Why Now Is The Time to Skyrocket Your Acting Career
Would a call from Martin Scorsese make a good "stocking stuffer?"
Would having even just a few minutes on the phone with someone as accomplished as he is do anything for your career?
This time last year, that’s exactly what happened to a member of our Boost My Star tribe.
By doing what I’m about to share with you in a moment, she was able to get in touch with her idol, someone she would never be able to reach by “conventional” means.
See, if you’ve been around BMS for any length of time, you know that there’s something we believe in deeply: if you do what everyone else does, you end up where everyone else does.
And, that’s not somewhere you want to be, given that most actors are on their way out of the industry long before they even realize it.
Most actors never end up accomplishing what they set out to do in the industry or even get anywhere close to it.
That’s why it’s important to carve your own trail and do the things that no one else will do.
Fair warning, what I’m about to share with you is one of the most effective things you can do to move your acting career forward quickly.
So, if acting is more of a hobby for you, you should probably click off this page here.
But, if you truly want to be a professional, full time actor then this could truly be a game changer for you...
Would a call from Martin Scorsese make a good "stocking stuffer?"
Would having even just a few minutes on the phone with someone as accomplished as he is do anything for your career?
This time last year, that’s exactly what happened to a member of our Boost My Star tribe.
By doing what I’m about to share with you in a moment, she was able to get in touch with her idol, someone she would never be able to reach by “conventional” means.
See, if you’ve been around BMS for any length of time, you know that there’s something we believe in deeply: if you do what everyone else does, you end up where everyone else does.
And, that’s not somewhere you want to be, given that most actors are on their way out of the industry long before they even realize it.
Most actors never end up accomplishing what they set out to do in the industry or even get anywhere close to it.
That’s why it’s important to carve your own trail and do the things that no one else will do.
Fair warning, what I’m about to share with you is one of the most effective things you can do to move your acting career forward quickly.
So, if acting is more of a hobby for you, you should probably click off this page here.
But, if you truly want to be a professional, full time actor then this could truly be a game changer for you...
What I’m referring to is something you’ve heard me talk about before, but recently members of our Boost My Star tribe have put their own spin on it and have made it even more effective.
I’m talking about the Holiday Demonstration of Power Pack.
In case this is the first that you’ve heard about it, the Demonstration of Power Pack does exactly what it says: it shows your “power” (talent) to Casting Directors and industry decision makers. It’s what industry powerhouses like WME use to launch talent quickly.
What we’re talking about today is specifically the Holiday Edition, which is even more effective.
More on this in a sec...
The idea behind this is to combine a grand, attention grabbing gesture with the materials that display your talent.
Typically that comes in the form of a reel, headshot, and resume, but during the holiday season you have a lot more latitude.
Even during these “unusual” times, people are a lot more open and a lot more receptive.
First, come up with a list of people that you would like to get in touch with. Don’t be afraid to aim high.
You will see why in a moment...
While, you can send as many of these as you want, focus on the quality of the delivery versus the quantity.
For example, let’s say that you are trying to connect with a casting director that is in charge of booking for a project you really want to be a part of.
What most actors would do is tell their agent about it, and sit on their hands while their agent tries to get them an audition. Most of the time, they are unable to get the audition and that’s where it ends.
That’s where the Demonstration of Power Pack comes into play.
What if, instead of leaving it to chance, you were to do a Poinsettia drop off at the casting office, addressed to the Casting Director.
This is what makes the Holiday Edition so much more effective. Who says no to that?
Nobody! Regardless of who the sender is, no one is going to turn away a Poinsettia delivery around the holidays.
Instead of simply sending the flowers with a note, you deliver them yourself (perhaps with the help of a couple friends).
Remember, the gesture has to be a grand one so don’t deliver just one. Deliver a small forest of Poinsettias.
They’re festive, long lasting, and pretty inexpensive so delivering a dozen or more is very doable.
It would also help if you and your helpers were in festive attire.
An actor did just this, and along with the Poinsettias, they announced that they were there to deliver a “Holiday-gram” to the CD.
She eagerly came to accept the delivery and loved the silly song and dance.
At the end of it, when the entire office was in great spirits, laughing, and joking around, the actor introduced herself and told the CD that she was an actor hoping to read for the project, and handed the CD her materials.
She then respectfully told the CD that she wished her a happy holiday season, regardless of whether she had the opportunity to read or not.
Long story short, she got a call a few days later asking her to come back in and read for the project.
The holiday spirit allows you to have a lot of latitude, because people are a lot more open than at any other time of the year.
Even during these unusual times, you can still get creative with this and pull it off. Don't let it be an excuse. Let this be an opportunity to flex your creative muscle.
If you can't get in the building, what's to stop you from performing on the sidewalk outside their office and leaving the Poinsettias at the door?
People feel special when they receive something around the holidays and that hasn’t changed.
CDs will typically get holiday cards from colleagues but they are completely looked over by talent.
So, anything from you will immediately stand out.
If you are reaching way high and trying to connect with an A Lister, things change a bit.
Because they carry influence in the industry, they are remembered by everybody, so they get a ton of stuff.
What typically happens is that the A lister will task an assistant with going through everything, sending out thank you cards, and the assistant then gets to take everything home.
However, for the really important or unique items, they put together a list of phone calls to be made.
I've heard from several actors who've received phone calls from industry people they idolize.
Some were out of curiosity, others were a genuine thank you and nothing more.
Still, a few of them were an inroad to cultivating a relationship.
It may sound like a lot of effort to go through but what would you give to get even a few minutes on the phone with someone like Martin Scorsese?
What would it mean to your career if you had a couple minutes with the head of casting for a project you would love to be a part?
Stuff like this is what sets successful actors apart from everyone else. They don’t succeed in the industry because they are the most talented actors around.
They make it because they are willing to go against the grain and do what everyone else is unwilling to do.
