How To Virtually Eliminate The Competition and Succeed As An Actor

Most actors are so eager to just get to work that they just end up throwing everything together haphazardly and that inadvertently makes things more difficult.

Recently, we have been talking about building your career properly. Doing so requires that you slow down and plan things methodically.

Of course, that’s not something anyone wants to hear and that’s exactly why you should pay close attention.

Sure, it’s a lot more fun to just start taking your headshots and try to meet with agents but that’s not very efficient. It will typically slow down your progress in the long run.

Professional actors are very methodical in the way they build their careers. They know that there is a lot more to the industry than just taking a decent headshot and showing up “prepared” for an audition.

Instead of doing that and hoping for the best, they take the time to make a plan for what they want their careers to look like and how they will accomplish the goals they set for themselves.

If you want to build your career as a professional actor, whether you are just getting started or looking to take your career to the next level, this is one of the most important things you can do...

Over the last few weeks we have talked about many of the different career building blocks that actors have to contend with.

We have discussed your headshots, how to dominate auditions, ensuring your self taped auditions stand out, and we have even discussed how to build a group of supporters to help you along the way.

All of that hinges on whether you can master putting yourself into a category of one.

If you have been around Boost My Star for any length of time, you have seen this topic come up time and time again, because it’s so important.

Many actors overthink this, but it simply requires you to design the way in which you want your career to develop and specialize in a particular genre.

Many actors struggle to make any meaningful progress because they are constantly jumping from reading for projects in multiple, different genres.

Doing that also means that your headshots and your reel are too generic. They should be highly targeted to the kinds of projects you want to work on.

A headshot that is submitted to a drama should be completely different from a headshot submitted for a comedy.

Focusing on a single genre allows you to make them highly targeted instead. Here’s how that impacts your career...

It makes it a lot easier to eliminate competition. For example, when CDs come across a headshot that fits the project they are casting for, they are likely to take a closer look.

That makes it much more likely that the actor will be asked to read for the project.

What happens with generic headshots is very different. Casting Directors will first sort the headshots and the ones that fit the genre of the project will be called in first.

If there are any spots leftover, then they will sort through the more generic headshots to find some actors to fill in the open spots.

That’s not a great position to be in and it’s a big reason why most actors have such a hard time getting enough auditions.

Building your career with this kind of focus makes you more memorable to Casting Directors and industry decision makers.

Here’ why building your career this way is such a difference maker...

Building a category of one for yourself differentiates you from the countless actors that are just chasing anything and everything.

It also allows you more opportunities to continuously work with the same people over and over again, and that’s how you build industry relationships.

It’s difficult to do that when you only see a CD once or twice. However, Casting Directors tend to cast for similar projects.

So, even if you don’t book the first time you read for them. There’s a good chance that you will get another opportunity to read for them on their next project or even the one after that.

Building that level of familiarity is invaluable!

As an actor, a powerful thing to do is get Casting Directors and industry decision makers to familiarize themselves with you and your work because if they don’t know you, they can’t hire you.

Putting yourself into a category of your one goes a long way towards making that happen.

It goes beyond just choosing what genre you want to focus on. Building a category of one also entails making yourself synonymous with that genre.

That means that your headshots, your reel, and your training should be completely focused.

Even when you build your category you will still have to make yourself visible to the industry. Here’s how I can help with that.

See, most actors simply go from one audition to the next hoping they will be “discovered.” Professional actors do everything they can to get in front of CDs and industry decision makers.

When you see CDs over and over again, they will start to build familiarity with you and that also develops an inherit level of trust.

Before then, Casting Directors will tend to do some research on actors before deciding to move forward in the casting process. Be sure that what they find about you is up to their standards.

Much of your career is built on what we talked about today. It’s crucial so don’t brush it off. Make a decision about what category you are going to build your career in and start putting the pieces together.

If you’re undecided and need someone to bounce ideas with, feel free to shoot me an email or leave a comment below.

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

See you at the top,
Scott

The Key To Getting More Auditions?

Every actor knows that the trajectory of their career largely depends on just a few factors. One of those factors is your agent, which we talked about recently.

Another one of those is something most actors get completely wrong...

I’m talking about your headshots. I know, it’s a horrible thing to say but that doesn’t make it any less true.

