Selling My Car And Moving to Southern Cal.

[Brooklyn Bully]

If you really DO want to act, you need to go through a program. For example, LA and NY both have the Upright Citizens Brigade. I currently take sketch writing there. It's costs money, but as an actor you'll take five two-month courses of improv at which point you can then be put on their Harold or Maude professional teams. This is how many SNL people got their start. And you will need a regular job while you do it. If you think you'll just move to Cali and get an acting job through an agency ... well, you'll be wrong. You need to train, network, show your worth, and actually build a "resume" of your talent. That's how you top the thousand and thousands of people who move to "be discovered". Almost every famous actor went through training. So unless you look like some super male model dude ... it takes time and patience.

[PhillyB]

why go all the way to LA? head to wilmington or new orleans, which are both infinitely cheaper, less choked with starving artists looking for a break, and still some of the biggest film production locales in the USA. if you insist on cashing in on your car, using some of the money to go to bartending school, if that fits you and you're not prone to alcoholism, and land a job somewhere in one of those cities. you'll have a transferable job skill in a position of constant need and make some serious cash while you try to land gigs or hone your craft.

 

this is advice from someone who once sold everything he owned and bought a one-way ticket to australia. everything turned out ok, but coming back with literally $0.27 in my pocket caused me major financial problems and a bit of depression, too, for various reasons. don't sell your dreams short on account of the well-intended advice of fifty year old cubicle rats bitter they never followed theirs, but have a contingency plan in mind too, and be willing to look at your goals as a long-term, integrated plan, and not a flip-of-the-coin do-or-die moment. good luck dude

 

edit: sz james and dex are our local film guys i think, you might edit your title or shoot them a PM asking them to post in this thread with their experiences breaking into the industry. they're on the other side of the camera i think, but still i'd imagine they've got plenty to say

[TheRumGone]

why go all the way to LA? head to wilmington or new orleans, which are both infinitely cheaper, less choked with starving artists looking for a break, and still some of the biggest film production locales in the USA. if you insist on cashing in on your car, using some of the money to go to bartending school, if that fits you and you're not prone to alcoholism, and land a job somewhere in one of those cities. you'll have a transferable job skill in a position of constant need and make some serious cash while you try to land gigs or hone your craft.

 

this is advice from someone who once sold everything he owned and bought a one-way ticket to australia. everything turned out ok, but coming back with literally $0.27 in my pocket caused me major financial problems and a bit of depression, too, for various reasons. don't sell your dreams short on account of the well-intended advice of fifty year old cubicle rats bitter they never followed theirs, but have a contingency plan in mind too, and be willing to look at your goals as a long-term, integrated plan, and not a flip-of-the-coin do-or-die moment. good luck dude

 

edit: sz james and dex are our local film guys i think, you might edit your title or shoot them a PM asking them to post in this thread with their experiences breaking into the industry. they're on the other side of the camera i think, but still i'd imagine they've got plenty to say

 

bbq&beer is in the industry too i believe

[TheRumGone]

you're setting yourself up for failure right now by not having a better way of going about this.

 

just selling your 10 year old car and going out there will not end well. I do not mean to shatter your dreams but you really need to come up with a better plan, have some money saved up, learn some work skills to support yourself. I'm friends with a couple of working actors. It is fuging HARD to make a living doing that. Most of them are waiters, bartenders, work in theatre productions and go to as many casting auditions for movies as possible.

 

one of my friends has been doing this since he was 18 years old and just now a decade later got a VERY SMALL bit in that new sandra bullock movie in NO.  he made a good chunk of change but that was extremely rare.

[CarolinaNCSU]

If you do make the jump...you should be prepared not to get ANY acting work outside of being an extra or a tiny part for years. Plural. Without connections or an agent, you're already going to be behind 99% of people there and joining a group of thousands just like yourself all going for the same parts.

 

And selling your car, I mean you might get a couple grand? After making the move, paying rent and yada yada...you've got enough money for California to last you a month until you find a job waiting tables or something. You do you...but a better plan is needed, if not a change in your desired location like Philly said. 

[Floppin]

So you plan to go from living in a homeless shelter in south Carolina to living in one in California. Solid plan.

[hepcat]

You should meet up with my boy Zaire up in Berkeley.  He is a gypsy

[Kevin Greene]

I agree with that to a point however coming to chase your dream, you have to understand there are thousands in the same boat. Hollywood is not what is seems.

