Career launch sequence started!

Is it that time again?

It feels like it was just weeks ago that I was giving graduation kudos to my Business of Acting Class 2009. How on earth did it become the Class of 2010 so quickly? Hmm.

The good news is that the Class of 2010 is transitioning from “students” to “soon-to-be-working-professionals” in a much saner, healthier and stable business of acting environment than last year’s class.

The equally good news is that the opportunities this new crop will find opening up to them will also provide opportunities for their 2009 colleagues who have endured the frustration of trying to launch their careers in the midst last year economic challenges.

That’s not to say that these economic challenges are not still there. Challenges do still exist, but it appears that we have turned the corner and that is a very good thing.

While the landscape feels less daunting these days, there are still some harsh realities that need to be acknowledges: While there is more work for actors, odds are that you will still have to manage the financial reality that exists, which is that more work does not necessarily mean more pay.

In fact, “working” actors are finding it tougher and tougher to make a living these days from just their acting jobs alone (when they can get them). Gone seems to be the “middle class actor,” the artist who would work regularly enough to earn enough from that work so that other, supplemental income from non-acting jobs wasn’t necessary.

We are in a business climate where many of the acting jobs that come to you may not pay you anything at all, but they are still worth doing.

All too frequently in this landscape, it is a requirement to have another area of interest, another income stream, to help support your acting career, not just for young actors, but for those journeyman actors who have survived in this business for years and for decades.

Perhaps more importantly, now more than ever, is the need for both the new-to-the-professional-business-of-acting actor and the already working professional to have an action plan in place to guide their journeys. More about that in the weeks ahead.

For now, let’s think positively about the future. The focus in your transition out of school and into the real world should be on building your resume, building both your acting and non-acting skills, and learning how to be both proactive and forward-thinking in your approach to this next phase of your (professional) life.

All of this just to say “congratulations” and “bravo” to the Class of 2010, not just to those who have passed through my own classes, but to all of you who have spent four years getting ready for everything that will now follow.

This is a good time to be a young actor; it is a good time for new beginnings; it is a great time to explore your world as you develop into the person and the professional you are on your way to becoming.

Enjoy the ride.

BL