3 Great New Year’s Resolutions for Actors
Here are some great New Year’s resolutions you should strive to keep, if you haven’t already achieved them
(by James Webb)
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We are a few weeks into the new year and you’ve probably forgotten all your New Year’s Resolutions by now. If so, welcome to the club. According to a study conducted by the University of Scranton, only 8% of people achieve their New Year’s goals. The failure rate is a dismal 80%.
You know the routine: people get lazy, people get busy, people forget, or people simply lose their motivation. Life happens!
Well, here are some actor New Year’s resolutions you should strive to keep, if you haven’t already achieved them.
#1: Improve your self-taping skills
Self-taping is becoming a bigger and bigger part of the audition process. After all, it’s 2019 out there, people! Self-taping is no longer a fad. It is, perhaps, the wave of the future. The good news is that actors need not fear self-taped auditions. If anything, it’s something to be embraced. In addition to the convenience of not having to travel to an audition and the relief from the pressure of performing in front of casting directors and other decision-makers, self-taping offers the actor more control over the process.
#2: Create your own content.
The idea of becoming a successful actor by doing nothing more than going to auditions and waiting by the phone is an antiquated one. With the technology and social media platforms of today, there simply is no excuse not to take control of your own destiny by creating your own content.
Even established actors work hard to create their own opportunities:
Quote of the day:
“I created a production company out of necessity, because if I literally waited for Hollywood, I would still be [playing] mama [roles].”
(Viola Davis)https://t.co/ljIfVUzqpK
— Acting Magazine (@ActingMagazine) January 8, 2019
Why not you?
So, create your own short film. Or, perhaps, write and produce a webseries. How about something simple, like, funny YouTube videos to show your comedic skills. Could you create a video that goes viral and leads to some media attention? Imagine what it would mean for your acting career if you did.
#3: Improve your budgeting skills
Financial endurance – the ability to survive financially as acting jobs come and go – is an essential skill in the #actorslife. What a shame it is to see a potentially great actor give up on their acting dreams because they suck at managing money. If you’re one of those actors, perhaps 2019 would be a good time to invest in some books or seminars on money management and budgeting. Can’t afford to take a seminar? Well, that might be an indication that you need to improve your budgeting skills.
Not to worry, though. The gods invented something called “the library”. Take a moment between gigs to head down to your local library to check out books on ways to preserve your hard-earned residuals and ways to afford both your rent and your new headshots.
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