Tag Archives: How To Be A Successful Actor: Becoming An Actorpreneur

American Actors Can Get How To Be a Successful Actor For $1.99: One More Day Only

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acting, acting advice, how to be an actor, how to be a successful actor, hollywood, castings, auditions, casting directors.American Actors Can Get How To Be a Successful Actor: Becoming an Actorpreneur For $1.99: One More Day Only

Fresh from a Kindle Countdown Deal for British actors which was very successful, now American actors can get my book for only $1.99 for a limited time only. How To Be a Successful Actor: Becoming an Actorpreneur has been getting rave reviews in America and it has already been selling stateside.

This is what American actor Tom Shafer had to say about my book: “An excellent guide for the entertainment professional

I found this book to be an excellent companion to Bonnie Gillespie’s ‘Self-Management for Actors’, which I am also currently reading. The first half of Catherine’s book does a excellent job of distilling a seminar’s-worth of material into a manageable bit. The second half, the interviews, felt more conversational. What was clear, the recommendations made in the first half came, in part, from these interviews. This is an excellent technique, since it reinforces the validity of the recommendations as having come from entertainment professionals who have achieved a perceived level of success. (I like that the definition of “success” was open for discussion, since it can mean different things to different people.)

As an American reading this book, I did find some UK-centric resources and references. But, in this era of global Internet access, I found just as many that were valid for US readers. I was able to take this in stride and see this as a valuable tool in my self-management as a working actor.

Thanks, Catherine, for writing this excellent guide.”

 

What are you waiting for? Get your copy now.

 

 

How To Be a Successful Actor: Becoming an Actorpreneur Only £1.99 For One More Day

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acting, acting advice, how to be an actor, how to be a successful actor, hollywood, castings, auditions, casting directors.How To Be a Successful Actor: Becoming an Actorpreneur has been included in Amazon’s Kindle Countdown Deals and for one more day is only £1.99. How To Be a Successful Actor: Becoming an Actorpreneur, written by Frost Magazine’s editor Catherine Balavage, has received a number of good reviews including three five-star reviews on Amazon UK and another brilliant four-star review on Amazon US, even though it has only been out for two months. The below review is from acclaimed author Margaret Graham:

A triumph for Balavage, and a necessary tool for anyone considering an acting career. By Margaret Graham

Balavage has written a well balanced exploration of how to succeed as an actor. I am an author, not an actor, but having read How to be a Successful Actor, I feel the two precessions are closely allied. Balavage clarifies the positives and negatives of the profession, and then proceeds to walk us through the ups and downs, giving anyone interested in becoming an actor the tools to maximise their chances.

The basic ingredients, it seems to me, are to utilise common sense and good manners. After all, you will be meeting the the same people on the way up, and then, when times are hard, to be nice out there..

But more than that, we are led by the hand through the nitty gritty of whether to train, or not to train, the virtues of hard work in the face of lack of progress, the need to be glad of any chance to gain experience, and exposure. She explains the need to acquire the necessary skills through classes, and the value of networking.

As I also advise my writing students, Balavage advises actors to watch and analyse their craft, on stage, radio and screen. She emphasises the need for actors to BE their characters, to acquire accents, to keep fit. She moves on to marketing, to the virtues of mobile phones and the internet for spreading the word about YOU,

There is humour: remember to avoid the stunt co-ordinator’s elbows, there are detailed tips: what to do if your mouth dries up (read the book and find out) , there are a forest of useful addresses.

No wonder it took Balavage 4 years to write this book, because she includes a plethora of interviews with experts in the field. What comes across is that Catherine Balavage considers an acting career to be a project, one that needs to have: a firm foundation, on-going development, marketing skills, research, realistic self-belief, and a hell of a lot of luck. This book needed to be written. It was Catherine Balavage with her clear sighted view of the profession who needed to write it. Bravo!

This one is from actor and casting associate Clea Myers:

Fantastic & Essential Guide By Ms. C. Myers

This really is an excellent guide book into the terribly difficult, but potentially rewarding life of an actor. Balavage tackles the often ignored questions that surround the inexperienced and/or young person who wonders what the best road to take is? She starts with the basics that encompass questions about whether to train at drama school (and thereby find the money to do so), or go another route by getting involved with fringe theatre and/or film school films. Throughout she weighs up the pros and cons in a highly informative and intelligent manner that are also highly credible as she is writing from first-hand experience. Her own entrepreneurship into film-making is included and offers fantastic tips and empowerment, to what is often a dis-empowering profession. She also demystifies the perceived ‘glamour’ of working as an actor and says it how it is. A good wake-up call for those out there that crave instant fame!

Her approach is wholly professional and fundamentally knowledgeable: she interviews working actors, alongside well-known casting directors who give an insider-view into what is required to get ‘ a foot in the door’. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in becoming an actor.

