The Two Businesses for the Aspiring Actor

Following a single path to becoming a successful actor is not based on any set rules. It is based on recognizing that there are levels of success that can be followed. This requires that you accept that the actor could go from extra, to bit, to day player, to small supporting role, to supporting role, to primary supporting role, to secondary lead, to lead role. Each of these jobs has certain expectations. You want to know what you can expect to get from them. Once you have acknowledged this you want to recognize the levels of production and the corresponding levels of financial expectation.

The two businesses for the actor are the story moving business and the story telling business. It is important for you to understand the difference between the story moving business and the storytelling business. Without the separation of these responsibilities you could run the risk of placing emphasis on certain areas that cause the body to misread your ultimate achievement level potential. You don’t want this to happen. Everything you do toward this business needs to be put into its proper perspective. You want to enjoy each step along the way, but you want to be sure you recognize it is only a step. Don’t hang out rather than move on.

The Story Moving Business

The story moving business allows the actor to go from being background to small speaking roles. In the story moving business the actor is given little responsibility for the character’s development. There are many people who still believe that taking small story moving positions label them. They believe taking these jobs (extras – under 5’s – etc,) will limit their chances of being taken seriously. One of the great values for the actor doing story moving jobs in high level productions is his ability to learn about his craft and the things expected of him when he gets larger roles. It is assumed that the actor knows what to do when he is hired for a speaking role. It is assumed the actor knows:

how to maintain his character’s physically/emotionally position from take to take.
how to mark a scene and take direction.
how do find his key light and avoid shadows.
how to control his vocal levels based on the sound equipment placement and ambient noises.
his relationship to the collaborators such as make-up and wardrobe etc.
and
the actor understands the politics involved with other cast members and crew.

Many of these assumptions are incorrect and can affect the actor’s performance and fear level. It is this fear level that can cause lackluster auditions and lackluster performances. The best approach as you work at getting your union cards and seeking audition for larger roles in lower-level productions you seek high-level story moving jobs in high-level productions. You could think of these circumstances as being a paid apprentice.

You do these jobs with the purpose of learning everything you can about the shoot(production set). You want to take notes. Ask unobtrusive questions of crew members while they are taking a break. Be supportive and complementary of their efforts. Learn names of the cast, crew and production staff and send thank you notes to those who went out of their way to be supportive of your efforts.

If you don’t know what a best boy does or what a key grip is or a wrangler then you can see where you might have some things to learn. It is always best to read books on all aspects of your business. These books come from knowledge of the technical and the creative. The information from these books will become the basis of your question list you take to a set. If there are different A or B level projects in your area you should be able to get on all of the sets with at least a low-level story moving job. You want to understand the two businesses with which the levels of production are divided. These are two separate businesses, for the most part, are handled differently from casting to payment.

If you look at the progressive line of advancement you would see that the actor, going from extra, to bit, to day player, to small supporting role, fall under, what I call, the story moving business. Story Moving Jobs require little uniqueness of the actor’s ability. Story Moving Jobs do require a clear physical reference of type for the audience to understand the flavor of the setting, relationship, socio-economic circumstance, mood and ambiance the director wants to convey. The actor’s primary responsibilities in the story moving jobs are to show up on time and not cause trouble on the set. These acting jobs are usually self generated and can be union and non-union in pay scale. Let’s look at union story moving jobs.

Equity (AEA or Actor’s Equity Association – the stage union.), doesn’t have the same type of categories of story moving jobs as do SAG (Screen Actor’s Guild) or AFTRA (American Federation of Television and Radio Actors). The irony is the story moving jobs in Equity are chorus jobs which require extreme talents in the areas of song and dance. These jobs still pay far more than extra, and bits, and small supporting roles for SAG and AFTRA productions but they do tend to have little advancement to the star story telling level. The reasons behind this are many but the primary one is the comfort zone that comes with chorus success and thus the undermining of the need level.

