It happened. We broke up. My (now former) commercial agency and I parted ways. Thankfully, of all the breakups I’ve ever had, this one actually went pretty well.

Let’s back up. I signed with CESD about a year and a half ago, after a friend of mine referred me and we had a stellar meeting. Everyone over there are consummate professionals, and I knew when I signed with them that it was a business relationship I was going to trust.

So what happened? In short, we weren’t making money and my contract expired. For the first year auditions came in waves, but they came. For the past few months, though, for whatever reason we weren’t able to get me any auditions, so when my contract came up to be renewed, they decided not to re-sign me.

What I Learned

1) Go in trusting

When I first signed with CESD I knew they were a top agency and that I was going to trust them for the extent of my contract (18 months). I knew that even if things were slow they were doing the best they could and it was worth being with them. This allowed me an incredible peace of mind during the inevitable ebb and flow of auditions.

2) Maintain Relationships

This experience was a stellar reminder that it behooves every actor to maintain contact with everyone, especially people you work with or could conceivably ever work with. Because I had stayed in contact with people I’d met years ago, I didn’t have to start from ground zero.

What I Would Have Done Differently

1) Marketing

I would have been more active in marketing to the commercial world. I always sent thank you notes to anyone who brought me in, but I wasn’t consistent in targeting the top commercial CDs and continually updating them on my career. More active marketing might have kept the auditions coming.

2) Communication, communication, communication

I would have had a direct conversation with the agency when the auditions dried up. “What can I do?” Clearly something had stopped working, and I would have made more of an effort to figure out what was going on, and more importantly what I could do about it. The earlier you have this conversation, the better. Once a problem has persisted for a while it may be too late to fix it.

3) Classes

I was in the midst of a lot of commercial classes (Killian’s Workshop, improv at UCB) when I started at CESD. Both being in those classes, and having them on my resume, I think were helpful in generating a lot of auditions. As time went on, however, I began to focus a little bit more on other areas of my career. Not coincidentally, my commercial auditions started to dry up. All this to say, that were I to do it over again I would have stayed more active in commercial classes.

The Rebound

As with any Hollywood breakup story, it wouldn’t be complete without a new love. Upon parting ways with CESD I first conversed with my manager and then immediately called over to my friends at Brick Entertainment. I’ve known Kenny and Nelson for about two years, after initially meeting them on twitter (that’s right). I told them I was recently single, but that I only wanted to mingle with them. I went in for a meeting, we discussed what I’ve been up commercially, how each of us see me in the commercial world, and ultimately decided to work together. They are two of the smartest people in this business, and I’m thrilled to be working with them.

Final Thoughts

If you decide to stay around this business long enough to find success, it’s all but inevitable that you will work with many different agents and managers. Remember to always treat everyone with respect (i.e. don’t badmouth your ex), and always be maintaining all your industry relationships. You never know where you’ll be in 5 years.

Ben Whitehair is the Los Angeles contingent of this blog. Find out more information and view his materials on his website, or read the rest of his blog posts.

2011 is now two full months behind us, but I think it’s super import to continually check in with ourselves and our progress. I’ve done annual reviews for 2010 and 2009 previously, and those posts discuss the structure and importance of my annual reviews. (You can find my annual review on 2009 here, and then my 2010 posts here and here.) Again, we’re all the CEOs of our own companies, and it’s imperative to continually look at what’s working, and what isn’t.

I’ll dive into the actual data in Part II, but from an empirical standpoint, 2011 was for me a year of dramatic personal growth. I spent an immense amount of time and energy looking inward, dealing with pain I was carrying around from my past, and taking a serious look at how I’m being in general and in my relationships.

At the risk of sounding melodramatic, the most profound revelations in the past year came out of revisiting the abuse I experienced as a teenager, and clearing myself of the bitterness I was still holding onto. In addition, I profoundly reconnected with the Big Picture and my Vision for the world. As I became more deeply integrated with myself and why I live the life I do, huge successes came my way and I rediscovered a profound motivation.

