During The Actor’s Strike Here Is A Really Great Job Actors Might Consider

Hey, during the actor strike, we are limited as to what kind of projects we can work on. So if you're watching this during the strike, as you probably know, we can't work on any TV projects, we can't work on any films. So in this video, I want to share with you a really interesting job, a great job that all actors can work on. And you know what? Even if the strike isn't taking place, Uh, at this time you still, uh, will want, at least I think you're going to want to look into trying to get this kind of work. And if you watch this to the very end, I've got a really great bonus video for you. It's all about 4 reasons why actors aren't getting an agent's contract and 3 solutions. Okay, let's get started. Hi, my name is Aaron Marcus, and welcome to the Acting and Modeling Quick Tips channel and the Actor Career Center, where basically, look, this is my way of giving back to the acting community. I've been very fortunate. I've worked as a full-time actor for 38 years, and I share information with you about my experiences to help you in the industry. If you haven't done this yet, You want to click the subscribe button, the notification bell, so you always know when I upload a new video. And please, if you like this video, give it a thumbs up. That's really helpful, and it helps spread the word. I do a lot of workshops. I've done over 800 workshops. I do a lot of private coaching, mentoring. And whenever I talk about modeling, everybody thinks of fashion models. And look, fashion models, it's a big industry, and it's high fashion models who are promoting high-end designer clothes, and they walk runways. And I don't want to get into all the details about that, but there's another form of modeling that has nothing to do with fashion, and it's called commercial modeling. And commercial models are sometimes The incredibly beautiful women, really handsome guys who are promoting everything that you see in magazines, newspapers, brochures, websites, on sides of buses, billboards, posters. I mean, we're all over the place, but it runs the gamut from beautiful looking people to regular people looking like me, who can portray the student, the mom, the dad, the teacher, the person who has a horrible allergy. And I tell you, I've been really fortunate because I've done hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of commercial modeling jobs. And I can tell you that during the last strike that I was involved with, and I believe it was in 2000, a long time ago, it was a commercial modeling— I'm sorry, sorry, TV commercial strike. And it lasted for 6 months. It was really hard for me because TV spots were a good part of my income, which I couldn't do for 6 months. However, I was really fortunate, and commercial modeling was part of my work. And I always like to spread myself out and try out different things, and if I like it, I continue doing it. So I want to share with you some more information about commercial modeling. Look, this isn't a commercial modeling workshop here, which I do, but I want to teach you a little bit more about it, what you need, and why it's so good for actors. For commercial modeling, like I said before, they need everybody. They need— I've worked with kids who are 3 months old. I've worked with people in their 80s and every age in between. All types, all sizes, ethnicities, looks, body types. It's great. And, and one of the things that I love about it is I get a chance to use my acting skills. And as you can see in some of these, and they're called tear sheets, these are copies of ads that I've done. What I do is, and it's a very similar process as what I do for acting jobs, and I recreate emotions, which turns into looks from real experiences in my life. And what I do, and it's a little technique that I use that I created, is— and this is what you want to do if you're working with a photographer— is, you know, remember and, and tap into that, that experience, whatever that experience is. I will slightly look away from the camera. I will say a word or make a sound that helps me relive That moment and then look, whether it's into the camera or wherever they need me to look. And because I'm feeling it, the, the energy shoots out of my eyes and my brain tells my body what I need to be doing. And it's really— it's a great— once again, it's— maybe it's not for everybody. I love doing commercial print work. But And during this time period, during the strike, I'm very fortunate because I still am able to do this work. Just so you know, commercial modeling work has nothing to do with the union, so it's not an issue. The only thing that could come up, and sometimes this does, if they decide that they want to shoot a video while they're shooting the still shots of you, that has to go through the union and that has to be a union contract. Once again, that's something you can talk with your agent about, and sometimes they do it, sometimes they don't, in which case I can't do that job. But that doesn't always happen. And so it's something that I really, really love doing, and I get a chance to use my acting skills. Now, just a couple other things about commercial modeling. One is the pay is great. Years ago, and unfortunately you don't get it today. I used to, in New York, I used my standard, not just my standard rate, but every standard rate. It was $250 an hour. Typically you don't get that anymore. Everything is negotiable and it depends on the project, how long they want to use it, the usage, meaning is it in a high exposure format like the billboards, posters on the sides of buses, on the product itself, or is it just being used in a magazine, a newspaper, in which case you will get either an hourly fee, a half-day rate, or a day rate. And once again, everything is negotiable, but you do want to get that information ahead of time. And, you know, maybe in another video I'll talk more specifically, you know, just about commercial modeling and go into more details about it. But the other thing that's really great about commercial modeling is that sometimes, and this has happened to me, sometimes my commercial modeling job has turned into a commercial, a TV commercial. And I've done national print ads that have become national television spots. I remember there was one for AT&T, and I, matter of fact, maybe I can, I'll show you the Uh, the magazine ad. And they had me audition because they just wanted to make sure that I'm an actor and I could still pull it off. And this national ad campaign, because I booked it, turned into a national television commercial. So you just never know where a commercial modeling job might take you. So in, in today's time period, the pay rates And once again, they're, they're so negotiable. It could be anywhere from maybe you'll make, you know, $100 an hour, $75 an hour, $200 an hour. You might get, you know, $500, $1,000 for the day. Once again, there's no way of knowing because every project is different depending on the budget and how it's being used and the product itself. So I just wanted to share this with you. It might open up a whole new world doing commercial modeling work. It's a lot of fun, it can be lucrative, and especially during time periods if you are being kept out of certain kinds of acting jobs. But once again, even if you're not in the union and you are able to do anything— commercial modeling, commercial print, same thing— it might be a really interesting avenue for you to check out. And if you do have any other questions about commercial modeling, You can always get to me. You can just go to howtoactamodel.com and click on the contact button and just shoot me a question. If you've ever done commercial modeling work, please leave a comment on the channel in the comments section. I'd love to hear what your experience was, what you did, and what it was like. I also just wanted to remind you, if you haven't clicked the subscribe button and the notification bell, please, please do that now. And if you like it, give it a thumbs up and share, share the link with other people so we can continue building a great community of actors helping each other. I did say I was going to share a bonus video with you. Just look in the upper left-hand corner here. You'll see the icon that you can click on. I hope you enjoy it. I'm Aaron Marcus, and I can't wait to talk with you again soon. See ya.