"I was so beaten down by the system. I remember thinking I need to rethink this whole thing. I'm just gonna be honest, I'm just gonna be real, I have nothing to lose at this point.” - John Magaro TODAY'S EPISODE OF 10,000 NOs Podcast is rife with takeaways for actors, from the craft of acting to the approach to auditions to the ups and downs of a long career, even for someone as well-respected as John Magaro. John was one of the leads of last year's Best Picture Academy Award nominee, Past...

"I really just decided with this one that it was going to happen... if I had to shoot it on my iPhone that's what we were gonna do.” - Shane Atkinson   TODAY'S EPISODE OF 10,000 NOs Podcast is pulled from one of the 10,000 NOs Insiders Community’s monthly VIP Industry Guest Zooms, where we bring industry winners in to help our members navigate their acting careers. Perhaps the biggest inspiration and takeaway came from Shane's message to our members: don’t wait for someone else to come in and...

In TODAY'S EPISODE OF 10,000 NOs Podcast , a solo riff, I talk about the social experiment known as The Metro Experiment, where world class violinist Joshua Bell was observed playing his $3.5 million dollar Stradivarius in disguise on a subway platform, wearing a hoody as commuters waited for their train. The results were astounding. And they shine a light on artists who have been devaluing themselves, or giving up, because gatekeepers (those who have the power to move said artists' careers...

Kellie Roy has racked up over 100 casting credits over the past two decades in Hollywood, from tiny indies to huge blockbusters like the Aquaman franchise and massively successful Box Office champions like the Insidious installments, The Conjuring, Furious 7, XXX and many more.  When she sat down with the members of our 10,000 NOs Insiders Community, she shared helpful hints with our actors about the casting director's desire to help them win the job. Kellie helped yours truly win my part in...

Terry Knickerbocker has coached elite actors like Daniel Craig, Michelle Williams and Sam Rockwell. He's coached actors on performances that have won an Academy Award, Golden Globe Awards and Screen Actors Guild Awards. That's how he became dubbed "New York's Top Acting Coach".  But in Today's Episode of 10,000 NOs Podcast, Terry returns (he was on the pod before the pandemic) to speak to the members of our 10,000 NOs Insiders Community and dispel the myth of the elite. He believes that the...

St. Patrick's Day brings the phrase "The Luck of the Irish" out more than the rest of the year. So today's episode dives into the history of that phrase as an excuse to discuss a central theme of this podcast and a philosophy of almost every guest we've been lucky enough to have on it: Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.  Choosing purpose over comfort, looking forward to goals and then reverse-engineering the path to them, and making sacrifices on a daily basis are all ingredients in...

If we wait around until "the time is perfect" or "the draft is done" or we get "the perfect take", we'll never try out for that team or ask that girl/guy out or make that movie or send in a self-tape audition... or release that podcast episode or write that book. So let this week be a reminder to you that if you are just in the game, you can pat yourself on the back for giving it a whirl. Could you be better? Sure. Do you want to strive to be better? Absolutely. But maybe right now your best...

While many people identify Award Winning Actor Michael Imperioli with his role of Christopher Moltisanti on The Sopranos, or more recently, as Dominic Di Grasso, on The White Lotus, his talent stretches far beyond his thespian roots. He has written screenplays, novels and episodes of television. He has developed Television shows, plays in a band, practices Buddhism and has run his own theater with his wife. He is an artist’s artist. Far from the hot-headed Moltisanti, Michael ponders, jokes...

Today’s episode is pulled from one of the 10,000 NOs Insiders Community’s monthly VIP Industry Guest Zooms. Elite talent manager, and Academy-Award nominated Producer of Belfast, Becca Kovacik, speaks to our members about the nuances between agent representation and manager representation. She gives out gems about the nature of a healthy relationship with your representatives in the entertainment industry and, if you're searching for new representation, offers advice on how to assemble a...

In TODAY'S EPISODE OF 10,000 NOs Podcast triple-threat Mike Doyle talks with me and my 10,000 NOs Insiders Community about his transition from an actor who was just waiting for the phone to ring to an actor who writes and directs his own films (with Academy Award nominees, Emmy Award winners and SAG Award winners) in order to have a bigger piece of the creative pie and tell stories that he's passionate about.  Mike is a living example of the kind of artists I'm constantly pushing members of...

Today’s episode features my longtime friend, Chris Messina, from when he graciously dropped in via Zoom as our Industry VIP to speak to the participants of our first Let's Shoot the Rehearsal Weekend-Intensive On-camera Retreat back in June of 2023 (we are very excited to be hosting our 4th iteration of the Weekend-Intensive next weekend). This is a MUST-LISTEN for the actors amongst you: Chris has made a career of coloring outside the lines, following his impulses and finding a unique way to...

Today’s episode is a solo riff based on two podcasts that I recently listened to: former 10,000 NOs guest, Bedros Keuilian on The Bedros Keuilian Show talking about How to Silence the Negative Voices In Your Head in 2024 and Father Mike Schmitz on The Bible in a Year on Day 25: Job’s Questioning.  I delve into the merits of hard work and daily tasks, while also discussing the need for faith and belief in something larger than what is right in front of you (the spiritual realm). I also get...

