If you have been around Boost My Star for a while, or even if you were just recently introduced to us, you know that I have by and large tried to steer clear of “the subject.”
So much so, that I have refused to even identify it by name, mostly referring to it as “the situation, this time, etc.”
I haven’t done so for any reason other than, I wanted actors to stay focused on their careers during this time.
I’m not a scientist or a doctor, and Boost My Star is not a news network. What we are is the place where you can find the information about the industry that no one else dares talk about.
So rather than bringing you more doom and gloom, lately I have been talking about the things that everyone else, even the so called industry “experts” have been missing.
We have all been in some sort of lockdown for what seems like forever, but it seems there’s finally a light at the end of the tunnel. Here’s what you need to do right now to prepare for the reopening, during which you will see more projects put into production than ever before.
That means more acting jobs available for you, if you put things in place to take advantage of the opportunities now. Here’s where to start...
First, let’s clear something up.
What has driven me absolutely insane, are the emails I get from stressed out actors, freaking out about the industry being “shut down.”
While production schedules have been incredibly impacted, the wheels of the industry haven’t stopped moving.
In many cases, things have sped up at an unbelievable pace.
I have spoken with several agents, all of whom are sending out scripts to their talent rosters like never before.
Writers rooms for projects in development have gone virtual but they are still working, and those projects will be ready to go on schedule. In fact, many of them are being so much more productive right now, without any outside distractions and they are way ahead of schedule.
Think editing bays have gone dark...guess again!
All over town, post production rooms are open with people working alone in shifts and conferencing with other crew members as needed. In some cases, they are all able to work completely remotely.
Things like this have never happened before...at least not at scale.
Not everyone saw the writing on the wall, but I’ve been sounding the alarm about the industry moving from in person (traditional) auditions to self taping for years.
Honestly, the audition process has been broken for decades. It hasn’t made sense in a long time because of the several shortcomings and inefficiencies. That’s a subject for another time though...
What’s important for you now, is to realize that it’s going to be a very, very long time before anyone in their right mind wants to pack a room with actors sitting shoulder to shoulder for hours, just read for 2 minutes.
That never made sense, but I digress.
The ripple effects of this situation are being felt all over the industry but the changes happening are probably going to be felt most by actors.
On set you will see huge differences, many that you never would have even imagined.
For example, having a makeup and hair crew that is covered head to toe in hazmat gear is going to be jarring.
There’s even talk of productions going into a sort of micro quarantine, where everyone working on the production would be housed together and kept from interacting with anyone outside of the production for the duration of the shoot.
We’ll have to wait and see what actually comes to fruition. Some of those decisions will be guided by studios and productions looking out for the bottom line. Others ideas will be tossed aside because they are simply not feasible or practical.
For actors, what matters perhaps even more than that is what happens to the pre production environment. Namely, what happens to the casting process.
Auditions, at every level, will change. Even the network tests will be very different. Packing a room with a dozen or more executives, directors, writers, assistants, etc. is going to be a thing of the past.
If that moves to a pre taped network test, will you be ready for that? What about call backs? How will those be different?
Understandably, actors have many questions about things like this. They are very important and I wish there were more answers to many of those questions.
For now, we are still in a holding pattern on many things but instead of focusing on what we can’t control, the actors that are going to dominate the “post event” industry are the ones who are taking matters into their own hands.
They are the ones who are continuing to build relationships with industry decision makers, many of whom are easier to reach than ever.
They are the ones who continue to work on their craft, instead of binging on Netflix.
They are the ones who are continuing to make a name for themselves and ensuring that their industry reputation matches their goals.
Because of what we do at Boost My Star, we know that actors have mostly stayed the course. That means, if you don’t get serious about adapting to the way the industry is moving now, you will be left behind.
It has always been important for you to be as visible to the industry as possible. Today, and going forward, how visible you are to industry decision makers will be a career maker or a career breaker.
For years, that process has been moving towards becoming virtual and it’s one of the reasons I started Boost My Star.
Now that everyone in the industry has gotten a taste of how much easier and more efficient it is to do things virtually, there is no going back.
Anyone who is going to be a working industry professional, will adapt to the new way of doing things and continue doing them this way for the long term.
What many actors don’t fully grasp is that the measure of your industry reputation is not a zero sum environment. If someone moves up in rank, that means someone moves down.
Actors who know this are scrambling to improve their ranking so by default, many actors are seeing their rankings tank. Here’s how I can help you with that.
It’s not limited to IMDb either!
Because Casting Directors won’t get the in person interaction and get that “gut feeling” about you, your social media will become incredibly more important.
It’s the next best thing to meeting an actor in person.
In many ways, it’s even more helpful and that’s CDs have been putting even more of an emphasis on this.
Going forward, it will be an indispensable part of the casting process. What will yours say about you? If you could use some help to get the ball rolling, here’s how I can help with that too.
Your health and safety is always the most important thing.
As creatives, I know everyone is incredibly anxious to get back into the swing of things. So, what are you doing to keep your skills sharp and position yourself for what’s to come in the industry?
Let me know in the comments below or shoot me an email. Remember, I’m always happy to help you on your journey, so I can...
See you at the top,
Scott