WHEN OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS

By James Bradley

Every day talented individuals ask how they can become involved in the film industry. Luckily, for them, it’s far easier than could be imagined. But later, when opportunity knocks, many are ill prepared and have an apparent disregard for three key areas: Training, Networking, and Reliability.

NO training or experience can equal NO work.

If you needed an artist, would you hire someone who had never held a pencil or brush? If you needed a doctor, would you hire someone who had never gone through medical school? Then it should be expected that professionals in the film industry will not utilize talent with little to no training or experience.

Becoming involved and finding a reliable agent is usually the easy part, but to learn and hone your craft through experience and education is often more difficult. Most pass off training because it involves a cost. Some may refuse to appear in a shoot because it doesn’t offer a paid position, although it does offer payment in résumé experience. Whatever the reason, the result is the same: No training or experience can equal no work.

Training does not mean spending exorbitant sums of money. In fact, an agent is often able to direct you to affordable workshops costing far less than you might expect. A good agent will have further researched such workshops to ensure that you’re getting the quality training you need. But needed training and development is rarely without cost. Expect to invest in your future career by first investing in yourself.

If they don’t know you exist, than you DON’T.

Although, training is a key factor in your success, networking yourself is just as important. This is an involved process and will often require your presence and participation in related industry events like film festivals, workshops, and social gatherings.

I often ask people to imagine they were a filmmaker investing huge sums of money and effort into making an epic motion picture. I ask them to imagine spending every dime of their investment on making the best movie possible. They tell me it would have the best costumes, actors, script, director, soundtrack, and special effects. In our discussion they enthusiastically tell me how great their movie would be.

I later surprise them by stating it would probably fail miserably at the box office. When they ask why, I remind them that every dime spent on making the best movie possible should have included promotion and advertising of their film, which never came up during our conversation. I tell them that if nobody knew about their movie, no matter how much was invested in it, who would come? The same applies in networking.

The industry works with who they know. If they don’t know you exist, than you don’t. In networking yourself to others, you are selling yourself and letting them know what you have to offer. If you don’t advertise at every opportunity, you can expect little or no return on your investment. So, always be prepared to share your most recent résumé, updated headshots, demo tapes, business cards, and more at every networking opportunity available. Like movie trailers and posters, these will serve as your professional tools. Your agent can help you in this endeavor.

You snooze, you LOSE.

Training and networking aside, any agent or industry professional will tell you that success is dependent on reliability. As an example, too often, many fail to materialize where and when they are supposed to be. As a result, opportunity is lost, money wasted, and productions held up.

As a rule of thumb, if you are going to be an industry professional than be a professional. The industry is replete with wannabes and ‘smilies’. Serious work demands professionals who can be relied upon under any circumstance.

Every moment could be the break you’re seeking and to throw it away due to procrastination, excuse making, schedule conflicts, or failure to keep your word is ludicrous. You snooze, you lose. There is only one guarantee in this business - there is always someone who can replace you.

To be reliable you must make every effort to offer your best at all times. Start looking at your best today and think about the adage ‘you can’t hide from the truth of your actions’. Identify the truths you see. Correct what needs correcting, learn from your mistakes, and turn what you are doing right into standards that can guide you toward success.

A standard example related to timeliness could be: ‘If you are early, you’re on time. If you are on time, you’re late. If you are late, you’re fired.”

In closing, these helpful suggestions can apply to film, acting, or modeling. Working in the entertainment industry is a lot of fun, but nothing - I mean nothing is free. You will only earn what you desire through hard work and strong commitment. Steering your course with Training, Networking, and Reliability will make every step forward as awesome as the dream that inspired you in becoming something greater than yourself.

Remember, that you never work with what you have, but rather what you get, and when Opportunity knocks be prepared. Good luck and never get caught snoozing!

James Bradley is a resident staff writer for Www.ScriptFOLIO.Net