Over the years, I’ve seen first hand that most actors get their headshots completely wrong and that has a huge effect on how you build your acting career.

However, there is a small group of actors that put a lot of focus and effort into making sure their headshots are just right, and that’s typically the actors that make big career progress quickly.

They are the ones that go on to become professional actors.

If that’s something you want to do too, this is something you shouldn’t ignore...

Having the right headshot is crucial to building your acting career, and that’s why most actors think they have it right.

It’s so important that most of them think there’s no way they got it wrong.

That false sense of security can be catastrophic. See, the way it typically goes is that an actor will decide to get into the industry, so they’ll take a headshot and start submitting it to small, independent projects and they will also use it to find their first agent.

Once they sign with an agent, they will usually work with that agent to redo their headshot into something “more professional.”

The problem is that you first have to work with your agent to determine what you want your career to look like and the kinds of projects you want to work on.

See, if you want to play comedic roles, your headshots will be very different from an actor that wants to focus on dramatic or action filled roles.
That’s why you should only take your headshots after you have decided that part. Doing it before then will leave you with a headshot that might look good, but it will not be in line with the projects you are being submitted for.

When Casting Directors look through headshots, they are making a quick decision on whether or not they can see that actor filling the role the casting for.

When they come across your headshot, you want them to stop and take a closer look. That only happens if your headshot aligns with the role they are casting.

If it doesn’t immediately align, they will simply move on to the next one.

That’s a big reason why so many actors have so few auditions...

If you find yourself in that situation, getting things back on track should be a big priority.

First work with your agent to decide the direction of your career and the kinds of projects you want to work on.

What you decide during that conversation can have a big impact on your career, so it’s not something you should take lightly or decide haphazardly.

That said, you won’t be stuck in your chosen category forever.All you are looking for is a starting point or a next step.

Once you have decided on the direction, look for a photographer that will be a good fit. Don’t settle for hiring someone that was recommended to you by a friend.

Look for a photographer that has also worked with actors that specialize in the category you want to focus on.

They will be better able to give you recommendations on poses and outfit choices that will align with your chosen category.

They will also be better able to recommend lighting choices and final touch ups and editing.

After you complete your session with the photographer, they will narrow down the best options for you and do some initial editing on the selected photos.

From there, you should schedule some time with your agent so you can work together on deciding on the photo that should be your main headshot based on the category you have decided to focus on.

Then, you inform your photographer of the decision so they can do final edits on the photo. Fair warning...

The process won’t always be that smooth. I’ve seen actors reshoot 5 or 6 times before getting a headshot that was adequate.

To make things go as smoothly as possible, work with your agent from the very beginning and get very clear on the direction you want your career to go in.

Doing so will help to ensure that you end up with a headshot that fits you and your chosen category. It will give you a much better chance of having a headshot that makes CDs stop and take a closer look.

That’s something that is very difficult to do with a headshot that simply “looks good.”

Of course that is not the only factor that will impact casting decisions. Remember, Casting Directors will also take a closer look before deciding to move forward with you so make sure that what they find about you is up to their standards. Here’s how I can help with that...

Also, you have to be able to deliver a stellar audition when you are invited to read.

We’ll talk about how you can dominate the audition process, next week. For now, start on what we went over today.

As you continue building your career, different things will require your attention. For example, even after you get your headshot done in the manner we talked about, you may find that you are getting more auditions but you’re still not booking consistently.

In that case it could be a number of different factors but something that I’ve seen come up with several actors is reputation.

If your industry reputation is not in top shape, Casting Directors may feel more comfortable with another actor so make sure that yours is always in top shape. Get the details on how I can help with that here...

If you are still struggling to get enough auditions, after you have gotten your headshot done in the way we spoke about, it could be that you’re just not being submitted to the right projects, often enough.

In that case, making yourself more visible to the industry in the places where they are looking for talent can be a gamechanger.

When CDs start actively asking you to audition for them, the dynamics change completely.

So what category do you want to focus on first? Let me know in the comments below or shoot me an email.

If you’re unsure and you want to bounce ideas, feel free to get in touch about that too. I’m happy to help however I can because I truly want to...

See you at the top,
Scott

The 1 Thing Professional Actors Never Do

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It helps if you do this on paper.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

See you at the top,
Scott

A Unique Opportunity This Pilot Season

This year’s pilot season is going to be unlike any other.