 

Aye, just try to get from Compton to Hollywood with no car.

Good Luck.

[Jangler]

I'll take "Who is Killing The Greatest Panther Fans of North America" for 2000 Alex

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ZackAttack23]

More advice! Love what I'm hearing. I also would love to get into sports journalism and sports radio broadcasting. I only have a high school diploma. I'm just a little down because I feel stuck here and am having zero luck finding a job. Hopefully I can find some where that I can find a job in film production or an extra in a movie, show, or commercial.

[Captroop]

More advice! Love what I'm hearing. I also would love to get into sports journalism and sports radio broadcasting. I only have a high school diploma. I'm just a little down because I feel stuck here and am having zero luck finding a job. Hopefully I can find some where that I can find a job in film production or an extra in a movie, show, or commercial.

 

Great balls of fire. What world do you live in that you've set your expectations so high? Acting in Hollywood, and if that doesn't work out, your fall back plan is sports broadcasting?

 

What this entire thread has taught me is that you are just naive. And I don't mean that in a pejorative manner, but just in a facts of life way. You have a completely unrealistic view of the world.

 

I can't speak too much on acting, since that's not my forte (although I can tell you the John Casablanca agency is a scam. They take everybody, and charge them $2,000 to enter their acting program. They aren't even an agency; for legal reasons they are an "acting school"). But I can speak to sports journalism. I went to one of the nation's best journalism schools, and here's the deal:

 

Do you have a dick? Then you've got no shot. 9 out 10 males at my journalism school wanted to be a sports reporter on ESPN. And that's the story at every j-school across the nation. Dozens of highly qualified, college educated men at each school, with a demo reel of aired reporting and editing work.

 

The people who had a shot, were women. And not even the women had a very good shot. Because you had to be a hot woman. I know several girls who are in the 8-9 range on the hotness scale who never even got a call back on their demo reels. Sports journalism is probably the most highly competitive areas of journalism right now, and unless you are one of the top 1% who are the whole package of hot, qualified, educated, and experienced, you have no shot.

 

The most qualified, dedicated sports journalist I knew in college (he did live play-by-play for many of the Terps sports, and could tell you the starting line-up for every college volleyball, soccer, field hockey etc. team for every D1 school, in addition to knowing all the major sports) is currently working as a production assistant at a local sports network. And he was the best we had to offer. That's the reality. You don't just "get into" sports journalism with a high school diploma.

 

You show a stunning lack of appreciation for how hard people have worked to get to where they are in these professions. But it's not your fault; as I've said, you're just naive. You've not done the research or had the real world hard knocks to know what is and isn't realistic, or even possible.

 

BUT, I think I can offer your a bit of advice, along the lines of what many others in here have said; learn a trade. But the good bit I can add to that based on what you have expressed interest in doing is this: Look up a Film Production company.

 

When I was in college, I used to earn a couple bucks on the side by doing TV production work with companies like this: http://www.kwokmanproductions.com/

 

The deal is, every time ESPN or Fox, or whoever broadcasts a live sports event, they don't send their own people, they hire a local production company, who sends their truck, and their contractors to set up and film the event.

 

Honestly, it was some of the most fun I ever had working. Holding the Parabolic mic on the sideline, running cable, even doing some "all 22" camera work for some ESPN broadcasts. I got to sit on top of the scoreboard, I got to stand on the sidelines next to the players and coaches, even got to talk to a couple players every once in a while. Got to see the inside of the mobile studio and production truck.

 

And if you really want to get into it, that's where you should look to start. Get to know a bunch of these production companies, and when they get a contract to do a local sporting event, they will put our a call for miscellaneous crew and production assistants to help out the day of the broadcast. You'll run cable and do not-so-glamorous production work, but hang around the right folks, absorb everything you can, and learn how to use the equipment, the switchboard, the cameras, the soundboard, the video editor, the graphics editor. You can do all of that with a high school education, you just need the hands on experience (and believe me, you're way behind on that as well; most of these guys started learning to use the equipment in high school AV club as well).

