I wish more than anything on Earth that this were not me writing this right now. But lo and behold, here I am five years after arriving in this wonderful facade of a town, still struggling with the same dilemma. I arrived here about two weeks after the strike. You remember the strike and the sweeping changes that followed? That was sarcasm in case you didn’t recognize it. Well, as my new nonunion friends were running around posting their 80 hours picketing and whatnot, I found myself tripping over my pride in an attempt to stay clear of this little handout by the union. I truly felt I would be better off in the long run earning my SAG card legitimately. I really did.
Then I saw that many people don’t get their card legitimately. The “extra” route is grossly prejudiced toward that actor with the schmoozing ability or the gal with the low-cut sweater. Not to mention when the sweater is on a good friend of the AD. And even with an agent in your corner, it is still hard to win that SAG commercial crapshoot. Please understand that if I were a better schmoozer or if I could pull off the sweater thing, you would be hearing nothing from me. I can no longer knock these people who won their cards before I did. They won.
But I don’t want to lose. I am well-represented and have a lot of confidence in myself. I have a theatre company and have been in many plays here. I have done my share of indie films, both shorts and features. I booked a pilot this year. And I have dwelled in the student films, trying not to let any opportunity pass. But now I am frustrated.
At this point, with no vouchers and the word being such that that route will go away soon, what do I do? What would YOU do? I need to hear someone else’s voice on this matter. I am terribly sick of hearing my own… and you seem nice.
Okay, first off, yours is the first letter I’ve included in its entirety, as usually the question itself is just one little nugget and all that needs to be shared. But you’re funny! And that’s going to be part of my advice to you, so I wanted the readers of this column to see what I saw, in your letter.
I so completely understand your frustration. I do, in fact, remember the strike. I remember it as an actor and I know the 80-hour program for SAG membership frustrated a great many people. I certainly understand your pride keeping you from making the “easy choice” to join by standing with SAG members on picket lines, but you must move past the fact that you made the decision you felt you could live with at that time. No going back; no looking back. Onward!
So, here you are, five years of LA under your belt. That has to include good training as well as your theatre company, great agent, work with indie and student films, and networking. Oh wait, you said you’re no good at schmoozing.
Honey, you’ve got to get good at networking (the art of the schmooze). Do you have to be a pro at it? No; but you must be at least comfortable talking with people about what you’ve got going on and what you hope to stir up in the near future. Believe me, I was the worst at this, as an actor. I bought a book called How To Work a Room (you can see my complete list of recommended reading at Amazon.com) and really forced myself to work the networking muscle. If you see it as a muscle, you’ll do better. You know, in life, that you cannot go from learning to walk to winning a marathon in a day. You have to train yourself to be good at this!
But let’s look at the big picture, here. Maybe it’s not yet time for you to be SAG. I really believe that you are in the union when it’s time for you to be in the union. Do you really want to shut off any opportunities you have for doing paid nonunion work right now by being a SAG member? I know an actor who enjoyed quite a bit of success when nonunion (financial success and high-profile roles in cable series) who now finds himself going on far fewer auditions, since he joined SAG. Mistake to join as early as he did? Who knows? He certainly enjoys the higher rate of pay and the benefits that go with SAG membership, but the work is much less frequent now, and that can be tough on an actor’s ego.
You are a good writer. You are funny. Have you considered doing improv comedy or standup? Doing standup was one of the most gratifying experiences of my acting life and it exposed a whole different group of people (general audience and talent scouts) to my work. It lifted me to a tier I hadn’t anticipated, as an actor, and suddenly being SAG-eligible was no longer an issue. And then, when I wasn’t looking… I was eligible. I had a great agent. How did that happen?
When you are hot, when you are the one with the buzz, somehow everything comes together and with no rhyme or reason. Do I know of actors who’ve bought their SAG vouchers? Sure. Do I know of actors who’ve paid the Taft-Hartley fine in order to be hired on a SAG film? Yep. Do I think that’s what you need to do… since it’s not likely you’re going to try the tight sweater trick? No way. I’m a fan of being where you’re supposed to be when you’re supposed to be there. That means you should keep pursuing your dream (and your dream is not to be a SAG member, right? It’s to be a working actor) and the rest will fall in line.
Let go of the fact that you didn’t take the 80-hour road to SAG-dom four years ago. Keep doing good work with your theatre company (invite every CD, producer, and director you know to every great show you do), work that networking muscle, and look into doing some standup and improv comedy. Just have fun with this life! We are amazingly lucky to be able to do all of this for a living… and if we’re not earning a penny at it, it’s still what we do for a living, right? Could you live without acting? I doubt it. It’s in your soul. So do it, enjoy it, and eventually, you’ll get paid a good living wage to do it.
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/000100.html. Please support the many wonderful resources provided by the Breakdown Services family. This posting is the author’s personal archive.