Literally...

It is expected that the number of auditions that will be self tapes this year will be absolutely record breaking.

Most actors simply are not ready for that. Putting together a self tape audition is not complicated and that’s why most actors don’t really think about it until they have to do one.

That can be a huge mistake and it’s one that I see incredibly talented actors make all the time!

Professional actors avoid that, and they do everything they can to give themselves every advantage possible.

If you want to build your career as a professional actor, this year’s pilot season will have a unique opportunity.

Here’s how you can seize that opportunity...

Set up a space at home where you can film a self tape at a moment’s notice. Having this ready to go will cut down tremendously on the amount of stress involved, allowing you to fully focus on delivering a stellar audition.

Let’s start with the most important thing, which is the way you sound.

Casting directors are a lot more forgiving about awkward shadows, or your shot being overexposed than they are about bad sound.

If your sound is bouncing off the walls or if they can’t hear you well, they’re just going to go on to the next person.

So how do you set up your self taped area in a way that will produce quality sound?

Start by picking an open area, if it’s possible. You don’t want to film in a small space with walls that are close by, in the direction you are speaking, because it’s much more difficult to get rid of echoes.

Ideally, you don’t want to have an opposing wall, within 10 feet from where you are speaking.

Also, it’s a good idea to pick a room with carpeting because it acts as a sound dampener. The best case scenario is a room that is fully carpeted, but the next best thing is a room that has as much of the floor area covered with a rug as possible.

If you don’t have a space like this available, you may want to get some foam boards that you can hang on the wall that is directly across from you and that you can lay on the hard floor.

You don’t have to fully cover either of them, you just want to take away some of the hard surfaces that the sound will bounce off of.

A quick amazon search will show you plenty of options that will work.

With good acoustics in the room, it’s typically ok to use the built in microphone of whatever you are filming your audition with.

After you have your space set up, test it out.

Record yourself a few times to make sure the sound is clear and that your words and inflection points are easy to understand.

If you are still dissatisfied, then a clip on lavalier microphone should do the trick. Once your sound is ready to go, the next thing to focus on is your lighting set up.

CDs want to be able to see you as well as they can hear you. Fortunately this is pretty simple to do.

All it takes is 3 lights, at most.

You want a light on your left and your right side, each one at about a 45 degree angle, to remove any shadows from your face. This will almost always be enough, but depending on where you are filming, you may also need to have a light directly in front of you.

As simple as this is to set up, I’ve found that many actors skip this step thinking that the lighting fixtures in their room will be enough.

Remember, what you are trying to accomplish is delivering an audition that makes you stand out from the other actors.

Taking the steps we talked about will help you deliver an audition with clear sound and clear visuals that will distinguish you from the others that just haphazardly propped their phone on shelf to film their audition and called it a day.

Lastly, you want to have as clear of a background as possible. You don’t want items in the frame that can distract from your performance.

A plain, solid color background is the best choice if you have it available. If you don’t have it available, then try to get as close to that as possible.

We went over best practices for putting together a self tape audition that captures a CD’s attention.

However, it can only help once you have already been asked to deliver a self tape audition. If you don’t have enough opportunities to do that, then you might want to make some adjustments to your career efforts.

In terms of best practices for that, one of the most effective things you can do is increase your visibility where Casting Directors and industry decision makers are looking for talent. Here’s how I can help with that.

When I talk about this with other actors, they can immediately see how setting up for a self tape audition this way can be a complete game changer for their acting career, compared to what they had been doing before.

However, many of them simply don’t have enough opportunities to audition for it to make a meaningful difference.

If that’s the situation you find yourself in then you also need to find the reason for why you are not getting enough auditions. If the industry doesn’t know you, they can’t hire so I created this to help with that.

It could be that simple or it could be something completely different.

Finding that out will require that you take an honest look at what has been going on in your career thus far.

I’ll walk you through how to do that next week, but in the meantime there is something you can start to work on that most actors don’t really think about, so they find themselves lacking in that area.

I’m talking about your industry reputation.

When Casting Directors decide to move forward with you they are putting a lot of trust in you. That’s why it’s so important to make sure that your industry reputation always matches your goals.

So as you get ready for the upcoming pilot season, what else do you need help with?

