ADVICE ON THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THE ACTING INDUSTRY, BUT THAT NO-ONE WILL NECESSARILY TELL YOU. I WILL BE DOCUMENTING WHAT I LEARN ABOUT BEING A WORKING ACTOR AS I GO ALONG, SO THAT YOU CAN LEARN FROM MY MISTAKES/SUCCESSES AND AVOID SOME OF THE PITFALLS I MAY HAVE LANDED IN WITHOUT KNOWING BETTER. THIS IS NOT THE HOLY GRAIL - SO I WELCOME COMMENTS AND FEEDBACK THAT ARE HELPFUL TO THE NEW OR EVEN SEASONED ACTOR OUT THERE
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
HI
Hi how are you? I just discovered your awesome blog today. I am a native new yorker and I started acting when I joined my college’s drama club in freshman year back in 08 and began to take lessons there. I graduated last year and I’ve been acting professionally ever since. In the span of 3 years I’ve performed in a number of productions for my club, and 2 off-off broadway plays.This past fall I began acting in student films for NYU and I just wrapped up a thesis Columbia short 2 weeks ago. To date I’ve done 4 student films. I’ve also began writing my own screenplays. I’m actually working with a friend’s production company to film my short screenplay. I plan on doing 1 more short film and then get my reel together so I can look for roles on Actors Access. Do you think I’m doing alright so far?
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If you’re not, then we’re ALL doing something wrong!
Congratulations on your achievements. Keep it up and you’ll be golden.
The NYC Actor
This link will take you to the main blog for The NYC Actor. Tumblr is just a place where I field questions, and occasionally share/retumbl something pertinent. The main blog is full of articles, Q&As, and podcasts.
If you have questions please do a comprehensive search at The NYC Actor first. At this point I’m getting a lot of repeat questions, and while I’d love to answer any and every question I get, if you don’t hear back from me it may very well mean I’ve answered a similar question earlier.
Thank you so much for following! I hope that my individual experience of the industry is at the very least helping you get a foothold.
- Angela
A question from a reader I can’t answer…
Hello Tumblr followers, Twits, and Facebookies alike.Can any of my actor friends give some insight into this question? I don’t have a manager, nor do I have any idea what NYC management companies to recommend, but I know so many of you have great management so I’m hoping you’ll be able to help out this reader with a solid list. Also, if anyone knows anything about Avanti (I’ve never heard of then) then please share, too. Many thanks!
Hiya, Doing the big move and have a few questions. Can you give me a short list of who you think in your opinion are good management agencies (already have the agents list covered). Also have a meeting with Avanti Talent Management NYC. Heard mixed things about them asking for money.
I’m not sure that I’ve said do not ever do mailers.
But I have been very candid about how blind mailers are received by the industry. Mailers are not necessarily the way you will get an agent or a job. Having worked in a busy casting office before I can tell you that most of the time mailers get thrown away. Some agencies and casting houses even have a strict “No unsolicited mail” policy, so, if you are going to do a blind mailing, you have to know which agencies are open to it to begin with.
Mailers are best received if you already have a relationship with the agent and/or casting director. Sending a postcard to update them on jobs you are booking as a way to remind them that you exist doesn’t hurt. But it’s a very small piece of the puzzle. So, as always, I recommend actors be a lot more pro-active about getting agents than mailers alone.
I personally don’t do mailers anymore. But that’s just me.
In my experience, meeting with industry people in person is the best way to get their attention. You can do that by working on showcases, going to one-on-one castings (Actors connection, One on One, etc), networking parties, and by booking/creating great work that showcases your talent.
Nowadays, thanks to Actors Access, NYCastings, Casting Frontier, etc, an actor doesn’t need an agent to start booking work on great projects. So, again, that is my advice to actors overall: get into the habit of booking/making your own work. A great reel, or a great resume will do a thousand times more good than a blind mailer.
GREAT question!
If you are signed with an agent it is in good taste and extremely important that you are upfront with them about the work you are getting on your own. You should have a candid conversation with them about their commission - which you owe them even if they didn’t book you the job! If you’re booking small jobs that pay $100 here or $250 there, they’ll probably tell you to keep it. But you have to be having that kind of conversation with them all the time. Also, if you’re booking work then your agent needs to know this! They need to see that you are someone who books work! By sharing that information the two of you can work together to make sure you’re going out for the right roles. If your agent gets “mad” at you for booking work then they are not the agent for you. Although, as a mini caveat to that statement I will say that you absolutely must keep your agent informed of all work you are considering doing because it’s possible that it may conflict with something they are trying to get for you. They should be involved in all your career decisions and will advise you on any questions you have.
If you are not signed, then disregard all the above. They are not your agent yet and therefore you have not made any kind of comittment to them - neither have they to you. So keep booking work but do keep them updated on it. Seeing you booking a lot of work might encourage them to sign you and a self-motivated actor is an attractive one.
