Last week we talked about a unique opportunity that you can seize this pilot season and it’s a huge opportunity!

However, what I’ve learned over the years is that most actors will be extremely excited for pilot season but will still struggle to make any kind of progress during it.

This is because they approach it just like everything else in their career. There’s not typically a lot of planning involved and that is usually a big mistake.

If you have been around Boost My Star for any length of time, you know that professional actors do things differently from everyone else.

They don’t leave things to chance and they try to be as efficient as possible.

For example, whether it’s pilot season or not when things don’t go their way, most actors will typically just continue doing the same things hoping that something changes sometime.

Professional actors however, identify what the problem is as fast as possible, so they can continue making career progress.

If you want to build your career as a professional actor, that’s something you should do too. Here’s where to start...

First you have to take a long and honest look at your career and determine objectively where you are.

This is something you do alone because it’s much easier to be completely honest, when there’s not any other outside influences.

If you have only been on a handful of auditions over the last couple of years, that’s something that can be difficult to face objectively when there are others involved in the conversation.

So, take some time over the next few days and plan to be alone and undisturbed for a little while. Sit down and think of what you have accomplished in your acting career thus far.

It helps if you do this on paper.

Write a list of the things you’ve done. It should include auditions, bookings, networking, and training.

Once you have done that, write how long you have been in the industry at the top of your sheet of paper.

That should help to give you some perspective. If you have been in the industry for 10 years but you only have a handful of things on your list, the reason you are not making the kind of progress you should be making is likely insufficient industry activity.

However, if you have been in the industry for only a few years but you have an extensive list, there is a completely different approach and reason for why you are not making the kind of progress you should be making.

Look at your list and see what category most of your accomplishments are in.

What I’ve seen over the years is that most actors will have a huge list in one category and almost nothing in the others.

If that’s the case, perhaps simply allocating more time to the other categories can be a complete game changer for your career.

Maybe you have been focused entirely on training, but you’re not going on enough auditions and your bookings are very inconsistent.

That’s not a problem that more training by itself will solve completely.

I’ve also spoken with actors that had a lot written in their audition category but their bookings were lacking just as much as the other categories.

That may be a situation where, focusing on training for a while might yield some results. Of course, there could be other reasons that are contributing to a lack of career progress, and there are often multiple factors.

For example if you’re not making the kind of career progress you should be making, while going on a lot of auditions but not getting very many callbacks, it could be that what Casting Directors find when they look into you is not up to their standards. Here’s how I can help with that.

See, when CDs decide to move forward with you, they are putting a lot on the line.

If an actor doesn’t live up to expectations on set, there is a lot at risk for Casting Directors. That’s why it’s important that your industry reputation is always the best it can be. I created Boost My Star to help with that.

The fact of the matter is that, to turn things around and get to the next level in your acting career will require that you know what the problem is.

Once you figure that out, then you can start to develop a plan for solving the problem.

That will be much more effective than if you were to simply continue doing the same things as before, the way that most actors do.

I know that taking an objective look at your career like this can be tough, so like I said earlier make a plan to be by yourself and undisturbed for a while, sometime over the next few days.

Typically, when someone does this exercise the problem becomes easily evident.

There are also some things that can help you take your acting career to the next level that are always applicable.

I often refer to these as the building blocks of your acting career. One of your career’s building blocks is making yourself highly visible to Casting Directors and industry decision makers where they are already looking for talent.

We’ll talk about the rest another time but that’s one you can start on right away, regardless of what you discover the other problem to be.

After you complete the exercise and you’re thinking through how to fix things, feel free to get in touch if you need someone to bounce ideas with.

I’m always happy to help however I can because I truly want to...

See you at the top,
Scott