Why Actors Get Paid

It's been a while since my last posting.  I'm happy to say that things have been busy for me.  I was cast in a new play (which had a staged reading a few weeks ago), a short film, and this weekend I'll be acting in a trailer for another short film.  I'm also revising my latest script ("Nice Guys Finish Last") which I'm happy to say is nearing the end of its development process.  Last week I attended Vanity Fair's 2013 Tribeca Film Festival party and got to rub elbows with acting legends like Robert De Niro and Christopher Walken.

The point of all this work is to make an income, and so I thought a good topic for today's blog should be Why Actors Get Paid.

The business of acting has huge supply and demand problems, and from an actor's point of view the numbers are not in your favor.  For every role that goes out, there are literally thousands of talented actors that are willing to do it for free to advance their career.  So with all this free talent floating around, why would a producer pay anything at all?  Two reasons:

1)  Your Marketing Value.  Producers need to sell tickets.  They need to fill seats.  You can produce the best film in the world, but if it's marketed poorly, you won't make a dime.  One of the best marketing tools a producer can employ is casting a well known actor.  Actor's like Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise have huge fan-bases.  When they star in a new movie, millions of fans will flock to the theaters and buy a ticket.  That's why these guys can command their $20 million+ salaries.

But this works on a smaller scale too.  Producers also need their films reviewed by critics and seen by industry executives.  Contrary to what you might think, the press does not review everything that's submitted to them.  It's actually just the opposite.  They're very selective.  But casting a up and coming young actor can get their attention.  So suppose you don't yet have a fan-base, but you've won a few minor awards and your work's been generating a lot of buzz in the industry.  Critics and studio heads are mildly curious about your work.  That's an extremely valuable commodity for an actor to have, and producers will pay well for it.

So how does one develop market value?  Or a fan-base?  Well... ultimately it boils down to talent.  Which is why it's so important for an actor to master their craft.  It's not enough to be "above average."  You have to excel.  You have to be among the very best.  Movie stars have fan-bases because at some point in their careers they did some incredible work.  Their "break out" role.  And people enjoyed it so much they're willing to pay money to see them again.

But what if you're just starting out, and you're name doesn't have any marketing value?  Shouldn't you get paid too?  Of course you should, and that brings us to the second reason why actor's get paid:

2)  Unions.  Every actor should get down and thank God that unions exists.  Because without them most of us wouldn't get paid a dime.  It's a cut-throat business and producers have to be very tight with how they spend money.  If they could get away with hiring actors for free, they'd probably do it.  If you don't believe me, just look at all the non-union work that pays nothing.  Unions require producers to pay us a fair rate, and since all the big name actors are union, any production that wants to hire them needs to be union as well.

This is why it's so important for actors to join the union.  It's nearly impossible to make a living if you don't.

The Golden Rule

I'm working on several projects right now - one of which is a staged reading for a new play called The Darling Siblings by Ty DeMartino.  I'm one of the producers, and one of my responsibilities is to find and book a venue and a rehearsal space.  I've checked out a dozen or so small theaters, and something happened the other day that reminded me just how important it is to treat people with love and respect.

I was touring a space that we were considering for a venue, and the woman at the front desk was incredibly rude to me.  I won't go into details, but suffice to say, I'm generally a really nice guy, and it takes a lot to upset me.  So I politely excused myself and left.  Not worth my time.  Here's the aftermath:  

• They lost out on the rentals for the event which totaled around $1,500.  
• I've used this studio in the past for auditions, rehearsal rentals, etc.  Won't be doing that anymore.  Over the the next five years that could total several thousand dollars.
• People ask me all the time about where to rent space for theatrical projects.  Guess who I'm not recommending?

In the grand scheme of things it's not that big of a deal.  It was a small slip of the tongue.  But that small slip cost that company several thousand dollars over the next few years.  In today's economy that could be the difference between being in profit or operating in the red.

Apply this lesson to anyone working in a creative field:  it's hard enough to make it as it is.  It's even harder when you act rude to people.  Doesn't matter if you had a bad day or if there is some small misunderstanding.  People don't forget it when you're rude.  And you never know who it is that you're speaking to (or who they might become).  Nobody makes it alone.  That relationship you just burned?  It might have been the one person who would've propelled you to success.

People will forgive you for doing a bad job (always strive to do a good job, but we all know nobody's perfect).  People will not forgive you if you're rude to them. 

Designing a Website

The past few weeks I've spent a lot of time creating my own personal website (JonKakaley.com) so I can promote myself to casting, agents, directors, and producers.  

Back when I was working on A Hole In His Heart I learned a lot about how powerful a website can be if properly designed.  Just to give you an idea, 20% of the people who visited our website wound up getting a ticket.  That's a phenomenally high ratio, and I used a lot of the same concepts when designing a site of my own.  I figure a lot of other actors, singers, and artists would be curious, so for this blog post, I present you with a bullet point list on how to create a website:

• Adobe Dreamweaver - Dreamweaver is the best web design software on the market.  It's an industry standard.  In addition to creating complex sites quickly and efficiently, it has an array of other great features - like a tool that will help you resize your site to look good on mobile devices such as an iPhone or iPad.  Dreamweaver is not cheap (and there's a learning curve as well) but it's an investment that will pay you big dividends in the future.  I also recommend getting Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and Premiere.  With these tools you'll be able to design your own art work, retouch your own photos, and edit your own reel.  That way you won't be dependent on anyone else for your marketing materials.

