One Broke Actress

Welcome to One Broke Actress' first international episode! 🇨🇦🇺🇸 I am joined by Emilio Salituro, a talent agent at LUCAS TALENT. With over 30 years of experience and a background as a working actor, Emilio prides himself on being his actors' advocate. He shares with us what he looks for in talent, how to best network with agents, and the key to a longterm successful acting career. He takes us throu...

TW: Body Dysmorphia + Disordered Eating My relationship to my body has been a lifelong uphill battle. There are so many moments in my life where I have just felt absolutely disconnected to what my body really looks like. After years and years and years of eating disorders and body dysmorphia, I have finally gotten to a place where I am happy with where I am. I fuel my body, I take care of it, and...

Jen Ponton is an actor, writer, and creator who seeks to make others laugh while also remaining true to her values as a queer fat activist. You may have seen her work on AMC's Dietland, The Unbreakable Jimmy Schmidt, Orange is the New Black, Love on the Run, or her new highly anticipated recurring role on Three Women opposite Shailene Woodley and Betty Gilpin. Recently, she wrote and produced a Ti...

Melanie A. Ragone started her career in Atlanta, Georgia, as a Production Assistant before moving into the Grip department. Throughout her career, she has worked in a variety of feature films and television productions, including The Walking Dead, Love Simon, Captain America, Sleepy Hollow, The Hate U Give, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. She moved from Atlanta to Los Angeles in 2018, to pursu...

Back in December 2022, I was asked to join The Financial Diet YouTube channel to talk about my experience as a working actor in Los Angeles. I am a long time fan of theirs, and jumped at the chance to be real about living paycheck to paycheck in a city with an incredibly high cost of living. We sat down and got honest about it all: rejection in the industry, nepo babies, and the financial realitie...

Today I wanted to share a little bit of my thoughts on the recent Casting Director controversy, as well as fact check my old blog post from 2018. Titled, "Little Acting Admin Tasks We Forget About", this is a blog I wrote about actor homework given to me at the time by my then-coach Brian Patacca. It was all based around making sure I had everything up-to-date and accurate on my end, to make it ea...

I just had a week that was, objectively, very good. I was productive, got to go to an in-person callback audition for an indie film, and was put on avail for a national commercial. All in all, major wins, right? In hindsight, I can say yes. But in the moment, I was absolutely devastated. It was hard for me to see what I had accomplished because I had so many negative emotions and thoughts swirling...

Seth Caskey, CSA, is on the podcast to share his thoughts on casting in 2023. He has worked with Elizabeth Barnes, CSA, since 2015 and has been involved with the Emmy-nominated Netflix series GLOW, What/If, Siren and Blood & Treasure. Seth is known as an "actor's casting director" and is always looking for ways to help support actors and creators in the film industry. This is also the first time t...

Rus Garofalo is teaming up with One Broke Actress to get rid of all the mystery behind taxes for creative professionals. When taxes come around, I know I get really stressed out with the dozens of W-2's and 1099's and what to write off and what not to write off and... it can be a lot. That's why Rus founded Brass Taxes, and why he continues to seek out team members who empathize with and can under...

The one, the only, Caleb Ellis finally comes onto the podcast for a very special Valentine's Day episode. A prolific writer, cellist, fitness coach, and ex-actor, Caleb has been with me since day one. After nearly 10 years together in Los Angeles, we answer listener-provided questions all about our relationship. We cover the essentials of communication, dealing with bookings and time apart, intima...

Brian Patacca is BACK! Brian is a personal coach for actors, helping them get what they want and achieve their goals without suffering. Known as the "Rep Whisperer", Brian uncovers the unspoken truths about actors and their representation. In this IGTV, we also discuss how important it is for actors to find fulfillment elsewhere while pursuing this career, and how confidence can come from both bel...

Things are changing over at One Broke Actress. It's still hard to believe that we are on our 11th season — that I have done this podcast with you all for over 5 years. It's a journey that is ever-evolving and feels like it is just beginning. In 2023 and beyond, I see the One Broke Actress Podcast as more of Sam Valentine Podcast. I want to put more "me" into what we do here — from the Instagram, t...