My vision for the world is one in which the only limitation on any individual is the extent of their imagination. As soon as I made this my focus I booked a role in a movie (when the writer, someone I met while auditing an acting class 2 years ago and haven’t spoken to since, messaged me on facebook) which creates a dialogue around  rape and domestic violence…two issues I’m passionate about addressing. Weeks later I booked my first national TV credit on CSI: Miami. While being a huge step forward in my career, the more profound benefit to me with that the role allowed me to have a megaphone (literally) and tens of millions of people to hear my own words on political topics I care deeply about. It was, to me, a sign from the universe that I can effect the kind of change I want and have the impact I desire in my current path.

Along with my personal and spiritual growth, my craft has been taken to a whole ‘nuva leva’. My focus on ways of being has made me more present, open, and vulnerable in my life and in my work. Increased confidence has also significantly improved my performance in the audition room and on screen.

I should also note that in 2011 I signed with an incredible manager, David Kohl. Building my team was the primary aim for the year, and I’m thrilled to have made created that. I also started working with a theatrical agent, and continued with my commercial agency. (Side note, the relationship with both my theatrical and commercial agencies ended in the past week, but more on that here shortly.)

Lastly, I continued to focus on relationships as the key way to book work. I rarely if ever self-submit, and I now rely on networking (read: connecting with people), previous relationships, and my representation to generate auditions and offers.

Final Thoughts

As actors we get hired for our energy. Our presence. The way we walk into a room. It can be easy to discount or altogether ignore working on ourselves as human beings, but I’m not sure there’s a better pursuit as an actor. Similarly, it can be easy to get bogged down in the grind and lose sight of why you started acting in the first place. I’ve learned that the most powerful foundation I can have is my vision for the world. Why not take a minute, a lunch break, a long weekend to remind yourself (or discover) why it is that you’re here. What do you want your tombstone to say? Then with that in mind, go forth and have as much freaking fun as possible. :p

Ben Whitehair is the Los Angeles contingent of this blog. Find out more information and view his materials on his website, or read the rest of his blog posts.

Fill in the blank for me. Once I have _____, I will be happy. Are you sure that’s the thing? Pick wisely. Even pick a few things. Maybe once you have your own show, more money, a girlfriend, a puppy? Okay, final answer?

*Buzzer.* Wrong. The paradigm here is backwards, and as much as we think something external from us will increase our happiness level, that’s simply not the case.

So let’s flip this on it’s head. What happens when you’re happy, joyful, creative, grateful, etc.? How do you behave? In ways that lead to more happiness, exactly! You’re so smart. When you are living in your happy place, your actions are then in line with your vision and you move towards your goals. Then, from that place, you will manifest that golden retriever puppy you’ve always been wanting.

If you are familiar with the principles of the law of attraction then you might already be familiar with the Be. Do. Have. principle here. I was only recently introduced to this paradigm, though, and it has dramatically changed my life. As I mentioned in my my last blog post, as I’ve shifted my focus from the end results (not that I don’t still have very clear goals and visions in place) and onto my ways of being, the results have taken care of themselves.

Think of this analogy. Someone was recently complaining to me that they didn’t have a boyfriend, stating that if they did then they would be happy. Now, if you’re being a Debbie Downer all the time, depressed that no one likes you, who do you think you’re going to attract? Is that the type of person someone is going to want to date? I’m gonna say not so much. If, though, you focus on being a happy person, pursuing your passions, and manifesting joy, then people are going to be attracted to and want to be around you.

So whatever it is that you want, how would someone who already has that act and behave? How would someone getting paid $25,000/week on your favorite sitcom be? What about someone living in abundance? What about someone in a successful relationship? See what happens if you spend your next week focused on how you’re being, rather than the results you want.

Remember, we’re human beings, not human doings.

Ben Whitehair is the Los Angeles contingent of this blog. Find out more information and view his materials on his website, or read the rest of his blog posts.

I’m not dead. Seriously. In fact, I’m more alive than ever.

I’ve had some incredible things happen in my life and in my acting career in the past couple months, and I’m excited to share them with you all. I’m also committed to doing the second in the series of blog posts on actor websites, a blog post on actor resumes, and of course posts on my annual review. And I am committed to doing a blog post a week this year. Please support me in this by hounding me each week if you haven’t seen a post and letting me know what you might be interested in me writing about.

