The phrase, “don’t asshole your way out of a job” became even more relevant to me when I started referring fellow talent over to agents and helping out my casting director friends with their projects.  I couldn’t believe how difficult some talent were to work with.  Yes, some people have huge egos (increasing the POA factor exponentially), but when people made them selves too difficult to want to work with, eventually I didn’t feel safe referring them.  And this is not to say that talent get treated fairly all the time–of course there are red flags where you have to dig your heels in to protect yourselves.  But the POA Factor I’ve seen displayed when there is money on the table is shocking considering how much actors like to complain that there aren’t enough jobs out there.

The number one mistake is being an A-hole.  There is no need to ever be mean or arrogant.  None of us is any better than anyone else, and from what I’ve seen, the more successful people get in voice over, the kinder and more generous they are.  When I see a talent being an A-hole, it smacks of being unprofessional and unseasoned.  You can pass on jobs with grace and dignity and without making a buyer feel like they’re beneath you.  The Golden Rule is golden for a reason.  Apply it to your voice over career, and you will be rewarded greatly.

The second mistake is being difficult to get in touch with.  You know what I’m going to say here, right?  This business moves QUICKLY, and so should you.  I can’t believe I’m still saying this, but you need to have a way to check email on the go.  You need to communicate with your agents and clients quickly and efficiently.  If you are difficult to track down, the jobs will go elsewhere.  An extension of this is someone who makes scheduling a session a nightmare.  If you do this work full time, you will have days where you are cramming in many sessions.  Don’t tell your agent that you have a hair appointment that you can’t reschedule or an inflexible day job (both true stories).  You must be accommodating.  End of story.

The third mistake is being an all around POA, which encompasses the above points.  POA Factor increasers:  making communication difficult for your agent, getting defensive when receiving feedback on auditions or sessions, being mean, catty, or petulant towards your agent, clients or other actors.  Be easy to work with, available for work, and talented, and you will have a long and lovely career!

Anna Vocino

We already don’t have much time in terms of just trying to keep the bills paid, take care of our kids maybe, perhaps enjoy your partners company, handle all of the personal stuff in life, fight through traffic, and save a little time for some social fun and just “living” we know have to contend with not only pursuing our careers…but now thinking we can take on doing 5-6 more FULL-time careers. Please don’t ever forget that in L.A., at any given moment, you have 1000 well qualified, well heeled professionals, in the following professions: Directing, Writing, Producing, Post Production, V/O, DP’s, all forms of crew along with a full line of special effects and more access to all of this than you can imagine.

Does this mean that “Actors” aren’t responsible for creating some GREAT content, of course not, many of them are…but what is their past? How many “acting credits” does Todd Phillip have NOT related to a movie he wrote or directed? Answer, 1. How come Brad Pitt or Anthony Hopkins aren’t known for “creating content, producing content” or anything else much related to these other PROFESSIONS when they have all the time, money, access, and clout you could ever imagine? Why…because it isn’t their skill set. Again, this does NOT mean that it isn’t yours, but you’re going to have to DECIDE. Either stop being an actor and become a full time writer, taking many classes and learning and learning to be a professional or understand that you’ll likely have to get “others” to help you in your desire to perhaps create some content…that will get ATTENTION.

Even though more and more entities like Amazon are getting into the “fund content creation” game, it doesn’t mean that they’re going to do it frivolously and lose millions of dollars in the process. Their goal is to still create content that is going to at minimum break even and hopefully become very successful at making money. That is always the goal. So with all of the New Media craziness floating about, all of the “new deals” being made weekly by either Google/YouTube or anyone else just remember WHO you are, and WHAT it is that drives you. And hey, if it changes, totally cool…go for it. But trying to build a truly successful performer career is hard enough, but trying to “start that, or get it going or maintain and build on a small amount of success” while then essentially STOPPING all that momentum to go and write/create/produce/direct/edit/market etc. an entire other entity in which you’ll get to be “on-camera” some…is REALLY difficult. There is nothing wrong with just being an actor, and there is nothing wrong with being a hyphenate but just don’t let the desire to “do it all” in the effort to HELP you as an actor ultimately be the reason why you don’t get anywhere on a “high-level” with any of it.

