I am writing this while The Actors’ Network is celebrating its 20th anniversary. I mention that because one of (TAN founder) Kevin E. West’s favorite sayings is appropriate for this week’s column: “Just because it’s possible doesn’t make it a good idea.”

Someone out there is telling actors to join LinkedIn and to ask casting directors for recommendations through the site. Bad, bad, bad idea. And I know it’s being suggested because I’ve been on LinkedIn for many years and it seems that 2011 is officially “the year that all the actors hopped on.”

Look, Hollywood is not Corporate America and LinkedIn was not created for the Hollywood machine. Sure, some entertainment industry folks may use it — and with some success — but the tools social networking has put into our hands are sharp and pointy and dangerous if not used smartly.

If I worked in Corporate America, a letter of recommendation from my old boss would tell my prospective new boss that I’m worth meeting. True.

In Hollywood, your “old boss” is a director who continues to direct projects on which you continue to be considered. Repeat business is your letter of recommendation. Loyalty is your endorsement.

To ask the casting director who brought you in for a preread, then decided you earned a callback, which got you on the radar of the producer, who eventually decided with a committee (most likely) that you would be the actor to whom they’d offer the role… is just silly!

If you’re an actor with an average “hit ratio” for a major casting office, you may get a recommendation that reads like this:

In 20 years of casting — and in Bill’s six years in Los Angeles — I have found Bill to be the appropriate type for a role four times. Once, he was right enough and he did a good enough job in his audition that I put him in front of producers, and they agreed that he was worth casting, which we did. I look forward to bringing him in again when he is right for the role, and hope he will again be what the producers are looking for, so that he gets cast.

If you’re an actor who has asked for — and received — far more stellar reviews from casting directors at LinkedIn, consider yourself very lucky. Here’s my question: Have you gone back and reviewed the CD? Have you considered paying it forward and reviewing the CD before being so bold as to ask for a review? Something like: “Her auditions are always well-organized and on time. I always have more than enough information ahead of time to prepare for the audition. I look forward to reading for her again.”

Of course not. That’s her job. She did her job and that’s cool. (Of course, if you have reviewed a CD, then you’re super nice and this column isn’t directed at you.)

Have you reviewed your agent or manager? “He gets me out as often as he can, always pitching for me and hustling to get me into rooms I couldn’t get into on my own. When I book, he always tries to get me a better deal. He is an integral part of my team, as a working actor.” How about your coaches? Your mentors? Have you lavished love on what they’ve done to help you get to where you are?

Hey, that’s great, if you have! But while I have all confidence that actors smart enough to read this column every week are not the “average actor” type — I want to make sure y’all know there’s a population of actors out there who throb like a toothache, at every turn. Their neediness is palpable. Don’t be that actor! (And understand when we get frustrated with “that actor.” There’s a lot of ’em.)

Let’s now consider the reviews you might get if you’re reaching out to folks who have never repped you, never cast you, never worked with you with any level of intimacy or consistency. I bring this angle up because, after this past week, my inbox is overstuffed with emails from headshot photographers, acting coaches, and demo reel editors, begging for votes in the Backstage reader poll. Those emails infuriate me, as I have never been a customer to any of these folks, and — while I understand they need votes because a mention in the “Best of LA” edition is more valuable than ad space bought in the same publication, and they need the customers that a “win” sends their way — I believe, if you do good work, people will say so. Asking them to say so? That seems disingenuous to me. But that’s just my personal comfort level with this whole thing. Don’t mind me; I’ll just shake my cane at the kids on my lawn from my porch, on this issue.

My point was that doing outreach to people who aren’t even in a position to evaluate your work (like these folks pandering for “best of” votes, to people who don’t even know them) is ridiculous! A casting director who evaluated your work for five minutes, once, five years ago (and who never ended up casting you) is not a good target for a LinkedIn review! It boggles my mind that actors who read for me in 2003 (and who didn’t get cast) think I should write a review for them. Can you imagine what such a review would say, if I actually took the time to write one?

Joe is an actor. He read for me once in 2003 for a $25,000-budget SAG Experimental feature film. According to my notes, he was a non-pro, needed training, didn’t look like his headshot, and had prepared the wrong sides. I gave him another shot on a webseries in 2007. He hadn’t improved. His headshots were better, though.

And if I did cast you, you didn’t work for me! Your on-set experience is best reviewed by someone who shared the set with you. All I can say is that you did well enough in an audition for a role for which you were the right type to earn a callback — and then an offer for the role came after the producer approved it. That I’m a fan of your work means you’ll get called in again and again. Our system isn’t at all similar to Corporate America in terms of references, where you need a letter of recommendation from me in order to get seen by a bigger, better casting director. Being seen by anyone — consistently — is its own reward, here, because you’ll continue to be called in (and hopefully cast) for decades. That is your performance review. Your letter of recommendation. Your endorsement.

Colleen Wainwright brilliantly wrote about this recently, and I think it’s important to do what feels right for you, of course. But social networking makes it very easy for actors to do what is easy to CLICK, rather than what might be the smartest use of their online relationships. If your buyers begin to perceive you as someone who needs to ask for votes or endorsements or recommendations, rather than someone who is out there, so busy, working and connecting and not even noticing what’s being said (since it’s all about the work), couldn’t the simple act of asking for a review erode your brand? Possibly.

I’ve talked with filmmakers about the downside to doing a Kickstarter or Indie-Go-Go campaign, as it not only shows the world how much money you can raise (which could be a good or bad thing, depending on factors you can’t know ’til it’s too late, and it’s all out there) but also how little money you have, to start. And if you’re trying to attach a name actor, for instance, the last thing you want to do is get your potential source for name actors (their agents) aware of how far you are from your budget. Talk about eroding confidence!

Point is, think it through. There are nuances to this social networking thing that may or may not apply to the very peculiar and beautiful world that is acting. Before you click, think it through.

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/001336.html. Please support the many wonderful resources provided by the Breakdown Services family. This posting is the author’s personal archive.