So why the absence on the blog? Honestly, I’m not entirely sure. Mostly it’s that I’ve been focusing an incredible amount of time and energy on myself as a person, and my ways of being. For some reason I feel like that work isn’t necessarily related to my acting career and I feel somewhat weird posting about my own spirituality, philosophy, and thoughts on human behavior.

When I look at it, though, these are all at the core of acting. They are the subjects we get to focus on as artists. Beyond that, perhaps the most important way to progress in your career as an actor and in your work, is to better yourself.

We actors get hired for our energy. The essence we bring into a room and onto a screen; that’s what people are paying us for. And if we aspire to make hundreds, thousands, or  hundreds of thousands of dollars as an actor then it follows we must have extraordinary energy. We must be willing to go places others are afraid to go, and in so doing give them permission to go there as well.

Looking at myself, for example, I intend to get paid millions of dollars to act in feature films. If that’s what I want, and actors get hired for our essence, energy, and ways of being, then focusing on improving and developing those is imperative. What type of person excites and inspires others enough that they will pay them millions of dollars? Someone who is completely open, alive, vulnerable, dynamic, interesting, interested, creative, joyful, the list goes on. Until we are embody those traits, we are unlikely to attain our loftiest goals.

We often view this the other way around…once I’m a movie star I will be happy. Once I have that car/TV show/boyfriend/girlfriend/tomagotchi I will be satisfied. Once something happens to me or I get something, I will be fulfilled. The great news is that it works the other way around. Once you are happy, fulfilled, joyous, etc. you will begin to behave in ways that will lead you to the things you aspire to. This is exceedingly exciting because it means we can move towards and attain those things right now. In this moment. As we shift our attitudes and behaviors, then we get the things we want. You have the power, you don’t have to wait for something or someone to happen to you. You get to create it.

Those are my musings for the moments. Lots more to come. As always, love to hear your thoughts and comments…reminds me I’m not writing into a void.

P.S. Our website has undergone a lot of behind-the-scenes changes. We’re working on getting back all our comments that got corrupted, switching servers, etc. Millions of thanks to our man Brian Vabulas for all his tireless efforts on this.

Ben Whitehair is the Los Angeles contingent of this blog. Find out more information and view his materials on his website, or read the rest of his blog posts.

We can all learn a lesson from Tim Tebow.

The second-year Denver Broncos quarterback has become quite the cultural sensation over the past several months. Sports writers love to hate him. Fans criticize his unorthodox skills. The Twitterverse is teeming with Tebowmania. Even though the Broncos’ season came to an embarrassing end this weekend at the hands of the Patriots, I suspect the rumors surrounding Tebow and his future will be hot topics on ESPN this offseason.

But…why the heck am I talking about a football player on an acting blog?

If you’re not really into sports, or you’ve been living under a rock for the past three months, allow me to fill you in. Tim Tebow, a relatively inexperienced young player whom nearly everyone has doubted since the day he was drafted, has been doing things in the NFL that nobody thought possible. He leads his team to comeback victory after comeback victory, overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds every time. In fact, many sports broadcasters have begun referring to the final few minutes of a Broncos game as “Tebow Time,” because that’s when some of his more remarkable achievements have occurred.

Actors, here’s where we come into the picture. Tim Tebow is far from the most gifted guy on the field, but he’s also regarded as one of the hardest-working kids in the league. That hard work, combined with a never-say-die attitude and endless optimism, allows him to live his dream every day. I’ve always held the belief that being hard-working is more important than being talented, and he’s living proof.

We actors are a lot like Tim Tebow, in that we always find ourselves battling the odds. When you’re one of a hundred or more faces auditioning for a single role, you’re the underdog. When you’re a single headshot in a huge stack (a stack, I might add, that might find its way straight to the day’s garbage), you’re fighting an uphill battle. It’s an agreement we all made (or should have made) with ourselves when we first choose this career path: I’m going to have to work my butt off.

So the question ultimately becomes: How can I swing the odds a little bit further in my favor?

