Photoplayer Hater

[Guest Post by Kirsten Tretbar who loves to travel and is a filmmaker, acting coach, and blogger.]

This post is about ways you can create your own opportunities as an actor; mainly, about creating your own projects or films that you yourself can star in, projects that get you noticed in the professional community.

The reality of acting is that only a tiny percentage of those pursuing this as a profession actually make a living doing so. Men and women of all ages and talents arrive in LA or New York with talent and a dream then think it will all happen quickly. Several years later, they wonder why they're not getting anywhere. Also, many actors and actresses start their professional careers after attending either a BFA or MFA acting program. Whether they've gone to Yale or a state school, it doesn't really matter. These actors still face many challenges once they start trying to find agents and auditions. Sadly, acting skills and where they trained, or what degree they hold, may not have anything to do with whether or not they'll have a career.

The actor's goal is two-fold:
1. Be a Professional: get an agent, get auditions, ace the auditions, get booked.
2. Make Money: pay your bills by working in acting 100% of the time.

What we really want to do as working actors is give up our lousy day jobs (in retail, working as waiters or bartenders, you name it) and be known in the industry as someone who WORKS -- right? The question everyone asks is “HOW?” – always followed by, “So what am I doing WRONG?” It's like -- if we could just figure out that ONE extra thing that working actors are doing that we're NOT doing, then suddenly our careers and our lives would suddenly blossom like a beautiful budding rose. Gosh, I wish it were that easy.

Well, I write lots in my actor coaching blog about why I recommend NOT going to an expensive two or four year acting program. The main reason why I recommend NOT doing this is quite simply, to save money. I don't tell actors to avoid these programs if they've got money or time. Training intensively never hurt anyone. It's just that for most people, coming out of these programs owing $200,000 (more or less) to a bank, a college, or your parents, is a hard way to hit the ground running in the costly cities of LA or New York.

As a working actor and filmmaker in LA for 20 years, I've learned:
1. Casting directors don't give a hoot about where you trained. Seriously, they don't. If you look right for the part and can act, then you’re in.
2. You can get the same, if not BETTER training, in private classes attended by other working actors, at a tiny fraction of the cost of bigger, longer programs.

People argue with me about this, but I've experienced it myself many times. In private classes, the teachers are usually working in the industry, you meet contacts there (other working actors and directors), and you learn things that are current and usable (not the usual classical theatre training, but training that's geared a bit more toward film and TV acting).

This is why I always recommend putting that same money (or a lot less money) into taking private classes on a weekly basis, in group settings, and using your other money to do things like: pay rent instead of working a lousy day-job, focus on your career instead of working a lousy day job, and taking classes (instead of…!) You get the point. The other way to spend this additional money is to put it into your own productions. Which leads me to the heart of this post. But first, I have to backtrack.

If this is all so obvious, why aren’t more actors putting their own time, efforts, money, and creativity, into creating their own films? I like to think about the basic nature of actors and what makes them tick. Being an actress myself, I’ve often wondered why it took me so long to take my career into my own hands.

Let’s face it. Actors often feel powerless. Why? I think it’s because they spend their whole lives waiting. Waiting to have their headshots printed. Waiting to have an agent call them back. Waiting to get the audition. Waiting to find out if they booked the audition. Waiting to find out if a director liked them. Waiting to find out if the film or TV commercial they booked will actually be shot. Waiting to find out WHEN the film will be shot. Waiting to find out if the film they actually DID shoot will ever get released. Waiting for their paycheck! All this waiting and waiting and waiting. No wonder we give up and move back to Iowa! It’s demeaning!

But here’s an idea... Why wait? Hmmm… "What?", you ask? But I don’t WANT to do anything else besides act. Well, neither did I. But then, that’s where you have to think about your personality, your internal deepest nature, and why you keep letting yourself do all this darned waiting. What is it about actors (vibrant amazing people) that makes us put up with so much crap? We’re not doormats. We’re not victims. So why do we put up with so much waiting?

I think many actors secretly like leading quietly passive lives. We complain about all this waiting, but we also enjoy the fact that if we haven't made it yet, we're not to blame. We're trying our hardest! We're studying, practicing, taking great headshots, calling up leads, reading plays, working day jobs, and paying our bills. We’re hardworking serious people, and we’re doing our best. Or are we?

The truth is, our behavior is passive. Part of this is good. It means we follow direction well, and don’t rock the boat. We’re people pleasers, right? But by being this way, we allow everyone ELSE in the industry to hold all the power. If you think about it, while we're so BUSY (waiting, really) the agents and producers and directors and screenwriters are busy putting it all together. The actor is the last person notified in a sense. We're giving up our power and time and youth, waiting for someone ELSE to decide that we're right, good enough, tall enough, thin enough, pretty enough, cheap enough -- you name it -- while everyone else is busy putting their own projects together. This makes our lives seem out of control. We get angry because we just KNEW we'd be right for the part, film, director, casting agent, role... It’s like being the spurned lover who waits by the phone and doesn’t know what they’ve done wrong instead of dumping the jerk!