Now, if you’re agent isn’t getting you any auditions and all the work you are going out for is from your own initiative then it might be time to dump them. I can imagine being extremely frustrated by paying out 10% of your hard-earned money to someone who is literally mooching off you.
But, let me clarify.
If your agent is sending you out on auditions and you’re just not booking them then that doesn’t mean your agent isn’t doing their job. They are literally there to get you auditions and to advise you on career decisions. It’s your job to book it.
A lot of people are intimidated by the actor/agent relationship and I’m here to tell you that you shouldn’t be! If you’re unsure what your responsibilities to your agent are then you should re-read your contract and have a conversation with them.
Ultimately, that’s the best advice I can give you: talk to your agent.
Hi,
You’ve asked a question that I don’t know the answer to I’m afraid!
I will repost this question in a way that can illicit outside response from my community of actors and see what they say. Check back here for updates, and if I discover a definitive list I will surely share it with you and all of my readers on a dedicated post.
As for Avanti, they check out with the Better Business Bureau, but I’ve never heard of them. You’re right to do some due diligence on them before you get here.
Here’s my answer to a similar question:
I recommend taking a look at the main The NYC Actor site where there are literally hundreds of articles, Q&As, and even podcasts to answer almost any questions you have.
Thanks for writing in!
![A Throwback Thursday reblog from a year ago…
theangeladee:
TWO WEEKS DEAF…
Yes. I was deaf for the past 2 weeks. And it was terrible.
I won’t go in to the nitty-waxy-gritty of it, but it started the morning after my mother-in-law died when I woke up deaf in my right ear. After about 10 minutes it cleared up. Same thing happened every morning for the next few weeks. Then, it was both ears. Then, two tuesday’s ago, lacking in health insurance, and the product of a purely homeopathic childhood (one day I’ll elaborate, I promise) I resorted to a few home remedies: namely ear-candleing and warm olive oil. Two ear candles later and a few drops of warm olive oil and I was deaf in my right ear. Totally.
5 days later I went deaf in my left ear (no ear candles or oil this time).
Both ears. Deaf.
Not medically deaf as I could hear my own voice and other things in a very quiet, warble-y muffle. Like being under water. But I basically couldn’t hear any detail whatsoever.
I spent days trying not to freak out by researching the condition online - cos that’s what people without health insurance do, rich-people. But, thanks to a posting I saw on facebook a few weeks ago (thanks Frank), I remembered that actors with a union card (or even those who can prove they made $3000 as an actor 2 out of the 5 most recent years) can go to The Al Hirschfeld FREE clinic c/o the Actors Fund. And, so I did.
It took about 10 days of supervised home remedy and 2 follow-ups with the amazing Doctor Spears (“as in Britney” he said) and I could suddenly, dramatically, hear again.
One reason I’m writing this is because every actor in New York needs to know about the Al Hirschfeld clinic and, indeed, Doctor Spears.
AND I’m also writing this because it is an insane thing to suddenly get your hearing back after being deaf for a while. I’d read before that it can be quite horrific for a deaf person to regain or acquire their hearing. But, for some reason, it never clicked with me what that might mean. Until yesterday.
As soon as the procedure at the doctors was finished sound came literally rushing back. I am not sure when I could hear this clearly before. My own voice sounded like a tinny, echo-y projection. The moment I stepped out onto the busy New York street I almost lost my breakfast. It was SO LOUD! There was a rushing of traffic noise, people talking, shouting, horns blaring and under it all, the relelntless roar that is simply NYC. It was nauseating and terrifying. I am not elaborating. I didn’t dare use my cel-phone until the next day for fear of the sound bursting my eardrums!
Even now, as I type this, I am shocked how loud this keyboard is [CLACK CLACK CLACK!]. The volume on my phone is now turned down to two bars which is still ridiculously loud to me. When I turned my computer on this morning I nearly fell over at the sound of the initiating BONNNNGGGG. It really is very disorientating. But I can’t quite help but wonder at all the sound I’ve been missing these past few years without even knowing it.
What’s more, people always say that at the loss of one of your senses the other senses get stronger. That wasn’t the case for me. In fact, when I was deaf it was as if I was also locked in tunnel vision. My eyes were blurring and I would reach for something and totally miss it. Or, if I managed to grab a hold of it I’d somehow drop it. Now that I can hear like this I feel like I can see everything clearer, taste everything sharper (although I did drop the milk this morning… maybe I’m just clumsy?).
I am so relieved that I can hear again. It will take some getting used to hearing so well, but I have fallen very much in love with the mechanics of the human body through this process. As my husband happily declared, I have gone from being Quasi Modo to Spiderman overnight. I have learned the importance of hydrogen peroxide. I have learned that ear candles don’t work. I have learned that my husband speaks rather loudly. And, I have learned that earwax is a very necessary, but sometimes cumbersome part of the ear.