“Something I learned early in college (is) to not worry about what I can’t control…But what I can control is my attitude, my effort, my focus every single day and that’s what I’m trying to worry about.” -Tim Tebow

What can we, as actors, control in our pursuits? Can we govern the amount of raw talent that courses through our veins? Probably not, but we can take Meisner classes at a local acting studio. We can find mentors in the professional world and pick their brains. We can use our cell phones to film ourselves practicing our monologues over and over again. These are the little things that nobody’s making us do, but that we choose to do because they help us earn the victory when the game is on the line and “Tebow Time” arrives.

*NOTE: I don’t agree with Tebow’s religious beliefs, nor do I support his views on homosexuality, marriage, abortion, etc. But that’s not what we’re talking about here. We’re talking about winning. Now go get ‘em, tiger!

Joe Von Bokern is the Chicago contingent of this blog. Find out more information and view his materials on his website, or read the rest of his blog posts.

I am going to start this blog post by sharing an unsolicited email I recently received from a “manager.” (Note: All grammar and spelling has been included, as originally written.)

“I was looking on IMDB and noticed you do not have a Talent Manager.  As you may  know we are doing Talent Management..  A manager is different from an agent but in a way better as I have more fields to get you work.  I feel I could be a great assett to you to help you not only get your more acting roles but we are doing something no other Management firm does.  We are also going to provide free to our clients our Publicity Services.  We are a NON-EXCLUSIVE company so if at anytime you want to end services with us that is ok.  I really hope you will give me a chance to further your career and make you more money.  If you are interested please let me know and I’ll send you my information packate.” – Mike

File this one away into the “If it seems too good to be true, it is” mailbox. Of course, there are warning signs all over the above email that tell the actor that they should stay far away. So, how does an actor gauge the validity of these types of emails, which become more numerous as the actor gets more and more well known?

1) Does the manager know the difference between managers and agents? (Do you?)
Agents and managers are very different from one another, primarily because it is illegal for managers to procure work for their clients. Agents are required to be on file with their state as a “licensed employment agent” and managers are not given this clearance. Thus, a manager’s job takes on a different form. Directly from the Talent Manager’s Association website: “A manager, by nature, does not seek employment for a client, but rather council, market and network on their behalf making it easier for the agent to secure employment. A client, manager and agent should function as a team.”

You can see by the email above that the manager is not accurately conveying his role. This should be a very big “red flag” to you.

2) Why are they contacting YOU? 
Yes, we are all fabulous, and we usually feel we deserve to be represented. But, as I said on a recent post on the Backstage message boards, if you are ready to seek management, you want to seek out a management company that has a good track record and a solid client base. Typically, companies that fall in that category do not need to troll the internet to locate new clients, and they don’t typically seek to represent actors with small resumes. To get to know up-and-coming actors, managers spend time seeing plays, going to film festivals, and taking meetings via referrals. They may use IMDB or the actor’s website as a research tool, but rarely do solid companies “discover” talent on the web. So you have to ask yourself- if it is normally so difficult to be represented, why has THIS offer come so easily?

3) Does the email appear to be well written? If they give you a website to check out, does it inspire your confidence?
There are misspellings and bad grammar all over this email. Even if the manager were legitimate, would you want someone representing you when they cannot put together a coherent email?

4) Does the contact information make sense and seem professional? 
Often, when you try to verify their contact information, you’ll notice discrepancies in the information. In the above example, Mike gave me a web address for his company, but his email address came from a completely different company. Upon researching him, I discovered that his company was primarily a Publicity Company, where they pay actors to attend parties and events. Also, take note of where their office is located. I am based in NYC and this company is based in LA – it doesn’t really make sense for them to represent me from the opposite coast unless I plan to make a move out west.

Many actors ignore that voice of warning in their head because it feels so good to believe that we are being handed our big break. Believe me, I know- I’m an actor, just like you. I hustle, just like you. I taste the wins and the losses as sweetly and bitterly as you do. But I believe that if you do your homework and listen to your gut, you can protect yourself from those unsavory characters who prey on your dreams and desires.

Have you ever gotten an offer that was turned out “too good to be true”? How did you handle it? Please let us know about your experiences, and how you addressed them, in the comment section below.