I find this so odd. Actors are usually the most dazzling, charismatic, natural leaders. They're smart, intuitive, adaptable, and great with people. That’s why they’re such great retail managers. But we love literature too, and films, we understand story structure, what makes a great plot. We know how good or bad lighting can make or break a film, and we have great skill with words.

So why do we sit around waiting for everyone to decide our fate? Perhaps it's just fear. Or maybe, it's because we’re actually a bit lazy. I've never really known. I think it’s important for every actor to really take a serious internal moral inventory of our own behavior patterns, and decide how much we REALLY want a career, and what our motives are. If we want it all easy and quick, then maybe we’re in the wrong profession. But if we truly want an acting career, then we need to work at getting more active.

Well, it’s time to take charge! And I suggest an alternative. Why not get some of your power back and decide to become a director, writer, or producer, yourself? I myself as an actress used to spend years waiting for my life and career to take off. I watched as my filmmaker brother, Eric, wrote scripts, raised money, then shot his own indie films. I watched as my producer friends supported other directors. I watched as my writer friends sold scripts.

Then one day, I started helping my brother and some other director friends, and I got hooked. I realized I was a great producer. I was a talented writer. I was good at raising money. I could work a camera too, and learned to do that. I knew about pacing and story structure, and started to work with editors. In short, I became a filmmaker. I eventually produced about four indie films, and several TV documentaries in England.

I ended up producing, filming, and directing my own documentary, Zenith, which, with a lot of hard work, aired on NBC! I’d stopped acting as much, but boy was my life full. And I was no longer waiting for others to decide if I was good enough, or thin enough, or blonde enough for THEIR stupid projects.

What I learned, too, taking my films to film festivals, is that many of the very best films at these festivals were either produced, written, or directed by the actors in these films. Many of the films I later ended up producing, were cast from watching these films at festivals. If I saw an actor I liked, I'd call him directly, or his agent, or meet them after the screening to see if they'd like to audition for MY film.

What I'm saying here is, how about trying to do your OWN thing? Stop waiting. Start writing! There are a ton of examples of actors who've gotten out of the waiting game and into the filmmaking game, who've made a name for themselves by doing so, and who are now very busy working actors.

Below is a list of a few I can think of off of the top of my head:
Matt Damon: Good Will Hunting
Nia Vardalos: My Big Fat Greek Wedding (started as a theatre piece)
Edward Burns: The Brothers McMullen
Billy Bob Thornton: Sling Blade
Sasha Cohen: Borat, Ali G
Christopher Guest: Waiting for Guffman

Yes, making an indie film CAN be costly. But how different would your life look if you put the $100,000 you'd spent on an acting program, into a film? You could even just produce the film (that means -- fund it) and find a GREAT director to put you in the starring role. If you have no clue where to start, go to film festivals. You’ll meet directors there who are desperate to make original scripts into films, who are looking for money and actors. And if you don't have the money to film your film, then go out and find it. Or do it as a stage play, and see if it takes off.

The internet is also a fantastic way to get your acting chops chopping, especially if you're a comedic actor. My friend Chris Dotson, who's in tons of commercials, writes and stars in many on-line skits posted on YouTube and on his own website. The coverage Chris gets from these original sketches makes him someone to watch. He's certainly not waiting tables, or waiting for a director to give him a role.

There are so many ways to get out there and act, and to get your self known in the industry. There's no reason you need to wait around, or give all your money to acting programs just to graduate with no money, and wake up one day to realize you're going to have to work hard, just to wait some more.

I want to encourage and inspire all actors and actresses out there to start writing. I want to encourage them to learn more about directing. I want to see them going to festivals and meeting with directors and thinking about producing. The more actors get involved in the industry as a whole, the quicker the quality of work will rise in this crazy industry. We too have important stories to share and to tell.

You may wonder where to start? Well, I always tell my students to start with your self. No one else has led the life you have. No one else has a story quite like yours. Why not make a film about YOU? Why not write a one-person show, like Nia Vardalos did, about your own crazy life, or about your parents, your grandparents, or your friends?

That’s what I did with my film, Zenith. And because of that film, I won the Christian Oscar! It was a documentary about my own farming family back in Kansas. Little did I know that, like Dorothy, the life in my very own backyard was the story that would be so important to the rest of the world.

Keep your faith in yourself and the important stories you have to tell. Only you can offer the world your important vision, and I encourage you to do so! And most importantly, keep on acting!