Advice From Dwayne Johnson

If you are still an actor in 2018, then you just might be in serious trouble! There’s too much going on in the industry and actors are becoming a thing of the past. 

I know, it sounds like I’m crazy but would it interest you to know that Dwayne Johnson (the highest paid actor on the planet) said this himself??? 

Here’s why… 

Actors are one dimensional beings in a 3 dimensional world. It’s been happening for a while and I’ve been personally sounding the alarm for a long time too. 

Let me be clear, I do not mean that actors are disappearing and are will be replaced by Artificial Intelligence or something like that. 

What I mean is that simply being a fantastic actor does not cut it in the industry anymore. 

Walk down Sunset at lunch time, blindfolded, and toss a beach ball in any direction and you will hit a talented actor. The ball will then bounce off them and hit another 3 talented actors. 

That’s why “actors” are a dying breed. 

In today’s industry, you must be an entertainer and entrepreneur! 

One of my favorite scenes in Jerry Maguire explains it very succinctly. In case you haven’t seen it: Jerry, a sports agent, is having a talk with a grumpy NFL Player client of his whom is having trouble getting a new contract. 

Jerry tells him to be more jovial and play to the crowd. “You’re not a football player, you’re an entertainer” he says. 

After a few more heartbreaks, he finally takes Jerry’s advice, becomes an entertainer-first and lands a great contract, better than what he was hoping for. 

I know, that story was Hollywood-Perfection at it’s best, but it illustrates the point very well. 

Here’s how it played out in the real world. 

Whether you’re a fan of Dwayne Johnson or not, it’s worth studying the most in demand and highest paid actor on the planet. 

His journey in the entertainment industry had a very rocky start. 

After a failed football career, he went into wrestling. 

As you might know, all wrestlers adopt a character and his first one was near and dear to his heart. It paid homage to Dwayne’s Samoan heritage. 

He was expected to be a huge sensation and draw big crowds to the shows. It didn’t exactly happen that way. 

Instead, he had a lukewarm debut at best and even that cooled off quickly, despite Dwayne’s wrestling talent. 

Dwayne understood that he was not simply a wrestler. He was an entertainer first and decided to completely change his character. 

Thus “The Rock” was born. 

The crowds absolutely loved him and started fill the stadiums, setting record attendance numbers. 

“I listened to the crowd” he says about the reason for changing his character. 

His skills didn’t suddenly improve with a character change, yet his career went skyward! 

The same thing happened when he started acting. He made several box office duds at the start of his career and almost everyone had counted him out. 

The industry started to think of him as another failed cross over. 

He “listened to the crowd” and changed up again. Dwayne’s acting career started to take off when he remade his image and showed a softer side with films like “The Game Plan” where he played a single father. 

The audience loved seeing a giant, tough guy have a softer and more relatable side. 

Even his public appearances showed a dramatic shift. He was once a man of few words, with a smile you would seldom see. 

Contrast to what he’s like today: an animated, warm story teller with a huge laugh that fills the room. 

Did his acting skills improve? 

Sure, but how much? He’s experiencing 1000X the success that did early on but is he really a 1000X better actor? 

Of course not! 

But he is 1000X better an entertainer than when he started, and on top of that he learned to leverage his brand and platform. 

That’s something I can help with. Get the details here.

That’s where the entrepreneurial part comes in. When you start to see yourself as an entertainer and entrepreneur, your character will take a giant leap. 

Entrepreneurs are always thinking about their next opportunity and how to create it. 

You should have the same mentality. 

They relentlessly work on expanding their personal network and creating the next opportunity, knowing that it will not simply come to them. 

Auditions are your opportunities and at the top of your mind should be a laser like focus on creating as many of them possible. 

That begs the question: how are you currently generating auditions? 

Are you simply waiting for them to come to you? 

If the only time you go on an audition is when your agent calls and say’s it’s showtime, then you have not yet reached the entrepreneurial frame of mind. 

You have to constantly market yourself to the industry in a super effective way that will also ensure you have the kind of reputation industry decision makers respect.

Once you have that, get out there and shake as many hands as possible. Doing this very thing, I have met industry movers, shakers, and decision makers. With very few exceptions, they were always happy and open to talking with me. 

See, nobody ever approaches them out of them blue. 

It’s intimidating and nerve wracking to get out there and force the industry to take notice of you. 

Here’s a way that I can help with an efficient way to do this.

I’m not saying that my way is the only way to do it or that you need to accept my help, but you do have to do something if you want to dramatically push your career forward quickly. 

So what will you do now grasshopper? Let me know in the comments below or shoot me an email. I read every one that comes through. 

I’m always happy to help in any way I can because my goal is to… 

See you at the top,
Scott 

Acting’s Lost Art

Brian Cranston story telling and monologues 

Think of the last great performance you witnessed. Who delivered it? There are many fantastic actors that I look up to and a few months ago, I started noticing a trend. 