It should be noted that in the history of the stage there were many small and non speaking roles in the theatre. You can look at scripts written before 1940 and see that most of them have long lists of characters that serve to support and flavor the everyman character’s world. However, with the onset of stronger union contracts and economics, the stage play was forced to narrow its supernumeraries (extras) and small speaking roles to a minimum. This resulted in losing one of the major learning paths for the actor. It also removed one of the primary networking opportunities for actor advancement. (When you make yourself familiar with the different union contracts and how they manifest themselves into job opportunities you can begin to create a marketing plan for the various areas in relation to your abilities.) Your advancement in this profession is based on many things: talent growth, industry awareness, business networking, opportunities and dedication. This is a great way to explore the value of the four “D’s” (desire, dedication, determination and discipline). You can clarify your dedication to your knowledge base. You can define your desire to achieve the knowledge and skills necessary to do an acting job. You can practice your determination to stick to your goals. And, you can master your discipline to organize your time on a consistent basis to achieve the knowledge and repetition to make your goals realities and your talents competitive.

Accept that the story moving business has within it a step by step advancement process leading to its highest level. That highest level of story moving jobs blends into the lowest level of story telling jobs. There is a path you can take for success. Story moving jobs require far less technical ability and character development than story telling jobs.

It should be noted that the highest levels of story moving jobs do require a certain degree of the formula A+B = C (actor + book = character) to create the character type needed. In the highest levels of story moving jobs the uniqueness of the actor, his type and point of reference for the audience must be blended with the book, or the script, to make more interesting and compelling characters. Even though the character will only be seen briefly in the story moving job, the character is still a part of the storytelling process and could be picked out and remembered in the retelling of the story. As these parts in story moving elevate themselves to the attention of the director then they can become a path for the actor working his way toward industry, and ultimately, audience recognition. Don't forget, an actor’s star status is primarily based on his value to the box office.

If being cast will not affect the box office then the above union scale payments are not justified. It is your job to make sure you have value to the industry with audience and industry awareness. This is not always easy but it is always possible. If you are clear as to your abilities to go to make believe in the various media, and you are clear as to your uniqueness of personality, and your need to be integrated into your story moving jobs, you will then see the process necessary to get story telling jobs.

Understanding the opportunities for knowledge through the story moving business will serve you greatly if you take advantage of it. If you hold on to some ego based belief that you are “too good” to allow yourself the story moving opportunities you, perhaps, should reevaluate your reason for entering this career in the first place. A career is a long time. It should last a lifetime. There is no such thing as forced retirement for actors, only different types of characters to create. Be clear about the story moving business and how it differs from the story telling business. Understand all the work possibilities and the path to success that can be followed. Let patience be your guide. Enjoy the learning and growth. Know how to take advantage of the story moving business by learning who the buyers for these markets are. Know which tools for marketing you will use to give you power. Know how to work the system to support your goals.

Once you are clear about the differences between the two businesses you can then begin to focus on their likenesses. You can begin to take advantage of your “knowledge base” and networking skills. You want your luck to be based on design, not happenstance. Nothing just happens in this, or any, business. Everything has a reason. Know how to decipher those reasons to design your course of action. The course of action will take you to the results you want.

Educational Stipend

The lower-level story moving jobs should be viewed as paid course work. For that reason these jobs should not be flaunted about as accomplishments. All you need to know is their value to you. Do not assume someone else will share your same enthusiasm. People in the industry may misread your bragging as an indicator that your feeling of accomplishment is out of sync with the reality of the situation. The real danger here is the energy flow disruption that may happen as a result of friends and family thinking that perhaps your expectations are too low.

When you get these story moving jobs you might look at them as if they are just classes that someone else is paying for you to take. Take full advantage of these classes. Reap the rewards from the knowledge learned.

When you clarify the difference between the story moving business and the story telling business you will be able to take advantage of how each business operates. You will realize how you can use that operation to best serve your career growth. Everything about this industry that you do not know will ultimately affect your ability to act. Realize how this lack of knowledge manifests itself as fear. Acknowledge how fear manifests in your ability to control your life energy.