Let me know in the comments below or feel free to shoot me an email. I’m always happy to help however I can because I truly want to...

See you at the top,
Scott

How To Build Your Acting Career With The Golden Globes

It’s that time of year again! The time when the entirety of the industry gathers to witness who will take home the top honors in our profession.

The Golden Globes took place a few days ago. For some actors, their careers have changed for the better, forever.

For others, it was a much more humbling experience but they still woke up the next day, ready to continue building their acting career.

However, for most actors things remained exactly the same.

They looked on at The Golden Globes as spectators and nothing more. If you have been around Boost My Star for any length of time, you know that awards season is when you should start to really pay attention to what’s going on in the industry.

There is no other time when the industry shares its consensus on what’s working right now.

See, even if you took no part in it and you were purely a spectator, The Golden Globes can fundamentally change the direction of your acting career.

Here’s how...

Most actors view The Golden Globes as a celebration and look on passively. Professional actors, however, look on at the awards shows as an opportunity to study what’s working.

They use the awards shows to generate a list of actors whose performances they want to reverse engineer.

I do want to be clear about something...

Reverse engineering does not mean that you simply copy what someone else does. It’s much more involved and much more effective than that.

When you reverse engineer another actor’s performance you want to go below the surface and try to uncover why they made the character choices they made.

You don’t want to simply raise your voice when they do, or frown when they frown. You want to uncover the layers of their performance and get to the core of what drives their choices.

When I talk about this with other actors, two distinct groups typically emerge. One group of actors understands the idea and they realize how effective doing something like this can be.

The other group is the exact opposite. They get too caught up in their own creative process to the extent that they don’t want to “copy” someone else’s performance.

Rest assured, when you reverse engineer another actor’s performance you will still have to run their choices through your own character development model to come up with an effective character.

Otherwise, it simply does not work... So how do you do this effectively?

Start by picking an actor and a particular performance of theirs. That’s where The Golden Globes come in. It gives you a complete list of both to choose from.

After you have settled on this, watch their performance intently. Study it and take notes as you watch.

This should be an active process. You should be pausing and rewinding often to decipher the nuances of the actor’s performance.

After you have done that, pick a scene from the same genre of the performance. Build a character based on the choices the actor made during the performance you were studying.

For example, if during that piece the actor chose to refrain from raising their voice when angry, the character in your piece should do the same.

If they made a particular facial expression when they were confused, you should do the same.

This will help you build a baseline for your character. Once you have done that, perform the piece and record yourself.

Watch it back and make adjustments wherever you feel like things don’t quite feel right. This is the point where you will be running the character through your own model and adding your own style to the performance.

Perform the scene and record yourself again, watching it back and making adjustments just as you did before.

After you do this a few times, you will end up with a character that is built on similar choices to those made by an award winning actor in an award winning performance but that is still unique to you and the way you build a character.

When you build characters by reversing engineering this way, you remove the guesswork and you end up with characters that are incredibly effective.

It will also make directors love working with you, because you will show up on set many steps ahead of everyone else.

That makes their job a lot easier, and when you shine on screen they get a lot of the credit for that too.

This should make The Golden Globes and the entirety of awards season something you look forward to every year but for a different reason than your industry friends.

It can help you take your career to the next level by helping you deliver powerful performances on set.

However, you can’t neglect the other side of the industry. You also need to focus on getting to a place where you have plenty of opportunities to get in the room with Casting Directors and get on set.

I created this to help you increase your visibility where Casting Directors and industry decision makers are looking for talent. Get the details on that here.

Before you can wow them with your talent, they first have to know who you are.

Most actors only interact with CDs during auditions but that’s not nearly enough time or frequency to build your familiarity with them.

If they don’t know you, they can’t hire you so you need to make the industry aware of who you are. Here’s how I can help with that...

That’s only one of several ways that you can become more visible to the industry. We’ll go over some of the others over the coming weeks.

Something that they all have in common is that they depend on having a stellar industry reputation.

The industry has always been built on reputation and that’s something that won’t change anytime soon, so make sure that yours is always in top shape.

So do you have dreams about one day walking across the stage to collect your own Golden Globe?

Let me know in the comments below or shoot me an email. I would love to be a part of that journey with you and I truly want to...

See you at the top,
Scott

Shortcut to Succeeding As An Actor?