I noticed that the standout performances that struck me most had something in common. I ran my thoughts past some industry colleagues, CDs, directors, and screenwriters to see if it was a coincidence or if I was on to something. 

They unanimously agreed that the trend was here to stay for the foreseeable future. In fact, they went so far as to say this is becoming so prevalent in the industry that there are not nearly enough actors that are skilled in this particular talent. 

That means, when you master it, you will fill an industry demand and instantly stand out in every audition you go on!

Every actor should have this skill in their back pocket, ready to deploy, but the industry moved away from using it as a screening method for a long time. 

Remember, everything is cyclical so things came back full circle and now that audience tastes have changed this skill is very much in demand again (though with a slight twist). 

I’m talking about monologuing. Make no mistake, I’m not talking about 9th grade drama class kind of monologuing. 

Today’s monologues are vastly different. 

See, the industry became very visual for a long time. There was a lot of hype around 3D cinema and super screens, but that has largely run its course. 

That’s not to say that it will go away. I very much think it’s here for the long term but the adaptation of it has plateaued. Simply making a film available in 3D is not drawing audiences to the box office anymore, and the at home technology was largely a flop. 

This has made the industry move back into focusing on story telling, rather than relying on visuals to move the story forward. 

It’s a subtle difference, but you will notice when you start to pay attention. 

If you think back to films from the 80s and 90s the average run time was much longer. It was as if 2 hour films were the norm. While the 30 and 60 minute formats on TV have stayed consistent, the pace of the story lines have changed dramatically. 

Today’s style of monologuing is reminiscent of those times, but it has a much richer feel. They are designed to move the story forward and are often used to tie up loose ends. 

Someone that does this masterfully is Bryan Cranston. I highly recommend that you study his monologues intensively. 

He has a way of pulling the audience into the story smoothly. He delivers the monologue’s story without upstaging it with his acting. 

A big part of pulling off a monologue effectively is having the ability to let it [the monologue] do the acting. 

I’ll explain. 

A monologue is not about carefully thought out facial expressions, it’s about pushing the story forward. 

When an actor delivers a monologue that falls flat, it is often because it seemed too rehearsed. The way to overcome this is to not memorize the piece word for word. 

I know it seems counterintuitive but stay with me for a second. 

Rather than your typical memorization, work on committing the themes and action points of the monologue to memory. If you nail those but invert a few words here and there, no one will ever know. 

Here’s how you should prepare to learn a monologue. Whether you are using this for an audition or on set, the process is the same. 

First read the monologue thoroughly 2-3 times. 

Get a good understanding of your character and their motivations behind delivering the monologue. 

You will then need 2 different color highlighters. 

Use one color to highlight important, story line items in the monologue. Use the other color to highlight action points in the monologue. 

Story line items are parts that are intended to move the story forward. Action points are parts that are highly visual, and paint more vivid imagery for the audience (verbally). 

Commit only those to memory and trust that your mind will fill in the gaps. 

As you work on memorization, resist the urge to look at your script. It will feel completely unnatural at first and you may just butcher the first few attempts. That’s ok. 

After you finish the piece, look at your script and review the places where you went off script. Keep at it until you get to about 80% accuracy. 

Once you reach 80% accuracy stop looking at the script. 

Your performance will maintain a natural feel, because someone who is delivering a monologue is not pulling a string of words out of their head. They are using whatever words come to mind, to tie multiple thoughts together. 

If you find yourself frequently stumbling over a word track, that’s ok. It’s probably best if you use that as part of your delivery. It’s tripping you up for a reason. 

The key to a solid monologue is not delivering it with accuracy. It’s delivering it genuinely. 

That’s what CDs are looking for when they task you with this, and it’s what directors are trying to pull out of you on set. 

This process is incredibly simple because it’s all about letting go and letting the character flow. 

As important as it is to work on your craft and refine your acting skills, you have to do it while working on your career.

After all, it doesn’t matter if you master the monologue (or anything else for that matter) and have nowhere to use it. 

Two thirds of your time should be spent working on your career and on making yourself more visible to industry decision makers. Here’s a quick and easy way to do that.

In fact, if you have limited time available, work on your career rather than your skills. Create as much opportunity and traction as you can and then go back and work on your soft skills after you have generated a few bookings and have to put your acting skills to good use. 

Or, you could simply let me help with that. Click here to learn how.

Whatever you decide to do next, remember that I am always only a comment or an email away. After all, my goal is to… 

See you at the top, 
Scott 

The Biggest Advantage You Can Have in A Casting Situation

What does a hockey puck, an alligator, Valentine’s Day, and a swordfish have to do with your acting career? 

Before we descend down that rabbit hole and go over what it has to do with your acting career, I want to ask you a question… 

What if the world we live in was nothing more than a mere simulation, a matrix of sorts? Yes, I know that’s an even bigger rabbit hole but stick with me for a minute. 

