I'm terrified about my profession

[ratetankmark]

I'm currently in college doing a Performing Arts course, I'm loving it, the teachers are fantastic, my classmates are awesome to be around (most of them anyway) I have a lot of fun learning about acting and people like Bertolt Brecht and Stanislavski, but then it's dawning on me that after this two year course is up I've got to find a job and according to a lot of people, actors spend less time actually in roles and more time having to do other jobs to pay the bills.

[Deleted]

Them's the breaks in the entertainment industry, I'm afraid. I graduated from my TV production course (at Scotland's most highly regarded media training college, with top grades) 18 months ago and have been unemployed since. It's a labour of love for me, I'm never gonna give up trying to get somewhere in film or TV because I've never wanted to do anything else with my life, but I will have to find other work in the very near future if the few opportunities I'm waiting to hear about just now fall through. I was always prepared for this, but it still sucks that it looks like it's gonna be the reality of the situation.

[Deleted]

These days it doesn't matter what subject you're studying, it's not a guaranteed job as soon as you graduate. Keep at it because no one became a success on their first attempt. It takes time. I graduated as a journalist and spent a year working in retail and am now unemployed and looking change career path, not because I'm quitting but because journalism isn't for me. At 18 when I had to decide what course to take I didn't know what to do so I take something I thought I would enjoy without understanding what the profession was all about.

On one hand it's almost fair because it's the same for everyone at your stage, but think about how many people didn't become successful at these sort of jobs until their 30s or 40s. It takes times.

[Red Impact]

I always recommend people research the job market they're studying for, because colleges in general do such poor jobs of giving students the reality of the job situation. I remember when my college adviser recommended becoming a movie critic, and I learned at my first journalism job that almost no one has an actual movie critic on staff anymore, just other reporters that sometimes write reviews as well. I did plan for business journalism and ended up with a job as a crime reporter for a while.

There are career paths that lead to fairly easy employment with the right degree, but you have to have a plan going in and not drink the Kool-aid that the department and school will try to feed you. The way they're set up now, they want your money and many don't care about giving you realistic expectations.

[Zaq "That Guy" Buzzkill]

Acting is a hard business to break into and even harder as a career to maintain. Just try to keep your head above water and don't be afraid to take menial jobs to pay the bills.

[SOR]

I am an Actor and Buzzkill is right, take every job that comes your way. I have done Extra's work because it's a pay cheque for 2 weeks, I have done commercials for obscure products and music videos for obscure musicians just for a payday.

Also, if you're not good looking it's a huge uphill battle. I have a friend who graduated from the best acting school in the state after a 4 year course. He's not particularly good looking though and can't get any paid acting gigs because he isn't good looking enough to secure regular acting work. People filming commercials tend to only hire really attractive people as well so he's cut off from a massive revenue stream (Commercials are what keep me in the black when movies and tv slow down)

Myself on the other hand, I never went to acting school and I get a lot of stuff because I have something that stands out (Dark hair, dark facial features) etc.

Also learn to market yourself properly. You can't do a couple of university stage productions and go from that straight into a recurring role on television or get on the books of a reputable agency you need to go and do freebies for people. The way I started was I'd go and do Featured Extra work for free. I got lucky and a few of those projects became big and people started looking at my credits and recognizing the titles and I moved into bigger stuff.

Ultimately though, I'm of the belief that it all comes down to looks. I know a lot of great Asian Actors who are way more talented than me but can't get anything because there aren't a lot of roles for Asians. Again as mentioned above if you're not good looking it's very tough, if you don't dress nicely it's tough to get featured in these freebie projects.

In closing. If you're good looking, have a "can do" attitude and can act you should probably be able to secure work. If you don't have them then you simply become an acting coach or a drama teacher or something like that. My friend has a friend who is a drama teacher for kids and she makes good money.

Good luck.

[Mac]

Jan 5, 2014 16:38:24 GMT -5 ratetankmark said:

I'm currently in college doing a Performing Arts course, I'm loving it, the teachers are fantastic, my classmates are awesome to be around (most of them anyway) I have a lot of fun learning about acting and people like Bertolt Brecht and Stanislavski, but then it's dawning on me that after this two year course is up I've got to find a job and according to a lot of people, actors spend less time actually in roles and more time having to do other jobs to pay the bills.

Sounds about right. You most likely will never land a job in your designated field. The numbers are against you and the majority of college graduates these days wind up in jobs that have nothing to do with their degree (I would be one of them. I have a double B.A. in English and Psychology but found my calling as a computer/HVAC tech) Too many kids are told they NEED to go to college and many go just because they're supposed to, or get a degree in something they find "fun".

It sounds like you're having fun, but that's not really what higher education is really about. If you can turn what you learned in a performing arts course into a profitable and rewarding career then good going, but the odds are GREATLY, GREATLY stacked against you.