My professional best and always on your side,

@TheKevinE, www.actorbizguru.com, www.kevinewest.com, www.gettingthejob.com

So take a moment if you would, sit with yourself, and ask this question: “At the end of the day what is there really to be afraid of in sitting with my fellow peers ONCE A MONTH?” I have always wanted my community to find more “happiness” in the PURSUIT. It is easy to be happy with booking jobs in terms of our ego or family and friends approval. But so often those results are so terribly few and far between. Yes, it is an old cliché, but there has to be some LOVE ‘for the journey.’ Part of the journey can’t just be the auditions, the classes, the stage shows, the callbacks and the meetings. Again, it is Show Business, and that second word has been inherent in Hollywood LONG before me, you, TAN or even people like Robert De Niro or Meryl Streep.

So as much as you may hate it, be afraid of it, and wanna avoid it…it is there, and time will just continue to pass in your life with little results unless you FACE it. One of the most intelligent ways to face it, is to get in, stay in, and stay ACTIVE in a Power Group. Do it, use it, learn from it, and stop judging it or yourself within it. Just get active ASAP and stay that way. If you’ve taken a long “break” from pursuing but still have yourself active with LA Casting or Actor’s Access…what are you hoping for? Again, I get the passivity that is allowed in our industry but it doesn’t create success. It just isn’t how life works, and as the years go by, make a decision to DO it instead of “waiting for it.”

From our Power Group “Manifesto” I am listing the 10 things you need to do to fully realize the potential of a TAN Power Group. These were written by 12-year PG Facilitator, Kristine Oller, inspired by being a member, actor and learning from Founder – Kevin E. West! 1. TAKE TIME TO WRITE DOWN YOUR ACTIVITIES AND GOALS. 2. MAKE YOUR GOALS SPECIFIC AND ACTION-ORIENTED. 3. GET TO THE GOOD STUFF FIRST! 4. BRING INFO TO YOUR POWER GROUP. 5. PRESENT YOUR BEST SELF EACH MONTH. 6. YOU MAY NOT DISMISS THE THEMES/GOALS OF THE YEAR/MONTH.7. WATCH YOUR LANGUAGE (Meaning using negative or destructive words). 8. LISTEN CAREFULLY AT ISSUE TIME. 9. USE THE NETWORK. 10. STAY IN AND CONTRIBUTE TO POWER GROUP OR LEAVE, BUT DON’T JUST COME OUT OF HABIT.

If you commit to this, commit to a PG, get away from a Phobia or Fear that has NO basis and really start to USE our Power Groups to keep you active and fueled at all times it will have an overall effect on your day to day career. Maybe more than anything else, the more accountable you have to be on an every 2-week basis, the more you have to WRITE down your monthly activity, the more you have to perform our monthly Goals, then the more you will actually be forced to STREAMLINE your efforts and goals. And when it is all said and done, this is what will make you successful. Not just trying to sling something at everything hoping that by submitting and submitting blindly…it will work. Trust me, I know.

My professional best and always on your side

@TheKevinE, www.actorbizguru.com, www.kevinewest.com, www.gettingthejob.com

But when you are discussing the BUSINESS of this profession, the REALITY of becoming known, and creating opportunities for yourself be them related to getting auditions, taking great meetings, pushing your representative or mastering the execution of target lists the bottom line is that if you do not perform these actions with consistent repetition their value will drop exponentially by the week. We live in a 24-Hour news cycle and in Hollywood we live in a “Monthly Talent” cycle. In one month’s time you have to realize that a “legit” representative has probably received 500-1000 submissions. A legit “somewhat busy” commercial casting director whose had 3 jobs has seen between 10,000 and 100,000 thumbnails depending on how many roles were in each job. And if you’re casting a real Feature film or a TV show, again, you’ve seen thousands upon thousands of pictures. If you “send” 50 submissions one day, push out a few dozen emails over a weekend it doesn’t make it bad or wrong, but if you don’t KEEP ON doing it…it simply makes it commonly a small waste of time.

I know this is a distasteful subject for us. I know that, because 99.9% of the folks reading this have not “been at it” nearly as long as me, and haven’t worked nearly as much as me and still…I have to “keep at it” if I wish to continue to work and create opportunities. The business, the worldwide economy, digital technology have all made our industry more exciting and more accessible and more difficult than ever before in history. Yes, it is about relationships, but if you don’t “accidentally” fall into a random weird great moment that hands you an opportunity what are you going to do?