Today’s episode is the third part from my conversation with my agent from Buchwald Talent in LA. Marion came by and spoke to our virtual 10,000 NOs Insiders Community on one of our monthly VIP Zooms and the reaction to her our first two episodes from this convo (What Talent Agents Are Looking for In An Actor and Help Me Help You) were so well received that we cut this together to glean some more gems from her perspective.  Marion points out that you don't need to be a social media influencer...

Today’s episode is pulled from one of our 10,000 NOs Insiders Community’s monthly VIP Industry Guest Zooms. If you listened to, or watched our New Year’s Episode, you’re familiar with Wendy Braun. I liked her so much that I wanted to bring her back for this one. We focus more on the Q & A portion of our conversation. You may hear a few sentences that were played in that other episode, but that’s only to shed light on the rest of our talk.  Wendy is a great resource, her offerings are not...

Before moving with my family from Southern California back to the East Coast to be closer with family, I sat down with Emmy Award Winner (The Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire), Academy Award Nominee (The Wolf of Wall Street), Terence Winter. Then we moved, and I paused the podcast. And this episode stayed locked on my hard drive for almost three years.  Time has done nothing but age Terry’s stories like a fine wine. You will laugh your ass off, be inspired, and realize that even those on top had...

Today’s episode is pulled from one of the 10,000 NOs Insiders Community’s weekly Zooms and it’s very specific: it was recorded the day after the first Let’s Shoot the Rehearsal Weekend-Intensive On-Camera Retreat we put on in New York City. I was fired up after it’s success. And it led to this conversation with our members about something that I’m asked about all the time from young actors and artists-in-general: they say, “I can’t get any traction.” Or “I can’t get started.” Or… if they’re...

Today’s episode is pulled from one of the 10,000 NOs Insiders Community’s monthly VIP Industry Guest Zooms. Actor and Actor-mentor Wendy Braun talks to our group about the progress that is sometimes made by NOT being such a doer (she is a self-proclaimed recovering Type-A Doer). We discuss the choices we make and how it helps when we consciously choose things out of love versus fear. This led us down a path reminiscent of my conversation a few years ago with Poo-Pourrie Founder/CEO Suzy...

In honor of our Christmas Day release, today’s episode is a meditation on the benefits of putting our own wants, needs and ego desires aside and serving others first.   We all want to do good things for others. But sometimes our knee-jerk reaction of “wanting to get ours” gets in the way. Today’s riff is a reminder that the shortest, quickest path to serenity and happiness is actually through serving others.   10,000 NOs podcast is now in it’s 2.0 phase: after a long pause from late 2021 to...

This one is a must-listen for actors. Talent Agent Marion Campbell of Buchwald Talent in Los Angeles, who joined us as one of our monthly Guest VIP Zoom calls with the 10,000 NOs Insiders Community, advises our actor-members on their approach to handling, and pursuing, representatives. Much of her advice comes down to a few tenets: know yourself, know the business, know your place within the business, and then figure out, and express to your agent, what kinds of material, roles and...

Today’s episode is pulled from one of the 10,000 NOs Insiders Community’s monthly VIP Industry Guest Zooms. Writer and award-winning documentary filmmaker (Sundance Winner for Joshua: Teenager vs Superpower, 2017) Joe Piscatella, a friend and collaborator of mine, has a career that reads like the book of Job: every time he rose to the top of one sector, the industry changed (reality TV squeezing sitcoms, a writer’s strike in 2007 putting an end to his hot streak as a comedy writer). But Joe’s...

Today’s episode is pulled from one of the 10,000 NOs Insiders Community’s monthly VIP Industry Guest Zooms. Actor Pej Vahdat, whom I overlapped with on City on a Hill while he was simultaneously shooting The Old Man with Jeff Bridges as well as Dynasty, has some great stories. He tells us why he went by “Jason Vaughn” early on (it’s a hilarious story that involves him selling airplane parts and creating an agency with his friend just to get themselves auditions).  As with most of our guests...

In this excerpt, from one of our LET’S SHOOT THE REHEARSAL weekend-intensive on-camera retreats in NYC, Industry VIP Yul Vazquez drops in to discuss the power we have as actors. He talks about treating auditions as being your time just as much as anyone else’s, approaching the role in your own way (in case you get the gig and have to do it for 10 years), begging for forgiveness rather than asking permission (when trying something new) and not allowing your creative wings to be clipped by...

John "JC" Capone was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. It disrupted his life, compromised his motor skills and redefined relationships with former friends. It did NOT take his spirit. Or his ability to fight back. One man, who happens to be the director of the hit Netflix film, Reptile, starring Benicio Del Toro and Justin Timberlake, took notice and went to bat for him. After a too-long hiatus from the podcast, Matt was asked to sit down with JC by a mutual friend, just to help him get...

In this excerpt, from one of our monthly VIP Live Zoom calls with the 10,000 NOs Insiders Community, Talent Agent Marion Campbell or Buchwald LA cuts straight to what young actors need to hear: what does it take to not just attract the right agent, but to help them help you? Who you are "has to be reflected on your headshot, and that has to be reflected in your demo tape... whatever it is that you're selling. So I get frustrated when an actor doesn't know what they are... I'm not going to be...