Commercial Acting- Auditioning for Commercials

By Wendy L. Vazquez 

This is my second article regarding Wilhelmina Rochester and it’s W Evolve Studios. In case you didn’t’ know this, W Evolve Studios provides a commercial acting class for aspiring actors. The class, which is taught by agency director Billy Powell, prepares students for the competitive world of commercial acting. Powell, who has a BFA in Theatre from Sam Houston State University, also attended Weist Barron and Bob Collier Commercial acting schools in New York. He teaches his students success strategies and audition techniques that will take the student to a professional level talent. Mr. Powell himself is no stranger in front of the camera. He is an accomplished actor who has worked in  TV Commercials, Film and Theater throughout his 25 year career.

Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down and audit the commercial acting class. I was given the chance to participate in an exercise, I was to audition for a spot in a commercial. For me, since I’m a student majoring in communications where reading is second nature, I readily accepted his offer to read. After all as a journalist, it’s what I do on camera. Easy peasy right?

Totally confident, I stood up in front of the camera on my mark, lights…camera…action and began to read the script that was my audition. So, I started  and completed my read. I thought I did okay. Even though it wasn’t a difficult script, Mr. Powell’s main objective in having me read the script in front of the students was to show them that just because someone can read well, does not mean they can perform the proper audition technique. Once I finished the read, he quickly pointed out my audition flaws. Yes…there were more than I thought. I was setting myself up for utter destruction. After he told me what I had done incorrectly, I wouldn’t have gotten the part for sure.

So, then he gave me instruction on how to perform the tasks and then gave me another shot at it. Using the technique wasn’t easy. As a matter of fact, even though I’d studied broadcast journalism, I was no where near this stuff. WOW! However, as time in the class progressed, I got more comfortable and more confident with this cool new technique and I started to feel the process coming together. And that was exciting! Whoa…more work here and I’m going to be a commercial actor!! Look out Flo from Progressive!

Some of the key things that were brought up in this class was the importance to memorize not all but key sections of the script and how to  prepare for changes. Saying the script out loud was another one. Another important thing to do with your script is to underline key words and remembering most importantly that the camera is your friend.

My experience auditing this class was an eye opener. You want to book commercials and open up a new career where big dollars are at stake?  W Evolve Studios is training actors to know what their job is on the audition trail, honing skills and to be confident in the process. But most importantly, they are giving actors the training they need to succeed and are providing their students with important skills and audition techniques to get work in TV Commercials. Check out the page and get registered! Class Schedule