The caveat is that, when you do something like The Demonstration of Power Pack, or even if you do something more traditional like a mail out, your phone will only ring if you have some kind of industry reputation.
Most actors think their body of work will suffice, but unless you have an extensive and impressive body of work, that won't be the case.
I get emails everyday from actors that have tons of credits, but they are struggling to make meaningful career progress and get to the next level.
If you build a reputation that is full of credits for your work as an extra and one liners, that’s where you are destined to stay, unless you start adding credits with more screen time, in more successful productions.
However, if you build an industry reputation that puts you on par with leading actors it can take the place of having an extensive body of work.
That’s where most actors go wrong. They take the long, hard road. Avoid their mistakes and do this instead.
Everyone loves to talk about social media and a thousand other things that, even though they may be important and useful now, will change over time.
Something that won’t change is that the industry has always been and will always be about relationships.
Industry professionals will only want to work with other industry professionals, not someone who does this as a hobby. They won’t invest time or effort into forging a connection with someone who may not be as serious about their careers as they are.
This is how you can show industry decision makers you are the real deal.
We always aim to finish the year strong, so we’ll be going much further into this and much more over the coming weeks.
Honestly, the entire year leads up to this, so don’t let this time of year pass by without making some kind of career progress.
Start with what I shared with you here.
Come up with a list of people you want to connect with and start brainstorming your grand gestures.
Have fun with it, get creative and let me know what you have in store. If you want to bounce ideas about this or anything else, remember I’m always only a comment or an email away.
I’m happy to help however I can, because I truly want to...
See you at the top,
Scott
How To Skyrocket Your Acting Career During The Holidays
Almost 300 years ago Native Americans and European colonists first broke bread in what came to be known as the first Thanksgiving.
Since this is Boost My Star and not a sixth grade history class, trust that what happened that day had far reaching implications and it affects your acting career in ways most actors never consider.
See, most actors are in a different mode this time of year. It’s basically the official start of the holiday season and that leads most to set their professional goals aside and celebrate the fruits of their labor.
Successful actors take time to celebrate as well but they do things very differently than everyone else in the industry and they are able to make huge career strides because of it.
Before I get to how they do it and how you can do it too, I have to ask you a question...
Almost 300 years ago Native Americans and European colonists first broke bread in what came to be known as the first Thanksgiving.
Since this is Boost My Star and not a sixth grade history class, trust that what happened that day had far reaching implications and it affects your acting career in ways most actors never consider.
See, most actors are in a different mode this time of year. It’s basically the official start of the holiday season and that leads most to set their professional goals aside and celebrate the fruits of their labor.
Successful actors take time to celebrate as well but they do things very differently than everyone else in the industry and they are able to make huge career strides because of it.
Before I get to how they do it and how you can do it too, I have to ask you a question...
Are you committed to being a full time, professional actor? Take a moment and really think about it...
This time of year is a perfect time to reflect and really be honest with ourselves. It’s a time when we sit around the dinner table with friends and family (perhaps fewer of them this year) and go over the things that we are thankful for.
Most people barely scratch the surface and don’t really go much further than saying they are thankful for their health, their family, etc.
Let’s circle back to what this all means to you and your acting career.
Do this with me now...
Close your eyes and imagine yourself having thanksgiving dinner with your future self. What are the things you share with her?
What does she share with you?
If you can’t share anything concrete, regarding your career, that you are thankful for then it’s time to consider whether you are making the kind of progress you should be making.
Successful actors do a similar exercise practically everyday, because it’s important to keep things in perspective. It serves to keep you accountable and moving towards your goals.
It also serves to change the way you approach the industry.
When you can make a real switch from being bummed out about not booking something and instead be truly, completely grateful for even having the opportunity to get in the room, your entire vibe changes and things start happening for you, instead of to you.
Being thankful for every opportunity will lead to more of them. We can get esoteric or mystical about it another time if you'd like. For now, let's leave it at: people like to work with pleasant people they like.
When you’re coming from a place of gratitude and graciousness, instead of wanting or needing something, your counterparts are put at ease and the dynamic of the relationship changes.
Casting directors will get that feeling that there’s just something about you and they will look for ways that you can continue to work together.
That’s not to say that you will book everything you read for, but when you can forge a solid relationship, they will seek out projects for you even when they have nothing to gain from your success.
So, practice this daily. Learn to detach yourself from the outcome and instead of going out and trying to book something, just be grateful that you even get to read.
If you are struggling to get to the next level in your career, be thankful that you get to spend even just a few hours on set.
Maybe you feel that you should be playing leading roles in studio pictures at this stage in your career, but you're stuck still doing one liners.
Play your heart out and express gratitude to everyone, every step of the way.
Sometimes, you will feel like it’s overkill and you may even get some strange looks. That’s ok!
Would you rather be remembered as the person who was overly gracious, rather than not being remembered at all?
Successful actors, leave a mark and make an impression on everyone they work with. They seek out people and squeeze everything possible out of every opportunity.
I spoke with an actor who got face time with an A list director, even though she was only an extra in a couple scenes.
She paid attention to what was going on around her and noticed that the director loved hot coffee.
There was a constant stream of PAs bringing one cup after another and taking away the cups that had cooled off.
So, after her scenes wrapped, she went over to craft services, poured a hot cup of coffee and walked it over to the director.
She handed him the coffee, complimented his work, and thanked him for the opportunity to be a part of the production.
A few days later she got a call from her agent saying that the director was looking for “the girl with the coffee.” She went from being one of dozens of extras, to having a few lines and a couple minutes of screen time in a major studio film.
She’s continued to make huge career progress ever since.
That’s what successful actors do. They make things happen instead of waiting for the “right time.”
Exercising gratitude is an easy way to do this and takes the guesswork out of what to do or say to people, you may otherwise never approach, and who otherwise may never notice you.