If it were a simulation would you play the game differently than you have been to this point, knowing that failure was not an option? 

Let me be clear: I’m not saying that it is! I am merely posing a mind-stretching question. 

Now, that your mind is in motion here’s another one that’s a bit more practical. 

If you had a way to see into the future, and you saw that whatever action you took next (pertaining to your acting career) could not fail, what would you do next? 

What if I said I could get you that looking glass to see into the future?... 

I’ll give you a peek through the looking glass in just a moment. 

First I want to give you the answer to the question I posed earlier. 

What does a hockey puck, an alligator, Valentine’s Day, and a swordfish have to do with your acting career? 

If an alligator or a swordfish want to eat, they don’t swim to where their prey is. They attack, where the prey is going. Otherwise, they miss the opportunity. 

A hockey puck can exceed speeds of 100 miles per hour, so great hockey players doesn’t skate to where the puck is. They skate to where it is going. Otherwise, they too miss the opportunity. 

Successful actors don’t operate within the industry as it is today. They focus on where it is going. 

At the time of this writing it is the end of September. Are you thinking of the changing leaves and Autumn or are you forward thinking to Valentine’s Day? 

Here’s that peek inside the looking glass I promised… 

Why do you think so many actors have hopped over to online distribution? Billy Bob Thornton, Giovanni Ribisi, John Krasinski, Kristen Bell, Stana Katic, the list goes on and on. 

Why do you think that the streaming networks are working so hard trying to get top tier actors to do exclusives with them? 

Why did Amazon purchase IMDb? Why are they quietly looking to acquire Rotten Tomatoes too? 

If they controlled massive distribution, the reviews of the content they distribute, and one of the key things that the talent pool relies on to build their careers, what could they do with that? 

Why do streaming services dump entire seasons online at once, instead of dripping it out weekly as has been the model for decades? 

What do they know? 

See, in an age where attention spans are becoming shorter and shorter and there is increasingly more content available every day, they had to do something to differentiate themselves from the mainstream. 

YouTube TV is quietly pursuing this as they negotiate with the networks to allow streaming of entire seasons too. Once they do that, it’s game over for the networks. 

If you had any idea that YouTube would have become an entertainment industry behemoth, poised to reshape the entire landscape, wouldn’t you have started a channel way back in 2005? 

What does this have to with your acting career? 

Knowing this can give you a huge advantage in any casting situation. See, when you go in for an audition you can either greet the CD with pleasantries just like everyone else or you can appeal to them in a way that no one else can. 

Casting Directors all know this and they are seeking cross platform talent. So, if you put yourself at an advantage by becoming “cross platform talent” then your chances of being cast are far greater. 

Most actors go into an audition with a job interview mentality, when really it’s far more than that. It’s not just about a resume and reading a few lines, you are asking someone to place trust in you. 

Even if you are not playing a leading role, it can still be a multimillion dollar responsibility you are asking for. 

You can make this decision easier on casting directors by displaying your trust worthiness, and there is no better way to do that than this.

Because of their immense size, I submit to you that the next major networks will be Amazon and YouTube, in that order. 

Facebook has potential but they have a lot of ground to make up for, as these two companies are far ahead. 

So if that’s the future of the industry, where should your attention go? 

Remember, skate to where the puck is going not to where it currently is or you will miss the opportunity. 

When YouTube started to produce its own content, the first place they sourced talent was from within its ranks. 

How do you think Amazon selected actors to recruit when they first began producing their own content? 

Amazon didn’t buy IMDb because it was a big money maker for them, they wanted access to the talent for their content and there was no better way for them to get it virtually overnight. 

History is kind of cyclical and we’re nearing the studio system age again. Back then, actors could seldom find work if they were not signed to a major studio. 

This time around will be different because the technology, the distribution, and the times are different. 

But one thing is for sure, if you are prepared for the coming wave of change, you can ride it. If you are unprepared, it can wipe you out. 

Here’s an easy way to make sure you are riding the wave when it hits.

I sincerely hope you do ride the wave so that I can… 

See you at the top, 
Scott 

How To Become A Full Time Actor in 2018

Actors are some of the hardest working people in the world. There are so many demands on our time. From working out to stay fit and energetic to being on set working long hours, and then working a day job on top of everything else it’s no wonder why so many actors have “going fulltime” as their top priority. 

Having to choose between going to work or going to an audition is one of the worst feelings in the world, isn’t it? 

Granted, most of us are not in a position where missing a day of work would mean the lights get cut off. However, for almost every actor, working a job in addition to acting is necessary for mere survival. 

But who really wants to do that?... 

Let me be clear, there is nothing wrong with working a day job so to speak. In fact, it’s honorable to do what’s required to empower yourself to chase your dreams. 

However, consider how much further along you might be in your career if you could devote 100% of your time and effort to it? 

What if you could spend all of your time networking with industry decision makers, auditioning, or on set? 

