How you get your jobs is a question frequently posed to me by actors and non-actors. I get the majority of my work the old fashioned way by auditioning.
For stage work I attend all Actors Equity auditions that are suitable for me at theaters I would like to work for. A lot of actors give up on this saying the roles have already been cast. And they are often cast. However, this business is about small successes that add up. I have booked tier 1 contract roles in NYC from EPA’s. I know actors that have booked Bway from EPA’s.
Film, TV pilots and webisode work I acquire mostly through photo, resume and reel submissions on sites such as Actors Access, Mandy, Jagger Kaye casting and Backstage. My philosophy is to accept a project if I like the role and reel of the director. If a director doesn’t have a reel but I like the role, I will take a chance on him/her. If their reel is bad I turn down the work. Even though all artists have usually improved from the time of whatever reel they are showing, because there can be a year or more turn-around time between the time they shot a project and the time that they have a finished product, I hate the idea of being directed and edited poorly and having it memorialized on film. I also, believe in the idea of building ground up relationships with new directors. Hopefully, we will continue to do projects together as our careers both grow.
Commercials I leave to my agents. They are very good about getting me out consistently so I don’t pay much attention to self-submissions mostly because of my personal time restrictions. Having said that – once in while if I have a little spare time – I will self-submit for commercials. I have gotten in on a few directly. This leads me to believe that not all cds have relationships with my agents and it would be best to self-submit for commercials being cast by cd’s that I’m not regularly sent to by my agent.
Lastly, some of my jobs are via referrals from actors and directors I have worked with.
Now let’s get busy and book some work!!
Next up on my blog. How do I get an agent?
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