industry will choose A.I. generated actors over human actors. A.I. actors are cheaper, less demanding, don’t have a union, and don’t require inconveniences like air, water, food, physical space, etc.
But as Generative A.I. comes for your jobs, it forces all of us to ponder important questions that, left unanswered, could lead to the end of the acting profession altogether.
What does it mean to be human?
What is the actual difference between a human actor and an A.I. actor?
Risa and Steve explore this new technology and the kind of work human actors will need to do to keep their jobs. Listen in!
Subscribe! And if you're loving the Podcast, leave a review and rating!
Your words will help connect us all and bring these valuable conversations to even more actors- and other artists- around the world.
AND… Screenshot, post + tag us @bgbstudio on IG!
If you’ve missed any episodes, catch up now!
Guests & Resources:
Back To All Episodes
Meet us on Instagram and other social spaces where we hang out — with tons more great advice, inspiration, and Industry intel.
@BGBStudio on IG + Twitter + TikTok + @theBGBStudio on Facebook.
CHECK OUT our Audition, Scene-Study, and Hybrid Classes!
SIGN UP for our BGB Group Career Coaching series!
JOIN US for The BGB Actors Summit: A virtual workshop with Risa & Steve
The BGB Sit-Down is back! Meet Risa + Steve in our Studio
Are You Ready For Class?
All BGB Classes
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