Crime writer Penny Deacon called it the ‘Best advice available’ in her review and American actor Tom Shafer gave it a wonderful review and said it was a great companion piece to Bonnie Gillespie’s acting bible, Self Management For Actors in his review below.

An excellent guide for the entertainment professional By Thomas Shafer

I found this book to be an excellent companion to Bonnie Gillespie’s ‘Self-Management for Actors’, which I am also currently reading. The first half of Catherine’s book does a excellent job of distilling a seminar’s-worth of material into a manageable bit. The second half, the interviews, felt more conversational. What was clear, the recommendations made in the first half came, in part, from these interviews. This is an excellent technique, since it reinforces the validity of the recommendations as having come from entertainment professionals who have achieved a perceived level of success. (I like that the definition of “success” was open for discussion, since it can mean different things to different people.)

As an American reading this book, I did find some UK-centric resources and references. But, in this era of global Internet access, I found just as many that were valid for US readers. I was able to take this in stride and see this as a valuable tool in my self-management as a working actor.

Thanks, Catherine, for writing this excellent guide.

What are you waiting for? We are not biased, it is an excellent guide and an essential for any actor.

How To Be a Successful Actor: Becoming an Actorpreneur is available here.

 

 

How To Be a Successful Actor: Becoming an Actorpreneur Book Review

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The daughter of a friend of mine is in her second year at drama school. She’s good: can sing, can dance, can act – particularly in comedy. So, she has it all? Trouble is, so do so many of the rest of her year group. And so do all of those other aspiring actors in all those drama schools across the country. She’s beginning to ask how she can show she’s different, that she deserves to be remembered from one audition to the next. How she can avoid annoying someone whose off hand influence can close as well as open doors for her?

howtobeasuccessful_actor_book become How To Be a Successful Actor: Becoming an ActorpreneurI’m going to give her a copy of this book. It may be the single most useful thing I ever do for her. How To Be a Successful Actor: Becoming an Actorpreneur by Catherine Balavage is one of those practical, down-to-earth guides which doesn’t try to hide the obstacles and difficulties of choosing an actor’s life but does give solid and sensible, practical, advice on making the best impression and avoiding the worst pitfalls. Equally valuably, Balavage makes suggestions for networking, for working with others to help each other through teamwork (e.g. helping film each other’s showreels), working for nothing except getting your name out there, remembering names, and never, never, never forgetting to say thank you – even when you don’t land the part. She is upfront about the chances of success in acting: ‘Only act if you cannot do anything else. It is the hardest and most competitive industry you can go into. Your chances of success at making a full-time living for the rest of your life are small.’ And then she offers clear and straightforward, practical advice about how to shift the odds just slightly in your favour.

 

This book seems, at first glance, rather plain, with no images and most chapters simply divided into paragraphs with explanatory headings, or questions followed by responses. I like this format. It’s no-frills and underlines the fact that this is a handbook. A ready reference tool which will be highlighted and annotated by anyone who uses it regularly. The pages of useful contacts and Top Tips are invaluable. I also liked the interviews with others in the profession: the replies to questions overlap with each other in ways which reinforce what Balavage has already said. This reinforces my conviction that this author really is writing from experience and passing on advice distilled from her own hard work. Which I really hope my young friend will take.

 

[Editorial note: Catherine Balavage is an editor of this magazine]

 

Five Mistakes Actors Make That Stop Them Getting Work

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Getting work as an actor is hard. With long periods of unemployment and vast competition. This was the main reason I wrote my book How To Be a Successful Actor: Becoming An Actorpreneur. The odds are not good but you can tip them in your favour. You can make your own work, work on your skills, get your name out there. They say success is opportunity meets preparation. So here are my top five tips to make sure you are prepared and stop making the mistakes that stop you having the best career you can. Here are five mistakes actors make in their career that stop them being successful.

 

howtobeasuccessful_actor_book become How To Be a Successful Actor: Becoming an Actorpreneur

Arrogance

Far too many actors are arrogant. Especially just after they have left drama school. Thinking you are the best actor that ever walked the earth is not going to convince anyone else to hire you. No one likes arrogance. Always under-promise and over-deliver. Be humble and modest. The traits that make a good human being also make a good actor.

 

Marketing Yourself Wrong

Yes, you are an artist but you are also a product. You have to brand yourself correctly so people know what you are ‘selling’. If you are Irish and want to market yourself as an Irish actor you must be prepared for only getting Irish roles. People will try to put you into a box but you can do yourself a favour by making yourself versatile. If you don’t want to be known as a certain type of actor, (like Australian, Irish, etc) don’t market yourself that way. Play up to your strengths and downplay what will limit you getting mainstream work.

