We can all learn a lesson from Tim Tebow.

The second-year Denver Broncos quarterback has become quite the cultural sensation over the past several months. Sports writers love to hate him. Fans criticize his unorthodox skills. The Twitterverse is teeming with Tebowmania. Even though the Broncos’ season came to an embarrassing end this weekend at the hands of the Patriots, I suspect the rumors surrounding Tebow and his future will be hot topics on ESPN this offseason.

But…why the heck am I talking about a football player on an acting blog?

If you’re not really into sports, or you’ve been living under a rock for the past three months, allow me to fill you in. Tim Tebow, a relatively inexperienced young player whom nearly everyone has doubted since the day he was drafted, has been doing things in the NFL that nobody thought possible. He leads his team to comeback victory after comeback victory, overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds every time. In fact, many sports broadcasters have begun referring to the final few minutes of a Broncos game as “Tebow Time,” because that’s when some of his more remarkable achievements have occurred.

Actors, here’s where we come into the picture. Tim Tebow is far from the most gifted guy on the field, but he’s also regarded as one of the hardest-working kids in the league. That hard work, combined with a never-say-die attitude and endless optimism, allows him to live his dream every day. I’ve always held the belief that being hard-working is more important than being talented, and he’s living proof.

We actors are a lot like Tim Tebow, in that we always find ourselves battling the odds. When you’re one of a hundred or more faces auditioning for a single role, you’re the underdog. When you’re a single headshot in a huge stack (a stack, I might add, that might find its way straight to the day’s garbage), you’re fighting an uphill battle. It’s an agreement we all made (or should have made) with ourselves when we first choose this career path: I’m going to have to work my butt off.

So the question ultimately becomes: How can I swing the odds a little bit further in my favor?

“Something I learned early in college (is) to not worry about what I can’t control…But what I can control is my attitude, my effort, my focus every single day and that’s what I’m trying to worry about.” -Tim Tebow

What can we, as actors, control in our pursuits? Can we govern the amount of raw talent that courses through our veins? Probably not, but we can take Meisner classes at a local acting studio. We can find mentors in the professional world and pick their brains. We can use our cell phones to film ourselves practicing our monologues over and over again. These are the little things that nobody’s making us do, but that we choose to do because they help us earn the victory when the game is on the line and “Tebow Time” arrives.

*NOTE: I don’t agree with Tebow’s religious beliefs, nor do I support his views on homosexuality, marriage, abortion, etc. But that’s not what we’re talking about here. We’re talking about winning. Now go get ‘em, tiger!

Joe Von Bokern is the Chicago contingent of this blog. Find out more information and view his materials on his website, or read the rest of his blog posts.

I am going to start this blog post by sharing an unsolicited email I recently received from a “manager.” (Note: All grammar and spelling has been included, as originally written.)

“I was looking on IMDB and noticed you do not have a Talent Manager.  As you may  know we are doing Talent Management..  A manager is different from an agent but in a way better as I have more fields to get you work.  I feel I could be a great assett to you to help you not only get your more acting roles but we are doing something no other Management firm does.  We are also going to provide free to our clients our Publicity Services.  We are a NON-EXCLUSIVE company so if at anytime you want to end services with us that is ok.  I really hope you will give me a chance to further your career and make you more money.  If you are interested please let me know and I’ll send you my information packate.” – Mike

File this one away into the “If it seems too good to be true, it is” mailbox. Of course, there are warning signs all over the above email that tell the actor that they should stay far away. So, how does an actor gauge the validity of these types of emails, which become more numerous as the actor gets more and more well known?

1) Does the manager know the difference between managers and agents? (Do you?)
Agents and managers are very different from one another, primarily because it is illegal for managers to procure work for their clients. Agents are required to be on file with their state as a “licensed employment agent” and managers are not given this clearance. Thus, a manager’s job takes on a different form. Directly from the Talent Manager’s Association website: “A manager, by nature, does not seek employment for a client, but rather council, market and network on their behalf making it easier for the agent to secure employment. A client, manager and agent should function as a team.”

You can see by the email above that the manager is not accurately conveying his role. This should be a very big “red flag” to you.

