Interview with Brendon Blincoe, President of REAL TALENT CASTING
Posted on 06/05/2008
This is the 5th installment in our interviews
with reality TV casting director series. This week I spoke with Reality TV
Casting Director Brendon Blincoe. Brendon has been in the reality TV casting
business for over 13 years. Brendon has cast shows such as ROCK OF LOVE, I LOVE
NEW YORK, and is
currently working with MTV and 50 cent on the new show we have posted on our
site here. I spoke with Brendon about how he got into casting, what he looks
for in applicants, and some additional reality TV casting tips.
Q. Mark: RealityWanted.com: Brendon, thank you for taking the time to chat with
us today, your casting call is currently in pole position and the most viewed
on the site this month.
A. Brendon Blincoe, President of REAL TALENT CASTING: Glad to hear it is doing
well on the site, we have seen a ton of applicants apply so far.
Q. Mark: RealityWanted.com: Before we get into casting tips and the current 50
cent show tell us how you got into the business.
A. Brendon Blincoe, President of REAL TALENT CASTING: I actually started on the
other side of the camera as a child actor. Hollywood had always called my name and
something I was always interested in. Years later as an adult, I was in a bar
and someone recruited me to be on a show called "The Big Date". I was excited
about the casting business and took a recruiter job for no pay to get started
and within a few weeks I had landed a full time paid position. Later I was
contacted for a job with MTV as a casting associate working on the show
"Singled Out".
Q. Mark: RealityWanted.com: How cool, a chance meeting at a bar with someone in
casting changed your life.
A. Brendon Blincoe, President of REAL TALENT CASTING: It's the old saying it's
not what you know, it's who you know.
Mark: RealityWanted.com: Thanks for covering that topic, I
have seen many reality stars turned casting associates and we also have members
on RealityWanted.com who ask us from time to time how to get into the world of
casting. So talk to me about this new show your working on titled "MTV & 50
Cent are casting ambitious guys and girls who are determined to "Get Rich...Or
Die Tryin'"
A. Brendon Blincoe, President of REAL TALENT CASTING: There is a good amount of
information about the show in the casting call but in a nut shell 50 Cent
started his career in music and after being discovered by Eminem parlayed his
success as a rapper into becoming a success in the business world. The show is
doing the same thing for people who have not had their chance to follow their
hopes and entrepreneurial dreams.
Q. Mark: RealityWanted.com: Sounds like a pretty cool
concept and I can see why it's such a popular casting call. Can you tell
applicants what you're looking for?
A. Brendon Blincoe, President of REAL TALENT CASTING: We are
looking for people who might lack street smarts but have a strong business and
educational background or people with street smarts lacking the business
background. At the end of the day I have to assume a person like 50 Cent feels
that if you're going to be players in the game you need both the business and
street smart combo.
Q. Mark: RealityWanted.com: What kind of things are you not
looking for or what kind of things frustrate you with applicants.
A. Brendon Blincoe, President of REAL TALENT CASTING: I want applicants to first and foremost READ the description of the show I am
casting and make sure it is something they are truly interested in. I can't
emphasize this enough, too many people fail to realize we look over every
applicant and if you blindly apply to every show you see online we are going to
catch wind of this and realize you're really just looking for any reason to get
on TV. I want people who have their eye
on the prize. If the prize is a million dollars, a date with Flavor Flav, or a scholarship
I don't want to see people who just want to be on TV. I want people to truly
have an interest in the shows concept and prize.
Q. Mark: RealityWanted.com: That's some great info for our members, I have
noticed several who apply to just about every show we have listed and fail to
read the fact the casting director is looking for males only and I see females
apply. What are some deal killers or things people can say or do to get tossed
out of the casting process.
A. Brendon Blincoe, President of REAL TALENT CASTING: Don't tell me you want to be an actor, if so you need to go to acting school and apply to non reality related shows. Other statements that applicants say that can kill the deal are:
"I want to be famous"
"I will give you good ratings"
"I am just like so and so on the show ..."
"I want to be an actor"
Q. Mark: RealityWanted.com: I hope our readers are going to gather some good
tips from this interview. We really appreciate you taking the time out of your
busy schedule to talk with us. Do you have any final casting tips?
A. Brendon Blincoe, President of REAL TALENT CASTING: When an applicant comes
in for an in person audition they better have a kick ass personality and be
ready to show it. I don't want to have to work at getting you to show me your
personality. However, we don't need people to come in dressed up in cow
costumes or acting like a crazy character unless they just want to end up on
outtake footage on shows like American Idol. When I worked on Fear Factor and
set up a bar event people would come in with live roaches and eat them in front
of us. That put the casting company, bar, and applicant in jeopardy so just be
yourself, it's really that simple. The best advice you will hear from everyone
in casting is to be YOU and be YOURSELF, we can tell when you're putting on a
show. Lastly, follow the application
instructions. If we ask you to place your phone number on a video tape and you
forget to, I don't have time to track you down and will move onto the next
applicant.
Mark: RealityWanted.com: Excellent advice Brendon, I am sure all our members and readers greatly appreciate your advice. I hope everyone who is reading, will remember to label all of their information and try not to put on a show when they appear at a casting call, simply be who you are and be yourself.
Rate this interview
Discuss 'Interview with Brendon Blincoe, President of REAL TALENT CASTING'