A New Year and New Goals

New Years is fast approaching and people will start asking you what resolutions you made, like that question isn't the least bit nosy and intrusive.  My answers are the same as everyone else: to work out more, eat healthier, stop procrastinating, blah blah blah.  They are all good ideas but they lack specificity and for that reason I'm making the same resolutions every year.

One of my teachers at Playhouse West gives out a great goals assignment every year that helps with those pitfalls.  The first step is to create goals not resolutions.  Goals are something that have a finite end point and they are only goals if it is something that you can do on your own without the approval of someone else.

So, how do you create goals?

I start with my dreams.  You know those things that you want so bad and seem so far away that saying them out loud makes your stomach go into knots.  (I talked a bit about that here.)  This is one of my dreams: to become a series regular in a hit TV show.  The reason this is a dream and can't be a goal is because I cannot do it wholly on my own.  I need other people's approval to get cast and an audience to watch. 

The next step is to break your dream down into smaller dreams that lead to it.  In the case of getting a series regular role the steps before that would be booking some guest stars and before that would be some co-star roles.  That is a more manageable place to start, but it is still a dream and not a goal.

What goals would help me book some more co-star roles? 

• Always attending acting class unless I have an acting gig or am sick and I will always be working on a scene.  Perfecting my craft will make sure that when I get an audition I am 100% prepared to be my best.
• Communicate with my agent at least once a month about what I need to be doing to make it easier for them to pitch me.  Make sure they know what my dreams are so they can help me achieve them.
• Attend one workshop a month with the casting directors who work in the type of TV shows that cast my type.

These are just a few ideas of the type of goals you can make that are specific and are something you can achieve.  The best thing to do is write your goals down in a place you see everyday as a reminder and then revisit your goals a few times during the year to adjust them as you achieve your dreams.

Wishing everyone a wonderful New Year filled with success.  Keep Dreaming!

Who the heck booked Pilots this year?

Now that the upfronts are pretty much over and we know which pilots got picked up and which ones didn't, there are those of us actors who didn't even get to go out for pilots much less book one.  So, of the pilots that got produced who did get those jobs? 

James J. Jones owner of The Premier Talent Group did the math for those of us not good with numbers:

“2011 PILOT SEASON stratification by the numbers
Of the 529 Series Regular Roles (assuming that named
doing recurring roles):

112 or 21.2% Went to NAMED ACTORS
262 or 49.5% -­ Went to KNOWN ACTORS
374 or 70.7% -­ Went to NAMED AND KNOWN ACTORS

*Of the additional 27.3% of the bookings, almost all of them had significant credits
as series recurring actors or series regulars in shows that did not last long. Only 7
bookings (2.0%) would be considered truly developmental received series regular
roles, and many of these went to the under 18 category.

In short,

21.2% of series roles went to bonafide star names (ie Ethan Hawke and Christina Ricci).
49.5% of series regulars went to former series regulars of major shows.
27.3% of series regular roles went to heavy working actors with numerous.
series recurring roles and/or series regular roles of shows that did not last.
2.0% of series regular roles went to true developmental actors."

I spent a number of days helping out at my agent's office during "pilot season" and can tell you that no matter how much he pitched it was hard to even get an audition for any talent who did not already have significant credits.  One of my agents was pitching me for a co-star role and they told her it had gone to an offer.

On top of all the roles going to offers many of the Pilots were filmed outside of LA.

"As of April 18th, Variety was reporting that confirmed Pilot Shoots will occur in:

United States
48 Los Angeles
11 New York (Unt. Susannah Grant, Over & Under, Unt. Redlich/Belluchi, Prime
Suspects, Smash, Weekend at Bellevue, Georgetown, Persons of Interest,
Ringer, Rookies and Pan Am)
4 Florida (Bad Mom, Magic City, The Finder, Angels)
4 Illinois (Cooper and Stone;; Boss, Playboy)
2 Georgia (Hail Mary, Partners)
2 New Mexico (Reconstruction, Longmire)
2 North Carolina (Revenge;; Hart of Dixie)
1 Oregon (Grimm)
1 Louisiana (Wild Card)
1 Texas (Good Christian Bitches)
1 Pennsylvania (Locke and Key)

Outside of the United States
5 Vancouver, Canada (17th Precinct, Secret Circle, Alcatraz, Heavenly and Once
Upon a Time)
2 Toronto, Canada (Awakening, Poe)
1 Prague/Rome/Vienna (Missing)
1 Puerto Rico (The River)
1 Montreal, Canada (Identity)"*

That tells me it is time to either marry a Canadian so I can legally work up there or make some magic happen with the local hire casting offices outside of LA. 

Now you can either take all this information and chose to be discouraged, but I don't think that is the right response.  I think it is even more evidence that you can't rely on other people to give you opportunities to do your art.  Create your own films!

Need some inspiration? See what your colleagues are creating by joining us at the Playhouse West Film Festival to be educated and inspired.


*See the complete 2011 PILOT REPORT from The Premier Talent Group