2) Why are they contacting YOU? 
Yes, we are all fabulous, and we usually feel we deserve to be represented. But, as I said on a recent post on the Backstage message boards, if you are ready to seek management, you want to seek out a management company that has a good track record and a solid client base. Typically, companies that fall in that category do not need to troll the internet to locate new clients, and they don’t typically seek to represent actors with small resumes. To get to know up-and-coming actors, managers spend time seeing plays, going to film festivals, and taking meetings via referrals. They may use IMDB or the actor’s website as a research tool, but rarely do solid companies “discover” talent on the web. So you have to ask yourself- if it is normally so difficult to be represented, why has THIS offer come so easily?

3) Does the email appear to be well written? If they give you a website to check out, does it inspire your confidence?
There are misspellings and bad grammar all over this email. Even if the manager were legitimate, would you want someone representing you when they cannot put together a coherent email?

4) Does the contact information make sense and seem professional? 
Often, when you try to verify their contact information, you’ll notice discrepancies in the information. In the above example, Mike gave me a web address for his company, but his email address came from a completely different company. Upon researching him, I discovered that his company was primarily a Publicity Company, where they pay actors to attend parties and events. Also, take note of where their office is located. I am based in NYC and this company is based in LA – it doesn’t really make sense for them to represent me from the opposite coast unless I plan to make a move out west.

Many actors ignore that voice of warning in their head because it feels so good to believe that we are being handed our big break. Believe me, I know- I’m an actor, just like you. I hustle, just like you. I taste the wins and the losses as sweetly and bitterly as you do. But I believe that if you do your homework and listen to your gut, you can protect yourself from those unsavory characters who prey on your dreams and desires.

Have you ever gotten an offer that was turned out “too good to be true”? How did you handle it? Please let us know about your experiences, and how you addressed them, in the comment section below.

PS: This article pertains, also, to those folks out there who randomly email actors about mailing autographed headshots. I regularly report these requests on my acting blog to help other actors research the requests, and one in particular has resulted in a very strange, stalker-like situation. Check out this blog post for more information (and be sure to read the comments!)

Added Bonus: (Because at Playbills vs Paying Bills, we think you deserve bonuses every now and then!)

I did a quick Google Search for the phrase “too good to be true” and here are some of the things that came up (some funny, some not so funny):

Looks Too Good To be True: Mail, Telephone & Internet Fraud Support
Too Good To Be True: The Rise & Fall of Bernie Madoff
Urban Dictionary: Too Good To Be True

Erin Cronican is the New York contingent of this blog. Find out more information and view her materials on her website, or read the rest of her blog posts.

One of the things I remember strongly from the game was this idea of bartering. If someone didn’t have money, they could trade some of their goods or services for someone else’s goods or services. This really resonated with me, especially since I have always been passionate about building a community and sharing with other. So, it stands to reason that when I got out of theater school, I started to think: as actors and business owners, bartering might be a great part of getting the things we need for a successful career. Imagine, if you created the right kinds of relationships and developed a much needed skill set, you could trade for the goods and services you desperately need for your career. No more, “Well, I would but I don’t have the money”… you would be able to trade for everything you needed.

So, how does one do this? Well, there are several different things you have to consider when thinking about using bartering for your business.

What kinds of things would you like to trade for?
Think about the things you need to make your career a success. (If you need help, just try going through this year’s receipts to see what you spent your money on.) There’s a good chance that the things you are purchasing could be done in trade, or at least at a discounted rate. You especially want to look at services that are rendered by another business professional (rather than items that are purchased.) Things like:

• Headshot Photography
• Vocal Coaching
• Demo Reel Editing
• Dialect Training
• Graphic Design
• Dance Classes
• Acting Technique
• Style Consultations
• Photo Retouching

You can also think of other goods and services that are not specifically for actors, but common (or even luxury) services used by people every day. Things like:

• Hairstyling
• Massage Therapy
• Spa Services
• Administrative Support
• Personal Training
• Nutritional Counseling
• Life Coaching
• Financial Planning

What do you have to offer?
In order to be able to barter, you have to have a good or service that you can trade that is relevant for the person you’re trading with. I started by examining my relationships to find where bartering might be most useful. For many actors, this can simply mean offering your time to someone for a task they desperately need support with, or it can also mean utilizing a skill set that is unique and desired by others.

