Yes Sir!

My husband has been sedated and on a respirator since July 16. Yesterday, my grandmother, whom I loved very much and was very close to, died suddenly. I have surrounded myself with friends and family, and I know that my family and I will get through this. I am in a bit of shock, and I'm sure not everything - if anything at all - has set in yet.

Like a phoenix, I will rise from the ashes.

I am going to create the biggest, strongest, most reputable talent management and consultation company in New York. My grandmother loved hearing about all of my success and adventures in the entertainment industry. She came to every play I was in, watched every movie and television show, bought every book... she was my biggest fan-- Second only to my mother, who happens to be her eldest daughter.

I'm going to do this for her. Every breath I take, every decision I make, I am going to do it in her memory. I'm going to get my entire family - cousins included - out of debt. I'm going to be Mrs. Rockafeller, which is how we referred to Grandma because she bought everything for everyone, and take care of everyone's needs. My kids, my husband, my mother, my sister will never want for anything.

And it will be because of my success with Cain Casting. 

You watch. Once I'm back on my feet (emotionally speaking), nothing is going to be able to stop me. There is enough bad shit going on in my life that I will never have to deal with it again-- At least, not all at once like this.

Screw you, Satan. Screw you, anyone or anything that tries to eff with me. There are people that would just flop over and give up. That's not me. 

I'm Candy fucking Cain. I won't go out like that.

And We'll Have A Real Good Time,

The title of this entry is ironic. Today would have been the eighth or ninth shooting day for me in "the Nest." It was going to be a good time; a "real good time." I had worked a few days already, and it was pretty damned awesome. The people I was working with were awesome. Tina Fey took time to chat with me. It was a lot of fun, and I was looking forward to having an exciting summer with them.

Then all hell broke loose.

Never wanted to give a ring to someone so badly.

My husband got sick and ended up in the hospital. He is still here, in the CCU at Brookhaven Memorial Hospital. He is on a respirator, heavily sedated. He has ben this way since last Wednesday. Today is day ten. I haven't left the hospital, really. As a matter of fact, I'm sitting by his side right now as I type this.

I pulled myself from "The Nest," as I wanted to be by his side for everything. I want to be here when he wakes up. I feel horrible that I'm not with my children, but my mom is there for them and my sister is in town. Once he wakes up and is off of the vent, I will be better. I will be able to walk away for a little while during the day. But I need to be here now.

I don't think I will ever work in front of the camera again. I am very fortunate that I am able to be here and work from the hospital. I literally got 2 kids cast on "The Blacklist" in the past hour. Talent Management is my calling. I'm good at it, and I can do it form anywhere-- quite literally.

So, my dear reader. please keep my husband and my family in your prayers. The entertainment industry doesn't stop for anyone. After all, "the show must go on." Fortunately, my show can go on by my husband's side-- Where I need to be.

Entertain You...

So, remember a few posts ago when I said I love casting? And how I prefer casting than being on camera? Well, here's some irony for you... I was just cast in the Tina Fey and Amy Poehler feature film "The Nest." I didn't expect to be called for an audition, but a friend of mine is a casting director working on the show and submitted me, then told me that I was submitted for a role. Mind you, I was in Utah when all this went down. I got an email on Saturday, May 17, telling me that I was chosen to audition for the amazing and talented Jason Moore, who also directed Pitch Perfect. The kicker? Everything was to be improvised. I had to come up with my own back story and character, but would have to improv with other people at the audition.

Allow me to let you in on a little secret... I started "Gagged and Bound" - a comedy improv troupe - at the University of Alaska Anchorage. I'm pretty well-versed in improv. I did a lot of improv in college. I taught a lot of improvisation workshops, and I still do to people on my talent roster. I created a character with a back story, weaving real threads of my life in it. 

And I rocked it.

I'm allowed to say I rocked it-- I got the part, didn't I?