Here is a thought, and a small challenge, for you to chew on as you begin 2013. There is indeed an inherent “passiveness” about our profession, I do agree on this. Additionally, as stated above, we would MUCH rather spend our time playing, pretending, reading material, working on craft, stretching with characters etc. etc. Totally get it. So while you’re likely only willing to spend about 5-10% of your “time” towards the business of the business, then at least make a commitment to make that time and pursuit REPETITIVE. Give yourself a “shorter list” of people, places or things you’re trying to move forward but make damn SURE that you’re consistently repetitive and it is very likely you’ll get to the end of the year, you will have made REAL progress in those areas at minimum.

My professional best, and always on your side!

@TheKevinE, www.actorbizguru.com, www.kevinewest.com, www.gettingthejob.com

Over the years, I have culled through thousands of your auditions helping out with castings from time to time.  The reads from a low quality studio always make me thump my hand against my head and wonder why the person wouldn’t make their studio sound much better given all the tools and resources available to do so.  Not only are the crappy studio auditions not getting submitted for the job, crappy quality auditions aren’t making it past your agent’s inbox.  Send too many crappy quality auditions, and your agent will stop asking you to read on auditions.  Yikes!

The two most egregious home studio sins are:  1.  The Crappy Mic  2.  The Crappy Room Tone.

1.  The Crappy Mic

Mics are not that expensive these days.  You can get some fantastic mics in the $80-$250 range.  If you can get to a bricks and mortar store like Guitar Center to test out mics, that is the best way to do it.  There are thousands of online forums and reviews where people discuss the best mics, and I’m no expert on equipment, but I can tell you that the AT2020 USB mic is what I use when I’m traveling, so I know it to be a high quality mic for the price.  Also invest in a pop filter (the tube sock over the mic will work in a pinch, but it can mute the sound a little too much).  And if you’re still popping p’s, watch your placement on the mic, or get ready to do some heavy duty editing of your auditions.

2.  The Crappy Room Tone

I am shocked at how many people do absolutely nothing to deaden their room tone.  Crappy room tone can make you sound like you’re in a windstorm or at the very bottom of a tin can.  Either way, this needs to be troubleshooted immediately.  Other crappy room sounds:  your chair squeaking, computer fan whirring, a leaf blower in the back ground, trucks passing, etc.  You must listen back to your auditions and redo if you have any of these ambient noises in the background.  And while you’re at it, how about silencing those off-putting mouth noises, popping p’s, and giant, gaspy breaths?  Yeah, I’m getting bossy about this stuff, but a professional goes the extra mile to take care of the details.

I’d rather you not send auditions until sound quality is fixed than send something out that’s low quality.  Clients do NOT want to hear auditions from a crappy studio.  Period.  The more crappy auditions they hear, the crankier they get, and no one wants a cranky buyer.  Make yourself sound the best you can, and you will stand out from the herd.  And isn’t that what we want in 2013?

Anna Vocino

PS: George Whittam is a fantastic home studio consultant if you need outside help:  http://vostudiotech.com/ (NOT an affiliate link, this guy comes highly recommended to me so that’s why I’m posting it).

Part 5 addresses the flipside of the Hustle Vs. Craft balancing act:  the Perpetual Class-Taker.

I’ve seen countless individuals never quite make that precarious leap from amateur to professional.  This person is always in a class, jumping from coach to coach, year after year, never really gaining the confidence to put themselves out there as a business professional.  I don’t think these folks are codependent, nor do I think they suck and need to keep up non-stop coaching.  I see the perpetual class-taker as being afraid to take the next step.

I totally get it.  The creative side of things is where the fun truly lies, and often we creative types are brought up to believe that you can’t be simultaneously creative and business-minded.  “You can’t be an introvert and an extrovert!”  Any proponent of the Myers Briggs test will tell you that.  “You’ve got to be one or the other.”  Truth is, we are all blends of both creative and business, and it’s okay to embrace both sides.  Taking risks is scary, whether it’s creative risks or business risks, but just like the person who spends all day networking online can’t hide behind the computer and expect to build their career, the perpetual class-taker can’t hide in class and expect to book regular work without hustling the business forward

Building creative skills and building business skills are two sides of the same coin, although they may feel different according to your own internal strengths, weaknesses, values, and belief system.  If you feel you might be a perpetual class-taker, than you are probably good to go on your craft and more than anyone will love taking baby steps towards a hustle that will net you bookings.  All those classes cost money, and I’d love to see you make back your investment in yourself.

