Acting, a three prong endeavor
One of my wonderful acting teachers, Milton Katselas, director of Butterflies Are Free for stage and film, addressed acting as a three-prong endeavor — Acting, the craft and the tools needed to create a performance. Attitude, the viewpoint and feeling of the artist about life, themself, and creativity, and Administration, the specific actions and choices an actor makes to move their career forward. It is important that actors put as much attention on Administration as they do on Acting.
My student who studied with me for the past nine years, a talented actor, recently approached a SAG-AFTRA franchised agency for theatrical representation. He gave the agency a resume that was formatted incorrectly for acting, it took up two pages. The agency’s response was, “Please ask Linda (they used my name) to teach you how to format an acting resume. You will not be considered at this time.” Ouch! My student didn’t think that the resume which falls into Administration was as important as Acting, the craft. He was very wrong. The agent thought that I didn’t teach my student how to format an acting resume, but I did multiple times.
My student received information on how to format an acting resume correctly in “the business of acting” class I teach in Master Class Acting & Scene Study. He also had a template for formatting an acting resume in my book The Actor’s Manifesto: Create a Successful Acting Career on pages 226-227. And in the years he has studied with me, we have gone over tools for agents which included critiquing the format of his resume during a mock interview with an agent that I included in class.
When you are ready to approach a talent agent or theatrical manager make sure your Acting, Attitude, and Administration are working in tandem and you are ready in all three. Give your agent the tools they need, so they will feel that they can make a healthy commission because you are ready to work. The tools you need include two good headshots (smile and serious), a formatted acting resume, and video clips for your acting reel. This particular talent agency felt that my student was still a dilettante and that he wasn’t yet professional because a professional would never submit a two-page improperly formatted acting resume.
