Are you a pro entertainer? What do you do? What's entertainment biz like for you?

Question

I am a teacher fishing for real life experiences to middle school students. Give me the real scoop that I can share with them.

Answer 1

I live in Los Angeles and I have worked in the entertainment industry since 1993. I have 3 agencies I work through, 2 modeling agencies, one in new york, one in los angeles, and I also act professionally. I have worked on commercials, television, and motion pictures.

I would suggest that any student that wants to pursue a career in entertainment finish their education first. That means get a 4 year degree in something that can support you financially while you are also following your dream.

The business is expensive. As a model or actor you have to keep current photographs and model cards (if you're a model) to represent yourself. That can cost up to $2,000 every 3 months for a model and $1,000 every 6 months for an actor. If you want to become an actor there are classes that you will need to gain skills, that is expensive also. Many actors starve and squeek through an existence on very little money working as bartenders or waitresses. Jobs like that afford a flexible schedule for auditions but not much money for comfort. There are also union dues SAG/AFTRA initiation dues are expensive, then you pay each union quarterly and the amount you pay is proportional to the amount you earn. Rent is expensive in NY and LA and rent can cost as much as $1,500 a month for a small one bedroom apartment (in an average neighborhood - safe) many people roommate (which is unreliable). Reliable transportation is a must because if you live in Los Angeles, you will absolutely need to get from one part of town to the other to chase around for auditions. If you're lucky enough to even get an agent.

I have been fortunate to have carved out a comfortable life but it hasn't been easy, many years of struggle building a reputation and work history takes time and a lot of people skills. Usually you're just barely breaking even.

There isn't any job security. And if I went on 75 to 80 auditions in a month, sometimes I was lucky to get one "call back" (a return call to see a casting director after your first audition) and some months would not work at all. Occasionally there would be the third "call back" and sometimes a Producer meeting. But those are very rare. At some point you do get to see casting directors by "word of mouth" but that's only after you have established yourself.

I would not recommend going into the industry without something to fall back on. You may begin at age 18... then you're just pounding pavement day after day, not noticing the time go by, and then you're 28, have no degree and nothing to fall back on (certainly no medical insurance, or retirement plan) - you can get those through the union only after you earn a minimum amount of money in a year the minimum is around $8,000. And at any given time 95% of all actors in the Screen Actors Guild are unemployed so reaching that "threshold to qualify for benefits" is a rare thing for nearly all actors in the union.

Every single casting you go on is like a lottery draw. I have gone to castings in the past where I've signed the "sign in sheet" and at 12:00 p.m. I was number 286, which means by the end of the day they will probably have seen over 500 people for ONE job.

I wouldn't recommend a career in the entertainment industry because you cannot be mentally insecure, the rejection can really mess with your mind if you are not focused on being as grounded and focused mentally as you can be, and that's difficult, very very difficult.

The reward is certainly there, but at what cost?

If I had to do it all over again I have to ask myself if I would.

I have had a lot of fun, met and worked with thousands of fantastic people and I probably wouldn't have had that opportunity if I hadn't taken the risk.

My advice, stay in school.