PS: This article pertains, also, to those folks out there who randomly email actors about mailing autographed headshots. I regularly report these requests on my acting blog to help other actors research the requests, and one in particular has resulted in a very strange, stalker-like situation. Check out this blog post for more information (and be sure to read the comments!)

Added Bonus: (Because at Playbills vs Paying Bills, we think you deserve bonuses every now and then!)

I did a quick Google Search for the phrase “too good to be true” and here are some of the things that came up (some funny, some not so funny):

Looks Too Good To be True: Mail, Telephone & Internet Fraud Support
Too Good To Be True: The Rise & Fall of Bernie Madoff
Urban Dictionary: Too Good To Be True

Erin Cronican is the New York contingent of this blog. Find out more information and view her materials on her website, or read the rest of her blog posts.

One of the things I remember strongly from the game was this idea of bartering. If someone didn’t have money, they could trade some of their goods or services for someone else’s goods or services. This really resonated with me, especially since I have always been passionate about building a community and sharing with other. So, it stands to reason that when I got out of theater school, I started to think: as actors and business owners, bartering might be a great part of getting the things we need for a successful career. Imagine, if you created the right kinds of relationships and developed a much needed skill set, you could trade for the goods and services you desperately need for your career. No more, “Well, I would but I don’t have the money”… you would be able to trade for everything you needed.

So, how does one do this? Well, there are several different things you have to consider when thinking about using bartering for your business.

What kinds of things would you like to trade for?
Think about the things you need to make your career a success. (If you need help, just try going through this year’s receipts to see what you spent your money on.) There’s a good chance that the things you are purchasing could be done in trade, or at least at a discounted rate. You especially want to look at services that are rendered by another business professional (rather than items that are purchased.) Things like:

• Headshot Photography
• Vocal Coaching
• Demo Reel Editing
• Dialect Training
• Graphic Design
• Dance Classes
• Acting Technique
• Style Consultations
• Photo Retouching

You can also think of other goods and services that are not specifically for actors, but common (or even luxury) services used by people every day. Things like:

• Hairstyling
• Massage Therapy
• Spa Services
• Administrative Support
• Personal Training
• Nutritional Counseling
• Life Coaching
• Financial Planning

What do you have to offer?
In order to be able to barter, you have to have a good or service that you can trade that is relevant for the person you’re trading with. I started by examining my relationships to find where bartering might be most useful. For many actors, this can simply mean offering your time to someone for a task they desperately need support with, or it can also mean utilizing a skill set that is unique and desired by others.

Make a list by coming up with a group of skills or services that you excel at, and that you’d be willing to barter. Do you have an administrative skill that you could offer – for example, are you great on the computer, or are you good at organizing? Does your day job equip you with a skill that you could offer to someone in exchange for another service? Sometimes, though, it’s simply that you have time on your hands that you can offer to someone. My voice teacher has a young child, and I know that childcare is something she’s often interested in bartering for. If you have an interest in children, this might be a skill you’d add to your list.

Blend the two ideas together
Once you have a list of skills, and you know what kind of services you’re interested in receiving, it’s time to match the two together. Come up with some ideas about how to help each particular service provider with a skill you have to offer. For example, let’s say that you are skilled at graphic design and HTML coding, and you notice that your hairstylist doesn’t have a website. Based on this knowledge, you could offer to build a site in exchange for styling services of the same value. You’d be providing a valuable service while receiving your own valuable service in return, thereby freeing up your cash for other important purposes.

Years ago when I first discovered bartering, I talked to my voice teacher about trading so that I could get extra lessons. We came up with a plan for me to be a dog walker when she went out of town, as well some administrative work. One example of admin work I did: I spent hours creating a spreadsheet for all of the Los Angeles casting directors and agents listed in The Call Sheet (called Ross Reports, at that time), which she could then use to make labels. For every 4 hours of admin work I did, I received 1 hour of a voice lesson.

If you’re having trouble coming up with skills that are relevant to the service you want to barter for, all you have to do is ask. Talk to the service provider, and let them know that you’re looking for innovative ways to be able to afford the services you need. Give them a list of things you’re good at, and ask them if there is anything they might find valuable in trade for the services they provide. The worst thing that could happen? They could say no, and then you’re in the same position you’re in now. But if they say yes, you’ll now have the opportunity to build a constructive relationship with another business owner and save yourself some valuable dough.