You must also update your head shots, CV and showreel at least yearly. Don’t forget to update the various online acting sites you may be on every time you get a job.

 

Not Continuously Working On Your Skills

Actors can go months, and even years without working. If you do not work on your skills when unemployed not only will you be rusty when it comes to audition and getting work, but you will also not be as confident. Your CV will also be lacking. You are a business, invest in yourself. Even if it is getting a camera and making some short films with friends.

 

Thinking The World Owes You a Living

You are not special. You do not deserve to be a super-successful world famous actor. The world does not owe you anything. A sense of entitlement is not going to do you any favours. This was the main piece of advice American casting director Daryl Eisenberg gave me for my book on becoming a successful actor. Don’t think you are better than anyone else.

 

Being a Jerk

No one wants to work with horrible people. The film industry is tiny, as is the theatre and TV industry. If you are rude, horrible and difficult to work with then you will have a pretty short career. Be nice. Manners cost nothing.

 

Catherine Balavage is an actor and writer with over ten years of experience in the industry. Her book, How To Be a Successful Actor: Becoming an Actorpreneur, came out in June this year. She also co-directed and wrote her own feature-length film, Prose & Cons, which will be out later this year.

 

 

Frost’s Editor Catherine Balavage Writes How To Be A Successful Actor Book

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Frost’s Editor, Catherine Balavage, has written a book on How To Be A Successful Actor. It is called How To Be a Successful Actor: Becoming an Actorpreneur. It has gotten as high as number 5 on the Kindle charts under Stage & Theatre. It will also be released on paperback and Smashwords soon. Handpicked Future did a great piece on it and Catherine was on the front page of the Entertainment section in The Huffington Post with her Actors Who Make Their Own Work article. You can also read an article by Catherine written on her own blog.

howtobeasuccessful_actor_book_cover The book is available here for UK readers and here for US readers. It is also available worldwide.

Cover art by Steve McAleavy

 

 

Mark Ruffalo ‘I Auditioned 800 Times Without Booking A Role’

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For tmarkruffalohose outside the acting industry it probably looks easy, but what isn’t easy is finding work. This is proven by Mark Ruffalo’s interview in Interview magazine. Here is a highlight:

 

“In 2000, playwright-cum filmmaker-Kenneth Lonergan’s quirky little sibling drama You Can Count on Me broke out of the festival circuit and went on to be nominated for two Academy Awards (for screenplay and for actress Laura Linney’s star turn). Its success was powered, in part, by the electric performance of a virtually unknown 32-year-old leading man. By the time he booked the part, Mark Ruffalo had already given up on acting at least once, in the mid-’90s, heading home to Kenosha, Wisconsin, to work for his commercial-painter father. But he came back, again and again—auditioning, he once said, 800 times without booking a single role.”

 

Wow. That is impressive perseverance. Ruffalo also had to deal with his brother being murdered and having a benign brain tumor removed.

 

Mark Ruffalo is an amazing actor and I am just happy he kept at it. Read the amazing interview, he is interviewed by Julia Roberts and on a shameless self-promotion note: If you are an actor then check out my book How To Be a Successful Actor: Becoming an Actorpreneur. It is available in print and in all eBook formats on both Smashwords and Amazon.

 

 

Actors Who Make Their Own Work

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actors who make their own work, lake bell, tina fey, kristen wiig, greta gerwig, lake bell, brit marling, vin diesel. The rumour that acting is the hardest and most brutal industry in the world is unfortunately true, I have been an actor now for over 10 years. Yikes. Along the way I have realised that the only way to have a brilliant career is to write and produce your own stuff. Which is what I did with Prose & Cons. It is currently being edited.

If you want to be inspired, here is our list of the Top Actors Who Make Their Own Work.

Brit Marling

This American producer, director, writer and actress caused a stir with Another Earth. She was only 27 at the time. Now 30 and with 13 films under her belt. She was even on the front cover of Vanity Fair’s prestigious Hollywood edition. She has written four films and directed one.

Check out these personal quotes from her IMDB page:

“I always started writing in order to act. I don’t know that I could have the discipline to sit down and write if I was going to give it away. That would be too hard. But I love to act in stories that are outside my imagination because I can only conceive of so many things from my point of view. The thing that’s intoxicating about being an actor is that you get to live in someone else’s world for a while and I hope to do more of that. But I think I’ll never stop writing now because I’m wondering why there aren’t more representatives of women that are like the women we know. Where’s the film with the women who are complicated and strong and beautiful and sexy and interesting and of all body types? You don’t get to see enough of them. So there’s something important in attempting to write them for myself and for the insanely talented women out there.”

“[on why she decided to become a screenwriter in relation to her being an actress] How terrifying to surrender your life to being chosen all the time. Having to be chosen and re-chosen. Writing so that I can act became a way of having not more control over my future but not having to wait for permission. You can choose yourself. Hmm, who should play this part? I nominate me!”

