Off Book: Best Time to Email Casting / Episode 105
6m 13s
Elizabeth Boykevich, a former casting executive and leadership coach, shares a simple but crucial piece of advice for actors and representatives: avoid sending non-essential pitch or inquiry emails after business hours or on weekends. She recounts a Facebook post from an established manager who complained about receiving unsolicited resumes and reels late on Fridays, over the weekend, or before Monday business hours. The manager stated she would never consider such senders, as it signals a disregard for boundaries and time. Boykevich emphasizes that casting professionals keep their phones on at all times for genuine emergencies, like replacing a sick actor or awaiting approvals from busy showrunners, so non-urgent after-hours messages are especially unwelcome. Additionally, these emails often get opened but then sit at the bottom of the inbox, leading to them being overlooked as new messages pile up. She illustrates this with a personal story of being annoyed by a manager blasting her with pitches at 9 PM during a social evening, which resulted in denied meeting requests. Her solution is simple: if after hours is the only time to craft emails, use scheduling features available in most email programs to deliver them during regular work hours. Boykevich encourages actors to submit questions for future episodes and to share the podcast to help more people in their acting journeys.
(upbeat music) My name is Elizabeth Boykevich. My friends call me EB, so that means you can call me EB as well. I am so glad you're here. I spent the last 20 years in entertainment first working in casting for theater, TV, and film. Most recently, I was the head of casting and talent while helping build two TV networks and brands at the Walt Disney Company. I am a leadership coach and facilitator. I'm a mindfulness guide, and I am a human being trying my best to human well. I dig all things around growth, creativity, curiosity, and storytelling. I realized there wasn't a place where actors could get to know casting directors and ask questions for free, so here we are. We collected over a hundred questions from actors and will be answering them alongside a different casting colleague each episode. A giant thank you to everyone who submitted questions. Links to submit a question for the podcast and our guests can be found in the notes section of each episode. I hope this supports and encourages you on your acting journey. I love you. Keep going. The world needs your voice and your creativity. Welcome to Off Book. (upbeat music) Hello, hello. I was reminded of a simple piece of advice this weekend that I wanted to share with you guys. There is a very, very simple mistake that a lot of actors make when reaching out to representatives and casting directors. And it's a same mistake that some representatives make when pitching actors for general meetings to casting directors and casting executives as well. Here it is. Sending a non-essential pitch or inquiry email after business hours or on a weekend. Don't do it. If you are sending an unsolicited pitch or a meeting request, wait to send it during regular business hours. So this weekend I was reminded of it because a very established, successful respected manager posted something on Facebook complaining about this. And there were so many comments from other representatives like, you know, preach, you say it, sister. So here's what she said. Why a why? Do people think sending unsolicited photo resume and reels after 5 PM on a Friday through the weekend and before business hours on a Monday would get anything but a hard pass and deleted? I happily review all emails and meet people called from unsolicited emails and submissions. I have signed several that way, but never a weekend sender. It says you'll ignore boundaries for the rest of our time. So everything is energy. By choosing to introduce yourself or making meeting requests after hours, you are unwittingly communicating that you do not respect others boundaries or time. Just because it's top of mind for you and important to get it off your plate doesn't mean it's going to help you move the ball forward to dump it on someone else's plate at 10 PM. It's also important to know who you're communicating with and what their life looks like. Casting folks have their phone on at all time. In case there are real work emergencies, they happen all the time to casting directors and executives. The need to replace a sick actor at the last minute or waiting for your very busy showrunner, or your director who's been on a location scout all day to approve choices that work the next day. We need to have our phone on at all times. If I send an email to my dad at 10 PM, I don't have to worry about bothering his evening. He's not looking at his email all night for news or to see if he can enjoy his evening. So beside it being annoying, there's another reason to make the small adjustment when non-essential non-emergencies. If I send to the email, they wind up sitting at the bottom of the receiver's inbox. So as a casting executive, I received all sorts of pitches and inquiries during the weekend or after hours. I would open it. And if the thing isn't on fire, I would then just leave it in my inbox so that when I arrive in the office in the morning, I start at the top of my inbox, not the bottom, and your non-essential thing has been opened at sitting at the bottom days go by and it winds up getting ignored. I remember I was enjoying an evening fire pit with friends on a beautiful fall evening at a lovely glass of wine. When my inbox started going off, I was being blasted with random actor pitches at 9 PM in the evening from this manager. I was so annoyed. I let the manager know and I didn't grant the favor meetings he requested. Listen, if after hours is the only time you have to put together your emails and pitches to casting folks, it's fine. But take the time to schedule a delivery. Nearly every free email program allows you to schedule your delivery time, compose it when you have time, and then schedule it to deliver during work hours. It's a super, super simple tweak. I hope this is helpful. I have seven more fantastic casting director interviews set up for the next few weeks and I'm booking more. Please, actors, please send in your questions. The link to do so is in the pod notes. Also, please rate and share the pod. My intention is to help as many actors as possible and to get the information to all of the people that need it the most. Thanks for listening. See you next time.
Podcast Summary
Key Points:
Sending unsolicited pitches or meeting requests to casting directors or representatives after business hours or on weekends is a common mistake.
Such emails are often ignored or deleted, as they signal a lack of respect for boundaries and time.
Casting professionals keep their phones on for emergencies, making after-hours non-essential emails particularly annoying.
After-hours emails may be opened but left at the bottom of the inbox, reducing their chances of being addressed.
If you must compose emails after hours, use scheduling tools to deliver them during regular business hours.
Summary:
Elizabeth Boykevich, a former casting executive and leadership coach, shares a simple but crucial piece of advice for actors and representatives: avoid sending non-essential pitch or inquiry emails after business hours or on weekends. She recounts a Facebook post from an established manager who complained about receiving unsolicited resumes and reels late on Fridays, over the weekend, or before Monday business hours. The manager stated she would never consider such senders, as it signals a disregard for boundaries and time.
Boykevich emphasizes that casting professionals keep their phones on at all times for genuine emergencies, like replacing a sick actor or awaiting approvals from busy showrunners, so non-urgent after-hours messages are especially unwelcome. Additionally, these emails often get opened but then sit at the bottom of the inbox, leading to them being overlooked as new messages pile up. She illustrates this with a personal story of being annoyed by a manager blasting her with pitches at 9 PM during a social evening, which resulted in denied meeting requests.
Her solution is simple: if after hours is the only time to craft emails, use scheduling features available in most email programs to deliver them during regular work hours. Boykevich encourages actors to submit questions for future episodes and to share the podcast to help more people in their acting journeys.
FAQs
The host is Elizabeth Boykevich, also known as EB, who has 20 years of experience in entertainment, including casting and talent leadership at Disney.
The episode discusses a common mistake actors make when emailing casting directors or representatives: sending non-essential pitches or inquiries after business hours or on weekends.
Sending after hours can annoy recipients and signal a lack of respect for boundaries, often leading to a hard pass or deleted email. It also risks your email being buried at the bottom of the inbox.
She complained that unsolicited emails sent after 5 PM on Fridays, on weekends, or before Monday business hours get a hard pass and are deleted, even though she normally reviews all emails.
They can compose the email when convenient and use the scheduling feature in nearly every free email program to deliver it during regular business hours.
It is recommended to send them during regular business hours, such as Monday through Friday during standard work times, to ensure they are seen and not ignored.
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