Feast or Famine
#THE LEAN YEARS
We all get into this game with the hope of being successful, maintaining a steady income and being able to live out our dreams just like we see the A-List stars of Hollywood do so on a daily basis. Unfortunately the reality is far less exciting. It is more often then not that phone never rings, that big break never comes and we are left alone, hating everything about this industry: working dead end jobs to pay the bills, occasionally wondering why we put ourselves through this. However passion is a hard thing to squash and if you truly are passionate about these creative dreams, no matter how often we face rejection or get knocked down we find a way to stand back up. The dry period in which we just struggle to get by will ultimately build our character. If we can survive through all the tough times, and there will be a lot, nothing will stop you finding success; it just takes some longer than others.
#A PLENTIFUL HARVEST
Sometimes things fall into our lap, auditions are almost weekly, whether they are for theatre, TV/Film or commercials it helps put a spring in our step. The more we audition the higher our chances of booking that gig, which means potential money, in the case of TVC's it could be a years wage for a days work. Things just seem to be going your way and after years you get that feeling like this is it, it's about to happen, all that hard work is about to pay off. You start landing multiple roles, the bank account is building, our soul is nourished as we are finally doing what we love, what we have spent years studying for. The acting gods have opened the doors for you and all you need to do is walk through. Your friends are all wishing they were getting the opportunities you were getting as your face is on TV on a daily basis, life is good.
#SILENCE
With in the blink of an eye, everything that was going so well vanishes. It's gone. The phone doesn't ring, the auditions have dried up and you're back to square one. There is no rhyme or reason for this, it just happens. We see it time and time again in the industry, an actor is hot one moment the next minute they have been forgotten. This quiet time can last a year or more and this is where it gets tough. People just throw it all away look for a job with a steady income and say they had a good crack it just didn't pan out. How you handle the down time is the most important part of this field. How can we get back in those doors on a consistent basis, we need to critically look at everything we do. What is lacking from our work: most of us just say we need new headshots and a new showreel that will freshen us up. But the reality is why is this showreel different from your last? Have you improved your skill set? Get out there and study, train and improve your craft, look for other avenues, independent projects that resonate with you, just don't stop working. We all have stories to tell. Try writing them into a script, produce your own work and make it great. There are so many things that we can do throughout the silence but most of us just wait; we do the standard things and hope they look at us again. The reality is if they aren't looking at you now they wont often look at you for long so your job is to give them no other option to look at you.