BadAss Actor Blog

How to talk to your agents to get them to submit you for the right projects...

12/6/2014

A Love Letter to my Fellow Artists - Part I

Thank you for all of the amazing questions. I coach artists in all the things I do because I had to learn the hard way about the different genres of on camera work, how to self-produce, raise money, how to survive as an actor in NYC temping and auditioning for Theatre/TV/Film. No one taught me these things.

I kept feeling like there was this secret, that a bunch of MFA's in the classes ahead of me knew that I didn't. I was taught to listen and respond, speech, history, movement. All these incredible things to make me a strong actor. I was stumbling blind in the business and all the things that my teachers were telling me were outdated because they had not worked in the industry for 30 years. Don't get me wrong, all that technique was invaluable, but I needed more contact with working professionals my last two years of school. To learn how to read an Equity or SAG contract, define my brand and teach it to my agents, so they could get me more auditions, what goes in a reel, press kit, website or how to interview a photographer or what makes a good head shot. No one was giving me instructions on how to choose material for showcase that would make me more commercial or even how to audition for August Wilson. The first time I was in front of a camera was 3 weeks before graduation of my 3 year program and that was a one day class. I bombed in my showcase and no one signed me. Defeat makes you creative which is when I started learning about the business of acting. #actors #actorslife

Click Here to learn the 90 min Secret to Booking More Auditions

16 Comments

Hubert Pont DuJour

11/24/2014 08:03:39 am

Hi April

When you get the breakdowns, are there separate ones for theater and film/tv, or are they kinda all together?

April Yvette Thompson link

11/25/2014 04:04:22 am

Hola Hubert:

When are you coming to read my play again, ha? Generally, breakdowns are for everything in the business from commercials, to cruise ship singers to reality shows to classical theatre, indie film, primetime principals and extras and broadway musicals. It's lumped together by date. Thanks.

Be well,

April
AprilYvetteThompson.com
TheDreamUnLocked.weebly.com

Carmen Lobue

11/24/2014 08:48:25 am

Hi April:

I've produced several web series and shorts on my own, but I feel like I was just learning as I was going along and just getting it done without necessarily any forward movement in my career. How can I raise the game of my projects that I'm producing, writing and acting in?

11/25/2014 04:09:32 am

Hola Lovely Carmen:

I know we've gone over much of this in our private coaching session, but here are some additional thoughts. Find a writer who has written a successful TV show, Film, Play and/or web series whose work speaks to you. Then study with that writer and learn their technique, the fast and dirty version. If you can't afford to study with them, intern for them in return for them teaching you how to write for your genre. The quicker way is to pay them to write it for you or to be a script doctor of your first draft.

I say, go to an established writer, because that person will also become your mentor and advocate when it's time to produce your web series. They will write recommendations, use their powerful relationships to get you financial support or viewership or introduce you to industry folks who know how to get the webseries made.

The prime mistake artists often make when they're learning a new skill is to collaborate with a group of artists who are in the same exact place they are. That does nothing for your learning curve and it doesn't serve the work. I wanted to write a solo show that was irreverent, political theatre with a heart. I had never written a play or done a solo show. I asked a writer who had her first play, a peice of irreverent, beautiful political theatre, "The Exonerated" produced off broadway running for 2 years and made into a film which I starred in. She had done, what I wanted to do, so I partnered with her on my first play. The result was that I was produced off Broadway with my first play ever and then toured nationally. She knew something I didn't so I partnered with her and learned how to write. No one gets their first writing attempt to have so much critical success, unless you collaborate with folks who've done what you want to do.

The second piece is that you need an audience that you build long before, you write the web series. You should have a FB page, website, Instagram, Twitter, Tumbler accounts that are the title of your webseries. You begin by posting content related to your webseries. Say, your webseries is about medical marijuana, start posting funny articles and quotes about it. Begin creating an audience, so that when you build it, opening weekend, you will have 50K hits like Issa Rae's "Awkward Black Girl"

That audience you build will also be the folks who you write individual letters during your crowd funding campaign to raise money. But before you do that, you've already chosen a seasoned writer, now choose a seasoned creative team: a Line producer to handle the technical details of your shoot, create a budget and who can walk you through the process. If this person is seasoned, they can get lots of post costs done for a bargain (ADR, editing, etc). Then find a producer to help you manage it and raise money. The more credits they have, the more likely your web series will get into festivals which can lead to network offers. Bring in a seasoned director, as well and include all of these peoples' salaries in the crowd funding budget. If you've never fundraised, you can do one of two things: 1. Take a class, private sessions with someone who has raised money successfully and have them coach you through it. 2. Hire a producer to raise the money for you and pay them a small percentage of everything that they raise.