Be Prepared for a ‘No’
Be advised: not all business owners are equipped to handle bartering, so be sure to be respectful if they say no. Each person knows their business better than anyone else, so only they can decide if bartering is useful to them. Remember that we all depend on our business income for our livelihood, so sometimes cold hard cash is more important than getting services for free. I’m convinced that if you do your homework, you will find someone (or multiple someones) that will be interested in what you have to offer.

Keep Good Records
I contacted Nance Schick, an employment attorney for small business owners, to get her thoughts on bartering (which she does quite a bit.) She reminded me that when bartering, you need to make sure that you keep invoices/receipts that show the exact value of the barter. Even more important, make sure that the bartered services are for equal value, so that there is a zero balance in the end. You do this, because the government will tax you if a service you receive has more highly valued than the one you provided. For example, if you did a website design for $500, but you received a $600 demo reel in exchange, you would be taxed on the $100 overage. To combat this, make sure you do the same value of work that the other service provider does, and then create an invoice that reflects that. In the above example, I would do a little extra work on the website package so that the value is $600, and then show that the web design was paid for with a $600 demo reel package. Make sure you both have invoices on file reflecting the trade.

You might remember my example above where I did 4 hours of admin work in exchange for 1 hour of coaching? The way we worked out that barter agreement was to estimate the admin work to be worth $15 per hour, and her coaching to be worth $60 per hour. So, on my invoice I showed that for each trade I worked 4 hours at $15 per hour, and as payment I received $60 in coaching services.

These kinds of invoices should be sufficient to show that the bartering was fair and equal. If you have any questions, it would be a good idea to talk to a lawyer or an accountant when setting up your bartering services. You can check out the IRS Website for tax advice as well.

You can also leave your questions in the comments section below, and I’ll answer them in any way I can. I have tons of experience in bartering — I currently barter for voice lessons, piano accompaniment, life coaching, massage therapy, acting coaching, dance lessons, and will soon be trading for facial/spa service and personal training. I feel like I’ve won the lottery!

- Erin

Added Bonus: (Because at Playbills vs Paying Bills, we think you deserve bonuses every now and then!)

There is an overabundance of information about bartering out there on the interwebs. Here are some great resources & articles you might like: Barter Quest: Social Network for Bartering | The Original Barter Babe Finds Wealth Beyond Cash | Bartering for Health Care: Yardwork for Treatment | The Art of Barter: How To Trade For Almost Anything

Erin Cronican is the New York contingent of this blog. Find out more information and view her materials on her website, or read the rest of her blog posts.

What do you do when your focus starts to slip?

Panic? Throw in the towel? Ignore it and keep pushing?

As actors, we sometimes find ourselves in those funky, unproductive-seeming phases where we tend to let our ambition slip a little. We can get lazy about our craft, and our business sense tends to drag. For those of us still working “day jobs” to pay the bills, this feeling can be especially overwhelming during the lean times, when money might not be coming in as steadily, or when things at the office are tense and require a lot of extra energy.

Whatever the reason, there seems enough evidence to make the case that an early acting career can look  a lot like an EKG (the neato gadget that measures the human heartbeat). There are peaks, and there are valleys. Sometimes we ride high with all the confidence in the world, and sometimes things sag a little.

I offer you this: Such highs and lows are proof, in essence, that our hearts are beating, are they not?

We’re alive! We’re humans! Actors are not robots. We are not perfect. Get it?

So I’ll ask again: What do you do when your focus starts to slip? My answer is simply to keep at it. Don’t let it beat you. As long as you have life in your body and the will to pursue your craft, the natural rhythm of your artistic heartbeat will send things shooting back upward before you realize it. Just don’t give up because everything isn’t going your way. Trust that it will turn around.