Think about it: when was the last time you were upset because somebody said “thank you" for something?
Hopefully never!
We went in a little bit of a different direction this week because success in the industry goes way beyond just being the most talented actor in the room.
Many, many things have to line up just right. More often than not, you have to line them up yourself.
Sometimes that requires stepping out of your comfort zone and doing things differently. Instead of enrolling in another class or redoing your headshots for the umpteenth time, step back and see if there’s another way to get to where you want to go.
See what’s missing and evaluate what has been stopping you from making the kind of progress you deserve to be making.
Often, I’ve seen the most promising actors try to get by on talent alone and fail miserably, because they never put any kind of focus into building their industry reputation. Here's how I can help with that.
As we kick off the holiday season, you can count on me to continue bringing you intel on what it takes to succeed in the industry and make it as an actor.
Stay tuned because this time, from now until the end of the year, can lead to the biggest career breakthroughs you’ve ever imagined.
Why?
Because at the top levels, the industry never stops. Even when practically everything else stopped earlier this year, the wheels of the industry kept turning.
It’s a vital part of society. Even during the great depression when people stood in bread lines that went on for blocks, they still scraped together a few nickels every now and again to “catch a picture.”
That means there will always be a need for more content and more actors that can bring characters and stories to life.
Someone has to do it, so why not you? You owe it to yourself to give yourself every advantage possible to be successful.
So, enjoy the rest of the year and celebrate this holiday season, but don’t let it go to waste.
The people you need to reach, the ones that can move your career forward in a meaningful way will in many cases, be easier to reach than ever.
We’ll get into the nuts and bolts next time, and I’ll share with you some simple and incredibly effective ways that you can send your career skyrocketing.
As I mentioned before, your industry reputation and credibility will have a huge impact on your success so I created this to help with that.
Start there and feel free to get in touch anytime. I’m always only an email or a comment away and i’m happy to help however I can because I truly want to...
See you at the top,
Scott
The Secret of World Class Actors and How You Can Do It Too
Every actor goes through a period of time when they feel like things just aren’t going their way.
They’re not getting callbacks and the few auditions they may be able to get into don’t turn out very well. It’s a normal part of everyone’s journey to becoming a professional actor.
Some make it through this period and make incredible career progress and go on to have long and fulfilling careers in the industry.
Others let it get the best of them and they hang up their acting shoes for good. A tiny percentage of actors skip this part altogether.
Let me ask you a question...which group would you rather be in? Most actors start making their way out of the industry shortly after they get in, they just don’t know it.
I spoke with an actor who was fired on Friday the 13th one year and she was sure that it was just “bad luck.” She was working on a big budget studio picture with actors that have long been household names.
Even though she only had a couple minutes of screen time, getting the part was a dream come true, especially since it was only the second job she had ever booked.
Everything had lined up just right and she blew away the entire casting department during the audition process. She had originally been scheduled to read for a different role, but she was bumped up to a much more prominent one.
That all changed when she was on set, because she wasn’t able to perform up to the same standard she had set. After several takes, she was ultimately “excused” from set and another actor took her place.
Over the years, I’ve seen that most actors are very one track minded. They either go deep and work really hard on mastering the audition or they work on their on set performance.
World Class actors do something completely different, and if what you want is to become a professional, full time actor there’s something you need to start doing right now...
Every actor goes through a period of time when they feel like things just aren’t going their way.
They’re not getting callbacks and the few auditions they may be able to get into don’t turn out very well. It’s a normal part of everyone’s journey to becoming a professional actor.
Some make it through this period and make incredible career progress and go on to have long and fulfilling careers in the industry.
Others let it get the best of them and they hang up their acting shoes for good. A tiny percentage of actors skip this part altogether.
Let me ask you a question...which group would you rather be in? Most actors start making their way out of the industry shortly after they get in, they just don’t know it.
I spoke with an actor who was fired on Friday the 13th one year and she was sure that it was just “bad luck.” She was working on a big budget studio picture with actors that have long been household names.
Even though she only had a couple minutes of screen time, getting the part was a dream come true, especially since it was only the second job she had ever booked.
Everything had lined up just right and she blew away the entire casting department during the audition process. She had originally been scheduled to read for a different role, but she was bumped up to a much more prominent one.
That all changed when she was on set, because she wasn’t able to perform up to the same standard she had set. After several takes, she was ultimately “excused” from set and another actor took her place.
Over the years, I’ve seen that most actors are very one track minded. They either go deep and work really hard on mastering the audition or they work on their on set performance.
World Class actors do something completely different, and if what you want is to become a professional, full time actor there’s something you need to start doing right now...
Understand, what I’m about to share with you will probably go against most of what you’ve heard about what it takes to make it in the industry.
What world class actors do, the ones that make it to the top levels of the industry, is focus specific skills that enable them to connect with an audience.
In other words, they get really good at making the audience feel what they want the audience to feel.
If you can do that, just about everything else becomes irrelevant.
The reason this is so important is that, when done effectively, it’s no longer about you (the actor). You become a vessel that brings your character to life and everything flows naturally.
A big part of this is timing.
While post can and does help with this a bit, it can only do so much. If you react too quickly in a scene, they go back and add a beat.
However, if your cadence is off, meaning your pace of speaking is too fast or too slow, there’s not much they can do about it.
How you pace yourself on set is probably the single biggest factor that will decide whether your character will linger with the audience or whether it will fall flat.
There are other things that enhance the quality of your performance of course. We’ll get into those over the coming weeks, but I wanted to start here because this is probably the most important one.
Think about it this way...
Close your eyes and picture someone talking really fast. How would you describe their state? Nervous? Anxious? Hyped up on coffee? Rushed?
Now picture the opposite. How would you describe someone who is speaking slower than molasses?
Lazy? Tired? Overworked?
See how pace alone can take a character from one extreme to the other? Vince Vaughn is a master at using the proper pace for a character.