Make a list by coming up with a group of skills or services that you excel at, and that you’d be willing to barter. Do you have an administrative skill that you could offer – for example, are you great on the computer, or are you good at organizing? Does your day job equip you with a skill that you could offer to someone in exchange for another service? Sometimes, though, it’s simply that you have time on your hands that you can offer to someone. My voice teacher has a young child, and I know that childcare is something she’s often interested in bartering for. If you have an interest in children, this might be a skill you’d add to your list.

Blend the two ideas together
Once you have a list of skills, and you know what kind of services you’re interested in receiving, it’s time to match the two together. Come up with some ideas about how to help each particular service provider with a skill you have to offer. For example, let’s say that you are skilled at graphic design and HTML coding, and you notice that your hairstylist doesn’t have a website. Based on this knowledge, you could offer to build a site in exchange for styling services of the same value. You’d be providing a valuable service while receiving your own valuable service in return, thereby freeing up your cash for other important purposes.

Years ago when I first discovered bartering, I talked to my voice teacher about trading so that I could get extra lessons. We came up with a plan for me to be a dog walker when she went out of town, as well some administrative work. One example of admin work I did: I spent hours creating a spreadsheet for all of the Los Angeles casting directors and agents listed in The Call Sheet (called Ross Reports, at that time), which she could then use to make labels. For every 4 hours of admin work I did, I received 1 hour of a voice lesson.

If you’re having trouble coming up with skills that are relevant to the service you want to barter for, all you have to do is ask. Talk to the service provider, and let them know that you’re looking for innovative ways to be able to afford the services you need. Give them a list of things you’re good at, and ask them if there is anything they might find valuable in trade for the services they provide. The worst thing that could happen? They could say no, and then you’re in the same position you’re in now. But if they say yes, you’ll now have the opportunity to build a constructive relationship with another business owner and save yourself some valuable dough.

Be Prepared for a ‘No’
Be advised: not all business owners are equipped to handle bartering, so be sure to be respectful if they say no. Each person knows their business better than anyone else, so only they can decide if bartering is useful to them. Remember that we all depend on our business income for our livelihood, so sometimes cold hard cash is more important than getting services for free. I’m convinced that if you do your homework, you will find someone (or multiple someones) that will be interested in what you have to offer.

Keep Good Records
I contacted Nance Schick, an employment attorney for small business owners, to get her thoughts on bartering (which she does quite a bit.) She reminded me that when bartering, you need to make sure that you keep invoices/receipts that show the exact value of the barter. Even more important, make sure that the bartered services are for equal value, so that there is a zero balance in the end. You do this, because the government will tax you if a service you receive has more highly valued than the one you provided. For example, if you did a website design for $500, but you received a $600 demo reel in exchange, you would be taxed on the $100 overage. To combat this, make sure you do the same value of work that the other service provider does, and then create an invoice that reflects that. In the above example, I would do a little extra work on the website package so that the value is $600, and then show that the web design was paid for with a $600 demo reel package. Make sure you both have invoices on file reflecting the trade.

You might remember my example above where I did 4 hours of admin work in exchange for 1 hour of coaching? The way we worked out that barter agreement was to estimate the admin work to be worth $15 per hour, and her coaching to be worth $60 per hour. So, on my invoice I showed that for each trade I worked 4 hours at $15 per hour, and as payment I received $60 in coaching services.

These kinds of invoices should be sufficient to show that the bartering was fair and equal. If you have any questions, it would be a good idea to talk to a lawyer or an accountant when setting up your bartering services. You can check out the IRS Website for tax advice as well.

You can also leave your questions in the comments section below, and I’ll answer them in any way I can. I have tons of experience in bartering — I currently barter for voice lessons, piano accompaniment, life coaching, massage therapy, acting coaching, dance lessons, and will soon be trading for facial/spa service and personal training. I feel like I’ve won the lottery!

- Erin

Added Bonus: (Because at Playbills vs Paying Bills, we think you deserve bonuses every now and then!)