Personally, every minute that I spent doing something besides chasing my Hollywood dreams felt like an eternity and like my dreams were moving further and further away from my reality. 

So, if your desire to become a fulltime actor, read of this special report carefully. Not only is this achievable, here’s why it’s without a doubt possible for you to do it in 2018… 

We all learned about opportunity cost in 9th grade math class, it’s all about weighing the difference of doing one thing vs another. 

We are faced with this everyday that our attention is away from our acting careers. 

Elon Musk says that “if everyone is working 8 hours a day on something and you are working on something for 16 hours a day, you don’t even have to better than them and you will still accomplish twice as much.” 

Though many actors trick themselves into thinking that other people got lucky or knew someone that helped them get into the industry, they seldom stop to think of what those other actors did. 

I know an actor who is adequately talented (tactfully speaking). He spent many, many years playing bit parts and not making any traction whatsoever in his career. 

From the mid 90s to the early 2000s he struggled to make any kind of headway. Frankly, he didn’t! 

It wasn’t until he gave it one last ditch, effort. Just before he made the decision to quit the industry, he went all in. 

He quit his day job and went after it one thousand percent. If he wasn’t at an audition, he was out shaking hands. 

He refused to go home before he met 10 people that could help his career in some way. 

Sometimes, he would meet producers and casting directors. Other days, he would stumble on their assistants. 

If he didn’t hit his goal of meeting 10 people by the end of the day, he would add the deficit to the next days total. 

Everyone thought he was lunatic for doing this and for spending every dime he had, and even a lot more that he didn’t have… 

That was until he started to appear alongside Denzel Washington and John Travolta. They were small roles at first, but it wasn’t long until he graduated to bigger things. 

By the time he starred alongside Matt Damon in a leading role, he was a full blown movie star! 

I love his story and I’ve been able to witness much of it first hand. 

He was seldom the most talented person in an audition, he’ll be the first to say it, but the difference between him and everyone else was his perseverance and the sheer amount of work he put into building a career. 

Working a half day, meant that he spent 12 hours working on his career in some way. 

That’s why it’s so important to make the leap and go fulltime in your own career. 

As optimistic as I am, first and foremost, I am a realist. 

I realize that most of us are unable to rely solely on the income we make from acting and need another source of income in order to survive. 

However, if you focus on the solution and ask the right question, the way to go full time in acting is rather simple. 

First you have to get clear on what is required for you to go full time. In other words, how much do you need to earn on a monthly basis in order to at least maintain your current lifestyle. 

Write it down on a sheet of paper. 

Don’t be too conservative and don’t inflate the number either. After you have written it down, look at it for a few seconds… 

It’s probably a much smaller number than you previously thought. 

See most of us have been secure in a job for so long that we often 2X, 3X or even 5X that number. We are so accustomed to going home with cash at the end of the day or getting paid every other week, that we would never feel secure going full time with acting unless we had several months worth of expenses saved up. 

That’s a limiting mentality. See, if you start by defining what is required to accomplish the overall goal (going full time with acting) and then reverse engineer solution, things become much more manageable. 

Let’s say that you need to earn $4,000 a month to maintain your lifestyle. That’s your goal, not $4,000 times 6 months of expenses ($24,000). 

The question then becomes, how do I get to the $4,000 mark? 

And that’s a much easier question to answer than the $24,000 one. 

To hit that goal, consider what skills you have. You could start a YouTube channel and hit your goal easily. It doesn’t require millions of views; many, many small channels are very profitable. 

Do you have photography skills? Just a couple of events could get you to your goal. 

Are you a musician? Perhaps you could do film scoring. Not only this in high demand, you will make connections that are invaluable. 

The goal is to spend the least amount of time humanly possible “working to survive” so that you have plenty of time and energy to work on your career. 

While you are doing this, you also have to work on opening doors. Here’s a quick and easy way to do that.

Intent is a powerful thing! 

By placing your attention on the goal of going full time in your acting career, and backing it up with actions and processes that propel you towards that goal will make things happen. 

Beyond that, you want to make sure that fill the role of an actor worthy of casting. By that I mean that your industry reputation and platform should match your goals. Here’s how I can help with that.

So what do you plan to do now grasshopper? Did you complete the exercise above to quantify what it would mean for you to go fulltime? 

Do you need help coming up with a game plan? 

Let me know in the comments below or shoot me an email. I will always help in every way I can because my goal is to… 

See you at the top,
Scott 

The Formula for Never Ending Work

Most people spread themselves way too thin, on everything. 

I don’t just mean career-wise. We are all pulled in a thousand different directions and have multiple responsibilities. 

We have work commitments, families to tend to, significant others, and somewhere in there we have to work on our acting careers too. 

There are so many things to take care of… 

There are acting classes to attend, agents to hire and fire, headshots and reels to keep updated, audition-day wardrobes to stock, social media to build, and tons more. 

It’s no wonder that most actors only book a handful of jobs all year. 

