In the beginning
I am an actor in Los Angeles. And when I moved here, I got this advice: 1. get new headshots 2. go to Sam French and get a Ross Reports 3. submit your picture to all the agents (make sure to get the see-through envelopes – you want to take the guess work out of an agent actually opening your submission) 4. get into an acting class 5. do workshops.
I took this advice and spent too much time wondering why I wasn’t working. It was bad advice! Well…almost…
New photos are always good and psychologically make me feel renewed and ready to start battle again. Sam French is always a good resource for all things industry…but there’s more there than a Ross Report. Submitting headshots to agents makes you feel like you’re being proactive in your career (I’m about to do it again for what feels like the billionth time). Acting classes can be really helpful especially to the newbies. It feels like you’re learning something and keeping the creative juices flowing and workshops can introduce you to some powerful people. So…what’s the bad advice? Well…none of this is actual works. You spend a lot of time and a lot of money not really acting…not creating anything but a big headache for yourself.
Agents usually don’t open unsolicited submission envelopes, acting classes aren’t always the best (and the good ones will take your life savings for a 6 week course and offer questionable “techniques”– more on this later) and workshops are just a really expensive audition for the casting director’s assistance’s assistant.
So, after step one, skip the rest of these steps and move on to a secret step…step 6…99 seat theatre. Sure there are TONS of 99 seat theatres in Los Angeles; but once you wade through all the crappy showcases and ‘plays’ where only industry people are invited, you will witness a bustling community of professionals doing great work. One of the best parts of this community is that it’s not exclusive to the struggling actor. On the contrary, the majority of these theatres have working actors (some with bonafide celebrity status) acting in their plays and you get to act right along beside them and benefit from their experience. They also offer amazing, accomplished and famous directors, designers, writers, etc etc etc. This community is rather tight, but once you break the bubble, everyone knows everyone and a world of opportunity opens.
UPDATE: Auditioned for “9 to 5” here in Los Angeles (totally rocked it out!) – they aren’t calling anyone back until they’ve auditioned in New York (you lucky ducks). Auditioned for “Beaverquest: The Musical” and got a callback (and no, it’s not about that…). Auditioned for a Best Buy commercial…no callback.
