Obstacle or Opportunity?
Crisis! It happens in everyone’s life…how to cope? See it as a disaster, a threat, an obstacle …. OR as a OPPORTUNITY to grow and learn.
The Potential STRIKE …I’ve heard so many actors say in a dire voice- "Well, that will screw things up! I won’t get any auditions! It will delay my finding an agent." Sigh! Sigh!
They’re missing the point. A strike is a turning point-no going back. As there is new media, there's a need for new contracts, new jobs and NEW THINKING!
In a play ... a psychological loop is established between performers and audience. Nothing like this can occur in a movie theater. The images on the screen are patterns of light, not living actors. They are not affected by applause or hissing. They will be the same in a packed house or an empty one. And they will be the same every time the movie is shown. This affects the audience. Occasionally, movie audiences applaud or hiss or walk out, but for the most part they are passive. No social bond between the audience and the actors can exist.
—O. B. Hardison (1928–1990)
And there's a lot of casting for new mini-series on the web right now. A slew of new producers are creating shows- mobisodes & webisodes while there is still an open market. THAT is what the strike is about. As actors we can explore these markets, audition for, get cast, and even write, create and produce OUR OWN series. How's that for control of your career? Great!
During a lull in normal production, we can update our marketing tools-headshots that are older than 9 months should be re-shot, refresh the wardrobe, shoot a new scene for a demo reel. If you add scenes to your reel that look like you were just on Grey’s Anatomy, House, Shark, Law & Order, CSI or Weeds, the industry can see what you can play. So, you'll probably get auditions and jobs playing those parts.
Once you plan and take new steps the energy starts flowing. The SECRET to ATTRACTING wealth and happiness is nothing more than FOCUSing on exactly what you want. If you focus your energy in the right direction, fear and anxiety disappear. Instead, there's excitement about your career and enthusiasm because you're taking action steps to make things happen.
The potential strike could be a BLESSING. It’s about change and It’s a wake-up call, a wonderful time to re-think your goals and take action to obtain them.
Each religion is a brave guess at the authorship of Hamlet. Yet, as far as the play goes does it make any difference whether Shakespeare or Bacon wrote it? Would it make any difference to the actors if their parts happened out of nothingness, if they found themselves acting on the stage because of some gross and unpardonable accident? Would it make any difference if the playwright gave them the lines or whether they composed them themselves, so long as the lines were properly spoken? Would it make any difference to the characters if A Midsummer Night’s Dream was really a dream?
—Lewis Mumford (1895–1990)
Any questions or issues? Email me, send me a note and I’d be glad to give you a mini-career coaching session or a quick tip. gwyn@theactorsmarket.com
Gwyn Gilliss is the Executive Director of TAM, The Actor's Market, (http://www.theactorsmarket.com) a marketing firm for actors. They provide every marketing tool an actor needs - HEADSHOTS, RESUMES, BIOS, DEMO REELS, CAREER COACHING, MARATHON SEMINARS to met the INDUSTRY-AGENTS & CASTING DIRECTORS - as well as FREE monthly seminars, FREE weekly marketing tips and access to top photographers, graphic artists and videographers to create great demo reels (sizzle reels). There are Training courses via teleseminars, downloadable Podcasts and Home study courses with DVD's and the ACTOR'S MASTERMIND a bi-monthly FREE teleseminar for all actors globally. (check for more products and services at http://TheTAMstore.com). Gwyn's acting career spans several decades during which time she appeared on and off-B'way, in classical roles in American Repertory companies, in over 18 contract and recurring roles in Daytime/Primetime TV, Films and dozens of network commercials/V. O.'s. As a Career Coach she is available to work One-on-One with actors at all levels.