Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Terry Berland. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Terry, appreciate you joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

I first started learning how to be a casting director by working as an assistant in a Casting Department at a Madison Avenue ad agency in New York City. Things have changed in the business over the years and those jobs don’t exist anymore. You learn how to be a casting director from on-the-job experience. To be a good casting director you have to be able to recognize good talent.

I learned how to look at an actor’s photo and recognize a life behind the eyes and ultimately feel their personality. When looking at a short video demo I had to develop a sense of what was a good performance from an inferior performance. Then in the audition process I learned how to direct talent to act on camera. In addition I learned how to direct talent in their voice over auditions to deliver their best performance, all the while satisfying what the creative team who will be hiring them is looking for.

To become a seasoned casting director it does take a process.  Every project you do is a learning process of developing your sensitivities. You have to learn how to use industry breakdown services to get the word out for the talent you are looking for. You must be highly organized to deal with the volume of talent who answer your casting calls (breakdowns) and develop a system that works for you to meet the deadlines you have to meet.

There is a business end of the process you have to learn regarding talent payments, contracts and industry rules and regulations. Ultimately as a casting director you are responsible for protecting your clients, whether that be the ad agency or production company, from any snafus that could occur from the beginning of the project up until the talent arrives at the shoot day.

You have to be extremely curious and open to unexpected discoveries. You have to be brave to start out with a blank canvas and trust you will find the talent you are looking for as the process unfolds. In addition,  you have to have tenacity to live through the ups and down, ebbs and flows and big changes that have come about, and will continue to, due to technology.

The biggest obstacle that stood in my way of learning more was lack of time. A good example is, in addition to being a casting director where I direct talent in the audition process, I would have liked to have learned how to be an animation voice  director.  This means I would direct voice over talent in the actual recording of an animated TV show. As I reflect back I realize that never happened because I was too busy casting to have shadowed a mentor who would have guided me through that learning process.

Terry, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m a casting director most known for both on-camera and voice over, and also a talent commercial acting coach. My  professional roots were in New York City. You can take the girl out of New York, but you can’t take the New York energy and attitude out of the girl. I got into the casting industry purely by luck and happenstance. I started out working at an ad agency in New York City because there was a lot of growth potential in careers for women in that industry at the time. Ultimately, seeking a change, I moved to Los Angeles to further pursue my career and change my lifestyle.

In my formative professional years,  had my sites on a job at an ad agency, as there were a lot of opportunities for women at the time in that field. I landed in a Casting Department of an ad agency as an assistant to several casting directors and started learning on the job. It took a lot of tenacity to get me through the hard knocks of moving up the ladder, keeping my site on the end result, which was to gain the title of a casting director, I worked my way up from an assistant to finally being promoted to the title of Casting Director and ultimately to the Head Of Casting for Madison Avenue BBDO advertising agency, which at the time, was the third largest agency in the world. There were a lot of people to please in the corporate environment and a lot of pressure to stay creative, come up with fresh ideas to stay relevant. From there I moved on to starting my own independent casting company and relocated to Los Angeles.

I protect my clients from additional unexpected costs and deliver talent choices to them who make their projects creatively successful. The first problem I solve is working out the initial details of a project such as clarity of talent characteristics they are looking for, direction the talent should take in their auditions and terms of agreement that their contracts will cover. If any of this is not clear when the initial breakdown (search) goes out it can cause problems at the end time of booking and everything can fall apart. This could involve talent dropping out or asking for more money. I make sure my client stays within budget regarding anything to do with talent.

What sets me apart is my theatrical sensitivity in the commercial arena. This sensitivity lends to giving my clients interesting, unexpected choices. I know if talent are good or not, has the ability to take direction and will add value to their project. I have great communication skills with agents, talent and my production clients.

I am a casting director who early in my career started coaching talent in how to act in both on camera and voice over commercials. My understanding and ability to communicate what makes a good, bookable performance has changed thousands of actor’s performances nationwide.

I am proud that I have created my Independent casting company which is thriving since 1992. I have changed with the times and have even been a leader of some trends. I am happy to have changed the lives of many actors financially and added to their joy of receiving bookings, both of which at times could be lifechanging. There are legions of talent whose careers I have started or performances I have changed through my coaching which has lent to their successes. I have a published a book called “Breaking Into Commercials” that is on it’s third edition.  I’ve won many casting awards for ads when I was on staff ad the ad agency such as the Clio,  Houston International Film Festival, Art Director’s Club, Addy, International Film and Television Festival and achieved the credits to become a member of the CSA (Casting Society Of America). I’m proud of being a member of the acting and casting community.

I’m a trusted casting director.  When my clients hire me as their casting director they get a healthy amount of great casting choices.  The process will go seamlessly with no drama. For actors that look to me to coach them, they can trust they will get in touch with their more authentic bookable selves. They will have more fun and feel more confident auditioning and can trust results by looking at all the success stories.

Have you ever had to pivot?

The biggest pivot I had to make is when Covid hit and I had to pack up my office and work from home. All our auditions up until this point were in person. Within a matter of five days, VO casting was being done remotely and within about seven days on camera auditions were also being done remotely. Within that short amount of time I started using Zoom and figured out a system that would work for me to give my client’s the results they needed.

The industry was amazing in that voice over studios, within days, figured out how to record final spots with talent remotely and production companies and directors figured out how to produce on camera commercial spots remotely. There was no central place to go to that taught any of us anything. Word spread quickly and we were all somehow in sync. When I reflect on the situation I’m not sure how it came together so quickly. It’s hard to believe.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My goals and missions have changed and evolved throughout my career, In the beginning of my career my mission was to be a full casting director. I went through a lot of hard knocks grinning and bearing challenges always keeping my site on the end result I wanted of being a full fledged casting director. All along as I became a casting director and became the head of an ad agency casting department, my goal was to work on long range business relationships. Then my goal was targeted on building a name and reputation in the business. Now my mission has evolved to share as much as I can in educating talent for them to get to the point of being really good at what they do with confidence. Along with this I am sharing as much as I can for talent to understand the casting process to further add to their comfort and confidence in the business of acting.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://berlandcasting.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/berlandcasting/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/terry.berland.casting/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/berlandcasting/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCp6K5OZCaSGE_YHaMj2lDXg
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/terry-berland-workshops-los-angeles?osq=berland+casting
• Other: Workshops https://terryberlandworkshops.com