There’s a problem that nearly every actor I’ve ever met has suffered from.

It’s a problem that nearly every professional actor has been able to solve quickly and it’s one of the main reasons for why they are able to go on and build successful careers.

Most actors have a very limited view of what it takes to build their career.

When asked directly about it, most of them respond by listing off all of the auditions they had recently and the ones they have coming up.

However, professional actors know that building their career requires a lot more than simply paying your dues on the audition hamster wheel.

They also realize that it will require more than just their effort alone.

One of their strengths is surrounding themselves with a group of people that are all working together synergistically to build their careers in the industry.

Building a group like this is something actors think will happen someday down the road, after they’ve already made it.

The truth is, that group can help take your career to the next level, regardless of what career stage you are in right now and it can be more effective to get started early.

In fact, if you want to build your career as a professional actor, this just might be a shortcut...

Something I want to be very clear about from the start is that you don’t have to already be on the brink of becoming an A lister to do this.

I’ve seen too many actors wait for the right moment that predictably never comes around.

See, there’s a lot more that goes into building an acting career than most actors realize and trying to do everything on your own usually means that somethings don’t get the attention necessary.

As an actor you have to be really good at the creative side of things, because that’s what will get you booked and what will have audiences wanting to see more of you.

Along with that, you want to surround yourself with people that can help with everything else. That way you can spend the majority of your time focusing on the things that have the most impact.

So, let’s talk about who you want in this group and the roles they’ll play to help with your career.

The most obvious one is your agent. Without an agent your access to the industry will be limited, so it’s no wonder that most actors see this as one of their first priorities.

While that’s great, too many actors are simply with the wrong agents. That’s why I bring this up now.

You need to have an agent that believes in your ability to succeed in the industry. If they don’t, they simply won’t go to work for you in the way necessary to get you the opportunities you need.

Most agents have dozens of clients and they continuously submit their talent and hope that a few of them get called in and book something every now and then.

Needless to say, you want your agent working harder for you than that. You want them actively generating auditions and opportunities for you.

You want them to get in touch with CDs when auditions don’t go your way to help you with your career development. You also want them to do it when things do go your way, so that you stay top of mind with the CD.

This is a dual task that your agent will also perform with another member of your group, your manager.

The most successful actors have agents and managers that work very well together.

Bringing a manager on board early on in your career can be very beneficial, provided that they work hand in hand with your agent.

You will have the benefit of a manager that can take care of the big picture, overall strategy and direction for your career, and also have an agent that can work on the details day to day.

You can really take things to the next level when you bring in someone to help with your PR strategy.

It doesn’t have to be a high profile agency.

All you need is an effective strategy to help build relationships with directors, producers, Casting Directors, and other industry decision makers.

They should also help to make sure that everything you do is as visible as possible.

That’s where so many actors go wrong in their careers. They believe that if they just get “good enough” then the industry will notice them, they’ll be discovered, and thrust into the limelight.

In reality, it rarely happens like that and that’s why it’s important to make yourself visible where CDs and industry decision makers are looking for talent.

That’s the idea behind building your group.

What we went over today is the core. They will be the ones to help establish your career, and others will help you take it to the next level beyond that.

With this core group in place you can focus on the more creative side of the industry, while they take care of everything else. That’s also why I created Boost My Star. It’s how I can help you with the building blocks of your career.

When I talk about this with other actors, this is usually the point when things click and they’re excited about the idea but they’re not really sure how to go about getting started.

Don’t overthink it.

Consider where you are in your career and whether you have the proper people in place for any of these roles already.

Then, start thinking about who might be a good fit for the other roles. You don’t have to reach out to them right away about joining you, but you should start sowing the seeds of the idea.

If they decline to work with you, when you do ask, don’t be discouraged. Remember, you want to work synergistically with this group.

A manager’s career benefits from having a successful actor on their roster just like an actor's career benefits from having a competent manager.

Those you approach about working with you will want to make sure that you are a true professional, so make sure your industry reputation is always in top shape. Here’s how I can help.

I know this may be a brand new concept, and you probably haven’t really thought about it much before.

As you think about how you will start to put it to use, remember I’m always only a comment or an email away.

Feel free to get in touch, even if you just want to bounce ideas about this back and forth. I’m happy to help however I can because I truly want to...

