In this solo YouTube video, veteran actor Aaron Marcus explains how the ongoing actors’ strike (or any slow period) can be turned into productive time by tackling four concrete projects: (1) updating headshots and resumes, (2) polishing and expanding various reels (film/TV, industrial, commercial, narration, radio), (3) cleaning up an extensive Excel contacts list of agents, casting directors, producers, and other industry decision‑makers, and (4) proactive marketing outreach, including sharing recent work clips (e.g., a scene from A Man Called Otto) with contacts. He also stresses the importance of self‑care, describing a planned hiking retreat to reset mentally, and argues that broader life experiences improve acting. Throughout, he mixes practical advice with personal anecdotes, encourages viewers to share their own strategies, and teases a bonus video about the biggest audition mistake. The tone is conversational and instructional, with an encouraging, supportive sentiment.
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In this video, I'm going to be sharing with you how the actor strike has absolutely allowed me to work on 4 projects that have been really helpful. If you watch this to the end, I'm also going to be sharing with you a great bonus video, and it's the biggest mistake that actors make during auditions, and it's going to surprise you. Okay, let's get going. Hi, I'm Aaron Marcus, and welcome to the Acting and Modeling Quick Tips channel. and the Actor Career Center, where I share information from my 38-plus years of experience working as a full-time actor. If you haven't done this yet, don't forget, click the subscribe button, the notification bell. That way you'll always know when I upload a new video. And if you like the video, give it a thumbs up. That's always helpful. Look, during the actor strike, or if And look, if you're not a union member and things are just slow for you, these things will still be really helpful to you. But during the strike, I find that I have a couple of options. You know, one, I could just sit around and mope and feel angry and bitter and just, you know, be very unhappy. Or— and this is what I like to do for anything that I just don't have any control over is to take control. And there are 4 projects that this is during this time period that's allowing me to spend time work on these things because they can be time-consuming and I don't always get a chance to do them. Here's the very first thing. It's basically making sure that your headshot Is an effective one. I am planning, and I think I'm going to be able to get a chance to do this sometime next month, I'm going to be shooting a new headshot. And it's something that I've been talking about for a while and have put off for a whole variety of reasons. But I think next month, um, it's going to be a good time for me to do that. So that's the very first thing, very first project I want to work on. And Along with that, just making sure my resume is up to date and everything looks good. Number 2, I want to make sure that all of my reels are in perfect order. So I've got a few different reels. And once again, look, I've been very fortunate and I've been doing this a long time and I've been able to get material for reels. And I realize when you're at the very beginning stages of your career or you're just getting started, You might not have anything to create a reel with. So one thing, just to kind of jump a little bit to the side, maybe if things are slow for you now, maybe this would be a time to try to create something for yourself. Maybe you can get together with some fellow actors or fellow artists who maybe you guys can write A short, maybe a short film, you know, maybe you can film it, have it edited. Maybe this is something that you can include and start your very first reel. So look, I have a film and television reel, and you can see it here on the channel. I also have— they're called industrial film reels, industrial films, training films, educational films. It's all the same thing. I've got a separate reel for that. I've got a TV commercial reel. Also have a reel for narrations and also radio spots. And just want to make sure— and it was really interesting as I was working on them, I just got an email from an agent who said that he was putting together a new website and asked me to send him all the reels that I have to be placed on the new website. So I'm just about done with that and I'm going to be able to send everything over. Number 3, I, I've always created— well, not always. At the very beginning, beginning of my career, I just didn't know, but I created an Excel spreadsheet with contacts. And these contacts are agents, casting directors, producers who I might have met and worked with, photographers for commercial modeling work. Let's see. Oh, oh, people from ad agencies could be the art or and/or creative directors. Those are the people who I would normally be connected with and sometimes are decision makers for TV commercials, for radio spots, for commercial modeling jobs. And so I've got a list, probably, I don't know, 1,100, 1,200 people in this Excel spreadsheet. And it's a, it's a great list. So I want to make sure that those things are up to date. I want to make sure these people are still in the industry. I want to check out their websites to make sure they're still around, delete people, and just have it in order. And then the 4th thing is to start marketing. And look, I realize I'm not going to be doing any film or TV work, but But I can still reach out to people and just check in, how are you doing? Maybe let them know of some projects that I worked on recently. I could even send them a clip from my scene in the Tom Hanks movie A Man Called Otto where he saves me from being run over by a train, which was very nice of him. And I could send the link and it would be a nice way and a reason to get in touch with people. Hey, just wanted to check in during the strike. Wanted to let you know here was something that I did. And even if I can't work with them right this minute, it's something that will allow them to remember me and to see, yeah, I'm still doing things in the industry. So I think those are the 4 projects that I'm going to either begin or finish Working on. And the one other thing I just wanted to say, like, and I'm just sharing personal information about me, you know, everybody is different. I'm a workaholic, and, and, and I don't mean that I don't do anything else in my life. That's not true. I just work. When I say workaholic, I work really hard, and I spend a lot of time trying to get work, make work happen, study, trying I try to be as good as I can be. And so one of the things that I've learned, and this has taken me a long time, that sometimes I just work and work and work and my head is fuzzy. I'm not thinking clearly. And, and what I learned is there are times where I absolutely just Need to shut down. Stop. It's almost like, you know, you're preparing for a final and you're going over stuff, going over it, going over it. It's not even really sinking in at this point, but you're still just going over things. That's the time you just stop. And so one of the other things that I decided to do during, during the strike is I'm going to take a little bit of time off. And I'm going to take my family. We're going to go out, do a lot of hiking, and just get away. And I'm not saying I'm not going to check in with emails, because if somebody does contact me, I feel a responsibility as being a one-person business here to respond. I will. But just to get away and just understand, look, I'm supporting the strike. I voted for the strike. Things are slow. And so, and I'm very thankful for all the union people who are working so hard on my behalf, but I have no control over those negotiations. And so instead of just allowing all of those thoughts to just run through my brain all the time, it's exhausting. I'm going to take a break and I'm going to be out in the woods. I'm going to be in the mountains. I'm going to be hiking, just breathing. Breathing fresh air. And when I, when I come back, I'm going to feel much better. And the other thing too is I think it's important, you know, for actors to get other experiences, to see other people, to meet with others, to learn from them, to observe, and just have more life experiences. And not only will that be really good for you mentally, I think it will make you a better actor. So anyhow, I wanted to share those things with you. I hope this is helpful. Please share this information with other fellow actors so we can all help each other. Just a quick reminder, if you haven't done this yet, click the subscribe button, notification bell. If you like it, give it a thumbs up. I did say I was going to share this bonus video with you that I believe will be really helpful, and you can see it in the Little icon up there. Just click on it, and I hope, hope it's really, really good for you and you learn something from it. If you guys do something when things are slow, whether it's a strike or not, or just when things are slow, please share it in the comments section on the channel so we can learn from you as well. What things have been helpful to you, and what do you do to kind of get through You know, some time periods where there just isn't much work happening. Love to hear about it. So please share, share your information. I'm Aaron Marcus, and I can't wait to talk with you again soon. See ya.
