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The Lows of Acting

Acting is a profession full of ups and downs. The exuberant and exhilarating highs from booking a job to the weird low of not booking for months, even years.

Those lows are torturous indeed. It is this vast void of communication that one tends to fill in with bad vibes about yourself, your work and the industry itself. You’ll hear it from other actors too and you might even fall into the trap of agreeing with them. You know, phrases like, “It’s really slow right now.” Or something like, “The industry is in flux.” Or even things like, “It’s so slow right now, the experienced actors are taking all those roles usually given to new actors.”

These are the bane of the actor who does not take control of their acting career and make things happen. These are excuses for their lack of initiative and action.

One of the catch 22’s of starting an acting career is this; you have the talent and the chops to play an amazing character but all you get to audition for are small roles that don’t allow you to flex your acting muscles. You are on that “standard route” of only doing those roles you are asked to audition for and hoping that you will book a few and THEN you will get auditions for the juicy roles you know you can really sink your teeth into.

Acting on the Stage

There are a few viable solutions to this that take guts, risk and sacrifice. The first is auditioning and booking a role in the theatre. Whether it be community theatre or your local Equity house. Your chances of landing a large role in a play is much better than landing a lead role in a series or a movie. And, one of the best things about acting in plays is they usually allow you to still be available to audition and even book film and TV roles. Plays are rehearsed in the evenings and performed in the evenings and on weekends. Most film sets shoot during the day and not on weekends.

I pretty much think you have to do a few plays to get the experience of really discovering a character to their deepest level. With a good six weeks of rehearsal you have plenty of time to discover who they really are. You also get to keep discovering them during your performances. This type of experience just can’t be found in film acting and so the theatre is just a fantastic training ground for a new actor. Even acting classes don’t come close to the depth you can discover when acting in a play.

Not only will you discover the depth of the character you are to play you will also discover what it takes to carry a story as a lead actor. You will work your acting muscles like never before and like no movie or series could possibly come close to.

The sacrifice for treading the boards on stage is usually time vs income. There are often 6-8 weeks of rehearsals and then the actual run of the play. The pay can be anywhere from zero to a union rate which is always changing but is an alright amount. You basically get compensated for your time.

One other plus about being in the spotlight is you can invite film industry people you know and offer them a free or comp ticket. You invite every casting director, director, producer of TV and film that you know or know of. And, even if they don’t take you up on your generous offer, they will definitely know you are working your craft. And that, in and of itself, is a big plus.

Producing a Short Film

The second solution which is much less common is to make your own movie playing a role you shine at in a story you love. I’m talking about producing a short film. But not just any short film. A short film that is written specifically for you to play a character you excel at playing and could very well be cast as in a story that turns you on and you know others will just love.

There are several advantages to this route. By doing the film professionally, you will have in your hands high quality, original work that shows you at your best in front of the camera. You must go for high production values because clips from this short film will be cut into your demo reel. Demo reels, while not always asked for, do have use in landing a good agent and do, at times, get used to see your range or the type of character you are good at or suit.

When such a production is written by a professional, it will be a film that the audience will definitely want to see more of. In other words, your film can be expanded into a feature film or a series. And, since you are producing it, you will own the intellectual property (IP) and thus own the rights to that film or series. You will be seen as the lead character in the short film when it is released, that gives you a good chance of landing that same role in the feature film or series.

You can submit your short to film festivals around the world. This is a great way to get your acting work seen widely by other directors and producers who attend those festivals. The judges on those festivals are often the very people you want to see your film since many are producers and directors.

With a short film, you are telling the world that you are an actor and that you have the talent of a professional.

Producing a short film gives you a greater understanding of how movies are made and therefore a greater appreciation of the people who actually make movies and series. The flip side of that is, you are no longer just looked at as an actor. You are looked at as a filmmaker and your status among those in the industry rises. There is a respect that actors who don’t produce just don’t ever receive.

Your understanding of the process of filmmaking and of the people who make films rises to a level that creates an instant camaraderie with other filmmakers like producers and directors. And those people hire actors.

Becoming a producer is quite normal for a professional actor to do. You can go onto IMDb or IMDb Pro and check out any actor or actress you admire who is at a high level and most likely they have producer credits as well. I firmly believe that being a producer is part of being a successful actor. 

By taking this route, you are being pro-active and not sitting around waiting for your agent to call you, if you have one. And you are taking a very big step toward being a pro actor of import by producing a film.

Hire a Consultant

I have seen this work quite well with actors. I have directed nine short films that were produced by actors, three of which I wrote. A few of the actors landed agents, others landed better agents than they had before, and several went on to book roles in series and features. And best of all, six of those nine short films are being developed into either a feature film or a series and the actor who produced the short version owns the IP (intellectual property).

Here’s a link to one of those short films I wrote and directed for actor/producer Christine Ottley:

Another cherry about this is that several of the actors earned their first union credits and joined the union. Having that union status ensures you are one of the first to be auditioned for a role (if you suit the character) in a union production. Pretty much all series and medium to large feature films are union productions.

On all of those nine projects I consulted the actor on what they needed to do in order to produce the film. I was there throughout so they knew what to expect and what kind of pitfalls to look for and avoid.

This type of investment in your career goes far beyond the financial sacrifice. It is an investment like none other in an acting career that gives the actor gains right across the spectrum of acting skills all the way to film business savvy.

I am open to doing a zoom call with anyone interested in pursuing the short film avenue to expand their acting career and their place in the film industry. Check out the link below for more information.