See you at the top,
Scott

How To Dominate The Upcoming Pilot Season

Professional actors know that they have to dominate pilot season every year if they want to build their acting career.

There’s simply nothing else like it!

The thing is...how many actors do you know that have accomplished their pilot season goals? Probably not many.

I say that because after working with so many actors over the years, I’ve realized that not many of them have ever done it.

Very few actually end up making any progress whatsoever during pilot season.

That should be somewhat surprising, considering that pilot season is probably the biggest opportunity for most actors.

It’s a time when actors can be plucked from obscurity and cast alongside A list actors, in projects that just might turn out to be the next big hit.

If you have been around Boost My Star for any length of time, you know that professional actors are really good at seizing big opportunities like this.

In fact, you can look back at almost any A list actor’s career and see that, somewhere along the line, a successful pilot season was instrumental to building their acting career.

That’s why, if you want to build your career as a professional actor, you have to learn how to dominate this upcoming pilot season. Here’s where to start...

First, it’s important to understand why most actors fail to accomplish their goals for pilot season. It actually starts to happen long before auditions begin. In fact, it starts right about now.

Here’s what I mean...

Pilot season requires preparation. That’s true of any audition but it’s especially true of pilot season.

You might find yourself auditioning for projects that are diametrically different, on the same day. You have to be prepared to handle anything that comes your way, and things just happen a lot faster during pilot season.

The problem most actors run into is that they treat pilot season auditions the same way they treat every other audition.

Remember, as an actor you have a couple minutes with a casting director. The CD may have a couple minutes with a couple hundred of you.

That can be extremely tedious, especially when you consider that most actors present themselves similarly.

Because of the sheer volume of actors they will be seeing throughout pilot season, Casting Directors mentally check out until someone piques their interest.

To do that, you can’t just blend in with the dozens upon dozens of other actors they’re sifting through.

You have to catch their attention by delivering an audition that is different from everyone else.

Sometimes, the key is to deliver something that even goes against what CDs and production may have in mind for the character you are reading for.

At this stage in the audition process, CDs are ok with actors that may interpret the character a bit differently.

If you’re too far off the mark, they’ll pull you back in down the road in the callback stage.

Most actors literally shiver at the thought of doing that but professional actors are comfortable taking calculated risks, creatively.

While this is a great strategy during any time of the year, it can be even more effective during pilot season. Projects evolve over time and when they are in the pilot stage, they are incredibly malleable.

When you’re reading for projects that are beyond that initial stage, it’s not the case so that’s an opportunity that is unique to pilot season.

Something else to keep in mind is that there is a lot of urgency during pilot season. This means that the casting dynamics are different.

During other times, CDs have the luxury of taking their time. However, during pilot season they can’t wait to make decisions.

The last thing they want to do is move an actor through the process, only to have them commit to someone else’s pilot.

So, they are always hoping that the next actor they see is going to be the one. That’s why, if all of the fundamentals of your career are in order, and you deliver a stellar audition that catches their attention and sets you apart from everyone else, things can move very quickly.

That’s why your headshots have to be top notch. It’s not uncommon for CDs to ask actors for a different headshot they can forward to production.

If your headshots don’t fully reflect the roles you are reading for, you may find yourself in a situation where you need to get a new headshot quickly.

Having multiple variations is always a good idea, and it can come in handy particularly during pilot season.

Of course your reel should also be current and reflect the character types you are reading for. The last thing you want to do is have an action reel, when you are reading for comedies.

These are things that you should start preparing now, well before pilot season is underway. Preparing them preemptively might even help to fill up your pilot season audition schedule.

That’s assuming that you and your agent have a solid plan in place and are on the same page. I could write a book on that topic alone, so we’ll go into the details on that another time.

For now, start with what we talked about today.

If what you are most concerned about is not having enough auditions during pilot season, check this out. I created it to help you increase your visibility where CDs and industry decision makers are looking for talent and it can be particularly useful during pilot season.

The time to prepare for pilot season is right now.

You probably have some down time coming up, as the year winds down, so it’s the perfect time to catch up on career things that you maybe haven’t thought about in a while.

That way, when pilot season is finally here, you will be a step ahead of everyone else.

Some things are even more thorough during pilot season. Casting Directors tend to do some research on actors before deciding who to move forward with in the casting process. That’s why you should always be sure that what they find about you is up to their standards.

