What you’ve been told about building your career, is likely the reason you aren’t making the kind of progress you should be making.
At some point, someone in the industry has probably told you to “go out for anything and everything that you are a fit for.”
This is almost always bad advice and it probably came from someone you respected quite a bit...
It’s advice like this that keeps so many talented actors stuck in their careers. If you’ve been around Boost My Star for any length of time, you know that doing the opposite of what everyone else tells you to do is typically a better way to go.
Here’s why...
Let’s say that instead of pursuing anything and everything you were to focus on a particular genre and seek to dominate it. What would happen?
The more face time you get with fans of that genre, and the industry professionals that work in that genre, the easier it becomes to book things over time.
I know it sounds like a longshot and most actors think that this is only something that can happen when you’re already a marquee actor but that’s not the case.
The truth is that, with so much content being produced, there are dozens of genres and subgenres that you can dominate this way, even if you’re new to the industry.
Here’s where to start...
Before you go down this road, you have to decide whether you want to be a struggling actor or a professional actor.
Those are two very different career tracks. The truth is that every actor says they want to be a professional, but they stay perpetually stuck in the “struggling actor” phase because that’s the career track they inadvertently choose for themselves.
That’s a huge mistake that most actors make and few are able to correct it and get on the right track, even though it’s actually quite simple.
If you do the things that everyone else does, you will likely end up in the same place everyone else does. Considering very few actors end up accomplishing their goals in the industry, that’s something you want to avoid.
If you do the exact opposite, when it comes to the big picture strategy of how to build your career, you will be much better off.
Here’s what I mean...
You will still need a great headshot, and you will still need to audition for projects. Refusing to audition and not having a headshot won’t get you anywhere but your overall strategy should be opposite of what everyone else does.
For example, everyone else will submit for anything and everything and wait for the industry to come knocking.
Instead, you can actively build your career by being highly selective with the projects you pursue.
I know, it sounds counter intuitive and everybody else will tell you that you need to get as much screen time as you can, if you want to build your career.
That’s true to a point.
Everyone needs to get their first few credits out of the way to get the ball rolling, but at some point it comes time to choose the direction you want to take your career in.
At that point, taking anything and everything that comes your way becomes counterproductive.
Most actors kind of know this on some level, because A listers don’t just jump at every project that comes their way.
When they do, it ends up having a negative effect on their career, regardless of how successful they may have been before that.
You know I’m not one to single out actors by name but I have a certain prolific actor in mind, with several awards to his name including an Oscar for best actor, along with a SAG award, and a Golden Globe that has taken his career in the wrong direction doing this.
Even though he is incredibly talented, his influence in the industry has greatly diminished over the last several years.
See, when the projects you work on are scattered, so is everything else.
Here’s what I mean...
Successful people in the industry all have their particular strengths. Can dramatic actors do comedy?
Of course they can, but their delivery will be remarkably different from an actor that does comedy exclusively.
The same is true for writers, directors, producers, and even casting directors.
So when you work on projects that are all in different genres, you don’t get the chance to work with the same people over and over again.
It’s difficult to build relationships that way in the industry.
However, when you focus on working on a particular kind of project, it gets much easier to build those relationships. Casting directors that are skilled at building casts for dramatic projects will be called upon to do it over and over again.
When they start building a cast, they don’t start from scratch. They first dig through their database and look for actors that might be a good fit based on what they’ve seen from them before.
Those actors are the ones that are invited to audition. For some roles, they may only invite a handful of actors to read, knowing that one of them will be an ideal candidate to move forward with.
Stop and think for a moment...
How many times have you read for the same CD, for different projects. Many actors go their entire career without ever reading for the same casting director, more than once.
That’s why most actors never even get the opportunity to read for the best roles.
If you never get the opportunity to do that, how are you going to take your career to the next level?
The way to do it is by going against the conventional wisdom and being selective about the types of projects you pursue, so that you can build relationships with CDs and industry decision makers.
The goal is to get them to invite you to read and skip the submission process altogether. We’ll talk more about that another time.
For now, start thinking about the direction you want to take your career in. It doesn’t mean you will be stuck on the same track forever.
At some point, it is possible and advantageous to crossover into a new genre. I want to be clear on one more thing...
What we went over today is career specific so you will have to determine whether your career is at a stage where going in this direction makes sense.
Like I said, if you’re trying to get your first few credits it’s something that will come down the line for you.
However, this strategy can work wonders for you if you are at a place where you are looking to take your career to the next level. I built this help with that.
The two work really great together because they are both dedicated to increasing your visibility with casting directors and industry decision makers.
Like I’ve always said, if they don’t know you they can’t hire you.
The strategy we talked about today, pursuing projects that allow you the opportunity to work with the same group of people over and over again, works so well because it increases your familiarity with people that can provide opportunities to move your career forward.
The tool I created for you ensures that your industry reputation matches your goals.
It lets CDs and industry decision makers know that you are a professional actor and not a hobbyist, so they are more inclined to take you seriously even if the two of you have never met.
I know that this goes against what you’ve been told is the “right way” to build your career so if you have any questions about it, or even if you just want to bounce ideas I’m always only a comment or an email away.
I’ll always respond and help however I can because I truly want to...
See you at the top,
Scott