It’s so funny when this happens. Funny strange, not so much funny ha-ha. Since 1999, I’ve kept a running list of topics for future columns and I usually know mid-week what I’ll spend my weekend writing about, for y’all to consume Monday morning. This week’s topic was decided upon days ago. I outlined it. Found some examples to show off. Created a list of analogies to try out. Topic ready and waiting for me to jump into. Hooray!
And then Friday night happened. The hashtag #HasJustineLanded led millions of Twitter users to the reactions to the insensitive pre-flight tweet posted by IAC’s former director of communications Justine Sacco, wherein folks speculated about what would happen to her, to her Twitter account, and to her job once she landed and saw the uproar she had created in fewer than 140 characters before boarding the plane.
If you’re not up on this topic, this article covers it succinctly, and has been updated to include an apology (finally) issued by Sacco for her careless words. The shocker in all of this is that this is a person whose JOB included communications on behalf of huge brands. Job requirements for such a position tend to include the ability to run everything through the brand filter, and — even in your personal communications — to keep in mind that your words matter, and can’t be thrown around casually.
Saturday morning came and I was interviewed on La La Land Talk Live. Now, I’ve done the “how did you get into casting” Q&A probably 400 times, at this point in my life, and I have a monologue, pretty much, that I use. But on Saturday, I started talking and realized, “Oh, wow. I’m rambling. It’s too early in the interview to be rambling. And we already started late and we’re going to go over. I’d better cut this part. And that part too. Okay, how do I do that without sacrificing the point of the story? Oh, that works. Well… no, that’s not exactly right. Well, close enough. Um, okay, this engineer has been frantically waving in my peripheral vision for like ten seconds now. I’m still rambling. Now he’s really flailing his arms around and flapping like crazy. He *must* be trying to get my attention. No. The host of the show is not reacting. The engineer must be gesturing to someone else. There’s no one else HERE. He’s got to be trying to tell me something. I’m still rambling. Oh, now this story makes no sense and did I just say that I loved amassing student loans and THAT is why I went to grad school? What the heck?!? Screw it. Oh, man. He won’t stop flailing around. I’ve got to stop and ask him if he’s trying to tell me something. This will sound horrible on the air. Hell, it already does. I’ve screwed up three things about my own freakin’ bio at this point and I’m totally distracted. What do I do? Crap. I’ll just…” and then I stopped and asked him what he needed from me… just as the person to whom he was *trying* to communicate took care of whatever it was that needed to be taken care of.
I sounded like an idiot. It was like I’d never been on the air before (rather than like I’d logged hundreds if not thousands of on-air hours between my seven years in radio and the dozens upon dozens of interviews I’ve done over the years).
At lunch after the interview, I spent some time thinking about how — even when we know better — we sometimes step in shit, plain and simple. We mess up. We fall down. We get it wrong. We misjudge our ninja moves. Now, I’m not saying: “Forgive and forget,” for Sacco. Nor am I siding with those who say Twitter created a lynch mob over a bad joke. What I *am* saying is that, in the end, we *all* have to be responsible for what we put out there — whether the rest of the world has the whole story or not.
Because this week’s topic was already outlined to include tips for utilizing the web smartly, I thought both Sacco’s tweet and my web-show ramble could be used as examples of how even folks who live fully aware of better ways to do things can screw up… and that should give you — especially if you’re convinced you’ll do it wrong — a little breathing room to make mistakes and learn from them.
So, here’s my quick list of how to be smart about your online presence, as an actor.
1. Don’t feel you have to be on any particular site, or do any particular thing. Just because other actors have a thriving presence on Twitter, brag about thousands of Facebook fans, or blast out monthly email updates using MailChimp does NOT mean that’s right for you. If any of the online stuff feels *icky* to you, don’t do it. The only online presence that is truly required is your Actors Access profile, one at Casting Networks if you do commercials, and a photo and reel posted at your IMDb profile, once you’ve scored juicy IMDb-level credits! You should be Googleable and you should certainly keep fans (including casting directors and talent reps) apprised of your progress, but that doesn’t mean you have to create some newsletter you’re not feeling any attachment to, much less blast it out to the world when you really don’t have much to say.
