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Think Bigger Coaching is Life + Career Coaching for Actors and other Creatives!
10/01/2026
You don’t have to want to do verticals.
But if you’re auditioning for one, you should probably know what the director is actually looking for.
Because “grounded” doesn’t always mean smaller.
Director Kristen Brancaccio told me exactly how she wants actors approaching these self-tapes: watch the platform, find the emotional turns, make the stakes visible, and sometimes… push the take further than you normally would.
And here’s the part I really want actors to hear:
Kristen is directing verticals now. She’s also been hired to direct her first feature.
The people making the “small thing” today may be making the thing you desperately want to be in tomorrow.
Comment KRISTEN and I’ll send you the full episode.
09/29/2026
Somewhere along the way, fear became acting career advice.
Don’t leave town. Don’t ask for more money. Don’t call yourself an actor until somebody hires you. If you love anything else, maybe you don’t want this badly enough.
I believed some of it. I missed birthdays and trips with people I love because an audition might come in. Then, after seven seasons on Bosch, I learned that a big credit doesn’t make the next job appear.
I still love this work. I’m still going after it. I just have a lot more to say about the rules we hand down to each other.
Here are five hills I’ll die on. Which one would you argue with me about?
Comment KRISTEN and I’ll send you the full episode.
Kristen Brancaccio directed Issa Rae’s Screen Time and Keke Palmer’s Southern Belle Insults. She’s directed 22 verticals.
Her self-tape note: stay grounded, then push every emotion as far as it goes. Sharp turns. Excited into scared. A lot of people watch with the sound off, so your face has to tell the story.
A micro drama is not a small indie film. Most actors tape it like one.
She said it herself. She can always bring you down. It’s harder to pull you up.
09/21/2026
𝗪𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗣𝗔𝗬 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗷𝗼𝗯?
That’s the question of the hour.
What would make it worth it to you? A network credit? An indie film? Footage you need for your reel? Or are you at a point where none of those would justify the cost?
Tell me where your line is in the comments. Save this for the next time an opportunity comes with a price tag, and share it with an actor who’s weighing one now.
𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗛 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜’𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸’𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗲𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲.
09/15/2026
Would you work on a vertical?
Yes.
No.
Only if it’s union.
Depends on the money.
Producer and director Guy Chachkes believes the major streamers are already paying attention. If he’s right, actors need to start paying attention too.
Comment VERTICAL and I’ll send you the full podcast episode.
Would you do a vertical? Micro-drama?
Let me know below.
Because your next Netflix audition could be a vertical?
It sounds wild until you see how quickly these shows are growing.
Producer and director Guy Chachkes believes the major streamers are already paying attention. If he’s right, actors need to start paying attention too.
Comment VERTICALS and I’ll send you the full conversation.
What do you do when you get a residual check like these?
I always lead with gratitude…and ask for more. Attract it!
Stop worrying about your SELF-TAPE SETUP and start focusing on preparing the SCENE.
Be honest. How much time have you spent worrying about your background, your lighting, what you’re wearing, whether something in the frame is distracting...all the stuff around the acting?
I’m not saying none of that matters.
But at some point, we have to get back to the ACTING.
Know the words. Know the relationships. Understand what’s happening in the scene. Look at ALL the material casting gave you because there may be information in there that helps you understand why this scene matters.
That’s the stuff you can control.
TV Director Mary Lou Belli talks about exactly this and what she’s actually looking for from actors in their auditions.
And she’s not alone. I sat down with Mary Lou Belli and Jody Margolin Hahn to talk about self-tapes, being on set, taking direction, getting notes, and what they see in the actors who keep working.
Comment DIRECTOR and I’ll send you the episode with BOTH directors.
𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴…
But first, How good are you at throwing away the choices you prepared?
Seriously. Are you able to pivot? Or is there a tiny part of you going, “But, I liked what I was doing.” HA!
Let me know in the comments.
𝗡𝗖𝗜𝗦: 𝗢𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻𝘀. 𝗣𝗲𝘁𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝘁𝗺𝗼𝗻. 𝗔𝗺𝗮𝘇𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿.
He comes up to me after a take and says, “Great take, DaJuan. We got that one. Now, do something different.”
The sheer PANIC in my body.
Something different?! But...but...this is the way I booked the scene in the callback. Doing it THIS way.
I took a deep breath and reminded myself: This is what you do, DaJuan. You’re not married to this one take. This is what you’ve spent years in class and on set learning how to do. Listen. React. Just BE.
You got this.
And what I learned in that moment, because I had NEVER been asked to do that on another set, was to trust myself.
All the work was still there. All the confidence I had built as an actor was still there. I didn’t lose any of it just because I let go of the choice.
Don’t be married to one way of doing things. Things change. Different directors want different things.
Make your choices. Do the work.
And then be willing to throw it away.
TV Director Jody Margolin Hahn talks about exactly this.
𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗗𝗜𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗢𝗥 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜’𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗲𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲.
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