Ever since CastingAbout posted their Network Upfronts Report, chatter has been all over about these pilots that didn’t go. Actors who tested at network but who didn’t get cast are saying, “Oh, wow. I spent all that energy bummed that I didn’t get cast, and what would it have mattered? They’re all out of a job now anyway.” Actors who never even went in on the projects are hoping that, next season, they’ll be invited in, and their pilots — should they be cast in them — will have a different fate. They’ll be series regulars. Finally.
But it’s the actors who are talking about how bummed they are for their friends just a tier above, who had these amazing jumps and then crashed to the floor, with the news that their show had been rejected by the network, after ALL THAT STUFF that went on leading up to upfronts.
Guys, don’t be sad for these folks. First, be thrilled that you’re friends with anyone who is at that tier. It’s a sign of how close you are, when your inner circle starts booking this kind of work (even if it doesn’t stick). Remember one of my favorite refrains: “Any time I see someone succeed, I am happy, for it affirms my belief that I live in a world where success is possible.”
The more you’re bearing witness to greatness, the closer your greatness is to being delivered to you! It’s right in your neighborhood. Yay, you! 🙂
Next, please know that every actor, every crewmember, everyone involved in a show that was given airtime is in the queue for more work, going forward (and at a higher tier). It’s how it works. It’s their level of “student film on which you never get tape.” Remember that? It doesn’t mean they’ve lost something. It means they’re building to the next tier, just like you did, when you did a crappy student film and then moved on from that to one on which you did get tape, and the project went to festivals.
The cancelled show is the student film that didn’t yield tape, just many tiers above. The actors who booked that work WILL be invited into better rooms, sooner, on better projects with more money, produced by people with better track records, and one of those projects WILL go. Sure, you hope your first pilot booking will be your big break, just like you hoped your first love would be your soulmate. But sometimes it’s the guy you meet while on vacation after a brutal divorce who’s your soulmate. And sometimes it’s the show you book while recovering from a dropped pilot that is the series that makes you a NAME.
So. Don’t waste energy fretting over a part you didn’t get. Sometimes the show gets cancelled before it even has a chance to get on the air. And don’t feel bad when you’ve poured your passion and energy into a project that doesn’t get the traction you hoped it would. Know that — in terms of career traction — someone who was ON a pilot that “didn’t go” is a lot closer to the next tier of TV work than someone who maybe booked an indie film that got completed during the same time frame.
Congrats to ALL who are getting a shot at the next tier, whether that’s via pilot pickup or showing up on a network list… primed for next season. Embrace that it’s all progress! Because it is!
Bonnie Gillespie is living her dreams by helping others figure out how to live theirs. Wanna work with Bon? Start here. Thanks!
Originally published by Actors Access at http://more.showfax.com/columns/avoice/archives/001506.html. Please support the many wonderful resources provided by the Breakdown Services family. This posting is the author’s personal archive.