So, Let Me...

Wow. Two blog posts from me in one day. How lucky are you?

I'm writing this blog entry because I got a letter from the Better Business Bureau from a mom that is angry that I removed her children from my talent roster. The reason I removed her children is because statements she made about her 13 year old daughter made me extremely uncomfortable. I don't want to deal with someone that makes me uncomfortable. They are, after all, representing my company when they go to auditions.

I have over 85 people on my talent roster. I am posting this so that they can respond to the allegations that Ms. Beer makes against me and my company. Once it is published on the Better Business Bureau website, I will be suing her for libel.

Here is the letter I received from the BBB of Metro NY:

You can click on it to make it bigger. Once it goes live on the BBB website, I will link it. I made my own notes in it.  This is the response that I sent to the BBB:

Ms. Beer made comments to me about her 13 year old daughter, which made me very uncomfortable. She referred to her daughter as an "adult" when I called her a child, insisted that she wear makeup to an audition, and referred to her as being "of child bearing age." I felt as though the child's welfare would be compromised, and Ms. Beer would do anything to get her daughter cast, especially since she bragged how her 13 year old was "constantly mistaken for being at least 16." I have been in this industry a long time, and I know that women are taken advantage of, promised stardom in return for sexual favors. I do not want to be responsible for any situation that Ms. Beer may put her daughter in.

As Ms. Beer stated, I refunded her $50 fee for each child ($100 total) immediately and removed them both from my roster. There never was a signed contract, as neither on of her children earned the minimum $750 required to enter into a one year contract. Ms. Beer continued to email, call and text me. I filed a complaint for aggravated harassment with the 5th precinct of Suffolk County, and they furthered the complaint to the Shrewsbury Police Department. (I am happy to scan copies of this complaint and police report.) 

As for making promises and not delivering, that is completely and totally untrue. People on my talent roster get work all the time, and I have plenty of people that will speak on my behalf. You can view the work that I am casting my talent in at http://www.facebook.com/CainCastingLI.

Ms. Beer threatened me. She threatened to defame my company if I didn't add her children back to my roster. I work with parents that will do anything for their children; not parents who will do anything to get their children famous. I truly feel that Ms. Beer would put the ideas of fame and fortune before the welfare of her children, and I will not work with someone like that.

I do not have any money or personal property from Ms. Beer. I did a lot of work for her two children, yet did not keep any of the money to cover my costs or time. It is my company and my choice not to work with her.

A note to all parents reading this: ALWAYS put your children first. Don't compromise their welfare to make them famous. Putting a 13 year old in makeup and a mini-skirt just spells trouble.

Rather than telling you all about the different projects that I have gotten talent on my roster involved in, I invite them to comment and "testify" for themselves.

Enjoy.

-C

I Want Your Spirits To Climb!

I am taking this blog post to address something very person that happened in my life last year and is finally coming to an end very soon. (At least, I hope it is.) Yes, this blog is about my work in the entertainment industry, but this is something that I feel needs to be shared. 

1/11/13: My husband was hit by a drunk driver.

To the drunk that hit my husband on 1/11/13:

I know who you are. I know your name. I know where you live. I know that it was more important to you on that Friday night in January to drink and have a good time than to be concerned about anyone you might encounter on the road while you were intoxicated. I know that you just don't care.

I don't want this to be some sort of lecture about the dangers of drinking and driving. I hope you learned your lesson when you hit my husband head-on, driving northbound in the southbound lane. You could have killed him. You could have killed yourself-- not that your death would have mattered anything to me. You don't have a family. You don't have a wife. You live with your parents, who paid a high-powered attorney to make this charge "go away." 

My husband walked away with a wrist injury.

I am so disappointed in the New York State Judicial System that you received an ACOD. You got a little
slap on the wrist for driving drunk. If you don't get any other charges in the next 18 months, it is expunged from your record. Excuse my language, but BULLSHIT.

We were fortunate because my husband walked away from the accident with merely a wrist injury. Perhaps if you killed him, something would have happened to you. Instead, you're being released back into society with your drivers license, irresponsible and ready to get behind the wheel of the car, drunk again. Maybe you will kill someone else next time.

I keep thinking about poor Katie Flynn, Stanley Rabinowitz and their families. Why doesn't New York State have stronger laws for DWI offenders? In Ecuador, people that are pulled over as a DWI are shot on the spot. Perhaps that is a little too extreme, but I'm sure that there isn't a problem with DWI in Ecuador the way that there is in the USA.

The drunk walked away with nothing.

You almost tore apart my family. You almost made me a widow and my children fatherless. Our car was totaled out, and we had to buy a new one-- Which caused us a great expense. You were driving daddy's SUV, and you barely had the amount of damage to your car as we did to ours. 

What are the effects of this crash on you? You weren't injured. Your car was not totaled out. You got a slap on your wrist. Your record can be expunged if you behave yourself over the next year. My husband was injured. We lost a car and had to purchase another one. We have been dragged through insurance claim after insurance claim to have medical bills and whatnot paid for. 

