Four weeks from tomorrow, My wife and I will start our car trip to LA. Of course by car, as without a car in LA....well, you get the idea. There is still much to do, as in having some dental work finished, getting a passport (yes, strangely enough, I've never had one), and finish planning all aspects of the move. While acting is very much a right brain activity, as in the phrase, "in the moment," there is much left brain activity in the preparation for acting (moving to LA, marketing, networking, having the proper headshots, a current resume in good condition, your own website, business cards, postcards, and all the other things that go into presenting and publicizing yourself as an actor). True, talent, training and experience are all necessary ingredients, but never forget marketing. As they say, you can't sell the best widget in the world if no one knows it exists.
There is a lot of usable information on the Internet about breaking into acting in LA. Unfortunately, there is also a lot of crap and scams mixed in with the usable part, and one needs to exercise great care is identifying and separating one from the other. With only a few exceptions, beware of websites that want to charge you a fee for audition information or for applying for auditions through their site. As I said, there are a few exceptions to that, and I will discuss those sites further once I am in LA.
Meanwhile, I'm getting in some last acting opportunies in the Seattle area . I auditioned for and was cast in a Microsoft corporate film last week. It's in the form of a comedy. I play the lead, and it should be great fun. I also auditioned for another film late last week, but have not heard the results of that audition yet.
So, now it's four weeks and counting.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Six Weeks and Counting
I must be crazy! That thought has crossed my mind several times in the past few months. Why you ask? Because I am about to do something that is both crazy, wonderful, scary, and exciting all at the same time.
Perhaps an introduction should come first. I'm Ken Kreps, an actor with thirteen years of study and five years of acting professionally behind me. All of this to now, has been done in the Seattle Washington area, with the exception of one project in Portland. I have done independent theatrical films (both short and feature length), TV commercials (both local and national), a couple of films for Japanese network television, some corporate-Industrial videos, various types of voice-over work, and finally, even one print job. I am represented by a talent agency in the Seattle area.
All was well and good, until a little over a year ago I began studying with a well know LA acting coach, first taking a few workshops from him and then private lessons. I'll not mention his name to protect his privacy. One day last Summer, he asked me if I planned to move to LA and try the film and TV market there. Since I had never considered doing so, I replied no. His response startled me when he said he felt I had reached a point where there could very well be work for me down there. While flattered, I still said no. A few weeks later, he mentioned the same thing again and this time I began thinking about it. I discussed it with my wife, and she said I should give it a try, as this is what I had really been preparing for over the last thirteen years.
The bottom line is this. In six weeks, my wife and I will drive to LA, where she will assist me in finding an apartment and getting set up before flying back to our home in the Seattle area. I will then start the many tasks required when attempting to gain a foothold as an actor in the LA market. This includes auditioning for and appearing (hopefully) in showcases, securing an agent, getting my SAG card (not an easy task, by any means), networking, scanning all the various audition boards several times each day, Continuing my actor's education with the above mentioned LA acting coach, and possibly other instructors, auditions, and all the other necessary tasks. For a serious actor, this in itself is an every day job. Fortunately, I don't need to find a non-acting job in LA to survive, so all of the above tasks will be my full time job.
My LA acting coach is a respected professional, and if he says I have a shot, I have to take him seriously. He can be a hard task master on a actor and that is one of the reasons I enjoy studying with him. He tells it like it is, with no sugarcoating, and he's also a quite likable man.
Finally there is one other thing you should know about me. I am....well, that is I'm....OK, let's just leave it at I'm well past the age of 60. Now you know why I sometimes think I must be crazy. For years I've told people failure is not the worst thing that can happen to a person, as not trying is far worse. Now, I must take my own advice. I did a little checking to see if anyone my age or older had tried to break into acting in LA, and I found that not only have they tried, but some have succeeded
I'll be adding to this blog some before we leave (but probably not too often), but will no doubt write three to five times a week once my quest begins in LA.
Wish me luck, and let's just see how this all shakes out. I'm not kidding myself in that the odds of success are long, as they are for any actor, of any age, in LA. Still, I'm anxious to give it my best concentrated effort, and see what lies ahead.
Stay tuned!
Perhaps an introduction should come first. I'm Ken Kreps, an actor with thirteen years of study and five years of acting professionally behind me. All of this to now, has been done in the Seattle Washington area, with the exception of one project in Portland. I have done independent theatrical films (both short and feature length), TV commercials (both local and national), a couple of films for Japanese network television, some corporate-Industrial videos, various types of voice-over work, and finally, even one print job. I am represented by a talent agency in the Seattle area.
All was well and good, until a little over a year ago I began studying with a well know LA acting coach, first taking a few workshops from him and then private lessons. I'll not mention his name to protect his privacy. One day last Summer, he asked me if I planned to move to LA and try the film and TV market there. Since I had never considered doing so, I replied no. His response startled me when he said he felt I had reached a point where there could very well be work for me down there. While flattered, I still said no. A few weeks later, he mentioned the same thing again and this time I began thinking about it. I discussed it with my wife, and she said I should give it a try, as this is what I had really been preparing for over the last thirteen years.
The bottom line is this. In six weeks, my wife and I will drive to LA, where she will assist me in finding an apartment and getting set up before flying back to our home in the Seattle area. I will then start the many tasks required when attempting to gain a foothold as an actor in the LA market. This includes auditioning for and appearing (hopefully) in showcases, securing an agent, getting my SAG card (not an easy task, by any means), networking, scanning all the various audition boards several times each day, Continuing my actor's education with the above mentioned LA acting coach, and possibly other instructors, auditions, and all the other necessary tasks. For a serious actor, this in itself is an every day job. Fortunately, I don't need to find a non-acting job in LA to survive, so all of the above tasks will be my full time job.
My LA acting coach is a respected professional, and if he says I have a shot, I have to take him seriously. He can be a hard task master on a actor and that is one of the reasons I enjoy studying with him. He tells it like it is, with no sugarcoating, and he's also a quite likable man.
Finally there is one other thing you should know about me. I am....well, that is I'm....OK, let's just leave it at I'm well past the age of 60. Now you know why I sometimes think I must be crazy. For years I've told people failure is not the worst thing that can happen to a person, as not trying is far worse. Now, I must take my own advice. I did a little checking to see if anyone my age or older had tried to break into acting in LA, and I found that not only have they tried, but some have succeeded
I'll be adding to this blog some before we leave (but probably not too often), but will no doubt write three to five times a week once my quest begins in LA.
Wish me luck, and let's just see how this all shakes out. I'm not kidding myself in that the odds of success are long, as they are for any actor, of any age, in LA. Still, I'm anxious to give it my best concentrated effort, and see what lies ahead.
Stay tuned!
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