5 Secrets to Nearly 1,300 Bookings: How to Stop Struggling And Get Acting Work

Look, I don't have to tell you, booking acting jobs is really hard. And in this video, I'm going to be sharing with you my 5 secrets for how I've been able to book almost 1,300 jobs. Watch this to the end, and I've got a great bonus video for you. Look, doing one-word auditions or just a couple of word auditions is really hard, and I'm going to be sharing with you some techniques, secrets that have been very helpful to me, and I'm going to uncover some of the challenges of doing those really short auditions. Okay, let's get started. Hey, I'm Aaron Marcus, and welcome to the Acting and Modeling Quick Tips channel and the Actor Career Center. So, like, I've been doing this for 40-plus years. And I know that it's really hard getting acting work. So the very first secret I want to share with you— and by the way, just to sidestep things a little bit, look, you don't have to be the greatest actor in the world in order to have success. You have to be really good, don't get me wrong. You can't be bad and think that you're going to be booking jobs. But there's a lot more to it than just talent, and that's why I'm sharing these 5 secrets. So the very first one is— and look, some people might not like hearing this, but this is what I believe— that we are salespeople, and what we are selling is ourselves. You know, we're not selling other products. We are selling ourselves. And so I have found that a great way for me to get more bookings is by repeat business. It's like any other salesperson. Look, you go to a car dealership, you buy a car, they treat you well, everything goes great, the car is wonderful, and when you're ready for a new car, why wouldn't you go back to the same dealership. And it's the same thing for actors or commercial models. Look, you do a great job, why wouldn't they consider you again? And I have gotten a lot of repeat business. Quite often don't even have to audition again because they know my work and they know what I can offer them. So repeat business, that's the very first one. The second You've got to be really good. And yeah, I know that sometimes people say, well, everybody tells me how great I am and I'm beautiful and, and really handsome and I make them laugh and I'm witty. And I'm like, yeah, that's all really nice and that's great to hear, but the fact of the matter is you have to be really good and you have to understand everything from breaking down the script for an audition, auditioning techniques, auditioning for the camera. Script analysis, understanding your character, just techniques to use on the set, off the set. So look, you've got to be really good. And for those of you who think that you're just going to be discovered because everybody tells you how great you are, even though you haven't taken any classes or done any private mentoring or anything, I'm not saying it couldn't happen. I wouldn't bank on it though because most of the people that you see in films, television shows, these people are really good. So that's the second one. Let's see, number 3. Once again, as talented as you are, you're running an acting business and one of the ways to run your business in a really smart way is to stay in touch with your agent, stay in touch with other industry professionals who you might have worked with before. And you also want to make sure that you're not annoying. You don't want to call your agent 4 times a week, hey, anything going on? Haven't heard from you for a while. What do you think? Do you think there's something coming up for me pretty soon? Hey, are you not doing your job? I haven't had an audition for a few weeks now. Look, you have to be smart about it. First of all, find out how the agent wants you to stay in touch with them. Is it okay to call depending on your relationship? Is it better just to send a quick text? And something that I do, and I think Once again, this has been very helpful to me, is I have an Excel spreadsheet and there are probably about, I don't know, 1,200, 1,300 people in there. And these are people who either I've auditioned for, people I've worked with, and periodically I'll send them a note. And it's not, hey, haven't heard from you, what's going on? I'll just say, hey, by the way, I just finished shooting this, wanted to stay in touch, looking forward to working with you again in the near future. Just a way to stay in touch with people and let them know that you are around without sounding like a pest. And let me just tell you, I was just talking with, with a friend and he was in between jobs. He's not actually— just let you know, he's not an actor actually. He's more involved in production. And he contacted somebody who he used to work with A couple of years ago, probably about 3, 4 years ago, and just to say hi, you know, just have a little chat. And a couple days later, he recommended this guy for a project, and he just got booked on a 6-week gig on a TV show shooting across the country. And, you know, he made sure that this guy knew that he was still around. And things happened. Oh, by the way, if you haven't done this yet, don't forget, you know, subscribe, click the notification bell so that you always know when a new video has been uploaded. If you like it, it's really helpful if you give it