On a personal note, I bring up all this EKG stuff because I feel like I’ve been letting my focus blur a little. As my company, The Consortium Project, wraps up its latest production, I can’t help but meditate on the ways we’ve grown as a company over the past few years. I can name a handful of challenges on the production side of things that could have been handled differently, and I’m doing my best to file those lessons away for future use. But my daydreams have been along the lines of, “Making theatre from the ground up has been awesome, and I want to learn how to do it better.” I’m interested in creating new challenges for myself, both as an actor and as a member of the theatre-creating community. And while I figure out what exactly that means to me, I begin to feel like I’m stuck in a plateau with my acting career.

And I have to remind myself that I’m alright. That it’s just my heart beating. It’s a good thing.

~JVB

Joe Von Bokern is the Chicago contingent of this blog. Find out more information and view his materials on his website, or read the rest of his blog posts.

Ahhh, the world wide web. Seems like just yesterday I was listening to that lovely dial-up sound while hacking into NORAD. Oh, how the times have changed.

I started building websites in high school, continued throughout college, then did some professional web design upon graduation. Why do I admit to being such a nerd? Because I’m about to proffer advice on websites and I want to add some semblance of credibility to my suggestions. If you want to see some of my work you can check out this site, this site, or this site. Still not enough? You can look at this site or this one, but please don’t look at this one. If you want actor sites you can visit my personal website, or this one that I made for Justin Baker.

Why You Need a Website

Will not having a website sabotage your entire career? Probably not. But there are many reasons why I think it’s imperative for every actor to have their own personal website. As I see it, there are two primary things any actor must do: 1) Show the ‘buyers’ your essence; and 2) Demonstrate that you are a consummate professional. Your website can do both of these things.

If nothing else, your website serves as a virtual headshot and resume (and demo reel!). It is increasingly important to have somewhere online where people can easily view your demo reel, check out your headshots, et cetera, et cetera. While IMDb, your Actor’s Access profile, and other sources can serve this function as well, you have far less control over those sites and cannot add additional content. More importantly, a personal website is the one place online where you get to control how you present yourself to the rest of the world…you have total control over the content. You get to present what it is that you want to promote. Don’t get yourself into a santorum situation.

Beyond that, I would say that one of the most valuable things actors will get out of their website is referrals from their friends. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been in the following situation:

Ben’s Director Friend mentions to Ben that she’s filming a stellar short in two days, but still needs a certain type of actor. Ben happens to know certain type of actor and wants to refer them to Director Friend. Director Friend is excited at the prospect, but wants to see a few headshots and a demo reel before reaching out. Ben dials up his modem to search the world wide web for said actor’s website. Said actor doesn’t have website. Ben can’t refer them. Ben curls up in a corner and cries himself to sleep.* 

Seriously. I’ve run into this dozens of times. I want to refer my friends to people who would hire them as actors, but no one accepts a totally blind referral and if I don’t have a site to forward on I can’t help you. Worse than missing out on an acting opportunity you might not have had to even audition for, is missing an opportunity you didn’t even know you had.

Your Audience

Part of the trap in building a website is thinking that you’re going to get thousands of hits, and that everyone from major studio execs to your neighbor’s computer-savvy golden retriever will view your site. Now, while it is true that you especially shouldn’t count on people at more top levels of the industry (TV shows, studio films, etc.) coming to your site every day (they’ll probably just go to IMDb), I will say that I am with my current manager because he visited my website, thought it was funny, and reached out to me as a result.

All this to say that one of the most important things you can ask yourself in building a site is who is your audience?! My guess is you might have a couple target audiences:

Fans

In order to get paid the big bucks (or even the little bucks) you need to command an audience. The bigger the audience, the higher your value as an actor (at least from a producer’s perspective). As such, you should be in the business of accumulating–and more importantly, interacting with–a fan base. Your website can be a great place to do this.

Industry Professionals

Of course, the hope is that agents, managers, casting directors, producers, and the like flock to your page like hipsters to a skinny-jeans convention. With that in mind you need to make sure your website is ready for an industry professional to get the information they need in very short order.

Peers

Similar to fans, your website might also be geared towards your peers. Most importantly, you might want to ensure your website is referral-ready (see above). =D

Your Ex

Nothing makes an ex-lover more jealous than a perfectly-designed website. Ok, that’s probably not true, but again you should be thinking both about who you want to view your website, and who will be viewing your website. Keep both of these audiences in mind as you design your website.