That research can be more in depth during pilot season, so be sure that you are always putting your best forward.

Because there’s so much at stake during pilot season, CDs tend to be more thorough and cautious, so make sure that your industry reputation is in top shape. Here’s how I can help with that.

What we went over today can go a long way in helping you prepare for pilot season, so that you can be ready when the time comes.

Don’t leave things like this to the last minute. If you’re not exactly sure about what to start with, remember I’m always only a comment or an email away.

Feel free to get in touch anytime! I’m always happy to help however I can because I truly want to...

See you at the top,
Scott

How Professional Actors Wrap Up The Year

Right now just might be the last chance you have to make big career moves, for the foreseeable future.

Ok, that may be an overstatement but the year is just about over and pretty much everyone in the industry has checked out.

That means industry activity has slowed to a trickle, so opportunities are limited at this time. While there are still a few productions that are actively shooting and casting, most are dormant.

However, there is always a small part of the industry that never stops moving, and because it’s the top tier of the industry, there are a few big opportunities to be had.

That is, if you position yourself properly to take advantage of the things that may present themselves.

Over the last few week’s we have been talking about how to do just that. If you haven’t started on that yet, the window is quickly closing but there’s always next year.

It’s a great time to position yourself to make big things happen in the new year.

See, there’s a window of opportunity that is quickly closing right now but there is another one that will open soon after that.

After the holidays are over and done with, most of the industry has a tough time getting back into gear.

So, if you can hit the ground running, there could be many opportunities for you, and some of them can be complete game changers for your career.

Professional actors don’t let times like this pass them by. They are skilled at being present when opportunity knocks.

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

One of the most important things to do, especially as we move into the new year, is to have the building blocks of your career in place.

I know it sounds like a basic thing to do and that’s precisely why so few actors do it properly. It’s easy to think that you have those things all figured out, when they really require some additional attention.

Here’s what I mean...

The building blocks of your career are the foundation upon which your career is built. One of those is your headshot.

Be sure that your headshots are up to date and reflect the types of characters you are wanting to read for. At this point, most actors would say “got it! What’s next?”

After working with so many actors over the years, I’ve realized that most of them haven’t thought about the specifics of it in quite a while.

They are stuck in a cycle of trying to book anything at all, that they don’t work on aligning things like their headshots, with the types of characters they want to play.

That’s why so many actors have incredibly generic headshots that are easy for CDs to ignore.

On the other hand, actors that know precisely the types of characters they want to play can align their headshots with that character type, making it more likely for CDs to want to see more.

As this year winds down, take some time to think it over and determine whether your headshots are in alignment.

Another career building block is your network.

It’s also a great time to actively work on expanding your industry network, not just with other actors, but also with industry decision makers that can help move your career forward.

Set aside some time each day and work on building your network. Whether that means, you set out to connect with people in person or online is a personal decision that you will come to, based on where you are in your career right now.

Maybe, you already have a rather large industry network but you just haven’t kept in touch very well. Act as if you are building that network from scratch and come up with a strategy to get reacquainted with Casting Directors, producers, directors, and any decision makers that you have worked with in the past.

Whether you are building your network from scratch or getting reacquainted, it’s always easier to open doors when you have a stellar industry reputation. Here’s how I can help with that...

People are always likely to do some quick research and see what you’re up to when you reach out to expand, or get reacquainted with your network.

That’s why I created a tool that helps you make sure that what Casting Directors, industry decision makers, and potential new contacts find about you is up to their standards.

As we wrap up the year in the coming weeks, we’ll talk more about how to hit the ground running and take full advantage of the unique opportunities that can present themselves, while most of the industry is still waiting for things to pick back up again.

For now, get started on what we talked about thus far because when you have the fundamental building blocks of your career in place and you increase your visibility where Casting Directors and industry decision makers are looking for talent, things can start moving in your career very quickly. Here’s how I can help with that part too.

I know things in the industry are constantly changing, and it can sometimes be difficult to decide the direction you should go when it comes to things like headshots or deciding the type of characters you want to focus on.

Remember, I’m always only a comment or an email away. Feel free to get in touch anytime! I’m happy to talk things over, even if you just need to bounce ideas. I’ll do whatever I can to help because I truly want to...

See you at the top,
Scott