Jonathan Flom - Act Like Its Your Business: Branding and Marketing Strategies for Actors

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How many people get to wake up every day excited about getting out of bed and going to work? Ask aroundyour parents, your friends, your coworkersand Ill bet youll find that the statistics are staggeringly low. On the whole, my guess is that most people are split down the middle between tolerating their jobs and loathing them.

You are reading this book, I assume, because you have made the choice to pursue a career in theatre, acting, or the arts. Some would say this is a noble profession; others would call it a pipe dream. I say you are to be commended if you have in fact decided to commit yourself to this path. I can honestly tell you that I wake up every single morning and tell myself how lucky I am to be able to make my living doing what I love to do. I run a tremendously exciting musical theatre training program; I get to direct plays and musicals regularly, both on the university campus and in professional venues; I get to travel around the world lecturing and coaching on audition technique and the business of theatre; and I get to write about the subject I love! What more could I ask for?

I know a lot of actorsits a hazard of the trade. Many of the actors I know are absolutely miserable, scared, stressed, and utterly baffled on a daily basis by the rigors of this business. They feel as though their unhappiness comes with the territory: theyve chosen to be artists, ergo, they must suffer. But I also know a handful of actors who wake every morning with optimism, joy, and determination. No, its not because those happy few all have steady work or because they got lucky and got their big breaks. Its because they have a sense of confidence, motivation, and self-direction. Those qualities come as the result of a combination of three factors that I can identify:

1. Having a plan by which to guide their careers (thats rightI assert that even a lowly actor can choose to guide his own career!)
2. Being financially free and solvent
3. Recognizing that each audition, just like each paid or nonpaid gig, is a chance to spend a little bit of time doing what they love to do

Furthermore, the actors I know who are living happy, fulfilled lives know who they are and what they can do. They are not desperately pounding the pavement trying to sport their versatility and willingness to do absolutely anything to be noticed. They have the quiet confidence to know what makes them tick and to know how to showcase their particular gifts as only they can.

This book is about helping you achieve that fulfillment in your life as you pursue your acting career. Its about helping you create a plan by which you can gain a great deal of control over your destiny. Its about reminding you to feed your soul with your art, rather than letting it starve you as you struggle day to day. Believe me, it is entirely possible. But it will take a great deal of willpower, determination, hard work, focus, and commitment.

I truly believe that if you dont just skim this book for ideas, but rather utilize it as a step-by-step guide to crafting your career, you can find success, happiness, and inner peace. The information in the pages ahead is laid out in a deliberate, step-by-step process for you. Take the time to really read each chapter and absorb it before moving on to the next. I offer you specific exercises throughout the book, some of which can be done quickly in your head, others that will be longer-term, more involved projects. But whatever the case, I suggest you really give each of the exercises a thorough go before moving on. This way youll know youve taken every step possible to ensure you have control over your career.

I cannot take credit for all of the ideas put forth in this book. Over the years I have been teaching, I have developed an approach to training my students that comes from a solid combination of my own observations and personal aesthetic along with many great lessons and influences of other very wise people. This book is simply my way of combining the ideas that I have found most serviceable all in one compact manual. It is essentially the distillation of a course I teach called Preparation for the Theatre Profession. As we go along, I will certainly give credit where credit is due, and I will offer you recommended reading and Internet research where apropos.

Overture

Before we can begin our work on launching your career, there are two items we must address: the first has to do with finances and the second has to do with self-awareness. I know its only the first day of class, but I already have a couple of homework assignments for you.

Lets begin with the financial discussion.

I am going to assume that you are a college student, a recent graduate, or perhaps a person who is making the transition to becoming a professional actor. In any of these cases, Im also going to surmise that you might likely not be in a state of utter financial solvency. Most young artists I meet are stressed about student loans, the high rent and cost of living in major cities, and perhaps racked-up credit card debt from their college yearsthat was certainly my story coming out of college. The first major stumbling block youll encounter in trying to kick-start a performing career is the exorbitant cost of it all. Its mesmerizing! Just think: youll need great headshots, nice resume paper, audition attire, a constant influx of new audition material, money to take classes, not to mention time away from work to facilitate your availability to audition. Any way you cut it, its not an inexpensive venture.

I know many young actors who get quickly discouraged by the vicious circle that financial constraints place upon them. They need to pay rent so they get a day job that requires too many hours. They set a timeline for making money, after which they plan to have enough to be able to start auditioning. Then they feel out of the loop and out of practice and they find it hard to motivate themselves to get back on the proverbial horse and get into the audition room. Once they finally do get in the room, their confidence is not what it was directly out of school, and they suddenly find themselves rusty, cynical, and frustrated. I hate to be negative, but I see some variation of this cycle all the time, and I truly believe that with a little foresight and planning, it can be avoided.