So. If I was weird over the past few weeks, even months, it was because my ears were a mess. If I seem jumpy now, it is because I have the ears of a wild owl and I am hearing bugs scurrying in the underbrush 2 miles away!
Thanks Doctor Spears and The Actors Fund for giving me my hearing back and for doing it for free. And thank you ears for being good listeners. I promise to take better care of you from now on.
Now. If you’ll excuse me, I think I hear a small child in need of help two states away…](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5m6m40MrM1qbnfa3o1_500.jpg)
A Throwback Thursday reblog from a year ago…
TWO WEEKS DEAF…
Yes. I was deaf for the past 2 weeks. And it was terrible.
I won’t go in to the nitty-waxy-gritty of it, but it started the morning after my mother-in-law died when I woke up deaf in my right ear. After about 10 minutes it cleared up. Same thing happened every morning for the next few weeks. Then, it was both ears. Then, two tuesday’s ago, lacking in health insurance, and the product of a purely homeopathic childhood (one day I’ll elaborate, I promise) I resorted to a few home remedies: namely ear-candleing and warm olive oil. Two ear candles later and a few drops of warm olive oil and I was deaf in my right ear. Totally.
5 days later I went deaf in my left ear (no ear candles or oil this time).
Both ears. Deaf.
Not medically deaf as I could hear my own voice and other things in a very quiet, warble-y muffle. Like being under water. But I basically couldn’t hear any detail whatsoever.
I spent days trying not to freak out by researching the condition online - cos that’s what people without health insurance do, rich-people. But, thanks to a posting I saw on facebook a few weeks ago (thanks Frank), I remembered that actors with a union card (or even those who can prove they made $3000 as an actor 2 out of the 5 most recent years) can go to The Al Hirschfeld FREE clinic c/o the Actors Fund. And, so I did.
It took about 10 days of supervised home remedy and 2 follow-ups with the amazing Doctor Spears (“as in Britney” he said) and I could suddenly, dramatically, hear again.
One reason I’m writing this is because every actor in New York needs to know about the Al Hirschfeld clinic and, indeed, Doctor Spears.
AND I’m also writing this because it is an insane thing to suddenly get your hearing back after being deaf for a while. I’d read before that it can be quite horrific for a deaf person to regain or acquire their hearing. But, for some reason, it never clicked with me what that might mean. Until yesterday.
As soon as the procedure at the doctors was finished sound came literally rushing back. I am not sure when I could hear this clearly before. My own voice sounded like a tinny, echo-y projection. The moment I stepped out onto the busy New York street I almost lost my breakfast. It was SO LOUD! There was a rushing of traffic noise, people talking, shouting, horns blaring and under it all, the relelntless roar that is simply NYC. It was nauseating and terrifying. I am not elaborating. I didn’t dare use my cel-phone until the next day for fear of the sound bursting my eardrums!
Even now, as I type this, I am shocked how loud this keyboard is [CLACK CLACK CLACK!]. The volume on my phone is now turned down to two bars which is still ridiculously loud to me. When I turned my computer on this morning I nearly fell over at the sound of the initiating BONNNNGGGG. It really is very disorientating. But I can’t quite help but wonder at all the sound I’ve been missing these past few years without even knowing it.
What’s more, people always say that at the loss of one of your senses the other senses get stronger. That wasn’t the case for me. In fact, when I was deaf it was as if I was also locked in tunnel vision. My eyes were blurring and I would reach for something and totally miss it. Or, if I managed to grab a hold of it I’d somehow drop it. Now that I can hear like this I feel like I can see everything clearer, taste everything sharper (although I did drop the milk this morning… maybe I’m just clumsy?).
I am so relieved that I can hear again. It will take some getting used to hearing so well, but I have fallen very much in love with the mechanics of the human body through this process. As my husband happily declared, I have gone from being Quasi Modo to Spiderman overnight. I have learned the importance of hydrogen peroxide. I have learned that ear candles don’t work. I have learned that my husband speaks rather loudly. And, I have learned that earwax is a very necessary, but sometimes cumbersome part of the ear.
So. If I was weird over the past few weeks, even months, it was because my ears were a mess. If I seem jumpy now, it is because I have the ears of a wild owl and I am hearing bugs scurrying in the underbrush 2 miles away!Thanks Doctor Spears and The Actors Fund for giving me my hearing back and for doing it for free. And thank you ears for being good listeners. I promise to take better care of you from now on.Now. If you’ll excuse me, I think I hear a small child in need of help two states away…
I don’t know the secret to success, but the secret to failure is trying to please everyone.
Bill Cosby (via quote-book)
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