Strategic Time Management: Building Your Acting Career

As a new actor, the two most important things you should be focused on are building your resume and your reel. This takes time; a lot of time. The quicker you can achieve this, the quicker you can market yourself as an actor. Below I outline the three types of roles I booked and why some are better than others to focus on.

SHORT FILMS

Of the 8 short films I have done since January, 7 have gotten footage back to me. The last is still in post production. Short films would be my focus as a new actor as the time in post production is considerable shorter than a feature film. I have gotten back footage as quickly as 3 weeks and have waited as long as 3 months. Most short films shoot over 2-3 days, so if you are working for free, it doesn’t take up much of your time.

FEATURE FILMS

I have done 4 feature films in supporting roles since I started acting. Of those 4 films, I have received footage back from one and the only reason I got it back so quickly is because the film was originally multiple short films shot over years and I was part of the last piece. The turnaround and release was quick because I was basically in a short film. Feature films can spend 6-12 months in post production and depending on your role, can take many days to film. If you are working with no pay, it’s a larger time commitment.

SERIES

I have booked two series and realized quickly that it wasn’t worth the time and effort as they were either non paying or paid very little. I removed myself from both the projects and told myself that unless it paid well, it wasn’t worth it. The amount of time you have to commit to a series, between table reads, in person rehearsals and filming is just not worth the time. You are committed for multiple days in a week and for multiple weeks.

Doing unpaid work as a new actor is something we all do. Just think about the time you have to invest into the project and the goal to see if it is worth it to you. Something actors don’t think about when they take unpaid work. If the filmmaker can’t pay them, then they probably don’t have a marketing budget. So even if it does make it to a streaming platform, there’s zero chance it will be seen by anyone outside the friends and families of the people on the project. Getting “exposure” from free work is almost nonexistent. Don’t expect to be “discovered”. This should never be the end goal of doing an unpaid project. Resume builder and footage for your reel is a more realistic goal.