There is an overabundance of information about bartering out there on the interwebs. Here are some great resources & articles you might like: Barter Quest: Social Network for Bartering | The Original Barter Babe Finds Wealth Beyond Cash | Bartering for Health Care: Yardwork for Treatment | The Art of Barter: How To Trade For Almost Anything

Erin Cronican is the New York contingent of this blog. Find out more information and view her materials on her website, or read the rest of her blog posts.

What do you do when your focus starts to slip?

Panic? Throw in the towel? Ignore it and keep pushing?

As actors, we sometimes find ourselves in those funky, unproductive-seeming phases where we tend to let our ambition slip a little. We can get lazy about our craft, and our business sense tends to drag. For those of us still working “day jobs” to pay the bills, this feeling can be especially overwhelming during the lean times, when money might not be coming in as steadily, or when things at the office are tense and require a lot of extra energy.

Whatever the reason, there seems enough evidence to make the case that an early acting career can look  a lot like an EKG (the neato gadget that measures the human heartbeat). There are peaks, and there are valleys. Sometimes we ride high with all the confidence in the world, and sometimes things sag a little.

I offer you this: Such highs and lows are proof, in essence, that our hearts are beating, are they not?

We’re alive! We’re humans! Actors are not robots. We are not perfect. Get it?

So I’ll ask again: What do you do when your focus starts to slip? My answer is simply to keep at it. Don’t let it beat you. As long as you have life in your body and the will to pursue your craft, the natural rhythm of your artistic heartbeat will send things shooting back upward before you realize it. Just don’t give up because everything isn’t going your way. Trust that it will turn around.

On a personal note, I bring up all this EKG stuff because I feel like I’ve been letting my focus blur a little. As my company, The Consortium Project, wraps up its latest production, I can’t help but meditate on the ways we’ve grown as a company over the past few years. I can name a handful of challenges on the production side of things that could have been handled differently, and I’m doing my best to file those lessons away for future use. But my daydreams have been along the lines of, “Making theatre from the ground up has been awesome, and I want to learn how to do it better.” I’m interested in creating new challenges for myself, both as an actor and as a member of the theatre-creating community. And while I figure out what exactly that means to me, I begin to feel like I’m stuck in a plateau with my acting career.

And I have to remind myself that I’m alright. That it’s just my heart beating. It’s a good thing.

~JVB

Joe Von Bokern is the Chicago contingent of this blog. Find out more information and view his materials on his website, or read the rest of his blog posts.

Ahhh, the world wide web. Seems like just yesterday I was listening to that lovely dial-up sound while hacking into NORAD. Oh, how the times have changed.

I started building websites in high school, continued throughout college, then did some professional web design upon graduation. Why do I admit to being such a nerd? Because I’m about to proffer advice on websites and I want to add some semblance of credibility to my suggestions. If you want to see some of my work you can check out this site, this site, or this site. Still not enough? You can look at this site or this one, but please don’t look at this one. If you want actor sites you can visit my personal website, or this one that I made for Justin Baker.

Why You Need a Website

Will not having a website sabotage your entire career? Probably not. But there are many reasons why I think it’s imperative for every actor to have their own personal website. As I see it, there are two primary things any actor must do: 1) Show the ‘buyers’ your essence; and 2) Demonstrate that you are a consummate professional. Your website can do both of these things.

If nothing else, your website serves as a virtual headshot and resume (and demo reel!). It is increasingly important to have somewhere online where people can easily view your demo reel, check out your headshots, et cetera, et cetera. While IMDb, your Actor’s Access profile, and other sources can serve this function as well, you have far less control over those sites and cannot add additional content. More importantly, a personal website is the one place online where you get to control how you present yourself to the rest of the world…you have total control over the content. You get to present what it is that you want to promote. Don’t get yourself into a santorum situation.

Beyond that, I would say that one of the most valuable things actors will get out of their website is referrals from their friends. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been in the following situation:

Ben’s Director Friend mentions to Ben that she’s filming a stellar short in two days, but still needs a certain type of actor. Ben happens to know certain type of actor and wants to refer them to Director Friend. Director Friend is excited at the prospect, but wants to see a few headshots and a demo reel before reaching out. Ben dials up his modem to search the world wide web for said actor’s website. Said actor doesn’t have website. Ben can’t refer them. Ben curls up in a corner and cries himself to sleep.* 

Seriously. I’ve run into this dozens of times. I want to refer my friends to people who would hire them as actors, but no one accepts a totally blind referral and if I don’t have a site to forward on I can’t help you. Worse than missing out on an acting opportunity you might not have had to even audition for, is missing an opportunity you didn’t even know you had.

