Your Map To The Red Carpet

Any more, I'm referencing Bob Fraser a lot in my blogs.  He just keeps posting such knowledgeable articles on a VO forum, with straight talk about finding success in the acting field, that I can't help but excerpt his stuff.  We've talked, and he's given me full license to quote him here.  Pleae read beneath the fold to see his latest wisdom:

One of the things that stymies most actors, when they set out to succeed in the business (and let us not forget that professional acting is a business) – is the lack of a PLAN. (Map, if you will.)Let’s face it, even the building of an simple bird-house requires you to start with a plan.

In fact, if you want a successful outcome in any endeavor it’s critical that your plan has all the elements you need to actually attain the results you desire.

Unlike most plans, though, an actor’s career plan really involves putting together a lot of non-substantial things such as mindset, attitude, and artistic point of view. Naturally, there are strictly business concerns too: Marketing, advertising, networking, budgeting, product development, training, etc.

The big issue with many actors is that in order to work this plan really must be written down (drawn up, if you will).In talking with my client actors over the past five years, it seems that many of them are slowed down or even stopped totally when it comes to the `writing it down’ part.

I totally understand this `empty page’ business because I’ve been writing professionally for over 3 decades – and truth to tell, it never gets easier. Facing an empty page is always a daunting task. In fact, for some – it may seem downright impossible. Even with some imposed structure to help you … writing things down is never easy. But the results you will see once you’ve done your `homework’ and you have a real plan to consult and work from – will truly be worth all the work that’s involved.

There’s an old saying in business (which originated with Benjamin Franklin) …”When you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.”This is just the plain unvarnished truth. Every business requires attention to a lot of details and missing any one can (and generally will) cause you to fail. Acting is one of the most complicated businesses around. The proof of that can be seen in the average time it takes every actor to `make it. But there’s another old saying …”People fail, systems don’t.”

So it’s a good idea to build a plan of action that can be used as a `system’ to achieve success in the ntertainment industry …”Do A, then B, then C, then D …”

In other words, the purpose of planning is to build a system that will make success simply a matter of taking the steps. A system is crucial for a simple reason: The main stumbling block to figuring out success is that almost all success is built in small, inconspicuous steps.

When people show up on the red carpet, it’s pretty easy to observe their success. But when the ccomplishment is going on – when the work that goes into that success is being done – it rarely gets any attention and is almost never ‘seen.’

Simply taking note of the result (the red carpet) makes it seem as if success is only possible for a lucky few. But, as soon as you peek behind the scenes, an entirely different picture begins to emerge. As with the so-called `gifted athlete’ – most successful  Actors make it look easy (that’s part of their job) and we rarely see the years of acting classes, unemployment, free productions and missteps that took place along the way.

The truth is that success and accomplishment are not just the results gotten by a lucky few – they are readily available to any `regular’ person who chooses to be … FOCUSED, PERSISTENT, DISCIPLINED, COMMITTED, POSITIVE, ENTHUSIASTIC and PASSIONATE about their goals.

Despite the emphasis, the truly important words in that last sentence are `CHOOSES TO BE.’ All forward progress in our lives is inextricably tied to what we decide to be – and what we choose to DO about it. For instance, you could choose to finish reading this article and then relax on the couch, tuning into a rerun of Desperate Dancers (not a real show … yet).

Or, you could choose to get around to writing down your plan as soon as the summer is over – or after you’ve lost enough weight, or during Christmas vacation. OR ….

You COULD choose to start doing the groundwork now – to build the foundation that allows you to succeed, by beginning to write down your plan as soon as possible and finally putting a system in place that gets you where you really want to go. Because, make no mistake, the system that results from having a written plan is the best way to ensure that you will always remain `on task’ – and remaining `on task’ is the only PROVEN path to the red carpet.

It’s up to you. You could decide today that you’ll choose to put aside an hour a day to work on your plan.

Or twenty minutes every evening.

Or ten minutes every morning.

Just keep in mind that whatever you CHOOSE to DO – is what is actually going to get done.

Of course, your next move is completely optional:

Desperate Dancing … or the red carpet?

The choice is yours.

* * * * *

Bob Fraser is an actor, writer, director, producer and show-runner on such TV hits as Full House, The
Love Boat, Benson, and others. He’s been a regular columnist for NowCasting.com, ActorsLife.com, and many other sites. He’s also lectured at AFI, SAG Conservatory, Equity Library Theatre, UCLA, USC, Actors Creative Network, Film Industry Network, Women In Film, and many more.

You can subscribe to Bob’s free newsletter Show Biz How-To – which is designed for show biz pros – by
going here: http://www.showbizhowto.com

Or by visiting his blog … The Show Biz Blog http://www.theshowbizblog.com

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