I had to dress like a quirky individual from Orlando. See, here's another great thing in my favor: My father and his parents live in Orlando. They've lived in Orlando since like 1983. (At least, my grandparents have.) My grandparents - especially my grandmother - is indeed quite quirky. So, I based my character off of her, not to mention the outfit I put together. I found a fabulous pair of silver lamé leggings on eBay for 99 cents. My mom found a green loose shirt with palm trees on it. My friend Sam in Orlando recommended I wear strappy sandals. I also found a pair of silver earrings with white feathers at Claire's.

I was an absolute eyesore.

(But I freaking love those leggings. I need to wear them at least once a week. And they really were 99 cents on eBay. God, I love eBay.)

It apparently worked-- I landed the part. I have 20 shooting days over the summer. I'll still be casting as well, and plan on getting a lot of people a lot of work. I honestly wasn't expecting this AT ALL. Perhaps this will be my vested credit for 2014. 

It's amazing how God works. I said "I love casting more" and he responded with "Oh yeah? Try working with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, then tell me what you think."

That just shows you that when you think your life is heading one way, your plans are easily changed by a greater power. Never count yourself out. Never count your chickens before they hatch. Never think that you've closed a door. You just don't know what is going to happen in the future.

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.

And If You're Real Good...

Okay, so I suck at keeping New Year's Resolutions. I said my resolution was to keep up my blogs. Well, that sort of didn't happen. But, I've got a really good reason for it... Lots of reasons, actually. I can just sum it all up by saying that I've been really busy. Not your normal, everyday mom type of busy.. I've been busier than Obama. At least he gets to play gold every now and again. (Not that I even like golf, but you catch my drift.) With working from home, running three companies, keeping up with my kids and getting in front of the camera every now and again, I have barely had time to breathe. I even started an eBay venture, trying to declutter my home and make some money for a Disney vacation. (So far, we bought the plane tickets...) Yeah, I've been inhumanly busy. The only person that I can think of that might be as busy as I am is my best friend Mechelle, but she doesn't have kids. She knows what it's like to be a business owner, though.

Okay, so I digress... This blog is supposed to be about me and the entertainment industry.  Today, I once again worked as the double for Camryn Manheim. I love Camryn Manheim. I think she's a great actress. I hope that I get to meet her some time. I need to get my 76 SAG days (or $18,000 for the year) so that I get my vested credit, which is why I'm doing some on camera stuff.

But, I've got a secret...

I like casting better.

There, I said it. 

I LIKE CASTING BETTER!!!!!!!!!

No, I actually LOVE casting. And I'm actually really, really good at it. For example, I cast eleven kids and one adult to work on Monday. I've got nine of those kids on a movie with Sarah Silverman, and the other three people are on a network TV show. They're thrilled. And seeing them thrilled makes me ridiculously happy.

To me, casting is like a puzzle. I'm given a list of different parts that I have to fill. I go through my roster to see who can fill what, then submit it to the casting director. The casting director sees if they agree with me, then they pass it on to the director. The director selects who the final cast is. I got 11 people cast to work paid jobs on Monday.

Excuse me while I pat myself on the back...

But, that's not just it. I've gotten a LOT of people a LOT of work. I'm teaching people about the industry that I love. I am helping kids build their college funds. I'm having a really good time doing it all, too. Whether it's for TV or film or even print work, I'm having a blast getting people work, giving kids experiences, and watching it all unfold in the final projects. For example, I cast a TON of people on Investigation Discovery's Deadly Sins. It is so cool to watch my talent on screen. And I know how exciting it is for them, too. That just makes it even better for me.

Someone sent me an email tonight saying, "I'm impressed with how much work you are getting your talent." Isn't that what a talent manager is supposed to do? I don't know why people are so surprised when others get cast. It's my JOB to get my talent cast. That's what they pay me for. Why would I take their money and run? That's what a lot of scam companies do, but certainly not me.

So, that's it. My bragging blog post. You can take a look at Cain Casting & Talent Management, if you'd like. And, if you want to work in the entertainment industry, you can also register and give it a shot.