He can go from one extreme to the other, without skipping a beat, and often in the same scene or even in the same block of dialogue.
His rate of speech is already a bit on the high side, but he manipulates it very well on set to give his characters an edge.
When you master the art of pacing, you can even turn a character that is poorly written and underdeveloped into an absolute powerhouse.
Think of a film or a show that you watched, where a tiny character stole the show. It happens often and the actors that are able to pull it off can leverage that performance into bigger and better opportunities.
To create a connection with your audience that sticks with them, start by asking yourself what emotion you want them to feel.
That will get you to the root of the character, and get you out of your head. Most actors get caught up in trying to figure the minutiae: what to do with their hands, where to look, which word to emphasize.
World Class actors look at the bigger picture, then they reverse engineer what they want the audience to feel and turn it into on screen actions.
It works because when you give someone what they want, they want more of it. In this case, if the audience is tuning in to have a good laugh and you provide them that, they’ll want to see more of you.
They will actively seek you out on social media, and even on IMDb to see where they can see more of your work, since the last time they tuned in you gave them what they were looking for.
Delivering like this on set, will also make directors want to work with you over and over again. Plus, if you started out with a minor role and were able to turn it into something that stuck out to the audience, production remembers that.
Directors love to take actors to the next level, and CDs that discover the next big thing become the talk of the town.
Of course, the first step in all of this is to get on their radar.
If you are not making the kind of career progress you should be making, this is often the culprit.
So, if you want to pick up the pace on your career, check this out. It is one of the most effective things you can do today to move your career forward.
What we went over today will do wonders for you once you get in the room, and it will definitely help you deliver a stellar performance on set.
But, if you don’t have enough opportunities to showcase your talent, then it will all just be wasted effort.
Sadly, that’s what I see happening to actors all the time.
They spend way too much focusing on the wrong things, but I get it! Handling your promotions and putting yourself in front of industry decision makers can be pretty mundane.
I’ve seen a ton of actors ,who were unbelievably talented, leave the industry without having accomplished even a fraction of what they set out to.
Typically, the reason is that they couldn’t keep up with the things that you have to do off-set, to position yourself to get an opportunity to be on set.
We’ll go over that in more detail another time.
For now, start with what I’ve laid out for you here, because it is the foundation. Everything else will be built from this.
Remember, I’m always only a comment or an email away if anything comes up or even if you just need to toss some ideas around.
Let me help because I truly want to...
See you at the top,
Scott
How Veteran Actors Become Successful
Since we are commemorating Veterans Day this week, I thought it would be fitting for us to pay tribute to the industry veterans that come before us, paved a path, and on whom’s shoulders you can stand.
See success leaves clues, and if you want to be successful as an actor and build a long and rewarding acting career, you have to know how to decipher those clues.
That will let you sidestep the mistakes that other actors have made, while you leverage the things they did right.
It’s a perfect recipe for making huge career progress, quickly.
See, when you start to dig into the careers of the most successful actors you will find that they all do a few things similarly.
And, if you truly want to be a professional, full time actor, then you should be paying close attention to what they do, how they do it, and why.
Let’s break this down in the simplest way possible so you can get started on this today...
Since we are commemorating Veterans Day this week, I thought it would be fitting for us to pay tribute to the industry veterans that come before us, paved a path, and on whom’s shoulders you can stand.
See success leaves clues, and if you want to be successful as an actor and build a long and rewarding acting career, you have to know how to decipher those clues.
That will let you sidestep the mistakes that other actors have made, while you leverage the things they did right.
It’s a perfect recipe for making huge career progress, quickly.
See, when you start to dig into the careers of the most successful actors you will find that they all do a few things similarly.
And, if you truly want to be a professional, full time actor, then you should be paying close attention to what they do, how they do it, and why.
Let’s break this down in the simplest way possible so you can get started on this today...
Veteran actors are skilled at keeping a level head. “Don’t let the rejection get to you, it’s just a part of the industry” is easier said than done.
Nearly every actor I’ve ever spoken to has a big problem with this, but they convince themselves otherwise.
You have to be able to keep a level head at a deep, instinctive level if you truly want to make it as an actor.
Being able to go on 50 auditions without booking a single one is tough. Most actors would take a step back after just a handful, but veteran actors keep going.
They still show up and play full out for the 51st audition, knowing that each no gets them that much closer to a yes.
We all know someone who may not be the most talented person in the room, but that has a lot of heart and a never quit attitude.
They still book from time to time because they never quit. Part of the industry is a numbers game. Go on enough auditions and you will book something, provided you're going on the right types of auditions.
More on that in a sec...
When veteran actors do book a job, they multiply their success. It’s never about just one project. They are masters at stacking wins and turning one acting job into 2, then 3, 4 or more.
It may seem backwards, but one of the ways they are able to do this is by putting the work before the craft.
If you can't get on set, it doesn't matter how talented you are.
Veteran actors know this, so they put in the work to build out a network of contacts with casting directors and industry decision makers, focusing heavily on people involved with their current project.
When they wrap, they don’t simply let those relationships die. They follow up and cultivate lasting relationships.
You don't have to be a superstar to do this. I'll show you how you can get started on that today...
First, I want to go over something that most actors are very much aware of, but without the right knowledge they typically spin their wheels.
Veteran actors build out a platform they can leverage to give themselves an almost unfair advantage.
See, the industry has two main parts, and most actors completely ignore one of them.
There's the artistic side of the industry. That’s what everyone focuses on, because it's where you get to flex your creative muscle, get on set, and share your talent.
However, veteran actors know that you can't get to that part without the other one: that's the business side of the industry.
The business side of the industry is what feeds the creative side. Studios can't put out very many projects that don't turn a profit.
That's why they look to leverage any advantage they can.
That's where you come in. If you can demonstrate to casting that your involvement in a project would be a net positive, then they simply have no choice but to cast you.
