Another month of 2022 has come and gone. After working with so many actors over the years, I’ve realized that around this time, most actors start to really reflect on what’s happened with their careers so far this year.
Most of them, if they’re really honest about it, realize that they are stuck in the same place they have been for a long time.
Coming to that realization causes many of them to simply throw in the towel and leave the industry.
It causes some actors to really buckle down and work harder than ever before. The problem with that is, they continue to do the same things that caused them to get stuck in the first place.
Professional actors are able to build successful careers because they don’t allow themselves to get stuck. They are very good at moving from one career stage to the next.
If you want to become a professional actor, this is something you have to get really good at too. The good news is it’s actually not as difficult as you might think. Here’s where to start...
What I’ve learned over the years is that, without realizing it, most actors start their careers over from scratch constantly.
They never build on the successes they’ve previously had. Here’s what I mean...
If you end an acting job without leveraging it into another one, what are you going to do to get your next job?
You’re probably going to wait for your agent to get in touch with you about your next audition.
That means you will always be on the audition hamster wheel, never really being able to take your career to the next level.
Why?
Because you’re not building relationships with CDs, directors, and other industry decision makers. If you don’t build relationships with them, they’ll never think of you and ask you to be a part of a project.
When you do build solid relationships with them, at the very least, they are much more likely to ask you to read for whatever project they are involved in.
When that happens, the dynamics change dramatically.
You’re no longer auditioning cold. You are going into an audition as someone they are looking forward to seeing instead of being just another face in the crowd.
When I share this with actors, they can usually wrap their minds around the concept but what they struggle with is figuring out how to go about it.
After all, if you just reach out to CDs and industry decision makers saying “I want to build a relationship with you” it’s not going to go very well.
So, how should you go about it?
Most actors overthink this but it’s not very difficult.
You do it the same way you build a relationship with anyone else. Don’t approach them out of the blue as an actor for hire.
Be genuine and if there’s room for a relationship to come out of it, then move forward. If the person you are reaching out to isn’t receptive, then drop it and move on to someone else.
This isn’t something you can force but that’s ok. You don’t have to build relationships with everybody. Even just 1 or 2 solid ones can completely change the course of your career.
Start by reaching out with a genuine compliment because everyone loves to be complimented.
If you are reaching out to a casting director, compliment them on how there was so much synergy in their latest project.
If you are trying to connect with a director, you compliment them on the consistency of the characters in one of their projects and the depth of the emotions the actors showed on screen.
As tempting as it may be to end with “I would love to work with you sometime” don’t do it! It would immediately make you blend in with every other actor out there.
You don’t want it to appear as if you are only reaching out to them because it would help you in some way.
You just want it to be a quick exchange between two industry professionals. All you are trying to accomplish at this point is opening a door.
That’s it.
If your message is genuine, most of them will at least reply with a thank you.
What you can do then, to further the conversation, is ask a question about whatever it was that you originally complimented them on.
If you complimented a casting director about the synergy in a certain cast they built, you can then follow up with a question about how they spot talent.
Building a relationship with them this way is completely professional and you won’t risk offending someone or coming off as being pushy or creepy.
You can use this strategy to build relationships with industry decision makers out of the blue and it works wonderfully.
You can also do it to follow up and stay in touch with the people you work with. Staying in touch with CDs who already put their faith in you is how you avoid starting your career over from scratch every time.
It’s also how you turn 1 job into 2, then 3 or even 4 or more.
Staying in touch with them is all about increasing your industry visibility, which is crucial to your career. I also built this to make it easier for you to be visible in the places where they are already looking for talent.
It’s also important that you follow up with everyone you work with.
Let’s say you follow up with a CD but you just happen to catch them on a bad day and nothing comes from it.
Well, if you happen to show up over and over again where they are looking for talent, chances are they will at least remember you reaching out to them.
That familiarity can make a big difference.
CDs that you have already worked with are much more likely to work with you again, provided that everything went well on set with a previous project, because there is already a level of trust.
Even if you have worked with them, but if it’s been some time since you have been in touch,
having a solid industry reputation can be the difference between getting a response from them and having an opportunity to build a relationship or never hearing from them again.
Don’t leave it to chance.
I know that what we went over today is not what you normally do in the industry and that’s exactly why you should start doing it ASAP.
Professional actors don’t build their career by doing the same things everyone else does.
They do things differently. Boost My Star is all about bringing you the things that are working right now to build your career the right way.
This is one of them.
Take what you learned today and try it out for yourself.
As you start to plan how you are going to start doing this, feel free to get in touch. Shoot me an email or leave a comment below.
I’ll always respond and I’m happy to help however I can because I truly want to...
See you at the top,
Scott