This is where it begins. Everything I've done in my career was something new I had never done before, write/act/produce an Off Broadway solo show, a Sundance film, Act/Produca a broadway play. These were all firsts and they worked out because I paid someone or partnered with someone who knew a lot more than me. It has paid off triple fold.

Check out Isa Rae's notes:

http://splitsider.com/2011/09/this-week%E2%80%99s-web-series-you-need-to-watch-the-mis-adventures-of-awkward-black-girl/

Thanks.

Be well,

April Yvette Thompson
AprilYvetteThompson.com
TheDreamUnLocked.weebly.com

Jas Anderson

11/25/2014 03:42:59 am

Hey how can I apply for first project that is posted in the castings?

April Yvette Thompson

11/25/2014 04:12:46 am

Hi Jas:

When we get casting notices, we try to give all the info we have and sometimes that isn't much, that's when it's your turn to become a detective, look up the casting directors. First, look for the casting director or the name of the project in Actors' Access. No luck, then google them and get the address of their offices. If you google the name of the project, the network that's creating it will often come up, then submit their casting office. Or ask your agent to submit you. Either way, it's important that you're perfect for the role and that you're sending them a self-submission (resume, headshot, cover letter) that look like you're in the game. You should have significant credits that mirror the role you're submitting yourself for and a professional submission package. Stay tuned for the next video on this page on Wed, 11/26 where I take folks step by step through the submissions process. Thanks.

Thanks and be well,

April Yvette Thompson
TheDreamUnLocked.weebly.com

Steve Balla

11/25/2014 03:44:07 am

Would I submit to this e-mail (Actor's Arsenal) for one of the below listed parts?

11/25/2014 04:02:18 am

Hi Steve:

So the smartest way for an actor to use the breakdowns (casting notices that I send out weekly in the Actors Arsenal newsletter) is strategically. It's really easy for actors to see a role and say, "That's me. Now I'm going to annoy every person in the business I know to get an audition." So you get the audition or you piss people off and they never call you in again. Or you can think of using the breakdowns to learn about the business, to see what's going on in the industry, to learn more about your targets (meaning people who can get you closer to getting the job: casting directors, directors, producers, agents, managers.)

Strategic means you want to be called in by casting directors without having to chase them down or badger folks. You want your name to be at the top of their go-to list. That means what you're doing is finding ways to build relationships with CD's. Relationships that last for the lifetime of your career, not just getting seen today.

Know that many things are on offer to folks already on shows even when a breakdown is out. Or the CD simply pulls from their existing list of actors on file, pulls their reels and sends to a director to save time with casting. How do you get on that list?

THE SECRET: I'm going to give you a quick, dirty overview of the secret marketing strategy: It takes 3 months to build a relationship with someone. What that means is that for 3 months you need to have a different form of contact with that CD every two weeks and at least 2-3 of those need to be facetime in which they get to see you work.

That's pretty easy to pinpoint who, just watch all the shows being recorded in your city and write down the names of the casting offices or pull the names directly from the breakdowns. Pick a new one to target every 3 months. Here's are key ways to make contact.

1. Create a google alert on this CD and find out where they might show up in the city and be there. Are they casting a play in town? Make sure you're there opening night to congratulate them, not ask them for a favor.

2. Find out where they're teaching a class. Take the class. But don't take the class to learn how to act, take the class to treat it like an opportunity to audition for this CD. Get coached by a smart on camera coaching working in the business and go into that class and blow it out of the water. A class counts as 2 or 3 hits within the 3 month period, so two classes takes care of things.

3. Make sure that once a year, you send your press kit (look through previous answers for details) to each of the major casting offices. Or use the breakdown to send it. On the outside of the envelope, print your name and the role and name of project you're submitting yourself for. Make sure you're perfect for the role. They receive it and now you're on file which is the first step towards building a relationship.

4. In one of those classes, volunteer to be a reader, file paperwork, answer phones for that CD you just took a class with so you can learn the business. When you give someone something they need for free, you now have a relationship that means something.

5. If you have an agent, you should still be strategically using the breakdowns to target industry folks who's offices you want to get into and build relationships. Follow their work, if they get a nomination or award, congratulate them on FB. Here's the rule for all social media, use it to help someone with a problem they have or cheer them on, NEVER EVER USE SOCIAL MEDIA TO ASK A INDUSTRY PROFESSIONAL FOR A FAVOR. That's super bad form, but if you help them with a problem, that's another way to make contact in building the relationships.

6. Don't call your agent every time you see something in a breakdown you're perfect for. First of all, all of the roles in the breakdowns are sent to agents first and they are combing through them everyday and submitting you. Just cause you don't get the audition doesn't mean that your agent hasn't submitted you. What it means is that you are not doing your strategic relationship building so that as soon as the CD sees you name/picture, they immediately call you in.

