Go From Hobby Actor to Pro with These Very Helpful Tips!

If you love acting, you may be ready to branch out of simply ‘doing it for fun’ to making a real career out of it! We don’t blame you, we did the same thing and love helping others on their dream paths. However, it’s a road that requires commitment and understanding what’s in store. We are here to teach you what you need to know so you don’t get stuck in amateur

Go from Hobby Actor to Pro with These Helpful Tips:

Determine Your Strength. It’s important to find out what your strongest talent is. Once you’ve figured it out, match your talent to the market that will provide the best opportunity. This can be via stage or screen. Go where your strengths are and build off of that. The idea is to keep getting stronger where you are already skilled. This will boost your confidence and get you booked more often, providing you more opportunities to expand in the future.

Invest in Your Growth. Welcome critique. Know the roles you can play, and show that in your photos. Pay for a great demo reel. Don’t wait months for a student director to give you a clip that may not sell you. Get a professional to do your website—that’s the first stop when a CD is looking to see your work.

Take Classes. Make sure to first study the areas in which you haven’t yet trained, and are the most practical: cold copy audition technique, improvisation, and speech.

Hire a Coach. This could be a career coach, a casting director, or an acting teacher with knowledge of marketing. It can be very frustrating spending all your resources on classes or workshops that aren’t really helping you get work, or on marketing tools that don’t represent you as well as they could. Get advice first.

Market Your Business. Yes, this is a business, and it’s vital that you treat it like one. Have a one page website that tells the world about you and features your best professional head shot. Network. Set goals and create a timeline. Try to put in a few hours a day/week on your marketing, and build a large network of industry professionals who know and like you.

Agent. Agents are good to have, but it’s best to wait until your marketing tools are up-to-speed and then get a referral to an agent. If you’ve worked with a director or know a casting director, ask for their help. If you’re working with a coach or mentor they can open doors and make that referral.

It’s great that you’re ready to go from hobby to pro, but be sure to take it one step at time to avoid overwhelm and discouragement. Always ask for advice and help, preferably from a coach or industry mentor. There are many industry professionals who will be there for you!

And of course, contact the Acting School for Film and Television for more information on coaches, classes and more!