• Choosing a Good Color Scheme.  Some people have a gift for matching colors.  Most people (including myself) do not.  Fortunately, there is an amazing tool called "Kuler" that does the work for you.  Go to  http://kuler.adobe.com/  and you'll find a catalog of great looking color schemes that match each other perfect.  And if you have Adobe Illustrator, this tool is already built in.  Pick a color scheme that matches your personality and that goes well with your media.

• Know Your Audience.  A personal website is something that you'll be showing to agents, casting directors, and other players in the industry.  That's a very different audience than say, TomCruise.com, which is a website devoted to his fans.  Think about what your "audience" is looking for when they visit, and let that guide you.

• Keep It Simple.  Agents, CDs, etc are very busy people.  And every day they are inundated by submissions from aspiring artists.  If they look at your site, they will have a very short attention span. Probably one or two minutes.  The layout should be simple and easy to navigate.  You should have a short bio, a reel, a handful of photos, your resume, and a link to some sort of site where you can post updates.

• Don't Make the Font Too Small.  There's a good chance that people with bad eyesight will be visiting your site.  And some people aren't too tech savy and don't know how to navigate through your site.  Using larger fonts will help with that.  To give you an idea, my menu bar is an 18 point font in uppercase bold, and most of the text is a 16 point font.

• Only Use Your Best.  A personal website is not a catalog of every single photo you've ever taken or every single film you've ever done.  It should be your best work.  You do not want an agent or CD to see anything other than your best work.  One great photo is far better than twelve mediocre ones.  One great reel is far better than two hours of film showcasing all your work.

• Make It Very Easy to Contact You.  Back when I was working on A Hole In His Heart, we made a simple change to the website that dramatically increased sales.  We put a large "Get Tickets" button on the top of every page.  I was blown away.  How could something so simple make such a big impact?  What it means is that a lot of people wanted to buy a ticket, but couldn't figure out how to find the small ticket page at the bottom of the screen (and after fifteen or so seconds they gave up).  It's a lesson I'll remember for the rest of my life.
  
  Now apply this same concept to a personal website.  What do you ultimately want them to do?  You want them to contact you and bring you in for an audition or job.  So make your contact information large and obvious, and put it at the top of every page.  If you're represented by an agency, their contact information should be at the top of every page too.  And make sure any email address is a clickable link.

• Posting Updates.  It's a good idea to link your site to some sort of blog so you can post updates about your career.  I'm using blogpot, but there are other sites (such as twitter) that are just as good.  There are also ways to embed your blog in your site, and so long as it doesn't look tacky, that's fine too.  Word of warning - if you're going to use Facebook, make sure you keep it professional.  If people in casting see a post about how bad your date was last night they won't take you seriously.

That's all I've got for today!  If you'd like to see a template of what these concepts look like when put together, check out my website at JonKakaley.com

Long overdue...

It's been a while hasn't it?

Life after the show has been interesting, and I've been fairly quiet these last few months.  A lot of people have asked what I've been up to.  To tell you the truth I've been incredibly busy.  A lot of good things are on the horizon, and while some of it is beyond the scope of this post, be rest assured I'll share the details in the coming weeks.

I've been doing a lot of learning.  At the end of the day, your success is determined by the quality of your work, and since the play I've focused on becoming a better artist.  Some of you may be curious as to what this entails.  I certainly don't have all the answers, but I compiled a list of what I've been doing, and hopefully it'll be of some use.

Reading Great Plays.  If you want to be a great writer, you would be wise to study those who have come before you.  As such, I've been reading a lot of classic plays and trying to figure out what exactly makes them a classic.  I've found some real gems along the way.  Check out Anna Christie and Beyond the Horizon by Eugene O'Neil (both plays won the Pulitzer),  Orpheus Descending and Sweet Bird of Youth by Tennessee Williams, and The Rainmaker by Richard Nash.  Phenomenal examples of dramatic writing.

Reading  Books on Writing.  The craft of writing is an arcane one, and anyone who claims to have a "magic formula" is a charlatan and a liar.  With that said, there is a craft to it, and many a good book has been written on the subject.  Two that I've found to be particularly useful are The Hero With A Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell and The Writer's Journey by Christopher Volgar.  The former takes classic myths and fairy tales throughout history and provides a deep literary analysis, and the latter is a good textbook on plot structure and character archetypes in modern dramatic writing.

Writing Material.  You learn by doing.  You can read all the books in the world, but you're only going to get better if you pick up the pen and begin to write.  A lot of writers are scared that they'll sit down and nothing will materialize. Force yourself.  Some of my best writing came when I wasn't in the mood, but I forced myself anyways.  Look at it this way, sitting around and doing nothing certainly won't get you anywhere, so what do you have to lose?

