Understanding the Acting Industry

A quick caveat

There are a few things that sets Artist’s Strategy apart from other actor career coaches. Most other coaches focus solely on providing industry knowledge, whereas Artist’s Strategy teaches you how to run your own sustainable business. We are living in “The Information Age” so knowledge is easier to come by now more than ever. What remains difficult, however, is creating an infrastructure around a business; thereby becoming independent enough to seek out relevant information on our own and implement it into effective strategies.

Essentially, if you give a man a fish he eats for a day...but teaching him to fish helps him eat for a lifetime.

That being said, understanding the industry is absolutely a part of your work with us.

So, where does one start?

The most important thing to understand

The most important thing to understand in this business is the following: it’s about “who you know.” Your opportunities will come almost exclusively from the network you have built.

This reminds me of a phrase often used in group recovery programs, “It’s safest in the middle of the herd.” If you surround yourself with people and personally connect and invest in them (really try to know them) you will draw more and more people to you and therefore more and more opportunities.

Knowing which casting director likes you to be off book, or what headshot photographer is the most preferred by Agency X is pretty irrelevant, but these are the bits of information we latch onto. They are bite-sized pieces of tangible information that make us feel informed and powerful, but do not demand too much from us.

Again, at the end of the day what really matters is who you know. If a potential agent hates your headshots, but 10 of their clients vouch for you, they will definitely take a meeting if not sign you right there and then and ask you to change your headshots later.

Who should you know?

So we need to get better at “knowing” people, but whom?

Below is a suggested order of people to prioritize as you consider expanding your network::

1. Other Actors

2. Casting Directors, Associates, and Assistants

3. Producers, Producer Assistants, Administration (Artistic Directors, etc)

4. Directors

5. Writers

6. Agents

OTHER ACTORS may have insight into things you may not have...have connections that you may not have. We often forget that the person right next to us in the trenches has the potential to take our career to the next level. Cultivate and maintain these connections as if your career depends upon it...because it does. Long before Variety and Deadline pick something up you can hear it being talked about among a group of low-level actors who went in for this role or that role (PDAs be damned). Many of us are social creatures, who love to talk about the biz. What a gift! Co-workers talk about all the things happening at work, right? Providing valuable intel about management and office politics. Well, it’s the same with us!

Take classes, start play-reading  or film-watching groups, watch shorts and email the actors directly. Keep them close, and provide consistent value to them. They will certainly return the favor.

We often look over other actors as we assume they’re in the “same boat” and give credence to the idea that CDs and Agents / Managers hold the keys to our future success. Meanwhile, your more immediate colleagues, often low on the “totem pole”, will be the ones to provide the keys to the kingdom through resources, mutual connections, advice, support and even potential collaboration.

CASTING PEOPLE are a given...after all they are the ones who give us the auditions, bring us in for the big teams, etc. Don’t make the mistake, however, of just focusing your attention on them. Yes, make the initial contact even through a pay-to-play if necessary, but to make a real impact over time you will have to gain some more credibility mainly in the form of people who employ them. But let them get to know you! These are important, longer term relationships to build.

PRODUCERS + DIRECTORS are at the top of the food chain and are the people who will actually give you the job. Why work through middle men (agents, CDs) when you can go right to the source? Can you self produce something and bring them on as paid collaborators? Can you share their work on social media, reach out after seeing their work and letting them know how much you enjoyed it? Remember, we aren’t talking about Spielberg necessarily. To begin with, what about people who are one or two steps ahead of you?

WRITERS are also fantastic people to know as they are the ones who create the material in the first place. Getting involved with projects in their developmental stages is a great way to get someone personally invested in you. Once again, can you self produce a writer’s work? Commission them to write something for you? What are some out of the box ways to engage them?

ACTORS + MANAGERS are an essential part of your team. Drawing on their resources and connections drastically increases your chances of booking consistent work. However, a rep will rarely give you the time of day if you have not made substantial inroads with the people above. These are the people who will build your resume and probably vouch for you when the time comes to take on representation.

It’s not rocket science, with a little bit of research and a whole lot of conversation you can have the raw material used to build something long-lasting and fruitful.

Knowledge, however, is not power.

Knowledge channeled into action is.