Criticism

Some people think criticism makes artists better. Or even "constructive criticism" which is still thinly veiled criticism. Who does criticism benefit? The critic might feel good, like they have given this person some direction or help but the artist feels like they aren't good enough or didn't do it the way they should have. When in fact, the artist did it as they saw. They may not have the technical expertise just yet to fully communicate their idea, but it is theirs and theirs alone. They will get better with practice and develop their own style and expertness in time- no criticism required. Some people disagree with this concept. Some people need that "feedback." I think they've been trained to think that way through years of painful "This is for your own good" criticism.

Picture this. You're at the gym. And you are trying to do perfect pull ups. And some one is sitting there after every attempt and saying, "That pull up was no good. You didn't do XYZ." or "Almost, but not quite. You didn't really seem into it." Or whatever. You would probably say, "Eff this. I didn't really care about doing pull ups anyway." It may sound quite ludicrous, this example, but the idea behind it is a very true one.

Many artists are not born amazing or prolific or even proficient but they work for it, they sweat for it, they are even sometimes poor for it. ;) They practice, they do it over and over til they can do it blindfolded and sleeping. Many have had so much criticism in their days that, everything they do is "crap".

A lot of the time, artists will be critical of other artists and thus be critical of themselves. And because they are critical of others they assume that others are being critical of them. And so a vile cycle occurs and artists quit doing what they're doing after enough criticism- even "constructive criticism." I put it quotes because it is still criticism. People don't go to art shows or movies because they hope its crap. They go in hopes that it will effect them in a good way.

So do yourself a favor- STOP CRITICIZING OTHERS. It will make you feel less self conscious of yourself and your art.

AND STOP CRITICIZING YOURSELF. You'll be amazed at how great it will feel. It takes practice for sure. But when you get the hang of it, it sure feels good.

SAG vs. not SAG

I've found that not being SAG has been quite a stop for me. For a long time it was something that didn't seem that important but eventually realized that it would be considerably harder getting good jobs not being SAG. So I begrudgingly did some extra work for my vouchers.
Oh those ever elusive SAG vouchers, those sweet, sweet pink papers. I found a way to circumvent all that crap-tastic-non-union-extra-work-hoping-I'll-get-a-SAG-voucher thingy by signing up for a service. I found out about a person who can help. My friend got his SAG vouchers from it and referred me to him. I don't want to give out the actual info on this blog (for his sake) but it you want, I can send it to you personally. I paid $90 bucks to get started and then $100 bucks per voucher I got. I lucked out and got three days in a row on Greek as a SAG extra. Yay me! And so did my friend that referred me, a girl I referred just got her first one. So if you need help- the money is worth it. The days are long and tiring but well worth those damn vouchers.

Helpful Sites

Casting About This will give you a daily updated list of whats currently casting with the casting info and addresses to send it to. You can pick out the specific CDs you want to submit to.

IMDB Pro Helpful as a tool to know whats kind of goin' on and such. I haven't explored it enough to give you much more, but it seems helpful.

LA 411 Gives you all sorts of resources for the commercial world. Directors names, CDs, `Production Company names and addresses.

Getting started

First thing to realize- your career is a business. And as with any business one needs promotional materials. Headshots are one of your main sources of this. One must have them to submit themselves on any large number of things.

Get online-
LA Casting and Actor's Access are two main lines to getting casting notices. Casting notices are where someone is casting a project and you may submit yourself directly to it. You upload your headshots, résumé, skills and other info and start clicking away at the projects you're interested in or are right for.

Tip: try and do your submissions twice a day. Its kind of an early bird/worm thing. I've casted a couple projects before, the people who get there first, get seen more. Its just how it goes.

This at the very least is a good way to get started from scratch. You will have to pay for LA Casting if you don't have an agent though.

Get in class-
Find an acting class that you enjoy, feel safe creating and is affordable. Being in a class you enjoy is good for many reasons, it allows you to create and practice your craft and it connects you with other people wanting the same thing from life as you and people that can help guide you as well. Classes in LA vary, but pricey does not mean better. I don't get paid by The Acting Center. But I do happen to believe so strongly in their technique that I don't recommend going anywhere else. The Acting Center

Make friends-
Make friends with other actors. They're in the same boat as you, so ahead and some behind. Help them if you can, ask them for help if you need it. Ask me if you want to. :)

First Things First

Are you an actor? Do you want to be an actor? I had a very hard time back in the day calling myself an "actor" or "artist." It basically sucked. It took practice. When I was a kid I told someone I was going to be an artist. I remember being told not to be an artist, ("because artist don't make any money"). So one day I realized that I didn't believe that and I started in drama class that year. I decided to skip college and move down to LA and do acting.

Meanwhile, I had also decided that I was not going to wait tables, EVER. So I became a hairstylist. I sat on my laurels for a couple years before I became serious about actually acting and I got myself into an acting class. I went to a class where the teacher gives their critique and other people put their two cents in and you spend months rehearsing a scene for class only to have it ripped to pieces by the people you are trying to please. Needless to say, well, maybe not needless because other people seem to endure it at the price of their individual style, but I digress, I didn't last too long in that class. I would go into class feeling excited to work and create and leave feeling like shit. So I stopped going.

A couple years went by and one of my same teachers from the last class saw me. She said, "Eva- There is a new class. This is the class for you!" She told me a little bit more about it and I was sold. I decided to start right there and I signed up a week later. That was a year and a half ago. Since then I have booked many many projects and my artist purposes have been restored to great heights.

In summation-
Even if you aren't actively doing your art, you are still an artist.

College is overrated. Especially for the arts unless there is a technical aspect to it.

Don't be a lazy ass if you want to make anything happen.

Fallback careers are fine as long as you don't get consumed by it.

Critiquing is not necessary for you to become better as an artist.

Love yourself. Go on artist dates by yourself doing things that inspire you.

Help others and they'll help you, but don't do it conditionally.