Acting Career - Do It Yourself

"Most people miss opportunity because it arrives looking like work."

I start with this particular quote because of the large number of emails I get – where would-be actors ask me to take on the job of making their acting career 'happen.'

Some samples:

"You know a lot about show business – how about managing my career? Right now I work for a furniture store, but I know I could be a famous actor. All I need is someone to help me navigate around the scumbags in Hollywood."

"My son is very talented. He is only five but everybody says he could be a child star. Will you please introduce him to a real agent so he can start doing movies? I pray you will, because I can't stand living in Des Moines anymore."

"Look at my headshots and tell me which one I should use! It won't take much time and I know you can pick a winner if you really wanted to." (This email usually arrives with a 24 megabyte attachment.)

Naturally, since I get a lot of email like this, I have a form-letter answer:

Dear Would-Be,

"As long as you live in a fantasy world – where someone else is going to do the work for you – you are not going to move forward. And you will probably get hurt ... financially or otherwise.

"It is this unfounded belief in a one-step process (a short-cut, an easier way, a secret "back door") that gets most would-be actors in trouble.

"In fact, it is precisely this mindset that the 'scumbags' are looking for. When a scammer meets an actor who believes it is possible for someone else to make it happen – he knows he's landed a sucker.

"When you think all you have to do is 'convince' someone else to do the work for you and you'll 'make it' – you are just asking for trouble. Scammers, calling themselves 'agents' or 'managers,' are ready to pounce on any newbie who thinks this way.

"Real agents and managers cannot be 'convinced.' They make their decisions based on their assessment of how much money you can make as an actor. If you aren't making any money now, don't expect a legitimate talent representative to be very interested – until you start to make money on your own."

Have a nice day,

Bob

Now, let's get down to brass tacks ...

The absolute truth is that there are many steps (and most of them are difficult) that you must take on your own – if you ever expect to turn your dreams of a professional acting career into a reality.

Here are just a few:

You must learn how show business actually works and operate within that reality. A lot of actors think this will "come naturally" and find themselves, five years later, still working at a crummy job and trying to 'make it' in their spare time.

You must learn how to audition like a pro. If not getting the part sends you into a slough of despair and leads to downing a few quarts of Cherry Garcia – then you don't know how to audition properly.

You must learn how to get a good picture. This isn't a matter of just finding a good photographer and paying the fee. It’s a matter of learning what you must be doing in front of the camera, to make a great picture happen – no matter who the photographer is.

You must do your mailings regularly and track results.

You must take care of your own training.

You will also probably have to figure out a way to pay rent and buy groceries – not to mention money for headshots, classes, transportation, etc.

Bottom line? You must take care of yourself – yourself.

If you need a keeper to get started or keep going – then your prospects of success – in any field of endeavor – are dim.



Believing you need an agent or manager to get started is simply bass-ackward. In the real world, you need to get started in order to attract the interest of a competent agent or manager. Believe me, it is pointless to have a salesman for your product if you haven’t done the work to make your product saleable.

Professional agents and managers know this. You can’t fool the pros.

When I tell actors this, they often respond with another complaint. "I've tried to get started on my own and it just ain't happening." 



There's a quote for that to:



"Character consists of what you do on the third and fourth tries." ~ James Michener





No matter what some people may have led you to believe, talent, looks, or connections are not the key. Doing the work it takes to make money in show business … that's the key. 



The idea that your first order of business is to find someone else to 'make it happen' is a major mistake.

You must take a little time out of your busy schedule to read the biographies of successful actors. Almost every one lists the work that it takes to start a successful career in show business.

Is it easy to do it all this work on your own? Of course not.

But if you want to succeed, you must take on the job yourself – and you must do all the work yourself.


You will be astonished at the education you will get – and the results you will achieve – when you stop looking for help and start to 'do it yourself.'

I just wish there was a short, easy to remember phrase to keep this critical idea in mind.

Wait. Wait. I think I’ve got it …

YOU ... MUST ... ACT!