The accident shut down the street.

We are the victims here, and we are still being punished for YOUR actions.

But it doesn't matter to you. You still go out to the bar in Smithtown, drinking with your friends, and get behind the wheel to go home, regardless of how much you drank.

I've never wanted to punch someone in the face so badly. If I ever saw you, I genuinely would confront you. I would probably take a swing at you. I would hit your wrist with a baseball bat as hard as I could so that you can feel exactly what my husband is going through. I still have visions of how I walked past you in the back seat of the cruiser as I went to get my camera, and you smiled and nodded at me as if to say, "What's up, pretty lady?" Fortunately, my friend Sally was there to drag me back to the scene of the accident, rather than dragging you from the car and beating the shit out of you.

You almost killed my husband.

You almost killed my husband.

You almost killed my husband.

Perhaps that statement doesn't mean much because the word "almost" was in it. Perhaps next time, it will be:

You killed my husband.

You killed my wife.

You killed my mom.

You killed my father.

You killed my child.

You killed my best friend.

Maybe the accident changed you. I hope it did. I hope that you never, ever, ever put another family through what you put mine through. 

And even if everything did change you, Michael, I have two words I would like to leave you with:

Fuck you.

Sincerely,

  Candice Cain

I'll Make You Feel Good!

Getting my makeup done before filming

As I wrote in my last entry, I love the casting side of the entertainment industry. However, I also mentioned that I really like to be in the center of attention every now and again. I love being on set and working on different television and films-- I'm actually shooting Person of Interest on Monday as Camryn Manheim's photo double. However, there is absolutely nothing like the pull of live performances. Fortunately, I work from home for a fabulous company that has a convention every year. At this convention, there is a fantastic talent show. Last year, my dear friend Sally and I performed a comedy in front of over 7,500 people. Unfortunately, Sally isn't able to come to Convention this year. Regardless, I still submitted a couple of songs for the talent show. 

Now, I'm not used to being on stage all by myself. I work better with a partner or an ensemble-- I like to play off of people. Furthermore, I'm a big girl. I'm nearly 5'10" tall and I'm a size 16/18. AND I work from home. AND I have twin 6 year olds. I genuinely can't remember the last time that I went clothes shopping for myself.

I'm getting ahead of myself here.

Long story short, I'm performing in the talent show. I'm doing a parody (or two) to a Queen song (or two). I

don't want to give any more details than that, as I don't want to spoil it for the people that will be watching live at the convention. Bottom line is this: I am singing one or two of the greatest rock songs of all time, and I need to look like a bad ass rocker chick. 

And I have absolutely no idea how to accomplish that. I mean, look at me. Do I remotely resemble a bad ass rocker chick to you? And the fact that I'm a big girl in her 30s doesn't really help. (Oh, shut up. My twins think that I'm 17.) I need to channel my inner bad ass rocker chick and let her out. The question is... Do I actually have an inner bad ass rocker chick to channel in the first place?

I'm not one to ask for help, but I'm asking for it. I need help. I need help to look like a bad ass rocker chick. As I am typing this, I am sitting in front of my computer, wearing mismatched pajamas and my husband's robe. I'm going to be in front of about 8,000 people on a stage by myself. Singing. Rocking out. Kicking ass.

Can you tell I was bullied?

Another reason that this is so important to me is because I was bullied all throughout school, until I graduated Bellport High School. This year, I was going to plan our 20 year old reunion until some stupid meth addict accused me in a public forum of lying and stealing the money that people paid for the reunion. It was like being thrown back into high school all over again. I washed my hands of it and walked away. 

Right on the heels of that, I got an email from someone that saw my auditions for the talent show, and pretty much told me that I didn't have any "real talent" and that I "shouldn't be expected to be picked." He sent this email to me, and cc'd a few other people on it-- All men. Mind you, I'm not a feminist by any stretch of the imagination, but eff you. (Not YOU, dear reader-- him.) I'm still so irritated that this person sent me such a condescending email, telling me that I haven't got talent and that I wouldn't be picked for the show. 

Jazz hands!

Yet another person trying to make me feel as though I'm not good enough. WTF is that about? People  - artists - should SUPPORT one another, not try to break each other down. That's why I will take anyone on with Cain Casting. I know that everyone that wants to be in front of the camera CAN be in front of the camera.

especially

So, dear reader, I need your help. I need your support. I need your fashion expertise. What do I wear? How do I do my hair? What kind of shoes? What kind of accessories? Help me out!!

And, if you happen to know a stylist, beauty editor, Freddie Mercury impersonator, whatever... PLEASE share this post. Maybe someone will read it and take pity on me. The show is May 16. I leave for Utah on May 14. I need to have everything set by then. I'm all for a makeover or anything of that sort before then. 

And if you DO happen to be one of the people that can help me, feel free to call me at the office. You can get my number on my website. I would be eternally grateful.