With everything that we have to do, that’s all of the opportunity that most actors are able produce. 

However, we all know a few actors that are able to keep their schedules completely full and move from one production to the next. They are the ones that have figured out the formula for never ending opportunity. 

See, if you can tap into this formula a world of opportunity will open up to you too. It can literally make finding your next job as easy as 1, 2, 3. 

Here’s how… 

Have you ever wondered how celebrities “make it look so easy?” 

They have a system in place to handle all of the demands that are placed on their time and attention. 

They have someone that takes care of finding them opportunities, they have someone who takes care of making sure they always look sharp, and personal assistants handle mundane and administrative tasks. 

They, in effect, take as much off of their plate as possible. 

Why? 

So they can work the formula (the one that you are about to learn). 

Have you ever watched a “behind the scenes” special and seen a celebrity sitting in a chair while someone does their makeup, someone else brings them a rack of clothes to get dressed from, all while someone is briefing them on their schedule for the rest of the day and snaps a quick photo for the Instagram audience? 

That is not pampering just for pampering’s-sake. It is a well thought out system. 

Imagine if that same celebrity had to complete all of those tasks themselves, instead of having it done for them simultaneously. 

They would be going out to the mall for a couple hours to browse the racks and hope they found something suitable to wear. 

Then, they would sit in front of a mirror and do their own hair and makeup for about another hour. 

Afterwards, they would snap a selfie for Instagram and review their schedule for the day. 

This makes things much harder and everything takes much longer. Also, this does not account for all of the time and effort that went into filling up your calendar. 

So how can you operate like the industry’s 1% without an army of people to help? 

Simple… 

Take as much off of your own plate as possible. 

See, to succeed as an actor and book as many roles as you can handle you only need to do 3 things. 

1. Have a unique angle and create a category for yourself that you can stand out in. You should never be just another fish in the pond. Aim to be the only one there. 
2. Get visibility. If no one knows about you, they can’t hire you. Most actors think that once they are hired everyone will know them. The truth is, you are hired because you are already known. 
3. Deliver. When you are on set, don’t hold anything back. Having a long term career depends on whether you can deliver a good performance. The performance itself only has to be good enough. What counts more than that is the heart and effort you put into it. That will make productions want to work with you again. 

Judge what you are doing now to move your career forward and compare it to the 3 part formula. 

If you are doing anything that doesn’t accomplish one of the 3, stop doing it or at the very least get someone else to do it. 

Even after an actor has “made it” they continue to do these 3 things, because their career depends on it. 

1. The continuously work to reinforce and expand their category. This is why you see certain genres expand quickly (think Vampire craze after Twilight). 
2. If they are not on set, they are working to stay top of mind and create a buzz that will lead to their next opportunity. This is why you see them doing press junkets and on the talk show circuit whether they just had a baby or just had a ham sandwich. Any reason is a good reason, because the goal is simply to get more visibility and attract more attention. 
3. The most successful actors are known to have an incredible work ethic. There are a handful of exceptions and the industry has a way of pushing them aside eventually, so don’t follow their lead. Always give it your all. 

Here’s what you should do now. Think of how you spend a typical day. List out everything you do (everything!). Don’t hold anything back. Only you will see this list so don’t be shy and don’t sugarcoat things either. 

Go through your list, point by point, and write a 1,2, or 3 next to it depending on which one of the three points that task accomplishes. 

If it doesn’t accomplish any of them, leave it blank. 

After you have finished this, go back through your list and look only at the unmarked tasks. This is what you should eliminate from your day ASAP. 

Some of these things can be pushed to an assistant. It doesn’t have to be a fulltime person of course, maybe you can hire a friend for a few bucks an hour to help with things every now and then. 

Other tasks might seem a bit tricky to categorize. Think through the entire sequence of what it’s helping you accomplish. 

For example, going to the gym would seem like it does not fit any of the 3. However, staying active and healthy will give you the energy that is necessary to push through a long day on set without your performance suffering. 

So, it can easily fit into #3 if you think through it that way. 

You may have a hard time with some things that you feel are vital to your career so you may try to create an exception for them and force them into one of the categories. 

Don’t! 

I would rather you shoot me an email and let me help you determine whether it truly fits or help you sort out how to eliminate the task. 

And that’s not the only way I can help. If you had to choose only one thing to work on, it should be point 2. 

Here’s how I can help with that.

If you can get visibility, it goes a long way to getting your next job especially when that visibility is through a reputable industry source. 

Remember anything that you get help with, frees up that much energy for you spend time on other things that will push your career to new heights.

So, don’t hesitate to get help where you need it. 

Remember, the top 1% of the industry remove as much from themselves as they can. It’s not out of ego or laziness. It is a well thought out system that enables them to operate at peak capacity and you now have the formula for doing something similar yourself. 

It is the formula for booking as many jobs as you can handle so that I can… 

See you at the top,
Scott 

The Not So Secret Meeting Where Industry Executives Decided Your Future?

