In support of his popular books for actors, "The Business of Acting: Learning the Skills You Need to Build the Career You Want", "The New Business of Acting: How to Build a Career in a Changing Landscape,", "The New Business of Acting: The Next Edition" and "The New Business of Acting - The Next Edition: COVID Update," talent manager and educator Brad Lemack offers commentary, perspective and information -- and addresses questions and comments from readers and site visitors.
Happy to announce that I have a new book coming out on September 1st!
The New Business of Acting: How to Build a Career in a Changing Landscape builds on the concepts of proactivity introduced in my fist book, The Business of Acting, and teaches how to apply those skills to the changing environment that surrounds us, while offering what I hope is a valuable insight and perspective on the changes that have occurred and what that future holds for actors, both new-to-the-business and those already in the business.
Personally, I liked Gary Coleman. I first knew him back in the days of his hit TV series Diff’rent Strokes. There were issues even then, all well documented publicly … health scares, health challenges, followed later by battles with his parents over control over money he had earned from that very success and very long running series that defined not only his career, but the rest of his life.
I am deeply sadden by the news today of Gary’s death at the age of 42. Only 42.
The legitimate new services will provide coverage of those details today and in the days ahead that is better left in their hands.
I prefer to remember Gary as he was in 1993, when I interviewed him for our Beverly Hills coffee shop chat show. He was unusually at ease talking about his life, both where he had come from, how he got there, his perspective on it all, and the challenges ahead – many never conquered.
My interview with Gary is a part of the RerunIt.com collection. It hasn’t yet been added to the viewing-on-demand library on the site, but we have been editing the various segments in preparation for the interview’s uploading in our next batch of segments to be added.
With the events of the day, I feel it important to rush the process a bit so that I can share with you some of the special moments from that interview.
Here is a brief clip below. There are eight minutes of clips that have just been uploaded to YouTube that are now available for viewing.
Sad to hear the news of the death of TV pioneer Art Linkletter yesterday, in Los Angeles, at age 97.
Anyone younger than 45 doesn't seem to have a clue who Linkletter was. Too bad. For us baby boomers, he helped define our childhoods.
In the bigger picture of his legacy, Art will be remembered as one of the few broadcasters who helped shaped and define the "new" medium of television. Among his many firsts, was his job as the first person to conduct "man-on-the-street" interviews on live television.
He was the first reality TV host!
If you are not familiar with Art and his legacy, learn something about him. It's impossible to appreciate what we have achieved and how far we have come in the business of television without knowing and appreciating the history behind what it took to get here -- and the people who helped make that happen.
I interviewed Art back in 1992 for our little Beverly Hills coffee shop-based chat show. Three segments from that interview are now available for viewing, on demand, at RerunIt.com.
I, like many of my generation, held this guy in great esteem.
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.
I spent a terrific day on campus at Eastern Connecticut State University, in Willamantic, Connecticut, last Friday. Despite the heavy rain outside, inside the classroom at Shafer Hall we talked about all things business of acting-related, from the post-college landscape to emotional fitness. I had an opportunity to interact and share conversation with a great group of wanting-to-be-working actors and was impressed with their level of dedication and commitment to both their current studies and to what lies ahead.
This was my second visit to the school. This time, we also screened clips from our Web TV series Inside the Business of Acting and had a healthy chat about having a passion for the career pursuit, not just in the early years after graduation, but throughout one’s career journey.
Thanks to Ellen and J.J. for the invitation to speak and for incorporating The Business of Acting book into the course curriculum.
It’s the “morning after” after in Hollywood this week as the post-mortem begins on this year’s Academy Awards presentations and telecast on Sunday night. I’ll leave that dissecting to the experts. I have something else to impart.
I haven't been much of a fan of award shows, in general, and not just because I have never won anything (it was an honor just to be nominated!).
I think the whole idea of awarding “the best” of anything leaves too many people feeling disappointed, feeling left out, feeling as if the hard work they did that they were so proud of meant nothing to anybody else.
The business of acting is a tough place to live. As multi-award-winning actor Hal Linden (Barney Miller) told me in our interview for our Web series Inside the Business of Acting, “Acting is a journey, and you have to be prepared never to succeed, and it was just they journey that made it worth it.”
I couldn’t agree more.
Tony Award-nominee and television star (One Day at a Time) Bonnie Franklin told me in another interview for our Web series, “This business is tough; it’s tough on families and it’s tough on your soul.”
In other words, if this is a line of work you wish to pursue, you had better pursue it for all of the right reasons and none of the wrong ones.
Recognition can be a great thing. An award from one’s peers for doing the work you would do anyway is icing on the cake of having gotten the job in the first place. My longtime client and friend Isabel Sanford earned the Best Actress in a Comedy Emmy Award for her role as Louise Jefferson on the long running, hit TV series The Jeffersons. It was a honor she cherished, but it was also an honor that came with certain responsibilities. To be crowned “the best,” comes with a set of qualifications and the expectation that you will continue to uphold the title in all that you do – an impossible task for anyone.
Indeed this is a tough business that forgives little. It’s nice to be awarded and rewarded, but it’s much nicer to work at something that gives you pleasure, that fills your spirit and that brings you joy (whether it brings you any money is another story entirely).
So, to young, new-to-the-business actors who seek success at the highest level, I urge you to define success as something achievable through hard work and personal advancement. Do not ever attempt to define yourself or your career in terms that others set.
Awards are nice, I'll say that, as long as you recognize that if/when you’re up for one and you’re not a winner, that you are clear that you're not a loser either.
I do salute the winners of last night’s Academy Awards. But, I also salute the work of every other artist and craftsperson in the business of acting who goes to work every day there is work to do and happily, passionately and eagerly does the work they were born to do, whether someone else recognizes their achievements or not.
Just a few thoughts on this “day after” the Oscars as I was thinking about all of the wonderful actors I represent, those I know, those I have taught, and those who have touched my life. And the winner is … you.
Guinness World Records has just certified that 40,148 fans danced their into way a world record dancing to the VP hit "YMCA" as the group performed live at the Sun Bowl, in El Paso, Texas, on 12/31/08.
