Everyone loves a good story about making it in the industry, especially people that work in the industry. It’s kind of human nature.

The most powerful stories about “making it” are the ones where those that make it did it against all odds.

Take Sylvester Stalone for example, at one point he sold his dog because he was completely out of money and he literally couldn’t feed himself.

After Rocky, he was able to go back and find the guy he sold the dog to and buy him back. His story had all the necessary components of a great screenplay and the media at the time ate it up.

In some ways, a lot of the success of the Rocky franchise can be attributed to the struggles he underwent to make it happen and the attention brought to the movies because of it.

We’ll come back to just how powerful that attention can be...

What people love just as much as a good story about “making it” is a story about those who made it together.

True friends are rare as it is. True ​industry ​friends are even harder to come by and anyone that has been in the industry, knows this first hand.

So, seeing actors come up together is incredibly inspiring.

If you want to be a truly successful actor, it pays to have friends in the right places. Here’s how to make some...

First, I want to clear something up. Having friends in the right places doesn’t mean you have to go out and befriend A listers. In fact, that could actually end up hurting your career. More on that in a bit.

You have to build a network of actors and other industry professionals that are at a similar level as you, or no more than a few steps ahead.

Why?

When you are all at a similar level you will be going after the same types of projects, so you can actually help each other.

You can climb the industry ladder in lockstep. If one of you is far ahead, then it actually becomes harder for them to lift you up.

Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg’s careers would have been completely different if they weren’t peers when they started working together. They both saw the commitment the other one had and they continued working together on similar projects.

See, there is not a single actor that can make it on their own.

Others have to be invested in your success too. Managers, agents, and other on screen and even behind the scenes talent must believe in you too.

You may have every CD in town sold on you, but if you can’t get a director to believe in you too, your career will go nowhere.

Ideally, you want to connect with people that perform different functions in the industry because your efforts become exponential when there’s someone at each level pulling for you.

If a director, producer, writer, and other actors attached to a project are all vouching for you, how can you not be cast?

Also,working with the same team over and over again creates synergy and the quality of the work gets better and better each time.

Most actors I speak to know they have to do this, but almost all of them get it wrong. They end up partnering with the wrong people.

Don’t just go to acting class and tap the person next to you.

Instead, look where industry decision makers are looking as well and reach out to actors and industry people that you could see yourself working with.

Search social media and YouTube and look at who is putting out quality content that showcases their talent well. If it catches your attention, chances are, it will catch a decision maker’s attention also.

You will undoubtedly come across some actors who may seem like they have it together but end up being all talk.

To keep from wasting your time with people like this, take an honest assessment of their careers.

Ask yourself if they have made any real traction in their career or are they trying to “fake it til they make it?”

Have they been trying to make things happen or are they waiting for them to happen?

You can tell pretty easily on social media media. If they have more brunch selfies than stories about going to auditions or meeting up with industry friends to try and put something together, they are probably not someone you want to spend time with.

If instead of sitting idly waiting for their phone to ring, they are actively trying to put something together, ask how you can be a part of that and value.

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon did it and earned themselves an Oscar in the process. ​The actors who will end up making it in the industry are the ones who take an active role in their success.

So, if you have trouble successfully navigating the industry and striking partnerships with actors who have some career momentum, take an honest look at your own career.

Many actors mistakenly think partnering with other actors could lead to them being passed over for roles. There’s a simple way to make sure this becomes a partnership where everyone benefits.

Team up with people who have talents that are complementary to yours. That way, there’s not two of you that Casting Directors have to choose from.

While you shouldn’t be competing for the same roles, you should be trying to build careers in the same category.

Here’s why...

Projects that call for strong comedic performers won’t typically require strong dramatic performers.

The same goes for anyone that may be behind the scenes. If you are building a career in comedy, team up with writers and directors that also specialize in comedy.

Everyone has their strengths in the industry. Mine is helping ​ensure that you always have a solid reputation you can point to, so let me partner with you on building your industry reputation.

It’s sometimes difficult to grasp how much of a difference maker that can be.

As you are doing what we just talked about ask yourself why it is that you are choosing not to seek out some people to partner with and why you are hoping to partner with others.

A big factor is likely that the ones you do want to partner with have an industry reputation that speaks for itself.

So, what do you think happens when a casting director is sorting through actors for a particular role? They look to your industry reputation as well.

See, it’s difficult to find actors that are as ambitious as you. A lot of people in the industry talk a good talk but it’s difficult to find the ones that can actually follow through.

That’s one reason the industry created a way to separate the professionals from the hobbyists. Make sure that you are seen as a professional actor.

The company you keep will also say a lot about who you are and how driven you are to succeed as an actor, so start building your network today.

If you’re having trouble with how to get started on this, or even if you just need to bounce some ideas on how to go about it, shoot me an email or let me know in the comments below.

I’m always happy to help because I would truly love to...

See you at the top,
Scott