Mindy Kaling

Started out as a writer for The Office and even wrote a character for herself into the show. At the age of 34 Kaling has created her own show, The Mindy Project, and was named as one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2013.

Mindy knows she is different and makes fun of it: “I’m a minority chubby woman who has my own show on a network. I don’t know how long this is going to last!” She told Jon Stewart. She has 2.3million Twitter followers and refuses to diet.

Kaling wrote in her bestselling memoir Is Everybody Hanging Out Without Me?: “I fall into that nebulous, quote-unquote, normal American woman size that legions of fashion stylists detest. For the record, I’m a size 8 — this week, anyway. Many stylists hate that size because I think to them, it shows that I lack the discipline to be an ascetic; or the confident, sassy abandon to be a total fatty hedonist.”

Emma Thompson

She wanted better roles so she wrote the screenplay for Sense and Sensibility, an adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel. The film got Thompson the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay and a nomination for leading actress. She hasn’t looked back since. The 54-year-old has 60 films as an actor under her belt and another 12 as a writer.

Nia Vardalos

She kept losing out on roles so she wrote My Big Fat Greek Wedding. The film was a roaring success. Vardalos says: ‘I run into other actresses and we talk about the lack of parts for woman. At least I can write myself a part, which is an amazing skill to possess.”

Barbra Streisand

Streisand was the first woman to win a Golden Globe for directing after co-writing, directing and starring in Yentl. She was 41 and had already broken down a lot of barriers for woman. She started off as a nightclub singer and is now one of the most famous actress, singer, producer, director, actor and writers. Has never been afraid to send herself up. She has inspired generations of woman.

In her own words: “I arrived in Hollywood without having my nose fixed, my teeth capped, or my name changed. That is very gratifying to me.”

“To have ego means to believe in your own strength. And to also be open to other people’s views. It is to be open, not closed. So, yes, my ego is big, but it’s also very small in some areas. My ego is responsible for my doing what I do – bad or good.”

Lake Bell

The 34-year-old is making waves with her film, In A World. She has 35 credits to her name but made her own film this year. After being an actor for 11 years she sat down to write a script and won the prestigious Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at the Sundance Film Festival. She told Glamour Magazine: “When I first started auditioning in LA, I realised it was a clique; this guy’s got the monopoly on epics, this woman’s got the monopoly on tampon adverts. It was the perfect environment for a modern comedy.” “I wanted to make a movie’, she went on, “so I wrote a part for myself.”

“Being willing to outsource all of your creative decisions, especially to a first-timer like me, is very ballsy. I had no other choice than to make it the way I made it. And I felt very supported in that. When you write and direct your own film you basically know exactly what you want. Or you hope to. For the studio, it actually can make life a little easier, because if you have a bunch of questions they only need to call one person.”

Kristen Wiig

While Kristen had been in many films and was a regular on Saturday Night Live, she never really broke out until Bridesmaids. Kristen co-wrote and starred in Bridesmaids which was one of the biggest hits of 2011, taking $300 million at the box office and was credited for turning the tide for women in film. She has an amazing 60 credits to her name and we get the feeling the that she is just getting started.

In her own words: “If you’re creating anything at all, it’s really dangerous to care about what people think”. She also states that woman are asked their age more than men.

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon

They wrote Good Will Hunting and won an Oscar. They rest is movie star history.

Vin Diesel.

He couldn’t get the roles he wanted so he wrote a short film called Multi-Facials about being bi-racial. Steven Spielberg saw it and cast him in Saving Private Ryan. He is now a movie star and has a few franchises under his belt.

Lena Dunham

She made her first film in her parents New York apartment with a Canon 7D. Tiny Furniture was critically acclaimed and lead to the huge hit and cultural game-shifter, Girls. Still only 27-years-old but was 23 when she wrote, directed and starred in Tiny Furniture.

In her own words: “I was constantly preparing for auditions in a way that was crazy… and then I’d literally get cast as, like, a bouncing ball or a fat man or a security guard.”

Tina Fey

Made her name in Saturday Night Live and also is the creator, producer, star and writer of 30 Rock. She wrote a book called Bossy Pants and had two children. She returned to work not long after giving birth saying, “NBC has me under contract; the baby and I only have a verbal agreement’. Is their no end to her talents?

Greta Gerwig

Became known thanks to her association with the mumblecore film movement. The 30-year-old is the indie IT queen of the moment. Was brilliant in Lola Versus and stars in film-of-the-moment, Frances Ha, which she co-wrote with director boyfriend Noah Baumbach. Plays strong female characters.

 

What do you think?

Check out my new book, How To Be a Successful Actor: Becoming an Actorpreneur, out now.  It tells you all about how to become a successful actor.