Author: Hayley Derryberry

The way movies and Television shows cast their actors has stayed mostly the same since the invention of the motion picture camera. The producer submits a breakdown of what actors they are looking for to a casting office, the casting office posts this breakdown, hundreds (sometimes thousands) of actors submit their photo and resume in hopes of getting to read for the role, the casting office brings in a couple dozen actors to audition, then the producers choose from those auditions who they will cast, sometimes with a second round of auditions. Hollywood is not known for its innovation. Finally,…

An article was shared a little while ago called “9 things you should immediately stop doing on Facebook”* and while it made some good points, I’m not totally in agreement on them all. Here are some points of my own on 4 things you should immediately start doing on Facebook if you have a professional page. 1) “Like” your posts: This is in direct contrast with the other article. Some people have suggested that “liking” your own posts is redundant and flat out un-cool, but the simple fact of the matter is that the way Facebook works has changed and…

So when I first started acting in film and television, I got a lot of advice from people who had been around the block (kind of like what you’re getting right now). Some of it was very helpful and some of it was better taken with a grain of salt. One piece of advice that I received, I am going to straight up tell you does not work for the way the industry is now. I was told by multiple “professional actors” that if I want to be paid as an actor and taken seriously as a professional that I…

Today on my lunch break I went down to the café to get a sandwich. While I was waiting in line, the man in front of me turned around and said, “Hello, Beautiful” To my dumbfounded expression he replied, “I am just saying I think you are beautiful.” He was an older gentleman who I don’t think was trying to hit on me or meant anything rude by it. I’m sure he thinks he was giving me a compliment, but in fact it was sexist and rude. In case you do not understand why, here are some guidelines to know…

You see it every week, another friend has a kickstarter campaign. Of course you’ll donate because you want to support your friend and it’s good internet karma. That or you’ll tell yourself you’ll donate and then you forget about it, but hey, it’s the thought that counts right? Honestly out of all the crowdfund campaigns that you see and consider donating to or voting for, the average tells us that you’ll only actually follow through with about 20% of them, and that’s for campaigns by your friends and sometimes even family. Well, you can expect about the same turn around…

I recently spoke to a group of Kansas high school students about the biz out in Hollywood. One point that I stressed to them is a lesson that I’ve learned over and over again, “Do more than just act.” I don’t mean produce and write either, although do do those. I mean, in addition to your acting classes and your life in entertainment, take some time and learn real world skills. All of the kids I spoke with said they wanted to go to college, which is great. My advice to them though, was not to major in acting. I…

Every little girl dreams of being the most beautiful girl at the ball who catches the eye of the charming prince. I was no exception. I even moved out to Hollywood to become a movie star and hoped that my unique beauty would catch the eye of some charming director who would cast me as his leading lady. Since becoming a professional actress seven years ago, I have obsessed about my look, my body, my hair, and my clothes: every little thing that defined who I was as an actress. Then life happened. Four weeks ago I got a phone…

I knew last year was slow, but as I was preparing my taxes I realized I had all of one SAG job in 2014. That makes it the slowest year I’ve had since I joined SAG in 2009. On paper it would appear that I had a year of failure, but I don’t see it that way. I think 2014 has been the most successful year in my acting career thus far and here is why. I nurtured my craft. My 2014 New Year’s resolution was to do more to grow as an actor. I started the year off with…

While my main jobs are acting and writing, I have actually made quite a bit of money on the side with a hand job here and there. I mean hand-modeling job of course. I’m sure you’ve heard of this career and possibly thought to yourself, “How does one become a hand model?” Well, it’s simpler than you might think. For my acting I belong to a few casting websites including ActorsAccess and LAcasting, and when I first got to LA I often saw postings looking for actresses with nice hands or hand models. I’ve always gotten compliments on my hands…

If you’ve ever wanted to write your own movie but thought it was too daunting a task, think again. Writing a feature film is a journey and like all others, it begins with the first step.   My husband Paul and I have written and produced one feature film together “Rabid Love” and are starting on our next one. For this blog, I’ll give you some insight into how we take that first step of writing our movie. – It all starts with an idea!   Sometimes it’s as simple as a moment or scene that we’d like to fill out into…

Although I’ve been acting nearly my whole life, I didn’t act on camera until my late teens, and I learned very quickly that on camera acting is totally different from acting on stage. Despite my numerous accolades in theater, my first part in a short zombie movie was embarrassing to say the least. Upon seeing the finished film, I immediately realized that if I wanted to continue acting on screen I would have to start learning again as a beginner. I’ve now been acting on camera for 10 years and I still find there is more to learn all the…

1) Watch a movie that you’re not “in the mood” to watch. You know the ones I’m talking about. Go through your Netflix cue or the list you’re keeping on your phone of movies your friends keep telling you you need to see but you haven’t gotten around to yet. You can’t only fuel your brain with lighthearted comedies or action packed thrill rides; watch that movie that looks like a chore to get through. What’s great about watching something you’re not “in the mood” to watch is that you go into it with no expectations. That causes one of…

This blog is about the unexpected places we find ourselves while on this crazy path to industry success. I’ve been acting since I was 6 years old and around the age of 11, I decided that I would grow up to be a movie star. This has always been a simple fact in my life, not something up for debate. But instead of continuously asking myself, “Are we there yet?” I’m actually finding contentment in the here and now. I’m also finding that I’m so much more than just an actress. When I first started acting professionally, I took pride…

This past weekend, I completed my seventh timed filmmaking competition. If you have not had the pleasure of competing in one, please allow me to summarize. You enter as a team. You are given a set amount of time to write, shoot, and edit your film. All of the competitions I’ve done in the past have either been 48 or 72 hours. To ensure that you adhere to the rules, you will not know what type of film you are going to make until the competition begins, then you are given elements of your movie such as genre, character name…