Your Audience

Part of the trap in building a website is thinking that you’re going to get thousands of hits, and that everyone from major studio execs to your neighbor’s computer-savvy golden retriever will view your site. Now, while it is true that you especially shouldn’t count on people at more top levels of the industry (TV shows, studio films, etc.) coming to your site every day (they’ll probably just go to IMDb), I will say that I am with my current manager because he visited my website, thought it was funny, and reached out to me as a result.

All this to say that one of the most important things you can ask yourself in building a site is who is your audience?! My guess is you might have a couple target audiences:

Fans

In order to get paid the big bucks (or even the little bucks) you need to command an audience. The bigger the audience, the higher your value as an actor (at least from a producer’s perspective). As such, you should be in the business of accumulating–and more importantly, interacting with–a fan base. Your website can be a great place to do this.

Industry Professionals

Of course, the hope is that agents, managers, casting directors, producers, and the like flock to your page like hipsters to a skinny-jeans convention. With that in mind you need to make sure your website is ready for an industry professional to get the information they need in very short order.

Peers

Similar to fans, your website might also be geared towards your peers. Most importantly, you might want to ensure your website is referral-ready (see above). =D

Your Ex

Nothing makes an ex-lover more jealous than a perfectly-designed website. Ok, that’s probably not true, but again you should be thinking both about who you want to view your website, and who will be viewing your website. Keep both of these audiences in mind as you design your website.

Final Thoughts

As I mentioned above, actors are (read: should be) constantly working to demonstrate their professionalism and share their essence. For someone to cast you, they want to know exactly who they’re casting, and that it will be a pleasurable experience to work with you. Having a website that truly presents your personality accomplishes part of that, and having a clean, professionally designed website goes the rest of the way.

So how DO you add personality to a website? Answers to that question, resources on building your own website, and much more coming up in Part II of this series.

*Ben can neither confirm nor deny that crying himself to sleep was actually a result of him watching the rerun of Oprah’s final episode for the 18th time, not because of the failed referral

Ben Whitehair is the Los Angeles contingent of this blog. Find out more information and view his materials on his website, or read the rest of his blog posts.

I recently had the great fortune of partaking in a wonderful conversation with the wisest person I know. Among many things, we spent considerable time discussing what boils down to the proverbial ‘journey and destination.’ This got me thinking that the majority of conversations I have with my actor peers in Los Angeles are centered around the destination. We talk about getting that first co-star, getting an agent, booking a studio film. There’s a tremendous focus on the vision of where everyone is going, but I find that as a community we talk much less about the journey. Worse than that, when we—and I’m still including myself here to be clear—do discuss the journey it’s very much focused on the quickest route to the destination. I’d like to make an argument for “The How.”

I think The How matters. In fact, I think it matters a great deal. You see, there will always be another milestone. The longer I’m in LA the more I realize this. When I encounter fellow actors who have already achieved whatever goal I am working towards at any given time, they’re working towards the next one. From co-star to guest star. From lesser agent to more influential one. From series regular to your own show. It never stops. There’s always something else. On one hand that is thrilling and motivating, but it also presents a trap of perpetually chasing after the next thing.

To combat the tendency to live for the future, I think it takes more than simply enjoying the journey, or stopping to smell the proverbial roses. In order to truly succeed (or at least be actually fulfilled when success comes), I think think you have to chart your course in Hollywood in congruence with capital-y You. We must each pursue our respective careers in ways that nourish our soul and act in accordance with our values. If you think that casting director workshops are ultimately harmful to the community, then don’t do them. If you loathe sending out postcard mailers then don’t do it. If turning on a computer makes you cringe then…well, get an iPad and suck it up…and also don’t anchor your marketing strategy around twitter. These are just a few examples, but hopefully you see the bigger picture. I think it really does matter how you accomplish your goals.

