So far in 2020, most actors have found themselves making little to no career progress. The thing is, when you stop making progress in the industry, you actually start going backwards.
While this may sound harsh, the truth is that every actor has a “shelf life.”
So, while it’s a little bit more complicated than this, think of your acting career kind of as a ripe apple sitting on a grocery store shelf.
The longer it sits there, the closer it gets to expiration, the less value it has.
Most actors don’t get that and they operate as if things will last forever.
Mark my words.
There are many, many actors who were at the top of their game going into 2020 that will be completely irrelevant and left behind by the industry as things ramp up again.
And, there are others that will emerge from nowhere and completely dominate the industry for years to come.
Here’s how you can be one one of them and make big progress in your acting career in 2020...
The actors that succeed will be the ones that are continuing to pay close attention to the “shelf life” of their careers and didn’t stand idly while the rest of the industry passed them by.
See, the industry operates on a different time frame than the rest of the world and you need to be aware that the clock is always running.
Everything you do needs to be done with a sense of urgency
Some actors spend decades getting themselves in a position to make big career moves.
For example, Morgan Freeman didn’t land a lead role until decades after being in the industry, but he still worked on his craft and made some kind of progress everyday.
That’s the key to being successful in the industry: making incremental progress everyday.
Most actors simply swing for the fences and try to make big leaps in their careers, but those opportunities don’t come around every day.
Of course you should take advantage of them when they do come, but in the meantime, you also have to work on making some kind of progress.
The actors that are able to improve their careers do a few things consistently.
They reach out to industry decision makers, instead of waiting to be “discovered.” We talked about an effective way to do this using The Demonstration of Power Pack last week.
We’ll come back to that in a bit...
If you are serious about making progress in your acting career, ask yourself what you can do today to move your career forward.
You can only go on so many auditions at any given time, so you can't just wait around for things to fall in your lap.
Whenever you are not set, you should be focused on doing everything possible to get back on set.
This extended time of being off set is no different.
The answer for what to do is a little bit depending on where you are in your career.
If you have been in the industry for some time and you are working to get back in the swing of things, then you should be reaching out to just about anyone you have ever worked with.
This can be as simple as sending them an email or a DM, or can it be much more involved. You could also send greetings cards or even Demonstration of Power Pack if you find it appropriate.
While you reaching out to them might come out of the blue, your outreach should still feel personal. Before reaching out to someone take a couple minutes to look up what they have been up to.
Pick out something specific and compliment them on their work.
Don’t explicitly ask for anything in return. Just open the door to having a conversation and plant the seeds of having a two way dialogue.
You can do that by asking questions and giving them an easy way to respond. Maybe you enjoyed a project of theirs you watched recently. Compliment them on it and ask them a question about it.
It could be something like a part of the storyline that was left unanswered. It could even be about what it was like to work with someone involved in the production.
Whatever it is, just make it an open ended question. For example, “how was it to work the director” does not effectively plant the seeds of a two way dialogue.
On the other hand something like “I hear that the director's process is great because he pulls you rather than pushes you in the direction of his vision. Did you find that to be the case?”
That kind of question doesn’t lend itself to a one word answer.
If you are working on getting your career kick started, then you should be doing the same thing, except that you should be reaching out to everyone you want to work with.
The same principles of asking open ended questions and planting the seeds of having a two way dialogue still apply.
The difference will be in the number of people that will respond. When you reach out to people that you have worked with in the past, there is a common ground that you can tap into and people are more likely to respond to someone they already know, even if it has been a while.
So adjust your expectations for the number of people that you will hear back from, if this is the position you are in. Don’t get discouraged, just realize that it’s part of what will ultimately end up being a numbers game.
Of course there are ways that you can move things in your favor.
The people you are reaching out to will want to know more about you before opening a dialogue.
It can be the difference between being seen as a professional actor or someone who does it as a hobby.
It should go without saying: industry professionals don’t want to waste their time working with hobbyists.
Most actors are misguided about what it takes to succeed in the industry. They are still looking for someone to give them their “big break.”
In reality, your “big break” will come from making incremental career progress on a consistent basis and connecting with several people that can move your career forward.
The industry is actually built to facilitate this and it can be a huge advantage, if you know how to navigate the landscape. We’ll get into that next time...
For now, just focus on getting in front of as many of the right people as possible. Meeting and networking with other actors is great, but when it comes to making career progress, you need to get in front of people that are involved in production and making casting decisions.
Here’s how I can help you be more visible to industry decision makers.
Over the last few weeks, we’ve been laying the groundwork and putting the pieces together for how to succeed as an actor in an industry that is changing quickly.
Simply being talented isn’t enough anymore. You also have to be able to stand out in what is an increasingly competitive industry. That’s why I created this, to help you.
It’s part of my mission to do everything I can to help you succeed as an actor. So, whatever it is, remember I’m always only a comment or an email away and I’m happy to help however I can because I truly want to...
See you at the top,
Scott