Sara Tomko was last on the podcast on Season 7 Episode 6, where she spoke about self-care and having the patience to earn success. Now, 3 seasons later, Sara is back on to talk about how life has changed since becoming Asta Twelvetress on SYFY's Resident Alien. Along with being a series regular, Sara is an actor, singer, producer, poet, and CEO of a production company she founded with her husband...

JT Billings is a WGA Award-winning LGBTQ+ writer. What started with a humble beginning as a Kansas City film editor has turned into a Paramount+ Empire, as JT works on ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK's third season in the dual roles of Executive Producer and Showrunner as well as starts development on a [currently unannounced] franchise series for Paramount+. In this episode, JT pulls back the curtain...

This was going to be a podcast episode just for the Patreon, but I thought that this topic was something that we could all use to set up our 2023. To me, setting ourselves up for success means making SMART goals. Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely quarterly goals for ourselves that are fully within our control. Even though we can't control booking this costar or that guest sta...

I wanted to make a podcast and YouTube video all about what actors *actually* do over the holidays. I know we always want to be doing something for our careers and using every minute of our time towards the next thing, but rest is a crucial part of being a creative person. But most of the productions around Los Angeles and the country shut down for these last few weeks as casting directors, agents...

Rawson Thurber last spoke on the podcast in Season 4, Episode 2 where he opened up about the writer/directing world. That was back in 2019, when he had an idea for a movie called Red Notice. Now, three years later, that movie has become the #1 Netflix Movie of All Time. With two more films planned for the franchise, a Dungeons & Dragons pilot, and a Voltron film in the works, Rawson stays busy. Bu...

Four-time Emmy Award-winning Casting Director, John Frank Levey, is here to talk about his brand-new book, "Right for the Role". He takes us through the casting process behind some of his iconic TV shows — including Shameless, Animal Kingdom, ER, China Beach, and The West Wing. There's been many changes to casting since he first started, and he takes us through what casting was like back when he s...

Ciera Payton first joined us back in 2017 on Season 1, Episode 6, "Biracial Casting, Hollywood Diversity, and Envisioning Your Future" where she spoke to us about her Shameless audition and her day-to-day after moving to LA. Now, 5 years later, Ciera is accomplished actress, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. Recently, Ciera portrayed Wendy Williams in the Lifetime biopic and stars as Lilly Winthro...

Actor, Writer, Producer, and Photographer Helenna Santos is back after nearly a year away from the podcast. Join us as we catch up on our lives and careers, showing up for family, and doing more with less. Tune in to hear all about where we've been on this bonus podcast episode — and be sure to let yourself log off and spend time with your loved ones going into the holiday weekend too! — Sam's New...

Sean Crampton was one of the first guests on the One Broke Actress podcast, joining us all the way back in Season 1 Episode 2. Now, 5 years later, Sean has continued his work as a filmmaker in all areas of the business — working as an actor, writer, director, and producer. As if that wasn't enough, Sean has also created the Rebel Filmmaking Community to te ach other artists the A-Z of making a mov...

The class I have been working for a year and a half just released — the What to Do When You're Not Working Class. It is an evergreen, buy-it-for-life, class all about what we can do in the quiet time of our career. I know actor finances can be tough so I wanted to share the first module of the course for free with all of you in this episode. (Psst: Listen to the full episode for an exclusive 2022...

Dana was last on the One Broke Actress podcast for the Season 4 premiere in 2019. Known best for her role as Cam's sister, Pameron Tucker, on ABC's Modern Family, Dana found her voice and began comedy improv training in Los Angeles at iO West, UCB, and The Groundlings. You may have seen her in other things such as Bridesmaids, Veep, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Good Place, and more. In this episode,...

In this episode, I want to get real with you about what the long game actually means in this business. Even after 11 years, I still feel like I’m just getting started. But how do we stay in love with a career that just doesn’t care about all we put into it? My answer: a teaspoon of hope. Listen in for what that means to me, and the three elements that have helped me cultivate and maintain a career...

You may know Ian Weinreich from Honest Trailers like my husband, or from his writing work on The Flight Attendant, Zac and Mia, Skylanders Academy, Mighty Med, and the American Patriot. In this episode, I sit down with Ian to talk about what it's been like to write for two seasons on The Flight Attendant with Kaley Cuoco, the yes's and no's of Hollywood networking, what his writing process is like...