Let me ask you a question…
What is the first and most important decision you must make as an actor? Can you tell me?
It isn’t which monologue to do, or which headshot to choose, or what you should wear to that audition tomorrow. (Although, those three decisions shouldn’t be taken lightly.) There’s one decision you need to make before you even begin your career as an actor.
You must decide on your brand. Branding is the MOST crucial step you’ll ever take. And yet, so many actors (and teachers) ignore it completely.
If you’re going to market yourself as an actor, you first need to establish WHAT you’re marketing. Make sense?
Empower yourself and your career by creating a brand, and you will definitely hear your phone ringing more often. Let’s get started.
What is Branding?
BusinessDictionary.com defines branding this way:
The process involved in creating a unique name and image for a product in the consumers’ mind, mainly through advertising campaigns with a consistent theme. Branding aims to establish a significant and differentiated presence in the market that attracts and retains loyal customers.
Now I want you to read it again, except I’m going to change a couple of words. Ready, set, read:
The process involved in creating a unique name and image for [yourself] in the [casting director’s] mind, mainly through [auditions, mailings, and interviews] with a consistent theme. Branding aims to establish [you as] a significant and differentiated presence in the [acting business] that attracts and retains loyal [agents, managers, directors, fans, et al].
There’s a lot of gold in that definition. But the most valuable take-away is the phrase significant and differentiated presence. And that’s what we’re fixin’ to talk about next.
Set Yourself Apart
If you wanna grab attention from the powers that be, you have to set yourself apart from the crowd. You have to be one-of-a-kind, authentic, and memorable. But how?
With your presence. The aura that surrounds you when you walk into a room. Your presence is that magnetism that you bring with you to every audition. It has to shine through every headshot, postcard, and business card you drop in the mail.
Just as no two people have identical fingerprints, every actor’s presence is unique. They own it.
Your presence comes from your natural characteristics:
• Your appearance • Your energy level • Your posture • Your behavior
• Your language
These characteristics are the basis for building your brand.
The Filthy Four Letter Word: Type
Now that I’ve told you that you’re a unique, snowflake child and the angels lauded thy birth, let’s talk about type-casting.
The word type in our industry carries a certain negative connotation. An underlying psychological baggage that gets shoved under the rug. But in reality, it’s a very valuable tool. Not just for the folks who do the casting, but for the folks who get cast.
A type is nothing more than a mental shortcut for people in the industry. It serves as a sort of ‘hook’ to show them how to begin a business relationship with you.
As you advance your acting career, you’ll see breakdowns that call for a young Tom Cruise type or a Julia Roberts type. You might read phrases like the girl next door, the football quarterback, and the math geek.
Of course, no one likes to think of themselves in those terms. You’re a dynamic, creative and multi-dimensional actor and human being; not a cardboard cut-out. It’s insulting to be reduced to a mere cliché, right?
Wrong. You get your foot in the door by playing into type, THEN you set yourself apart from the crowd by letting that genuine presence shine through. Show them you’re so much more than a chiché, and they be compelled to cast you.
Once you’ve firmly established yourself as part of the acting industry, you won’t have need of typecasting so much. But as my professor Rodney Scott Hudson used to say:
You have to know the rules before you can break them.
Don’t know your type? Find out in [part two].
2. Personality
3. Reputation
4. Look
5. Age Range
The Power of Branding
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