Also, roles morph and change as writers do rewrites as the series gets closer to shooting. So follow a project closely in the breakdowns and start figuring out ways to get to know folks working on those projects. You will start to see the same producers, directors and CD's in breakdowns over and over again. That's the magic of breakdowns, you learn who's doing what in town and how to learn more about their work and target them so that you have a professional relationship with that industry person. Those kinds of relationships mean a director will call you in whenever they have a project because they know your work, your work ethic...

Do, call your agent for roles that are super unique and that you're perfect for. Is there a role for a man, but they need a specific skill, like juggling or a foreign language that's unusual? Then email you

Kendra Austin

11/25/2014 03:45:36 am

Why are some of the castings out of date?

April link

11/25/2014 03:58:20 am

Hi Kendra:

That's a great question. We try to keep casting up to date as much as possible, but sometimes things get missed. It would be easier if we were sending out casting daily, but we just don't have the manpower for that. If the casting is out of date, but a CD you'd like to get to know. I'd say take the opportunity to submit yourself anyway. Any point of contact with a CD that you can make is important. Each time they get a submission from you, they create a file for you, so it's a great way to begin to become a part of their go to actor lists.

April
AprilYvetteThompson.com
TheDreamUnLocked.weebly.com

11/25/2014 03:56:46 am

Angela Lewis

11/25/2014 04:05:46 am

Hi April:

I recently moved to LA, & am represented by a reputable agency and management company. Both companies seem enthused that I'm here. One of the partners at the agency told me to call and talk to each agent - a lot. I want to do this, but I want to do it responsibly. What should I be talking about that's not "Do you have anything for me today? " (which is what I really want to know lol) or "Hi. How are you? " (which is moot)?

11/25/2014 04:07:21 am

Hi Angela:

The video at the top of this page is a just for you. I answer this question in detail. Please have a look and let me know if you have any questions. Thanks, Mrs. Angela! Love to you and your new hubby!

Be well,

April Yvette Thompson
AprilYvetteThompson.com
TheDreamUnLocked.weebly.com

Dahiana Torres

11/25/2014 06:14:08 am

I'm having a really tough time landing an agent/ getting a meet with one. Any tips on how I can go about this? I've been in the NY area now for five years, auditioning and working, but still not agent...

11/25/2014 06:38:36 am

Hola Dahiana:

What a beautiful name! The first step is to pull together a really tight arsenal meaning: a strong press kit which includes (Headshot, Resume, Reel, One page and Industry contact list.) All of your press should reflect a clear statement as to what your emotional and physical types are so agents/managers know how to sell you.

Your arsenal should reflect the caliber of actor you are in terms of training, a competitive headshot/reel done by NYC industry professionals who are on the cutting edge of this work. They won't be cheap, but they'll create a brand for you that can use forever. I love Joseph Moran Photography (josephmoranphotography.com) and Brent Katz (brentkatz.com). I took a look at your website and while it's lovely, I'm not sure what the focus is: what kind of actor you are, what's your speciality (TV, Film, Theatre) and what your ultimate goals are. I should know that by looking at just your mainpage and I need all of that info in the first 30 seconds. Casting Directors, Agents, Directors book clients and cast roles from your mainpage and folks rarely go beyond the main page. So, before you pursue any agent, you need to focus your website and all of your marketing and get it competitive. Agents will send you out on $20,000 gigs, so you need to look like a $20,000 actor.

Once you've got a smoking press kit, you will use it to get agent/manager meetings. You basically need a guest star (or significant dayplayer role) on a primetime show or a NYC play that folks can come and see you in or better yet, a New York Times rave review which is by far the most powerful incentive for someone to sign you. Don't have any of those things, then it's time to build a relationship with a newbie theater company that gets reviewed by the New York Times and get cast in a great role. Or produce your own show for a limited run that shows you off fabulously. Make sure you get names (established NYC artists) to direct, act, produce the project because that will ensure that industry professionals will take notice and will make it easier to get NY Times to produce it.

Once you've done that, you begin a very focused marketing campaign to get agents to that show even if you have to buy tix for them (which is a given that you will). This is by far, the best way to make it happen. They need to see you burn up the stage in a performance. Because when agents see that, they will go to hell and back to get you auditions because you've reignited their passion for the game.

You can do this! Make it happen!

Be well,

April
AprilYvetteThompson.com
TheDreamUnLocked.weebly.com

Soyini

12/2/2014 07:39:17 pm

Hi April
I found your vlog to be informative. I am interested in learning how to finance my acting career. I have an MFA in Acting from Actors Studio Drama @ Pace and in serious debt. Due to mental health issues I haven't been able to maintain a job and decided to take time to recover from my trauma/mental health issues. After a few years in treatment I want to get back in the game of making my acting career a reality

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