I felt like a fish out of water. Luckily, I’m an actor so I was able to put on a brave face and [mostly] hide the fact that I was completely star struck. 

Over the last few years, I have to come know several industry insiders pretty well. They have become a great source of knowledge and they have often given valuable information that I pass on to you. 

This time was different though. I didn’t receive information from these sources. They “cordially invited” me to be a part of the discussion. 

There were several familiar faces in the room and there were also people that I never imagined would be present. 

The meeting was arranged by the studios to discuss, of all things….the talent shortage! 

A perfect storm has been brewing for a long time and it caught the industry completely by surprise. Here’s what that means and how it could be the best thing that has happened to your career yet. 

See, there are currently about 100,000 actors in the US (the biggest entertainment market in the world). When you consider that not everyone is suited for every role, the number of actors available for productions gets really small, really fast. 

If that wasn’t enough of a problem, there is an inverted population pyramid that is getting worse by the day. This means that more actors are leaving the industry than are entering it. 

There are many reasons for this, but the reasons are secondary to the reality of the problem. 

The demand for entertainment content increases every year, as does the demand for actors. There is an issue that is unique to the industry. 

Actors cannot “double dip.” They cannot star in two series at the same time, nor can they have 2 films in theatres at once (unless they are playing a tertiary role). 

The inverted population pyramid exists in the music industry too, but the difference is that they are allowed to and encouraged to collaborate with different artists. 

In stark contrast, musicians want to have as many songs on radio play and on the charts as possible at al times. 

This makes the problem there less obvious and more tolerable. 

The industry is going through a renaissance. 

Everything is cyclical and we are entering another phase. It is comparable to when actors freed themselves of the highly restricted studio deals and took their careers into their own hands. 

Overtime, this reversed as distribution became more complex. 

However, the advances in technology over just the last few years have allowed actors to break free once again. 

This has the studios scrambling for talent. 

We are living in a time when a YouTuber with a GoPro camera can pull 5 million views daily. Until very recently this was only possible with the help of a studio who would distribute the content. 

That’s part of the perfect storm:

1. More actors leaving the industry, than are entering it 
2. Waning demand for studio resources and distribution

I have been sounding the alarm on these 2 things for some time, but the third part of the problem was shocking to me. 

I listened attentively as the research was presented to everyone in the room… 

Potential actors are not getting started and the ones that are actively trying, are largely seen as being ingenuine by audiences. 

The researchers conducted focus groups. They showed the participants Instagram posts and stories and also showed them the actor’s reel and scenes from recent productions. 

What they determined is that, when the participants reacted negatively or even neutrally to the actor’s social media, they also had a less favorable opinion of their work. 

Surprisingly, this was true even if the process was reversed. 

Here’s what that means to the studios. Their actors are not as marketable as they once were. 

That’s a huge problem when you consider that a breakout film or series requires a breakout actor attached. 

What the executives and everyone else in the room agreed on was that the industry has to go into mega recruiting and scouting mode. 

That’s how they will tackle problem 1: bringing more actors into the industry. 

This is one of the places where I was able to add to the discussion and I talked about the incubation period that is required of actors. 

Even if they were to bring in another 100,000 actors into the industry, very few of them would be “camera ready.” 

Problem 2 is going to be fixed by adding more big budget, classic studio pictures to the slate. 

On the TV side, there will be even more reboots and adaptations. 

Part 3 is where you come in. 

It requires actors that have been in the industry, have some experience and are ready to go to the next level. 

The studios are looking to create in demand actors. 

This puts them somewhat at odds with the agencies who tend to have creative control over their actor’s careers. However, a rising tide lifts all boats. 

They concluded that the best place to find actors is drum roll…IMDb. There is simply nowhere else that provides the necessary data on actors that are active in the industry.

It literally allows the studios, agencies, and anyone else to ride along with and track your career progress. 

Remember, they are looking for actors that have a degree of success already and will send their careers to the stratosphere. So if you want to be in a better position, here is a quick fix for that.

The executives also laid out a plan to roll out a multiplatform project that is aimed at tackling all 3 problems at once. It is a documentary and series that will chronicle the struggle of new and experienced actors. 

The production schedule for this will be highly condensed and since you are reading this, you are one of the first to know. 

So keep an eye out for casting opportunities very soon. They will be sourcing actors from IMDb as well as social media so be sure to give both of those areas the attention they need.

It’s not necessary for just this one project. Rather, it is necessary because of the fundamental shift in the casting hierarchy that is rapidly taking place. 

Being first to act on this information could be the best thing that has happened to your career yet. 

So what will you do now Grasshopper. Let me know in the comments below or shoot me an email. 

I read everyone that comes through and I’m happy to help however I can, because my goal is to… 

See you at the top,
Scott 

What Are You Working Towards?

“Some legends are told. Some turn to dust or to gold, but you will remember me for centuries…” 

If I got hit by a car today, this is what would play at my funeral: Centuries by Fallout Boy. 