Anna Vocino

Spark up the interwebs, and you’ll see some pretty active voice over talent online.  They are blogging, tweeting, giving advice, connecting with one another, starting groups on facebook, and posting ad nauseum to online message boards.  Most of these folks have some very sound advice to offer talent who have questions, and for that I am extremely appreciative.  These mensches have taken the time to demystify the business of voice over (herein I shall call the “hustle”).  Side benefit for these social media mavens is that they’ve built a wonderful platform for themselves as voice over experts.

Often I hear from folks getting started in voice over who are spending an inordinate amount of time modeling this online behavior.  They spend a lot of time networking, posting, attending networking events, and eblasting agents prematurely without having first garnered top-notch skills and a kick-ass demo.  Yes, it’s great to get out there in the community, but a lot of that energy redirected towards mastery will better serve you in the longterm (and in your bank account).

While there is absolutely nothing wrong with creating an online presence for yourself, networking, or getting great at the hustle, don’t do it at the expense of your skills and talents as a voice over talent.  Utlimately, you need to strike a balance.  No need to spend hours online when you are first starting out–you need to spend time with a coach or in class.  Spend time auditioning for online jobs, honing your technique and editing skills.  Don’t keep hounding agents to rep you.  Take a breath, self-examine, and see where you can get better by focusing on your craft.  The inspiration to hustle will always come back, I promise.

Sending an email is easy.  Getting good at VO is not.  Balance is your friend in voice over.

Anna Vocino

But now, more than a decade later, the visual digital chaos and “On-Demand” craze has finally reached the front lines of the common “John Q” consumer. For the first time in the history of television in 2011 more people watched TV NOT on a TV set. And as we’re in the final two months of 2012 there is no doubt that the slight numbers from 2011 will be far more in 2012. it is easy to say, that by the end of 2013 it is very likely to believe that more than 75% of entertainment watched…will be watched “On-Demand.”

Additionally it is easy to say that if YOU could obtain enough content to put on your own Channel on YouTube, and enough people watched YOUR content, then YOU are your own Network…not just Oprah. Because any form of “On-Demand” content…demanded by enough people is nothing more that what films have always been based upon…as well as television. The difference is simply now, and forever more, that the ability to be and create “On-Demand” is indeed…in your hands. The tragedy of course in this brave new world, is the lack of any requirement, skill, education, background or guidelines on one’s ability to do so. At least for “most singers” they can carry a tune (not all of course) and there are a lot of voice-challenged success stories in the history of music because there are a lot of styles and tastes out there.

Many would say that the same is true for on-camera work content. That one persons “bad” is another viewers genius. But the reality is, we have a great deal of history, even recent history to tell us that this is simply not true. So while I most encouraging of the extreme need and value for a GREAT DEMO REEL, I’m not an advocate of believing that you can “create your own” content and have it be successful and worthwhile without any training in the areas of producer, writer, editor, director, 1st AD, DP and all the other departments associated with content creation.

My suggestion, look for good projects to ACT in first, and glean some great content/footage for your reel from that. And if you’re going to consider creating something on your own, think small, and be smart. Make it involve as few moving parts n’ pieces as possible and look at it as an exercise not something for public consumption. The ability to tell a great story and HOW to do that will forever be mutually exclusive from all of the technical knowledge it takes to make something look and sound great. Conversely there are great writers, DP’s, and actors who’ll never be able to create great content on their own. So remember, the “On-Demand” world we now live in does not mean it means that you too have to create something that is “On-Demand.”

I leave you with a couple of key articles to review, as well as knowing that you now can officially “buy Twitter” followers. Wow, and just when we thought we might get real “Campaign reform” we have the ability to buy our own Twitter lobbyists. OY.