There are many things that I will discuss in these lessons that are needed by the story telling actor. However, it is important to know that getting to the storytelling business may require going through the story moving business. It is there for you. It is one of the actor’s true educational processes. It is how the actor views the process and how much the actor chooses to learn that will decide the speed and level of the actor’s story telling success.

Story Telling Business

The story telling business is made up of acting jobs that require learning lines, auditioning, having an agent, knowing what you are suppose to do. I classify a low story telling job to be two or more scenes with five or more lines. As the story telling roles get larger the characters become more important to the telling of the story. The character will either be a support character to the everyman(protagonist), the dragon (antagonist), or bird (savior) or will be the everyman, the dragon or the bird. The primary lead characters (the ones with most of the lines) fall into the everyman and dragon category. It is interesting to note that although the bird character (a structural concept) may have fewer lines their scenes are crucial to the telling of the story and become the catalyst for the climax. In the story telling business the actor is expected to know what he is doing.

As the roles become larger this knowledge is supported by past efforts and successes as well as level of agent representation. The aspiring actor can make sure that his/her awareness of ability level is developed by large roles in low level production opportunities. This can be a key to your growth.

You want to look for story telling roles in venues that will hire you. Low budget film and television projects are a perfect place to seek these larger roles. You might also want to find a boutique agent (a very small one or two man office dedicated to new talent). These boutique agents/managers are excited to work for you and many do have access to story telling roles in C and low B venues as well as A level productions.

These lower level venues will give you an opportunity because you can act and are right for the role and, you guessed it, affordable. You can be sure of one thing your first big score will not register in your bank account. You will, however, be put in a position to have one of the major agencies take notice of you and put you in their stable. No major agent is going to deal with you unless you have proven yourself somehow. (Or you are very young and gorgeous) That is why the C and low B level productions are so important to you. The C and low B are determined by their budgets and star power or lack there of.

You want to know who the players are in these levels. Get that lead in an off-off Broadway play. Work with an up and coming membership Theatre Company. Know who the local independent film companies are. Be aware of the disciplined aspirants with the willingness to take a chance. Somebody has to come up with cold hard cash for these productions and it won’t be you. You want to support those who do.

The Story Telling Business is about telling the story. It is not about background. It is not about flavor. It is not about ambiance. It is about using words and actions to create characters that tell a story. Each medium uses the positions of play (everyman, dragon and bird) in various ways to tell a story. The genre (style) of a story is supported by these uses. You have to experience how the positions of play affect the different mediums of story telling and how it impacts you.

Once you become a story teller your responsibilities are greatly increased. Your responsibility to your product and your package are paramount. Your ability to know the business and how your talents affect the business are essential. As a story teller your advancement to one of the primary positions of play (everyman, dragon or bird) is based on your choices, talents, work ethic, determination, discipline, courage, expectation, energy control, willing to do what it takes to gain experience and your desire to be happy with the journey.

You will never know enough as a story teller. Once you become one of the primary three (everyman, dragon, or bird) you will spend your entire career searching out better ways to support and enhance your characters. You will seek ways to incorporate your characters as you mature and move from one category to another (juvenile lead, lead, mature lead). You do not want this growth process to undermine your efforts or lessen your power. You want to be aware of the changes in you and the ability to use those changes to support characters that have changed as well.

The story telling business will require that you be responsible for the audience. It is about energy and your use of it. It is about talent and control. It is about focus and awareness. It is about accountability, commitment and dedication to your craft. It is about being bigger than you. It is knowing that you have the power to make the lives of those you touch better, physically and emotionally. Your growth as a story teller will happen when you accept the power of your talents and your ability to understand the place of Talent.

Take the time to see what is available to you as a story mover as well as a story teller. I'll talk later about how to structure each of these efforts as separate businesses. I'll suggest ways to make sure you have tools and goals dedicated to each.
I wish you well,
Russ