2 answers
Aden
Student
Ballinger, Texas
1
Question
Updated
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How Would I Start my Journey?
How would I make my way, starting from college, into the theatre acting scene? I know I can start my own journey confidently, but don't know exactly how to start it after college as I was mostly focused on that in the moment.
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2 answers
Michelle M.
Actress
2521
Answers
Updated
Michelle’s Answer
Hello, Aden !
The path for Acting through college is a sure way to learn about options for starting your career after graduation. You can't help but be involved in conversations with fellow acting students, hearing about the options, having your professors train you for auditions and becoming familiar with the local theatre community off campus. Make very strong connections at college. Actors are never "in the moment" for any one thing. Practice multi-tasking your "moments". You will see that a lot of information on options can be had just by hanging around. It's almost impossible to not know how to start an acting career after graduation, but maybe you just don't know what option you want to take, and there's no rush for that. You'll have to do what's doable at the time of graduation. It helps to learn about the business end as well as become familiar with the trade websites. You can start now.
So, the options are based on what is doable for you after graduation. You can stay in your town to get more acting experience, especially off-campus shows and projects. You may have to move to either Dallas or Houston or even Austin for work. The next option is that you'll see some students talking about moving to New York City, NY or Los Angeles, CA where most of the work still is. There may be some students moving to Atlanta or Nashville as they are rising acting cities, too. You'll need a professional resume with lots of experience and your training listed. Prepare headshots, full body photos and if you have any work on film or video, make a reel of your work.
No one can tell you how to start, but your professors should be speaking about how actors start their careers, so ask a lot of questions when a lecture turns to that discussion. Learning acting is much more than the performing, it's strong networking, reading the trades, reading books about the business and deciding what the best route for you is. I am confident that you will know how to "start" your career by the time you begin your senior year as an acting student
It's great that you feel confident as an actor, but try to remember that there's a lot to learn for the career. It won't help to solely focus on one aspect of it. Increase your socialization around theatre people. You will be inspired. No two acting careers are alike so you need to know that you'll have a unique experience. A good theatre department trains their students completely. Consult with the Dean or a professor in the Theatre Department to see if you're taking helpful courses for the business/career end. You're going to learn the skills you need for auditions and interviews so try not to worry about this too much. Let it all flow naturally. If your theatre department is not fully able to teach you everything, you can take some trainings and classes online for the necessary things to know to begin your career.
I hope this helps and I wish you all the best !
The path for Acting through college is a sure way to learn about options for starting your career after graduation. You can't help but be involved in conversations with fellow acting students, hearing about the options, having your professors train you for auditions and becoming familiar with the local theatre community off campus. Make very strong connections at college. Actors are never "in the moment" for any one thing. Practice multi-tasking your "moments". You will see that a lot of information on options can be had just by hanging around. It's almost impossible to not know how to start an acting career after graduation, but maybe you just don't know what option you want to take, and there's no rush for that. You'll have to do what's doable at the time of graduation. It helps to learn about the business end as well as become familiar with the trade websites. You can start now.
So, the options are based on what is doable for you after graduation. You can stay in your town to get more acting experience, especially off-campus shows and projects. You may have to move to either Dallas or Houston or even Austin for work. The next option is that you'll see some students talking about moving to New York City, NY or Los Angeles, CA where most of the work still is. There may be some students moving to Atlanta or Nashville as they are rising acting cities, too. You'll need a professional resume with lots of experience and your training listed. Prepare headshots, full body photos and if you have any work on film or video, make a reel of your work.
No one can tell you how to start, but your professors should be speaking about how actors start their careers, so ask a lot of questions when a lecture turns to that discussion. Learning acting is much more than the performing, it's strong networking, reading the trades, reading books about the business and deciding what the best route for you is. I am confident that you will know how to "start" your career by the time you begin your senior year as an acting student
It's great that you feel confident as an actor, but try to remember that there's a lot to learn for the career. It won't help to solely focus on one aspect of it. Increase your socialization around theatre people. You will be inspired. No two acting careers are alike so you need to know that you'll have a unique experience. A good theatre department trains their students completely. Consult with the Dean or a professor in the Theatre Department to see if you're taking helpful courses for the business/career end. You're going to learn the skills you need for auditions and interviews so try not to worry about this too much. Let it all flow naturally. If your theatre department is not fully able to teach you everything, you can take some trainings and classes online for the necessary things to know to begin your career.
I hope this helps and I wish you all the best !
Marty Meyer
General Manager
28
Answers
Los Angeles, California
Updated
Marty’s Answer
I hope that your college has an active theatre program where you can experience auditioning, being rejected, and getting a part. It's all part of the real life experience that you'll experience.
While you will hear, "move to LA, it's where the jobs are", that's not as simple as it sounds. Most actors in Los Angeles are waiting tables and walkingt dogs. There are thousands of folks competing for few jobs. You may have heard that the entertainment industry has had a drastic reduction in jobs recently. That's true - and it's hurting actors as well as the crew, the studios and shooting locations. There is a dearth of jobs in LA and we don't see that correcting itself. Hollywood is no longer the place to be discovered.
The "new thing" is creating your own content for YouTube. I'd suggest you hone your acting skills and dive into what it takes to create compelling content to post. YouTube is full of examples of successful channels.
Good luck to you- you're the executive in charge of your own brand.
While you will hear, "move to LA, it's where the jobs are", that's not as simple as it sounds. Most actors in Los Angeles are waiting tables and walkingt dogs. There are thousands of folks competing for few jobs. You may have heard that the entertainment industry has had a drastic reduction in jobs recently. That's true - and it's hurting actors as well as the crew, the studios and shooting locations. There is a dearth of jobs in LA and we don't see that correcting itself. Hollywood is no longer the place to be discovered.
The "new thing" is creating your own content for YouTube. I'd suggest you hone your acting skills and dive into what it takes to create compelling content to post. YouTube is full of examples of successful channels.
Good luck to you- you're the executive in charge of your own brand.
@Marty Meyer - I really appreciate the advice you have provided to the student. I just wanted to mention two things. New York City and Los Angeles are indeed still the predominant cities for actors to obtain professional, paid work. Who doesn't get the work is a different story. It is very important for newly ready actors to have a lot of casting opportunities and nothing can compare to the scale of New York City or Los Angeles, really. I've experienced both and can say L.A. was a great experience.
Michelle M.
@Marty Meyer I also want to touch upon the idea that doing one's own Podcast is the "new thing" Although they are really fun and can be creative and keep an actor consistent, it's not really the new thing. The only thing one can do with a Podcast is to make a reel of clips to submit for castings to obtain an audition. It's very important for young actors to obtain public, paid commercial work projects as they have spent years waiting for that moment. A podcast is cool, but not commercial enough to feel that you really have an acting career. Many podcasts go left unseen.
Michelle M.