2. LinkedIn doesn’t really work for actors. I canceled my LinkedIn account in early 2012, shortly after a security breach compromised millions of users’ accounts. I figured it was a great time to hop off a site that had started to annoy me after six years, because someone advised actors use LinkedIn to ask for endorsements. Brilliant, huh? Actors I had never met began bombarding me with requests for endorsements. Actors whom had only ever auditioned for me (but never received callbacks, much less bookings) began begging for endorsements. Let’s assume I would say yes! What would I say? “Joe is an actor. He has never booked a role in a project I have cast.” How is that helpful? LinkedIn is a powerful tool for people in other businesses, and even for some folks in non-acting areas of show business. SOME. But if you’re on LinkedIn, use it for researching people, not for trying to build connections. Its linear structure doesn’t really line up with what it is we do and how we build relationships, as creatives.
3. If you create a YouTube channel, keep the uploads flowing. Not every actor is meant to have a YouTube channel, but for those who love putting up new content — whether it’s demo reel footage, short scenes you’re shooting with others, audition sides you’re playing with (see below), vlogs about your journey as an actor, tutorials on something unique that you are great at doing, or anything else — consistency is your best friend. If you’re getting subscribers, reward them with content. If you’re getting comments, reply. Build your fanbase by engaging with them. Heck, check out Greg Benson, whose latest upload was all over mainstream TV last week, landing him on the radar of millions for simply doing what he’s been doing — consistently — for over seven years. Not bad, right?
4. Know your ABCs, NDAs, and T&Cs. If you’ve signed a non-disclosure agreement, you’d better not be uploading anything (vid, photos, even status updates) that violates that contract. Actors have lost gigs after tweeting that they’ve landed them. Actors have been sued for divulging plotlines on shows. I’ve talked before about the dangers of hitting “like” all over the place — especially if you’re a commercial actor hoping to remain conflict-free — and the best documentary I’ve seen on this topic is called Terms and Conditions May Apply. Please, pay attention to the rights you’re granting sites like Facebook, Instagram, even YouTube, when you upload your goodies. Get informed! There *is* a price to free.
5. Lurk then lead. If you know you were born to be on a Ryan Murphy show, you should be filling your show bible with information about not just him, but his team. Sure, use Google Alerts to amass data, but also follow his casting director on Twitter. Subscribe to his head writer’s YouTube channel. Listen to every podcast on which Murphy himself appears — even if the topic is not about casting — because the edge most actors seek comes from loads of this type of work. (And it’s work most actors won’t do. So, yay, you, for doing it!)
Ah… and as if on cue in the land of the “rule of three,” as I wrap this up, I’ve now had a third experience that feels destined to be in this week’s column. Start here to see it. A Florida-based actor reached out on Twitter to ask what to do, as a “producer” became increasingly antagonistic via email when the actor wouldn’t send him “sexy” photos of her body for a casting notice he had posted online.
My *very* first reaction was to send her to two posts from the archives, specifically about the best protection an actor can have when self-submitting on indie projects. That is: Research! If you’re submitting on any casting site — yes, even the gold standard sites that vet people before they post notices, like Actors Access does — part of your pre-submitting homework is checking out the principals on IMDb-Pro to be certain they have a track record of producing content and telling stories that align with what it is you hope to do, as an actor.
Especially if you’re viewing notices on the lower-tier casting sites (or NON-casting sites that sometimes list “opportunities” for actors), that search at IMDb-Pro is a no-brainer. (Also ask yourself why they’re trolling for actors on non-pro submission sites, rather than at the biggies.) If you ignore your research and your spidey sense and submit anyway and then — as you’re asked to leave your comfort zone — your questions are going unanswered (especially as you’re being asked to send increasingly revealing photos to a “producer” whose track record is unverifiable) stop. Walk away. Remember that YOU are worth more than that nonsense.
Be smart. Forgive yourself for moments when you were less smart. Be smarter tomorrow. EVERY tomorrow. I’ll see you online. 😉
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/001756.html. Please support the many wonderful resources provided by the Breakdown Services family. This posting is the author’s personal archive.