That's what veteran actors do. The thing that will have casting directors and industry decision makers practically chasing after you is having the ability to bring attention to a project.
That's why there's been so much emphasis put on the size of your social media following.
CDs and decision makers know that the more followers you have, the more attention you will attract to a project.
That's why you see so many Instagrammers and YouTubers cross over into the mainstream industry.
CDs and decision makers crave the attention they can bring to a project. They know those fans and followers will show up at the box office.
That’s a net positive and it’s why marquee actor’s get to pick and choose the projects they want to work on.
Most actors know this on some level, but they don’t really know how to go about building a platform they can leverage into more opportunities within the industry.
They just kind of post haphazardly to Instagram, without any real concept of what they’re actually doing.
We’ll go over the details of how to build out a social media strategy, in the coming weeks. For now, know that one of the biggest factors that will determine your success is the credibility of your account.
Whether or not Casting Directors and decision makers move you forward in the audition process will largely depend on how your reputation measures up against everyone else going out for the same role.
That’s why veteran actors protect their reputation, and always work to keep it in good standing.
Remember veteran actors are masters at doing the right things in the right sequence, and also knowing when to bring in other people to help them along their journey.
That’s not to say that you need to go out and find a stylist, PR rep, or even an assistant, to be successful.
That may come somewhere down the line. What veteran actors do is find someone to help them with necessary tasks that must be accomplished on a regular basis.
It’s one of those things that has to get done, if you want to build a successful acting career, so put a plan in place that ensures it gets done daily, or let me help with that.
I’m always happy to lend a hand however I can, because I truly want nothing more than to see you become a veteran actor one day. If you do then, I’m sure I will...
See you at the top,
Scott
What Keeps Most Actors Stuck
If you visit the northeast corridor, you would find buildings that have been standing since before the United States were known as the United States.
They have stood strong through centuries of rain and blizzards, because they were built on a solid foundation.
Your acting career has to be built the same way.
If it’s not, then it could fall come winter. Yes, that was kind of a lame attempt at a play on words but I think you get my point.
This is an area that almost no one pays attention to. Everyone is focused on getting the next audition and booking the next job, but without having a career that is built on a solid foundation, it will always be an uphill battle.
Instead of making it hard on yourself and always having to chase the next gig, you could focus on making sure that your career takes off on the right footing, so that booking your next job isn’t simply left to chance...
If you visit the northeast corridor, you would find buildings that have been standing since before the United States were known as the United States.
They have stood strong through centuries of rain and blizzards, because they were built on a solid foundation.
Your acting career has to be built the same way.
If it’s not, then it could fall come winter. Yes, that was kind of a lame attempt at a play on words but I think you get my point.
This is an area that almost no one pays attention to. Everyone is focused on getting the next audition and booking the next job, but without having a career that is built on a solid foundation, it will always be an uphill battle.
Instead of making it hard on yourself and always having to chase the next gig, you could focus on making sure that your career takes off on the right footing, so that booking your next job isn’t simply left to chance...
I’ve asked dozens upon dozens of actors about how they have mapped out their career. I’ve never gotten much more than a few platitudes from someone.
The industry doesn’t really talk about it and that’s kind of by design. More on that in a bit...
Everyone in the industry is so focused on pushing forward, that they forget to start off on the right foot.
Did you know that in a foot race, a huge part of whether someone wins or loses is how they come off the starting blocks?
The smallest flinch or hesitation can be the difference between a Gold Medal and nothing at all.
To put that in context of the industry and your acting career, think of the foundation on which you are building your career as the starting blocks.
When you are going through an audition and evaluation process, casting decisions typically come down to more than just who was “more talented.”
CDs and decision makers want to work with actors that are building a career instead of a hobby.
So, while it may go against everything you’ve heard about what it takes to make it in the industry, sometimes you have to slow down and look back.
Fortunately, most of this year has been the perfect time to do just that!
It’s common for actors to feel like they're not making progress. When deciding to become a professional actor, the expectation is typically that you will either fail or become an overnight sensation.
You don't have to go from 0 to the stratosphere overnight, in order to have a successful acting career.
Just focus on making 1 thing happen everyday. Just 1 bit of forward progress everyday will make all the difference and it will set your career on a sturdy footing.
Ask yourself “what’s one thing I can do today that will move my career forward?” Then, don’t return home (or leave home) until you make that thing happen.
Some progress is better than no progress, so keep it simple. This can be as easy as going out and shaking hands (or bumping elbows). Even if you do nothing else but go out and introduce yourself to the receptionist at a casting office, it could still turn out to be a productive move.
How much more likely do you think it would be for you to get through when you call the showrunner, if you have a relationship with the person routing the calls?
You could also put together an unsolicited self taped audition. If you play your cards right, you can actually get it into the right hands and seen by the right people.
Another thing you can do to make progress is put together a mailing. This is kind of a routine for most actors but where they typically go wrong, is that they don’t put enough thought into it nor do they mail often enough.
Personalize your mailings and add a special touch that makes your mailing 3 dimensional. This could be something as simple as a piece of candy or a pen with a note that says “I’m ready to sign on.”
Get creative and have fun with this.
If you do it through email or social media, the same principles still apply.
Personalize your messages so they don't sound like thousands of other messages CDs and decision makers get everyday.
Work on your craft can also count as something you do everyday to move your career forward.
As actors, we often feel like we need the production and fanfare to put our skills to work. That's not so.
Take a page from the passionate musicians who sit on a bench at the Promenade, serenading the streets.
You can break out into a monologue or do a scene with a few friends, flash mob style.
Also, instead of watching TV idly, critique what you are watching. Work the scene yourself the way you feel it could have been done better.
It might feel silly at first, but so what! It’s something that will keep you actively engaged in your craft and making forward progress.
Making meaningful connections with Casting Directors and industry decision makers is probably the most powerful and effective thing you can do.