Independent Film Financing Venture, Slated, Unveils Alliances: http://www.deadline.com/2012/09/slated-announces-film-funding-alliances/#more-338633

Monetization Arrives at Vimeo: ‘Tip Jar’ Available Today, Direct-to-Audience Sales Coming in 2013: http://nofilmschool.com/2012/09/sell-videos-on-vimeo-tip-jar/

My best to you always, Kevin E. West

@TheKevinE, actors-network.com, kevinewest.com, actorbizguru.com, gettingthejob.com

Literally, dump it, drain it, let it run out on the floor and start over. Now here is the key part of this conversation, because this upsets a lot of people…not just actors. When I say dump it and start over, I’m not saying that everything you’ve been doing is bad, wrong, failed, irresponsible, stupid, weird, odd, silly or just plain a bad idea. NO, that is not what I’m saying. What I am saying is that the title for this particular Blog involves the analogy of motor oil for a reason. The reason why I use oil is that it is the life blood of our car engines and our minds/actions are the life blood of our careers. Parts of it may be terrific but when it is mixed in with all of the other things that we’re doing, saying, believing, and all of our actions the say good 10% gets diluted down to absolutely nothing and the purpose and value of it all gets lost amongst the rest of the oil.

This is why I recommend you stop, drain it, let it all run out…get out a BRAND NEW clean piece of canvas…and start over. But before you start putting anything on the canvas, stop, and really think about WHAT YOU WANT. What do you truly want, specifically, not in general. Remember, we all want more auditions, we all want to work, we all want to make money, we all want to have a better agent here, or a more attentive manager there, so you can’t just work from those “generic” and common positions of need or fear.

Know this, realize this, and remember this: “There are 50 people in this entire business, that could change the course of your career, 50. Not 5000, 50, so set your sights on exactly the aspect of the industry you want to succeed in first as a performer and focus on the key people who make that world run. And then, when you’ve figured that much out, start writing out a NEW plan of how you’re going to go about pursuing your career. And again, don’t just write out the same “generic tasks.” Be more specific, have more risks involved with your actions, and step up the game. But at the end of the day, you HAVE to be consistent, and you have to not stop from week to week.

My best to you always, Kevin E.

@TheKevinE, kevinewest.com, actorbizguru.com, actors-network.com, gettingthejob.com

So when you’re here, when you see stars, hang out sometimes at parties near Celebrities, get invited to Premieres, wind up on a few red carpets, live near the Oscars, have a friend who has a client that “won an Emmy” and many many others, these are all things that can cause us to forget…OUR DREAMS/GOALS…and you just wind up living up on Cloud 9…in your mind. Please, do yourself a favor and give yourself a better chance of reaching the stars…by stepping DOWN to Cloud 8.

When you look at all of the projects listed every day both on the “source websites” as well as perhaps various production publications, or the “legit breakdowns” stay focused on WHY you came here, and creating smart ACTOR ACTIVITY. Activity that isn’t just going to have you busy all the time, but without viable intelligent professional results over time. There are thousands of actors posting stuff on websites, Facebook, Twitter etc. but what are those projects really doing to assist you towards the WHY of coming to Hollywood? You live here, you’re here, you’re in the HEART of it…but don’t float so far above it that you’re really just dreaming about Hollywood…while you’re in flippin Hollywood.

Know and trust that many many people are working everyday in what we would just call, “Journeyman” type acting jobs, getting paid, putting monies towards their pensions as actors, building their credits, getting known by the “new” young folks in casting and continuing to keep themselves in the “CONSIDERATION” category by being a viable professional. Moving to Hollywood is easy, meeting enough people to have a few “cool friends” on Facebook is easy, getting behind the ropes for cool events…ain’t that hard, and sadly, finding yourself sitting at home or at a job but in Cloud 9 in your mind…is also REALLY EASY. Fight it, step on it, push it aside and be sure to watch out for it all the time.

Cloud 8 is in fresh air, it provides a wonderful view of where you wanna be, where you are and the difference between the two is simply deciding that you really WANT to make being a legit working professional in THIS marketplace your goal, and not having it be about how rich you are or becoming a STAR. It could be argued that “Honey Boo-Boo” is currently a star of cultural tabloid type mentality surrounding YouTube, gossip and Reality type people but I’m pretty sure that is NOT why you moved to Hollywood. Always on your side.

Kevin E.

(@TheKevinE), actorbizguru.com, actors-network.com, kevinewest.com, gettingthejob.com