Final Thoughts

As I mentioned above, actors are (read: should be) constantly working to demonstrate their professionalism and share their essence. For someone to cast you, they want to know exactly who they’re casting, and that it will be a pleasurable experience to work with you. Having a website that truly presents your personality accomplishes part of that, and having a clean, professionally designed website goes the rest of the way.

So how DO you add personality to a website? Answers to that question, resources on building your own website, and much more coming up in Part II of this series.

*Ben can neither confirm nor deny that crying himself to sleep was actually a result of him watching the rerun of Oprah’s final episode for the 18th time, not because of the failed referral

Ben Whitehair is the Los Angeles contingent of this blog. Find out more information and view his materials on his website, or read the rest of his blog posts.

I recently had the great fortune of partaking in a wonderful conversation with the wisest person I know. Among many things, we spent considerable time discussing what boils down to the proverbial ‘journey and destination.’ This got me thinking that the majority of conversations I have with my actor peers in Los Angeles are centered around the destination. We talk about getting that first co-star, getting an agent, booking a studio film. There’s a tremendous focus on the vision of where everyone is going, but I find that as a community we talk much less about the journey. Worse than that, when we—and I’m still including myself here to be clear—do discuss the journey it’s very much focused on the quickest route to the destination. I’d like to make an argument for “The How.”

I think The How matters. In fact, I think it matters a great deal. You see, there will always be another milestone. The longer I’m in LA the more I realize this. When I encounter fellow actors who have already achieved whatever goal I am working towards at any given time, they’re working towards the next one. From co-star to guest star. From lesser agent to more influential one. From series regular to your own show. It never stops. There’s always something else. On one hand that is thrilling and motivating, but it also presents a trap of perpetually chasing after the next thing.

To combat the tendency to live for the future, I think it takes more than simply enjoying the journey, or stopping to smell the proverbial roses. In order to truly succeed (or at least be actually fulfilled when success comes), I think think you have to chart your course in Hollywood in congruence with capital-y You. We must each pursue our respective careers in ways that nourish our soul and act in accordance with our values. If you think that casting director workshops are ultimately harmful to the community, then don’t do them. If you loathe sending out postcard mailers then don’t do it. If turning on a computer makes you cringe then…well, get an iPad and suck it up…and also don’t anchor your marketing strategy around twitter. These are just a few examples, but hopefully you see the bigger picture. I think it really does matter how you accomplish your goals.

If you are pursuing an acting career in Los Angles then you desire wide-spread recognition (read: fame).* But is that really all you want? Snooki if famous. So is Paris Hilton. If fame or recognition is all you desire, then there are myriad ways to achieve that goal far quicker and easier than through acting. Let me pose a question. If someone could wave a wand tomorrow and make you famous by putting you in a trashy, offensive reality show  that became insanely popular, would you do it? My guess is that most readers of this blog would not. So why is that? Why not get famous at the drop of a hat and work on parlaying that into a career in more “legit” film and television?

I hope I’m not getting too ‘woo-woo’ here, but I’ve become acutely aware recently that this city seems to be fixated with, and put undue pressure on, the end result. In the end, we may never get to the goal post for which we’re aiming. If we are living a life of passion, however, a life in which we pursue our dreams and our deepest desires with love and vigor, then we will (paradoxically) increase the odds of obtaining those results. More than that, we will not just live, but have a life.

As always, your comments are always welcomed and very much appreciated.

*If you are in Los Angeles and tell me you don’t want at least mild celebrity this then I’m sorry, but you’re either lying to yourself or in the wrong city. It’s simply too much work for this to not be true. If you “just want to act” then you would have moved to a small town in Idaho** already.

**I have nothing against Idaho. I simply chose it because it’s a sparsely populated*** state with a hard consonant that makes it a funnier-sounding state than, say, Maine. Hehe. Idaho.

***Idaho is the twelfth most populous state with roughly 1.5 million residents (source).

Ben Whitehair is the Los Angeles contingent of this blog. Find out more information and view his materials on his website, or read the rest of his blog posts.