There’s a big difference in connecting with them in the context of trying to get an audition or wanting to get attached to a project somehow, and in connecting for the sake of connecting without having anything else in mind.
That’s when the most meaningful connections are made, when neither party wants or needs anything in return.
Look up CDs, actors, directors, producers or writers whose work you admire and reach out to them. Let them know you admire their work and be specific in your compliments.
Think of it almost like sending fan mail. You will make an impression.
Just like with your other mailings, you have to make them 3 dimensional in order to get your outreach into the hands of the right people, rather than being sorted out by gatekeepers.
Again, you can do this through email or social media. Just make sure that your outreach is unique and captures their attention, unlike the thousands of other messages they’ll sort through.
You can easily do this by being specific. Instead of just saying “I really admire your work” you can reference a specific scene or even a specific line.
Build your career brick by brick, day by day, one day at a time.
At the end of the day, your career will only go as far as your reputation can take it, since that’s the cornerstone of your foundation.
So, make sure that your reputation matches your goals.
Everything else you do will hinge on this, because the people you are reaching out to and connecting with will want to know if you are the real deal.
Before deciding whether to get back in touch with you, they will look you up and what they find out about you will make a huge difference on whether or not you hear anything back from them.
That’s why I say it’s the foundation that your acting career is built on.
We are already into November and before you know it we’ll be looking at Pilot Season. Don’t wait until it’s here, to get your stuff in order.
Give yourself every advantage possible, to be successful.
If you get started on this now, you will be far ahead of all the other actors who spent this year waiting for things to go back to “normal.”
So where are you going to start? Let me know in the comments below or shoot me an email, even if you just want to bounce ideas.
I’m always happy to help however I can because my ultimate goal is to...
See you at the top,
Scott
How to Become a World Class Actor
If you want to be a successful actor, you must learn to live in the moment and find inspiration for your work in everything.
Not too long ago I watched one of Paul Bettany’s lesser known projects. He has a fantastic line that, even though it’s very grabby, most people toss it aside as soon as the scene is over.
“The fear that people experience when they’re standing on the edge isn't the fear of falling. It's the fear that they might actually jump off.”
He delivered the line while standing on the edge of a skyscraper looking down.
We’ll get to what that means for your acting career in just a moment. First, take a second to really think through what that means.
With well written scripts, entire characters can be summed up with a single, punchy line that drives the entirety of their actions.
This happens with characters like Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Rose (Kate Winslet) in Titanic saying “I’ll never let go.”
It seems minor but you can tie every one of their choices in the film to that one line. We’ll come back to that in a sec.
First, I want to come back to what it means for you and your acting career.
If you want to be a successful actor, you have to be able to deliver incredible results on set and build amazing characters.
We’ve talked about this considerably in the past but we’ve never gone over this point, which is probably the most important one.
So, if you want to be a successful actor this one thing you must do...
If you want to be a successful actor, you must learn to live in the moment and find inspiration for your work in everything.
Not too long ago I watched one of Paul Bettany’s lesser known projects. He has a fantastic line that, even though it’s very grabby, most people toss it aside as soon as the scene is over.
“The fear that people experience when they’re standing on the edge isn't the fear of falling. It's the fear that they might actually jump off.”
He delivered the line while standing on the edge of a skyscraper looking down.
We’ll get to what that means for your acting career in just a moment. First, take a second to really think through what that means.
With well written scripts, entire characters can be summed up with a single, punchy line that drives the entirety of their actions.
This happens with characters like Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Rose (Kate Winslet) in Titanic saying “I’ll never let go.”
It seems minor but you can tie every one of their choices in the film to that one line. We’ll come back to that in a sec.
First, I want to come back to what it means for you and your acting career.
If you want to be a successful actor, you have to be able to deliver incredible results on set and build amazing characters.
We’ve talked about this considerably in the past but we’ve never gone over this point, which is probably the most important one.
So, if you want to be a successful actor this one thing you must do...
What most acting coaches teach is to come up with your character’s motivation, but delivering a world class performance goes way beyond that.
You must speak to your character’s inner desire and bring that into the present moment. Here’s what I mean...
Even something simple like a running scene can carry a lot of depth.
To deliver a standout performance you have to determine if you are running for exercise or running for your life. It’s not just running!
If your character is running for exercise in the scene, what's behind the exercise? Is it for speed training, stress relief, cardio health?
Each one of those layers can add something to your character.
The kind of tired you would be from a 5 mile run just for the sake of cardio would have a different breathing style than someone who didn't worry about pacing. This is because if they were stressed they likely just ran until they forgot about the problem and they just wanted to leave it all out on the road.
At the end of the run, they would be panting heavily, be very loose in their stance, and probably have a blank look on their face.
Compare that to a character who ran 5 miles for the sake of cardio. At the end of their run, they would be tired and probably panting (but with shallow breaths since they would have paced through the 5 miles).
Their stance would be a lot more controlled, and they would have a look at least leaning towards accomplishment.
After going through a few layers, you do hit a point of diminishing returns. You will know when the layer becomes redundant or useless.
Typically that's when you get to something that is irrelevant to the story or that doesn't add any value to the character choice.
For example, if you were favoring your left leg because there was a pebble in your right shoe (and that doesn't come back to relevance later) that would be the point where you chased that thread far enough.
In the clip I mentioned earlier, the tone and the look on Paul Bettany’s face while he was standing on the edge of a skyscraper would have been different if he layered the scene differently.
He was being cavalier, because he wasn't actually afraid of falling. Also, he was a wall street guy so risk is something he deals with every day.
In the same scene, a school teacher would lead with fear, making the emotional mix and the layers totally different.
In the beginning layering will take time, but you will get to a point when you can do it in seconds.
Take each scene and work through it like the runner’s example we went through as you prepare your character.