Before he was Shark Tank’s Daymond John, I had a brief conversation with him and he advised me to pick a theme song for my career and more importantly, for life itself. 

Over the years, I’ve gone through many of them and I have come to think of this as one of the most important things an actor can do to get their head “in the game” so to speak. 

Here’s why… 

There is real scientific data that shows just how powerful music is to our psyche. Music can immediately put you into a completely different frame of mind and trigger a different set of emotions than what you are currently experiencing. 

It’s one of the reasons that a music score can make or break a film. 

What Daymond taught me went even further. It was about breathing life into your career through the music by using it as your theme song and treating it as your guiding light. 

For example, when I first came into the industry, I never wanted to be a passive observer or a part timer. I went all in. 

I wanted to leave a permanent mark on the industry. So, every move I make these days, is shaped by wanting you to “remember me for centuries.” 

This is a much more powerful mindset than simply wanting to get another gig and booking the next job that comes my way, just because it’s there. 

This same theme is what has driven me to pursue different avenues and create different projects, such as Boost My Star which has helped catapult actors to career heights they never dreamed of before.

To really put this into practice, you must anchor the goal to the music. So, sit down for five or ten minutes, after you have selected your new theme song. Build a mental image of having achieved everything that song represents. 

That could be a star on the walk of fame and a handful of Oscars. It could be a full calendar and never having to work a day job again. Whatever it represents build that mental picture and imagine what it will feel when you have actually achieved the goal. 

Then, put your new theme song on and replay the mental images. See everything happening through your eyes. Picture yourself looking out at the audience as you deliver the acceptance speech, instead of the other way around. 

Match the lyrics and the beat of the music to your mental images. When the music hits a crescendo, so should your mental images. 

When you do this, it triggers the Reticular Activating System and your mind will start looking for ways to achieve the things you imagined. 

There is a much longer and sometimes mystical explanation attached to this process, but for now let’s keep things practical rather than esoteric. 

You will know the Reticular Activating System is working when you feel an intuitive nudge and follow it to greener pastures. 

This is one of the reasons that taking on side projects like music or writing can do wonders for your career. Think of Matt Damon and Good Will Hunting. Mindy Kaling and The Office. She never set out to be an actor. She was a stand up comic and then dabbled in writing a pilot that later became The Office, a show that partially defined a generation. 

When you are living your theme and making strides towards a purposeful goal, the road may twist and turn but you will always make progress. 

A lot of actors do this as a distraction from careers that are stalled and adding another distraction doesn’t usually yield a better result. However, if you use a side project as a way to still get to your final destination, you will find yourself making gigantic leaps forward. 

As important as the theme song was, something else I learned from Daymond John that day was perhaps just as powerful. 

It is amazing to be around someone like him because the knowledge and wisdom is seemingly endless. I didn’t know who he was or what he had accomplished when I met him. He just had such presence and energy that I had to get 2 minutes with him and find out why. 

The last thing he said before we shook hands and parted ways, was a head-slapper. 

He said, “if you are looking around a room and see that you are the most talented or most accomplished actor there, it’s time to upgrade the room.” 

That is about surrounding yourself with people that have accomplished way more than you have accomplished. It’s about playing a bigger game and rising to the challenge. 

Study the crowd at your next audition and notice who you recognize. If you don’t recognize a single face, then you want to get into a room with actors that are recognizable. 

Here’s how you do that.

See, a stagnant career doesn’t become that way over night. It becomes that way after failing to take the next step. 

Often the next step, isn’t a step at all. Rather, it’s a giant leap forward. It’s jumping and growing wings on the way down. 

Study the people you look up to and you will notice that a big part of their success came from operating at a level they were not yet “ready” for. 

Mila Kunis could have stepped back and created an excuse for why she wasn’t ready for That 70s show. 

Steven Spielberg could have stayed in his intern’s cubicle rather than walking around the lot. James Cameron could have put Avatar on the back burner because he didn’t know anything about the technology necessary to make the film. 

Instead, they all rose to the challenge and pushed their career forward one giant step at a time. 

The root of everything in this business is simply getting in the room to begin with. Whether you are not getting to go on enough auditions, or if you need to upgrade your room, here’s a quick way to do that.

Don’t wait for opportunity to knock. Create opportunity instead. 

So what will you do now Grasshopper? Do you have a theme song in mind? Do you feel that your current peer group is where you should be or do you feel the need to upgrade and play on a bigger stage? 

Let me know in the comments below or shoot me an email. I read every one that comes through because my ultimate goal is to… 

See you at the top,
Scott 

How To Land a Leading Role At Least 20% of The Time

Can anyone realistically land a leading role 20% of the time? Absolutely, without a doubt: yes! 

You might think that it’s impossible or that I’m just plain wrong or even crazy, but it’s simple math really. There is absolutely no reason that you shouldn’t be landing a leading role at least 20% of the time you go out for one. 

