Actor? Where to start?
So, you decided to move to Hollywood to pursue acting. There are a lot of scamming managers and agents who will be promising you roles in exchange for fees. They will tell you that you need to take pictures with their photographer, take classes with them…
When I came to Los Angeles (with BA in acting from one of the biggest acting universities in the world) I believed everyone. After getting burnt several times and after thousands of $$$ I opened my own management company and helped several actors to launch their career. It also helped me to become SAG by getting a voice over job. But the most important thing that I have learnt was how this business runs.
My suggestion would be that you choose a photographer that is not photographer for models, but for actors. Get photos in few different costumes (i.e. casual, business, soccer mom, hip…). Before the shoot write down life stories for each character that you feel you could play. Be honest to yourself. These back stories will reflect in your eyes. And eyes are the most important thing when casting director browses through pictures.
When you have headshots done you need to create a resume. Don’t put extra work on your resume!!! If you haven’t done anything yet, you might want to buy BackStage West and send out submissions for student movies. Or even easier, you might want to subscribe to http://www.nowcasting.com/ where you can submit yourself to various union and non-union projects.
A great website to find yourself a commercial agent is http://www.lacasting.com/
When you sign with an agent or a manager (you can find always updated list on http://www.nowcasting.com/) you will need to sign up to http://www.actorsaccess.com/
And don’t waste your life by coming to Los Angeles thinking that you are going to work full time as an actor from a day one. You need to find yourself a “real” job before you even pursue acting. If you are starved, desperate, occupied with an idea to earn big bucks… that will reflect when you are auditioning. And nobody in the industry has time to deal with your frustrations, desperations and insufficient experiences.
I’d love to hear from people about their first steps in Hollywood, about running out of money, being scammed, about getting a job…
Break a leg everyone!