a thumbs up and share it, share it with other fellow actors so we can continue to build this great channel of people helping each other and learning from each other. Let me see, number 4. Um, look, this one's a little bit tricky. You don't have to be loved by everybody. You don't have to be everyone's best friend. You don't have to be the life of the party on a set. But you do want to be someone that people want to work with. And there are a number of ways that you can do that. And, and once again I'm not saying, you know, I'm not saying you've got to go in there and make sure, you know, you're schmoozing with everybody and everybody loves you. I'm not talking about that. But you are pleasant, you show up on time, you show up prepared, you're just someone that they feel comfortable with. And I can tell you, I remember I was working on a TV show and I was talking with one of the producers And there was something going on with one of the actors, one of the regulars on the show. And something that he said to me was— and I thought this was really interesting— he said the, the famous people, typically they're pretty easy to work with. People who are just getting started, you know, and get a role, they're pretty easy to work with. It's the people in the middle that sometimes can be really hard because They feel a little angry that they haven't gotten to where they want to be, and they have more of an attitude. And he said, honestly, those are the people who wind up getting written out of the show. They wind up dead, or they've gone off and done another job, and they just get written out. Because look, when you're working on a project, whether it's a film or TV show, it's a lot of work. You are there for long hours quite often. And you don't want to be around people who are not enjoyable to be with. I remember I was talking with someone who does documentaries, and it was really interesting. She said to me that when she is looking for a cinematographer to work with, she'll get together and have a meal, go out to dinner or have lunch. And she said, look, I know there are a lot of great shooters out there. Really good cinematographers. What I'm looking for is, is this someone I'd like to have a meal with? And if it is someone that I can talk to, I feel like I can share things with, I feel comfortable, that's the person I'm going to hire. So with all things being equal, why wouldn't you want to hang out with someone who you like being around? And once again, I want to make it really clear You don't have to be loved by everybody, but you're just pleasant. Okay, number 5. This is something I also really like to do. When I am finished with a project, I always send a note. I'll send an email. As a matter of fact, I just did a commercial modeling job a week ago, and I sent the art director, sent the creative director, Sent the photographer an email. I sent the agent who had submitted me just saying how great it was. I really enjoyed the project with them. It was a lot of fun. I thanked them for allowing me to play and try to, you know, come up with some ideas for different kinds of looks for the shots. And it was just such a Really wonderful and pleasant experience, and I look forward to working with you all again. And look, who knows, maybe a lot of people do that. I don't think so. And, and I know that that stuff goes a long way because I got these emails back. Oh, I even sent an email to the wardrobe stylist, and she, she sent me an email back. Uh, Just thanking me. She said, this is the sweetest note I've ever gotten. Now I realize the wardrobe person is not going to have input on who gets hired for a modeling job, and, and that's not why I was doing it. I really did like her. She was really kind, very sweet, very helpful as far as what wardrobe to bring and things like that. She was great. And look, who knows? And I didn't do it for this reason, but who knows, maybe she'll be working on a project and they're looking for models and she might say, hey, I know some somebody who'd be perfect for that. So anyhow, run your acting business as a business because it is. And the more things that you can do to increase your chances of getting hired again, being prepared so that you are ready so that when you happen to meet the right person and they ask you to audition, you're ready to do it. And to me, not only do I think it's smart business, I think it's also just a really good way to run your life. I do. And, and so anyhow, that's how I've been doing my acting business for a little over 40 years. And those are really the main things that I do that I find to be incredibly helpful. Hey, also, if you guys haven't done this, don't forget, go to howtoactamodel.com. You can get on my special mailing list send out great industry information. You'll even get a bonus video, and it's 6 Secrets to Mastering Your Home Auditions. I know that will be really helpful to you. I did promise a bonus video for you up here. Just click the link, and yeah, it's all about the, the hidden secrets of dealing with one-word auditions, which can be really hard. I hope this was helpful to you, and please, hey, if you have any suggestions or ideas of ways of getting more work, please share it here so that we can learn from you. I'm Aaron Marcus and can't wait to talk with you again soon. See ya.