Sorry to come across as harsh, but reality is seldomly sugarcoated.

[Sephiroth]

I myself have been in and out of acting for a while now, never finding that great success we all dream of. At this stage I treat it as a hobby as much as anything else, but if the opportunity ever came I would leap at it. I have to acknowledge my own faults and admit that I suck at networking, which is an undeniably major component in this field. I'm also way behind the curve on social media and badly need to get some vids of myself on Vine.

[MasonK565]

I am currently going to KU for Film and Media Studies. I see so many examples of people graduating from here and going back home to work at retail jobs and whatnot. It worrie to the point that I have become addicted. I am going insane sitting here during christmas break. I have solid grades (3.88 last semester), which only matter for a shot at internships and graduate school. But I am not really interested in going for more school. I work 3 jobs on top that, trying to keep active and stack on the resume. I work a job on weekends at sub place called Mr. Goodcents to help pay bills. I then work at KJHK 90.7, a student radio station. I help film vids there of bands who come play in the studio and do other radio station related work. I started this semester with those two jobs and school and I was stressed as balls.

Then, for some reason, I added another job. I accepted a position of 'Content Curator' at KU MediaMix, which is a small staffed program that films events that occur on campus and we edit videos/photos and post them online to raise awareness for students groups or for KU to help recruits students.



And I can't stop. Me desire for a job when I graduate has me pushing aside my social life and joy for more work. I am only a sophomore, so I know I have time. But it is my passion. So I am willing to give almost anything to do what I want.

[SOR]

To give some more advice since there seem to be more budding Actors here:

As a working actor you need to be willing to travel. This is the main issue a lot of people face. In the United States or Britain there are not a lot of opportunities for an Actor brand new to the scene to come out and start in something big. If you go to a smaller country such as Australia (Where I am from), New Zealand or certain parts of Asia it's a lot easier to start getting on big shows because the industry is smaller so everyone wants to see everyone else succeed.

On the opposite spectrum, a lot of young Actors will graduate acting school, get a couple of small parts on a TV Show and immediately go to Hollywood and then they're stranded because there are a thousand of them there, they secure no work and drop about 10 grand (Australian Dollars) to go to Hollywood and audition in front of people who are not impressed by them. Actors already in smaller countries (In terms of the industry) should make it big there first and then head off to Hollywood and try. So many bit Actors try and make it in Hollywood and always fail.

Patience is also a big thing, I have a friend who was taking every acting job she could for 4 years whether it was Extra's work or Principal Actor work she did it all. She stands out as well and it took her 4 years to get a role on a national TV Show but she did get that role. She got it by turning up to be a background extra and the creator spotted her and wrote something for her, she appeared in 6 episodes of a 10 episode series last year and got a bunch of personal appearance money from it as well. She got the appearance money by making a Facebook page for her character and simply saying she'd make appearances to sign photos, host things etc. She was smart and that lead to her making a couple grand in total.


Be open to Extra's work as well. It isn't fun but most of the time if you stand out they'll feature you somehow. This has happened to me a number of times but a notable time is when I turned up to be a background extra for one of the more popular shows on Australian TV and because I simply had dressed the part and looked nice they featured me and even gave me a couple of lines to shout. This lead to a featured role in a big commercial for an international brand which is really my first major success in the acting world so don't look down on Extra's work, there is always a chance to get featured and get some camera time.

In regards to you as a person I guess some advice I could give is don't be a "mark". By that I mean when you're on set don't be difficult to work with or ask for too much. Also something I see a lot are people who get on set and they immediately freak out and start fanboying/fangirling for the producting. I did a Short Film with an Actress who was in a couple of big movies (Van Helsing was her biggest credit) and one of the Extra's once we had finished would run around and take photos with everyone from the Actress herself to the camera guys, director etc. You don't want to come off as a fan or you're going to be stuck doing Extra's work for life.

And the best advice I could give you is don't take the stance of "I'm going to graduate acting school and then go and join a major agent" most major agents won't touch you until you've done something on television and the agents who will take you are going to charge you and they're going to be scams. Be proactive in finding your own work, I know so many people who sign with an agency and then just sit near the telephone waiting for their agent to call. You can't do that if you want to be working regularly and be making progress on your acting career.

Some good advice I was given is "An acting career is a marathon, not a race" so don't be one of those "On again, off again" actors who get discouraged because they're not on TV within a year. It takes time and the struggling Actor stories are going to make a great talking piece once you "make it"

[StuntGranny®]

If I can give you any advice from my experience in life, it's quit college as fast as you can. But that's just me being pessimistic as usual.

Seriously though. Quit while you can.

[Danimal]

No offense but is this really news to you OP? Hell, it's a tired cliche for years.