Then, make micro adjustments as you go. There will be times that your delivery just won't feel right. Go through your process again and make adjustments.
You will even be doing this process on set from time to time.
This is how world class actors build phenomenal characters and deliver memorable performances.
If you want to be a professional actor, you have to be able to deliver on set. When you do, you will work with people that want to collaborate with you over and over again.
However, you need to have enough opportunities to get on set if you want to build a successful acting career.
A good friend of mine always says “if they don’t know you, they can’t hire you.”
Once Casting Directors and industry decision makers know about you, you have a chance of getting in the room, but you have to go beyond that and give them every reason possible to call you in.
Having a powerful industry reputation is key to getting in the room, and I can help.
To make yourself stand out once you’re there requires that you have something to bring to the production that no one else can.
Your talent will shine through, especially if you use the exercise we just went through to prepare for your audition.
Beyond that,make sure you have an additional edge, and a platform is a great place to start. Everyone knows how powerful social media is and having good numbers to point to during an audition can give you an edge over other actors that can’t.
Here’s how I can help you get the ball rolling on social media and add legitimacy to your account.
If you have any questions on what we went through today or even if you just need someone to bounce ideas with, I’m always only an email or a comment away.
I’m happy to help however I can because I sincerely want to...
See you at the top,
Scott
How Actors Become Successful
Have you ever stopped to think about what makes the difference between successful actors and everyone else?
If you were to ask 100 of your industry friends this question, you would probably get 101 different answers.
The industry is a fast moving machine with many different parts, so there is no 1 way to become successful as an actor. On top of that, most actors only focus on one part of the industry and ignore the rest.
If you have been around Boost My Star for any length of time, you know that I’m a big proponent of running in the opposite direction of the crowd because doing what everyone else does will get you the same results as everyone else.
So if what you want is to become a successful actor, you have to do things differently.
Most actors are right on the edge of making huge career progress and sending their careers skyrocketing.
If you want to be one of the few that actually makes it, here’s where to start...
Have you ever stopped to think about what makes the difference between successful actors and everyone else?
If you were to ask 100 of your industry friends this question, you would probably get 101 different answers.
The industry is a fast moving machine with many different parts, so there is no 1 way to become successful as an actor. On top of that, most actors only focus on one part of the industry and ignore the rest.
If you have been around Boost My Star for any length of time, you know that I’m a big proponent of running in the opposite direction of the crowd because doing what everyone else does will get you the same results as everyone else.
So if what you want is to become a successful actor, you have to do things differently.
Most actors are right on the edge of making huge career progress and sending their careers skyrocketing.
If you want to be one of the few that actually makes it, here’s where to start...
It all comes down to efficiency. If you do things twice as fast and twice as effective, then you are likely to succeed twice as fast.
A big part of that is building on your successes. That’s not just about turning one role into 2, then 3 or 4. That requires more than just talent.
We’ll get to that in a bit...
Recently, we talked about why being afraid of being typecast early in your career could be a big mistake.
There comes a time when it does make sense to diversify your character types, but it comes much, much later than most actors realize.
That’s why truly great actors get there by building on truly great characters. That happens when your characters are related to one another in some way.
So, when you are finished with a project, you can’t simply break up with a character. You have to keep them around. Here’s what I mean...
You should always carry a little piece of every character with you.
Otherwise, you are starting from scratch every time. If you think about it, that's kind of crazy. Try to think of anything else where you start over from square one every time. Do you go through driver’s ed every time you get behind the wheel of a car?
Of course not. You build on the experiences for every other time you were behind the wheel.
Do you sign up for a new membership and redo your macros every time you hit the gym? No, you simply pick up where you left off. You create a workout mix based on everything you have learned and do your sets.
Starting over is a huge waste of time, yet actors do this in their profession everyday. Instead of starting over, think about every character you have ever played.
Sit down and write them out. Then, think of their major character traits and their backstories. Pull together their similarities and you will find that most of them inadvertently have something in common.
Why?
Because you are particularly good at something and that “something” is the reason you were cast in those roles.
That’s your X factor and it gives you an almost unfair advantage when you are competing for the role with other actors.
If you are kind of new to the industry and you are lacking a body of work to look to, then you can do the same with some of your favorite actors.
Watch a few of their films and do the same exercise
Study their characters and see what traits they carry from one project to the next. Jennifer Aniston has a long list of character traits that move with her from one project to the next and when anything that is even remotely in her area of specialty goes into development, she is the only logical choice.
That’s the beauty in specializing in a certain category!
Even as actors do branch out and change the types of projects they undertake and the character’s they play, you will still find many of the same traits present in characters that are extremely different.
Meryl Streep has a very unique way incorporating a handful of very powerful traits, and she uses them across a variety of genres.
As you work to lock in your initial category, a good actor to study would be Jennifer Aniston. As you progress in your career and diversify, it’s worth doing a deep dive on Meryl Streep’s approach.
There is a caveat! This only matters if you have characters to build. If you don't have enough opportunities coming your way, even in these crazy times, you have to also put some focus into creating them.
Here’s a great place to start and position yourself to be highly visible industry decision makers.
Something else that may be impacting your booking ratio is your industry reputation. Take an honest look and ask yourself whether your reputation matches your goals.
An extensive body of work can fill in the gaps but if you are lacking in that as well, then you are playing catch up from the start.
To build a great career, you have to give yourself every advantage possible to succeed.
Instead of playing catchup, you could be giving yourself a head start. You could be the one with a reputation that precedes you and that Casting Directors are excited to see.
Regardless of where you are in your career, let me know how I can help.
I’m always only a comment or an email away and I love hearing about big wins. I hope to hear from you soon because I would truly love to...
See you at the top,
Scott
What’s Next for Actors in 2020
This may be the worst time for it to happen...but I get it!
I always like to take the most practical approach and share with you what you need to be doing right now to advance your acting career and make it in the industry.
