Hop in the way-back machine! It’s been six months since I challenged you to spend the year making progress on ten Working Actor Resolutions. I know at the time you first read the list, you thought I was being really generous, suggesting that you could take the entire year to make progress. So, half the year is gone. Are you making good progress? Let’s check in.
1. Set yourself up for success, not failure. Did you start out by setting reasonable goals and realistic timelines for achieving them? If so, then you should be pleased with how your progress-check goes today. If not, then remember that note about giving yourself a little slack for slipping up. Get back on track and make the most out of what’s left in 2005.
2. Meet one new industry person each month. Have you made six new industry friends thus far in 2005? Are you building healthy relationships with other actors, with agents and managers, with casting directors, with acting coaches, with writers, with directors, with producers? If not, you need to bump up the level of networking you’re doing and begin to connect with others in this industry. Remember, you’re not doing this in an attempt to get work! You’re simply making connections with others in the business, investing in yourself and your peer group. Look at what you can offer others rather than what they can offer you. See if you can introduce another actor to an agent, perhaps facilitating a meeting between them for future representation.
3. Update your demo reel. Have you tracked down all of the footage that’s “out there” of your work? Have you met with an editor to determine what belongs on your reel (and in what order)? If you’ve edited your reel, have you made enough duplicates of it to have on hand when someone asks for a copy? Have you uploaded your reel to a website for easy online viewing? If you haven’t done ANY of that yet, it’s okay, as I advised you to take the entire year to get this done. It just means you now have six months to get your demo reel updated, reproduced, and uploaded. Remember, this item always looks easier than it actually is, to accomplish. Just start the process. We want you to have a demo reel. Get to work making it happen!
4. Get better at a special skill. Have you improved your accents and dialects? Have you physically DONE each of the special skills you list on your resumé in the six months since I asked you to look at the list? I mean it! Have you ridden a horse? Snowboarded? Windsurfed? Played beach volleyball? If you haven’t done something recently that’s on your special skills list, get to it. Stay sharp. Anything that you couldn’t do (within reason) upon request in the audition room tomorrow, consider removing from your resumé for the time being.
5. Let someone change you. Have you been somewhat transformed by a character you’ve portrayed this year? Have you allowed your study of the human condition (which is what acting is, truly) to affect you at a deeper level than the performance itself? Are you letting those you meet and work with shape your inner self? Being open to these things strengthens your acting choices and enriches you personally.
6. Move up a tier. Did you start the year looking at yourself to see in which environments you were at the top of your group? In the areas where you were “big fish,” did you choose to grow by moving to a larger pond? If not (meaning, you are still the top dog in your acting class, you continued to book co-stars all pilot season rather than bumping up to guest-star billing, or you continued doing copy/credit/meals projects instead of beginning to say no), what are you waiting for? Check in with yourself and decide whether it’s time to move up a tier. If it’s not yet time, that’s okay, but I’d advise you to make a resolution for the last half of 2005 that you will GET ready to move up a tier by year’s end. You owe it to yourself! You’re pursuing this career for a reason (and you’re not doing it at community theatre in Alaska, for cryin’ out loud)!
7. Take a day off every week. Are you practicing the “non-actor human” life one day a week? If so, you should already feel enriched by the volunteer work you’ve been doing and you should see your surroundings improving due to the gift of time you’ve committed. If you’ve not taken 26 days off from acting (and reading about acting, talking about acting, pursuing acting, and training as an actor) in the year thus far, you’ve been cheating yourself. We all need balance, and that means taking time off from work. If you’ve not been taking time off, I wonder how fully-committed you’ve been to working your career path during the “time on.” Remember, this is a full-time job, despite the non-traditional elements involved in the pursuit of acting. That means your pursuit of acting should be vigorous and your full day of down time should be truly different from the little breaks you take during the “work week.”
8. Intern. By now, you should’ve given a day up to open headshot submissions, answer phones, work as a reader, usher at a play, assist on a set, run errands for a producer, copy sides, anything you haven’t experienced in the industry thus far! If you haven’t done so, get on it! Shifts in perspective are very valuable to creative types. Every actor who has interned for me (even if for only one day) has said, “I have learned SO MUCH!” Offer yourself up to those with whom you click in the industry. They may need another set of hands and might love to have you join them for the day!
9. Write it all down. Did you start a blog yet? Did you buy a blank book in which to scribble your inspirational concepts for sketches or characters in your one-person-show? Did you start carrying a notebook with you so that you can jot down ideas that creep up while you’re on set or in acting class? Did you at least put a pad of paper by the bed so that you can note themes that emerge in your dreams? If you haven’t done any of this, seriously consider doing it now. I understand being reluctant to start the process of writing. I still think you should do it. You’ll love what you end up with, over time. Trust me.
10. Stay grateful. Remember, this was the one resolution I begged you not to blow off. Are you grateful every day that you get to pursue your dream? I am. Do you appreciate that you get to live a creative life that most folks never get a glimpse of? I do! Does it thrill you that every time you get an audition (regardless of the callback, booking, or anything else), since that is the industry agreeing that you are, in fact, an actor? It should. If you haven’t been good at practicing gratitude so far this year, pick up the Simple Abundance Journal of Gratitude and just start listing the absolute littlest things for which you are grateful. Every day. If you can’t find a daily reason to be grateful for the fact that you’re an actor, there’s a deeper issue to address.
I sincerely hope you’re having a delightful 2005 thus far. If this column has been a delightful reminder that you’ve made great progress with your Working Actor Resolutions, yippee! If there are leaps and bounds you’d expected to have made by now that seem to have gotten pushed aside due to the “little things” that crop in during everyday life, take comfort in the fact that you still have six months to get it in gear!
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/000251.html. Please support the many wonderful resources provided by the Breakdown Services family. This posting is the author’s personal archive.