If you are at the point in your career where you are going out for supporting roles or bit parts, the odds are even better because there are even more of those available. 

Without further ado, here is how you can land a leading role 20% of the time you audition for one… 

See, because the industry is so big already there exist thousands of opportunities for you to be cast. 

For most actors that are not making the career progress they desire, it comes down to one of two things. 

1. Not enough activity 
2. Not doing the right kind of activity 

Here’s what that means. 

Most actors have way more (exponentially more) off days than they do working days. I don’t just classify “working days” as those spent on set. Working days are the days that you take focused action towards meeting your career goals. 

This could be making serious attempts to contact someone in the industry by putting together your Demonstration of Power Packs and sending them out It could also be the days that you go auditions and of course the days that you spend on set. 

It’s difficult to keep track and some reports have stated that actors spend an average of 15 days per year working, as stated above. Some reports are higher than this and some are lower so let’s consider this to be a good medium ground. 

What happens during the other 350 days of the year. 

A former assistant for Tom Cruise was asked about his boss’s work ethic and habits. He stated that Tom Cruise woke up everyday and approached it as if it were his first day in the industry. 

He would make a plan every single day for what he needed to accomplish and who he needed to reach. 

Keep in mind that Tom Cruise hasn’t had to do this in decades. Given that only a handful of other actors have had such an illustrious and long career, there something to be said about his approach. 

Rumor has it that this is how he ended up in Tropic Thunder: through a phone call with Robert Downey Jr. and later Jack Black. They both happened during his daily career building routine. 

The role he played in that film is often credited as having reignited his career. 

What if he didn’t make those calls every day? What if instead, he relied on his agent and management team to bring the opportunities to him? Would he still be a one man industry powerhouse? 

That’s what performing the right activity everyday is all about. Updating your reel and building your social media following is important and there is a time and place for that. 

However, if you want to build the career of your dreams, break your time down 80%-20%. 

Spend 80% of your time cultivating relationships and building your industry reputation. I have given you many resources for cultivating relationships with people that can move your career forward and I have created an easy and hands off way for you to build your industry reputation. Here are the details on that.

The entertainment business is a people business most of all and that’s why the majority of your efforts should be focused here. 

The remaining 20% of your time should be spent on the administrative tasks such as your reel, headshots, social media, and even acting classes would fall into this category. 

As for performing enough activity, this is about getting out into the world and making things happen. 

If you don’t have an audition lined up, find one. Don’t have any idea how to do that, you will figure out if you are determined enough. Not only are there a ton of resources here at Boost My Star, but all it takes is a little bit of resourcefulness. 

If all you did was go on 2 auditions per week, that would be over 100 auditions over a year. How many of those roles do you think you could land? Even just playing the numbers would get you hired more times than 99% of all other actors. 

When he was an intern, Steven Spielberg would work on production for the half day he was assigned to be at the studio. 

He would then spend the second half of the day walking from one sound stage to the next getting to know the actors, studying production techniques, and getting to know the other directors and producers. 

This was the right activity, performed in adequate quantities to yield a successful outcome. 

Tom Cruise, with the example above, didn’t take a day off from his career building activities. Not even holidays. According to his former assistant, he perceived them as an opportunity to double on the outreach without raising eyebrows. 

When you approach your career this way, things come together. Part of this happens on a quantum level, but let’s stick to the practical side of things. 

This year, at least 500 series will go into production. On average, there will be about 5 leading roles in each series. 

That’s 2500 leading roles up for grabs. 

There are about 100,000 actors in the US. Instantly, that makes your odds at landing one of these roles 1 in 400. However, not everyone is suitable for every role so let’s cut that in half because some actors will be too something or not enough of something to work out in the role. 

Plus, no one can double up on this as these roles come with exclusivity. NBC is not going to allow an actor to simultaneously play a leading role in an ABC production. 

So, now we are at 1 in 200 as your odds to land a leading role in a series. 

Only about 1 in 6 actors have agents that will submit them to these productions. 99% of actors without agents will simply not be able to make their way into these auditions. 

This puts your chances at roughly 16%, factor in scheduling conflicts and other fallout from contract negotiations and you are at a 20% chance of being cast. 

What’s most important to note is where this all stems from. 

1. Performing enough activity 
2. Performing the right kind of activity 

The actors that can bypass a good portion of this and instead be invited to audition for a role that is all but guaranteed, have built an unshakeable industry reputation. 

You can either spend the next several years doing this too, or you can take a shortcut.

Why make things harder than they have to be? Besides, at some point whether it’s before you audition or during the selection process, casting directors will look into this. 

Make sure you are prepared. As you start to open up more doors in this town and forge relationships, be sure that your industry reputation matches your potential.

So what will you do next Grasshopper? 

Let me know in the comments below or send me an email. I read every one that comes through and I always help however I can, because my goal is to… 

See you at the top, 
Scott