Acting: Landing Roles

By Bob Fraser

One of the most familiar business principles around is K.I.S.S. – which stands for Keep It Simple Stupid. I'm sure you've heard it and wondered ... can I apply that to my acting business?

The answer is 'yes' – you can apply the K.I.S.S. principle – after your business is up and running. But, until you've established exactly how your acting business is going to be marketed – K.I.S.S. is the cart before the horse.

Before you launch into how you're going to run your business – you must know exactly what kind of business you are in. Unfortunately, most actors don't really comprehend precisely the kind of business they are in before they begin trying to get going in the business. (Some actors never figure it out – and are generally labeled "struggling.")

Do you know what business you're in? Exactly? Here's an excerpt from You Must Act! which may help you 'get' this part of your acting business:

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In the final analysis, show business is two words. The show part is important – but the business part is critical. And – you must understand how to run your business in order to be successful.

Here’s the first important question: What business are you in?

First: As an artist in show business, you will always do business by contracting your services to other companies. This is a just a factual matter. “Contracts for services” are the only kind of deals you will ever make in our industry. That’s how things are done in show business.

Which means ...

YOU ARE NOT AN EMPLOYEE!

YOU ARE NOT A WORKER!

When you talk about getting a “job,” you are really talking about landing a contract to perform services for a show – a movie, television or stage production.

And, therefore ...

(This is important.) YOU ARE A CONTRACTOR.

Take a moment to think about that. The first distinction you must make, in order to be successful in show business, is this: The business you want to succeed in – is the contracting business.

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This chapter from You Must Act! goes on to explain how this one distinction can (and should) change your entire approach to your career. The important part, for most actors, is the understanding that since you are a contractor – the crucial business of advertising your services is a fairly complex undertaking. So keeping it simple is probably not the place to start.

D.U.M.P. is where you should start building your business.

D.U.M.P. stands for Delineate Unique Marketing Position.

In English that means that it's easier to sell a specific product than to sell a generic one. This is particularly critical in a crowded field like acting. Most actors make the error of trying to sell themselves as "actors" – when observable reality is that producers don't buy actors ... they buy "characters."

So in order to make your marketing more effective, it is crucial that you define for the buyers precisely what you're selling.

"I'm a serious actor," does not work.

"I'm a talented actor," does not work.

"I'm an actor with range," does not work.

"Get me an actor type!" is a phrase you will rarely hear come out of a producer's mouth.

None of these marketing positions solves the buyers' problems. They are looking for solutions to story-telling issues – not "serious, talented actors with range."

In other words, producers are almost always looking for characters "I need an intelligent biker/vegetarian, an innocent bank teller, a vice president of sales who is secretly a serial killer, and a nun with a dirty mouth." 

So back to the marketing message ...

"I'm an educated derelict," works.

"I'm an uptight corporate weenie," works.

"I'm a virginal seeker of wisdom and truth," works.

"I'm your worst nightmare on a dark night," works.

Well, I'm sure you get the idea – the more specific and useful your marketing message is, the more likely you are to get that call to "come in" and "show your stuff." And when you're a contractor, that first call to "place your bid" is always the most important call your business receives.

After you've worked out your specific product – and really delineated your unique value to the buyer – then you can start applying the K.I.S.S. principle to your marketing and sales.

So ... DUMP before KISSing.