I like to give you the A-Z, instead of just rehashing the same stuff you’ve heard over and over again.
Lately I’ve been getting a sense about something that actors are lacking, and it actually goes beyond the A-Z processes we normally stick to.
In fact it may even be the difference maker between sending your acting career skyrocketing or admitting that it’s better off being a hobby.
It sounds harsh but if you truly want to make it as a professional actor, you can’t afford to let this time of opportunity pass you by.
Here’s why...
This may be the worst time for it to happen...but I get it!
I always like to take the most practical approach and share with you what you need to be doing right now to advance your acting career and make it in the industry.
I like to give you the A-Z, instead of just rehashing the same stuff you’ve heard over and over again.
Lately I’ve been getting a sense about something that actors are lacking, and it actually goes beyond the A-Z processes we normally stick to.
In fact it may even be the difference maker between sending your acting career skyrocketing or admitting that it’s better off being a hobby.
It sounds harsh but if you truly want to make it as a professional actor, you can’t afford to let this time of opportunity pass you by.
Here’s why...
Actors tend to be somewhat grand in our thinking. You kind of have to be but if left unchecked it can turn into weakness that is responsible for more actors “retiring” early than probably anything else.
Stick with me for a sec...
Going from nothing to being the next big thing to hit Hollywood overnight, has crossed every actor’s mind, and every actor has had the experience of being humbled by the pace of their first few years in the industry.
It’s why most actors don’t make it past those first few years. They are a real struggle.
Those years tend to not be the most rewarding or even stimulating, since you are stuck doing extra work, one liners, or working on productions that are below your caliber.
What I’m seeing unfold right now is that way too many actors are at a crossroad.
The lack of career progress most have felt this year is hard enough to overcome, emotionally, and it’s an entirely different thing to overcome it professionally.
After all, having an extended break in the industry can be a career killer in many cases.
Over the past several months I have received a truly incalculable number of messages from actors all talking about how “everything is shut down” and “nothing is going on right now.”
That means most of them are under the impression that they are not one of those industry breaks, since everyone else is.
At the same time, I’ve heard from another group of actors, raving about how they have never made so much progress in such a short amount of time.
See, the industry is a giant organization with many, many moving pieces. Just because things were upended doesn’t mean they became chaotic.
If you have been paying attention to what the studios have been upto, you will actually see that they are operating under a highly detailed contingency plan.
Remember, the studios are massive. In fact, they are economically bigger than entire countries. They didn’t leave things to chance.
If you’ve ever worked at DisneyLand, you have seen a tiny bit of that. Ride operators must always have an operations manual at their stands. It gives them the basics of which button to push and when.
It goes even further and gives them details on how to load people into the ride, how to distribute their weight safely, etc.
It even covers things like lightning strikes on the ride, earthquakes while the ride is in operation and everything else imaginable in between.
Going back to the production side, when editing bays began limiting capacity or going remote altogether, it was part of an orchestrated plan.
Some productions have tens of millions of dollars of production costs per episode. They weren’t going to leave the completion of those episodes to chance.
Somewhat thought about what to do in a worst case scenario, a long time ago.
The same happened with casting departments and it’s why they were able to scale up so quickly and move to self taped auditions and Zoom follow up meetings.
The point I’m trying to get across isn’t about how well planned out the industry’s plans are.
It was built by high performers and if you want to succeed in the industry you have to become a high performer as well.
Only high performers succeed in the industry, precisely because of what we’re seeing happen right now.
If all you want out of your time in the industry is a few stories about going out with your castmates and about running into an A lister on set because you “accidentally” went somewhere that extra #997 wasn’t supposed to go, then it’s ok not to be a high performer.
It’s ok to treat acting as a hobby and waiting for things to come your way.
But if you want to make acting a career and become a fulltime, professional actor then you can’t do what everyone else does.
When the chaos hit earlier in the year, everyone sat on their hands as if waiting for someone to yell “action” as the signal that everything had gone back to normal.
Months and months later we’re still not back to “normal.” However, the wheels of the industry never stopped turning.
That group of actors that I mentioned earlier, did the exact opposite of the crowd. Instead of sitting and waiting, they went to work.
They looked for opportunities. What they found were opportunities that had no competition and that would have been closed to them under any other circumstances.
This group of actors are high performers, and they were looking to the future before it was even on anyone’s mind.
If you want to become a professional actor, you have to do the same and make that shift into high performance.
Take an honest look at what you’ve been up to lately and if you have been part of the group of actors waiting for things to normalize, then change things up now.
Make a list of people you could get in touch with, or get back in touch with, and do it. Touch base on a personal level and a professional level but don’t ask for anything outright.
Trust me, if there’s anything you can work on together, the outreach will be sufficient. There’s a valuable, but really long lesson on human psychology in there but we can touch on that another time.
For now, I just want to be sure that you’re making forward progress in some way. Incremental, daily progress adds up.
Somedays, you can work on your outreach. Other days you can focus on your platform and being more visible to the industry. Here’s how I can help you get the ball rolling on that.
There won’t be a single moment when someone yells “action” and productions magically resume at full capacity.
If you wait for that to happen, then you will simply wake up one day and realize that the window of opportunity has closed.
When things are back in full swing, the competition will be back as well.
Whether you are auditioning against 5 or against 50 other actors and regardless of what’s going on in the industry, it will always be built on reputation. This is the measure of an actor’s industry reputation and how I can help keep yours in shape.
There is a huge backlog and shortage of content brewing. That means accelerated production schedules, thus more opportunities for actors in a shorter amount of time.
So be sure that you are in a great position to take advantage of that massive wave opportunity. Here’s how I can help.
Also, remember that I’m always only an email or a comment away. If you’re unsure of what your next steps should be or even if you just need someone to bounce ideas with, feel free to get in touch anytime.
I’m always happy to help, because I truly want to...
See you at the top,
Scott