“The few workshops I do, I prefer to teach cold-reading between paired actors. For me, I recognize an actor who is above par because I see how they relate and respond to another actor and to my instruction. A talented actor should not feel jeopardized by their partner's performance, whether the partner is a reader or scene partner, because a good actor can hold their own even in unexpected circumstances. I really enjoy workshops at Reel PROs, because my philosophy is also their philosophy.”
Fern Champion, Casting Director, CSA, Owner of Fern Champion Casting

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Reel PROs is not into overselling a premise that in actuality may have little sustainable value over time for most actors. What we are into is building actor strength and depth so that there is a progression of obvious growth. What that means to us, and to any number of casting director workshop instructors we’ve invited to RP over the years, is that cold readings done in front of a full audience of other actors and participatory guests, whether the reads are done in pairs or one-on-one’s with a skilled reader, afford the opportunity to the actor of honing their craft well beyond what prepared reads in an isolated environment with a casting director allows.


“Actors ask me all the time what it is that I’m looking for. All I want to see is an actor who is talented and smart, so I can feel confident in their ability to learn from me. I don’t need a lot of time to figure that out, or to see the scenes presented in any special way. A good pair of actors reading together, making a scene come alive, is all I need. I love coming to Reel PROs where I teach talented and smart actors in the workshops!”
Sara Isaacson, Casting Director, CSA


When casting directors offer workshops at Reel PROs they expect to work with actors who already cold-read well and have good audition skills, but who want to learn more from them. Every time an actor takes the Reel PROs stage, they practice and continue to develop their auditioning skills: how they interact personally with the casting director; how they own the space; how they control their physicality, nerves, energy and vocal levels for the given environment; their professionalism, confidence and pleasantness — everything they do in an audition that affects their success.

“I am a big fan of Reel PROs. There is lots of great talent there. When teaching a paired cold-reading workshop, I give out very short scenes, so as to let the actors really have fun and explore without getting caught up in the dialogue. I love when an actor, or pair of actors, gets so into the scene that I forget to take notes on them because I'm so engrossed.”
Erica Silverman, Casting Director, CSA

The cold-reading aspect of Reel PROs’ casting director workshops - which includes clear and specific redirection of scenes and/or constructive feedback, specifying what worked well and why, or what could be improved upon - hones their script analysis skills (the breaking down of a script for a character’s objectives and intentions) by focusing their time and energy on making strong and specific choices quickly. Actors who’ve mastered this skill have a significant leg up when asked in an audition to read additional scenes without ever having seen them previously, or even perform a completely new role. Most importantly, if an actor is able to make strong, clear choices within the casting director workshop's 15 minute cold-reading rehearsal period, imagine how much more layered their performance will be after a full day or more with a script!

“I look for a natural and organic energy from the actors, and it’s difficult for me to see that energy and work with it in a one-on-one read. In a paired cold-reading, like at Reel PROs, the scene is more believable and it comes alive for me and the audience.”
Ani Avetyan, Casting, CD Associate

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