Breaking into film and television requires perseverance. Along the way, there are many costs associated with the pursuit of this career. Those costs range from housing, photos, continued training, getting to and from auditions, etc. To give yourself a better chance at longevity, you need to set yourself up with employment that both covers your overhead but also, leaves time open to go to auditions.
“You are either training or working.”
One thing that I want you express to you, is that acting is very competitive. You must put the work in. One huge mistake that I see many actors make is that they take an acting course and think, they are ready. There are some courses out there that require a two year commitment. If you are just starting out, this is only scratching the surface. If it is a technique you like, sign up for their on-going classes. The pursuit of acting is often compared with a marathon. To run a marathon you must continually train. You can’t say I trained for a marathon five years ago, so I can finish one now. I have wasted time and some good; possibly life changing; opportunities because my mentality was, I have enough training.
Find yourself a good acting studio to train in, you can refer to a prior post(first steps to becoming an actor) for tips on choosing one. Most acting studios range from $250 – $350 per month. the price could depend on how many times a week the class meets, to the reputation of the studio/instructor. Some added costs to classes include purchasing the study material(which are usually plays), meals, and transportation.
Professional marketing material.
An actor’s business card is their headshot. An actor’s headshot is a close up photograph of the actor from mid chest up. Actor’s headshots are an entire other topic all together. So, I will cover them in more detail in another post.
A professional headshot photo session varies widely in price range and package, they can range from $250 – $1,200. For women, having a dedicated hair and make up person to take care of you during the shoot can cost you at least another $150. Sorry ladies. For adults, these headshots should last you a couple of years before you need to get new ones. Children and teens tend to change more dramatically in a shorter time period, so they may need to update their photos more frequently.
Once you have your headshots, and you have narrowed the choices down, you will have to upload them to the casting sites. Each casting site charges a different fee. If you don’t have representation, there are some sites that will charge a monthly fee. The main ones are Actor’s Access, Casting Networks(NY), and LA Casting. On these sights you can submit yourself for projects that fit your description. Starting out, I would also recommend a subscription to Backstage.com. Backstage has great helpful articles, they have a list of agents and casting directors, and casting opportunities. You can also upload your headshots there and submit yourself to various projects.
In this digital age, you don’t have to print out a large amount of headshots unless you are going to do a mailing to agents or casting directors. If you are just starting out, I wouldn’t recommend doing a mailing just yet. If you want, you can print a small quantity. Most printing companies will have a 20 copy minimum. Just in case you get an audition from one of the smaller productions and they ask for it. In the larger productions they don’t really ask for headshots anymore. I don’t remember the last time I was asked for one.
Research
To be competitive as an actor, it is required that you are familiar with the television shows you will be auditioning for. Which means you will need to either get a subscription to the online platforms(Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video, etc.) or purchase the shows a la carte. Unless you have access to someone else’s account(you didn’t hear that from me). To good part is, if some get’s on your case for watching TV, you can tell them you are doing research.
Self-tape auditions
Although, more and more auditions are self tapes with online callbacks, you still have to live locally to get to the set if you book the job. A self tape audition is an audition you record outside of the casting office. This type of audition can be recorded at home or in a studio. If you choose to do it at home, a smartphone will suffice, no need to go out and buy a professional camera. You must, however, use a tripod and I highly recommend getting some type of microphone to connect to your smartphone. I almost forgot, you’re going to need reliable internet service.
Housing and transportation
The cities where most of the larger productions take place are going to have a higher cost of living. Depending on what stage you are in life, you may be fine with sharing costs with a roommate. This can help considerably with keeping your costs down. Once you are ready to make that move, you want to make sure that you are not that far from the casting offices because that is where you will spend most of your time going. Remember that these are added travel expenses on top of your job commute. In New York, chances are you will not need a car. However, you will need one in Atlanta and Los Angeles.
I have lived in both New York and Los Angeles. It’s been my experience that in New York the trains are pretty reliable and give you the opportunity to go over your audition material on your way to auditions. I would not recommend driving into Manhattan during the day. It is very stressful and you will end up paying too much for parking.
In Los Angeles, Driving is how you get around and you will spend a lot of time in your car. I recommend getting yourself a reliable, fuel efficient car. Use that time to listen to audiobooks. You can download them for free from the library app when you sign up for a library card.
So, before packing your bags and moving to another city to be closer to the action, consider all these added costs. The internet has opened the door to many “gig’s” you can do to make money on your own time, even job’s we didn’t know existed. We all have different talents and there may be someone out there who needs that particular talent. The internet has expanded our network.
The last thing you want to do is uproot your life to pursue your dream and not be able to move forward on it because you are just struggling to survive. If you already live in a city where film and television productions take place, then take the steps necessary to get yourself moving toward your goal.
I hope to see you soon on screen. Let me know if this was helpful and if there is any other topic you would like me to cover.