 

These guys aren't academics; they're hard-working, blue-collar, down to earth folks with a business card in the right person's pocket. You probably won't ever end up on camera, but you get to be part of the excitement. You are part of sports broadcasting in a very real, very hands on way! If you're serious about being part of film or sports broadcasting, then this is the way you need to go. And believe me, you're not settling; it's great work. Most of these contractors with regular work can still pull in over $80,000 per year. Think about it.

[ZackAttack23]

Great balls of fire. What world do you live in that you've set your expectations so high? Acting in Hollywood, and if that doesn't work out, your fall back plan is sports broadcasting?

What this entire thread has taught me is that you are just naive. And I don't mean that in a pejorative manner, but just in a facts of life way. You have a completely unrealistic view of the world.

I can't speak too much on acting, since that's not my forte (although I can tell you the John Casablanca agency is a scam. They take everybody, and charge them $2,000 to enter their acting program. They aren't even an agency; for legal reasons they are an "acting school"). But I can speak to sports journalism. I went to one of the nation's best journalism schools, and here's the deal:

Do you have a dick? Then you've got no shot. 9 out 10 males at my journalism school wanted to be a sports reporter on ESPN. And that's the story at every j-school across the nation. Dozens of highly qualified, college educated men at each school, with a demo reel of aired reporting and editing work.

The people who had a shot, were women. And not even the women had a very good shot. Because you had to be a hot woman. I know several girls who are in the 8-9 range on the hotness scale who never even got a call back on their demo reels. Sports journalism is probably the most highly competitive areas of journalism right now, and unless you are one of the top 1% who are the whole package of hot, qualified, educated, and experienced, you have no shot.

The most qualified, dedicated sports journalist I knew in college (he did live play-by-play for many of the Terps sports, and could tell you the starting line-up for every college volleyball, soccer, field hockey etc. team for every D1 school, in addition to knowing all the major sports) is currently working as a production assistant at a local sports network. And he was the best we had to offer. That's the reality. You don't just "get into" sports journalism with a high school diploma.

You show a stunning lack of appreciation for how hard people have worked to get to where they are in these professions. But it's not your fault; as I've said, you're just naive. You've not done the research or had the real world hard knocks to know what is and isn't realistic, or even possible.

BUT, I think I can offer your a bit of advice, along the lines of what many others in here have said; learn a trade. But the good bit I can add to that based on what you have expressed interest in doing is this: Look up a Film Production company.

When I was in college, I used to earn a couple bucks on the side by doing TV production work with companies like this: http://www.kwokmanproductions.com/

The deal is, every time ESPN or Fox, or whoever broadcasts a live sports event, they don't send their own people, they hire a local production company, who sends their truck, and their contractors to set up and film the event.

Honestly, it was some of the most fun I ever had working. Holding the Parabolic mic on the sideline, running cable, even doing some "all 22" camera work for some ESPN broadcasts. I got to sit on top of the scoreboard, I got to stand on the sidelines next to the players and coaches, even got to talk to a couple players every once in a while. Got to see the inside of the mobile studio and production truck.

And if you really want to get into it, that's where you should look to start. Get to know a bunch of these production companies, and when they get a contract to do a local sporting event, they will put our a call for miscellaneous crew and production assistants to help out the day of the broadcast. You'll run cable and do not-so-glamorous production work, but hang around the right folks, absorb everything you can, and learn how to use the equipment, the switchboard, the cameras, the soundboard, the video editor, the graphics editor. You can do all of that with a high school education, you just need the hands on experience (and believe me, you're way behind on that as well; most of these guys started learning to use the equipment in high school AV club as well).

These guys aren't academics; they're hard-working, blue-collar, down to earth folks with a business card in the right person's pocket. You probably won't ever end up on camera, but you get to be part of the excitement. You are part of sports broadcasting in a very real, very hands on way! If you're serious about being part of film or sports broadcasting, then this is the way you need to go. And believe me, you're not settling; it's great work. Most of these contractors with regular work can still pull in over $80,000 per year. Think about it.

now that is what I'm talking about! Thanks for the advice and I will definitely look into it.

[h0llywood]

now that is what I'm talking about! Thanks for the advice and I will definitely look into it.

 

You took that well and I'm glad you did because that means you're amenable to change. 

 

The prevailing theme here is that no one wants to see or hear your fail.

[ZackAttack23]

You took that well and I'm glad you did because that means you're amenable to change.

The prevailing theme here is that no one wants to see or hear your fail.

I just hope change happens quick.