Learning to Concentrate.  Ever have one of those days where you feel you can't focus?  Of course you have.  If you didn't, you wouldn't be human.  Concentration is particularly important to great acting (and useful for every other facet of our lives as well).  We live in a fast paced world, and exposure to modern media has destroyed our ability to focus.  Fortunately, there are exercises and techniques that can strengthen concentration, and anyone in the performing arts would be wise to do so.  I've begun the study of the art of meditation for this very reason.  Meditation (like acting) is one of those thing you have to "do."  Reading a book is not going to help much, but if you want to know some good exercises that will strengthen your ability to concentrate check out Concentration by Mouni Sadhu.

Reading  Books on Marketing.  If you plan on producing in any capacity, you need to have a good understanding of how marketing works.  And even if you don't produce, you need to know how to market yourself as an independent artist.  Marketing is an exact science, and basing your campaign on "instinct" is like taking an SAT test and guessing on the answers.  A few recommendations:  Scientific Advertising by Claude C Hopkins, Commonsense Direct and Digital Marketing by Drayton Bird, Purple Cow by Seth Goodin, and Influence by Robert Cialdini.


By the way, I plan to update this blog on a regular basis.  Once every other week.  Next time I'll talk about some of my upcoming projects.

What I learned

It's been two weeks since load out, and I've had quite a bit of time to reflect on the show.  As I was walking out the door, the space manager at Atlantic congratulated me and said that producing a play is like "a trial by fire."  Sometimes making it out alive is a victory in and of itself.  To an extent that's true.  There was a lot of good that came out of this, but there were also flaws.  And you gotta take the good with the bad.  I figure I'd share them both.

First I'll start with the bad.  No matter how good you are or what your intentions may be, you'll always fall short of perfection.  I'm certainly not immune to that.  And anytime you get more than ten people in an audience, there will inevitably be someone who doesn't like your show.  That's life, and you have to learn to deal with it.  We had a few critics stop by, and while they had some very kind things said about our show, they also had some criticism as well.

But I'm grateful for the criticism.  I'm grateful for the opportunity to learn, and I'm grateful for the honestly.  So to all the critics out there - thank you very much for your feedback.  I'll apply it to my future work, and hopefully you'll come review that as well.

Now for the good.  I'd like to share a few numbers with you.  We opened with about 80 tickets sold in advance.  That's not a very high number, and at first I was a little disappointed.  However, over the course of our 1 week run, that number climbed to nearly 240.  That's triple what we started with.  In one week's time-span.  I did very little marketing once the play opened, which means that despite any flaws the show might have had, people enjoyed it and we had a good word of mouth.  For a group of unknown actors, working for an unknown theater company (working on a first play by an unknown writer), that is a very impressive statistic, and everyone involved should be extremely proud.

I'd also like to comment on the acting, which I thought was quite good.  One thing most critics did praise were the performances.   Makes sense.  I've been acting for seven years and I've been writing for three.  I have a lot of room for growth in both, but it makes sense that I'm a better actor.

And I couldn't have picked a better cast.  They should all be extremely proud.  I can't begin to tell you how many compliments I got on their work.  Every night was different, and while some nights were better than others, I thought that every show was good, and I thought that we "showed up" as a cast every single night.

We also had a fair amount of attention from the industry.  About 10 or so production companies came to see the show, and a few of them contacted me asking to see more work.  Several members of the press stopped by (including Vanity Fair), and many of them wrote me back after the show.

I had nothing but the best time working on this.  I'd even go as far as to say that January was the best month of my life.  I want to thank everyone who came to see it.  You really don't have a show without an audience, and I'm grateful for everyone - even the critics.  It couldn't have happened without you, and hopefully you'll come see me in the future.  I can't wait to do it again.


Until next time,


Jon Kakaley



P.S.  I'll be maintaining this blog, but less frequent.  Probably around once a week (until my next show gets going).

The Aftermath

For anyone who's been following the blog - I'm still alive and well.  I've just been on a little vacation.  It was a long hard journey and I decided to take the following week off after load out was concluded.  But I haven't forgotten the blog, and over the next few days I'm going to post some of the results and how we did.

But I will say this:  while you can always grow and improve in all areas of production, for our first time, we did very very well.

Stay tuned!

Last show

I would by lying if I said I wasn't a little sad that tonight is my last performance.

What an experience!  Some days have been exhausting, some days have been filled with great joy, but one thing is for sure:  I have had the time of my life working on this.  I'm incredibly proud of everyone who's worked on this show, and I'm so sad to see it close.  I had nothing but the best time, and I hope I can do this again as soon as possible.

I try to approach every performance like it's my last, but tonight I literally have no choice.  It will be a special show this evening, that's for sure (hopefully that means I'll be good!)  In addition, Chris Thompson (the kid I talked about in my attitude and passion blog tinyurl.com/84u9jw6) will be making his theater debut tonight.  The actor he's understudying had to attend a wedding, and I gave Chris the call two days ago.  He's been amazing in rehearsals, and I'm sure that'll carry over to the stage.

Tonight's shaping up to be a great show.  If you haven't seen it, now's your chance.  Student tickets and HOLA! members just $12.