If you are pursuing an acting career in Los Angles then you desire wide-spread recognition (read: fame).* But is that really all you want? Snooki if famous. So is Paris Hilton. If fame or recognition is all you desire, then there are myriad ways to achieve that goal far quicker and easier than through acting. Let me pose a question. If someone could wave a wand tomorrow and make you famous by putting you in a trashy, offensive reality show  that became insanely popular, would you do it? My guess is that most readers of this blog would not. So why is that? Why not get famous at the drop of a hat and work on parlaying that into a career in more “legit” film and television?

I hope I’m not getting too ‘woo-woo’ here, but I’ve become acutely aware recently that this city seems to be fixated with, and put undue pressure on, the end result. In the end, we may never get to the goal post for which we’re aiming. If we are living a life of passion, however, a life in which we pursue our dreams and our deepest desires with love and vigor, then we will (paradoxically) increase the odds of obtaining those results. More than that, we will not just live, but have a life.

As always, your comments are always welcomed and very much appreciated.

*If you are in Los Angeles and tell me you don’t want at least mild celebrity this then I’m sorry, but you’re either lying to yourself or in the wrong city. It’s simply too much work for this to not be true. If you “just want to act” then you would have moved to a small town in Idaho** already.

**I have nothing against Idaho. I simply chose it because it’s a sparsely populated*** state with a hard consonant that makes it a funnier-sounding state than, say, Maine. Hehe. Idaho.

***Idaho is the twelfth most populous state with roughly 1.5 million residents (source).

Ben Whitehair is the Los Angeles contingent of this blog. Find out more information and view his materials on his website, or read the rest of his blog posts.

I’m not gonna lie – things have been a little nutty recently in Cronican-land (which is like Disneyland with the incessant singing but without the funnel cake.) As many of you know, in addition to me being a professional actor and a career coach for actors, I also self produce, through The Seeing Place Theater, which I helped to found.

The idea for this week’s blog came during my utter lack of time management skills for the week. You see, each day I look at my various to-do lists (overbook much?) and I started to notice that I kept setting this blog aside for another project that has been taking over my life:

A fundraising campaign I’m heading up, which includes a crowdfunding component through IndieGogo. And then it hit me — a cool way to talk about what I’ve been doing is to share my process of setting up a crowdfunding campaign for funding my self-produced theater company. Let the blogging commence!

First of all, let’s define “crowdfunding.” USLegal states,

“Crowdfunding refers to the collective cooperation, attention and trust by people who network and pool their money and other resources together, to support efforts initiated by other people or organizations.”

Using that definition, most of us are already familiar with crowdfunding. Think about the last time you sponsored someone in the charity walk/run – this is was a crowdfunding campaign to support a non-profit organization in their charitable efforts. Nowadays, artists are using crowdfunding to mobilize their fan base online, and audiences from across the globe are using these platforms to make donations of all sizes, the reward for which is more than a tax donation. Donors are now being treated to extensive perks and behind-the-scenes involvement in the creation of the artistic works that they’re funding.

My theater company, The Seeing Place Theater, is a young, ensemble driven company with members who range from ages 23 to 65+. In our first two seasons, we’ve done a good job at developing audiences and defining a mission & focus for our work. As we start our third season, I called on our ensemble members to start developing our fan base using social media. We created a professional page on Facebook and started a Twitter account. And in an effort to engage a younger audience, we decided to take a portion of our fundraising effort online, and that’s how we landed on the idea of crowdfunding.

Based on our experiences, here are the tasks you’ll want to consider when setting up a campaign:

We chose a campaign company

The front runners for crowdfunding are currently Kickstarter and IndieGogo. Kickstarter is the most well known – with them, you choose a fundraising goal and an end date, and your project only gets funded if you are able to raise the full funding. (If you don’t, no funds are collected from the donors.) IndieGogo runs with a similar goal & deadline, but all funds that you raise are collected (however, they incentivize you by offering lower service fees to those who meet or exceed their goal.) In the end, we chose to go with IndieGogo.

We chose our campaign goal, and time frame

We estimated what kind of funding we wanted ($3000), for what purpose (to allow us to provide low cost /$10/ tickets to general audiences for the season), and what date we wanted to raise it by (September 29.)

We shot our video

Each campaign comes with the option of presenting a promo/pitch video, and I highly recommend doing so. I watched hours upon hours of pitches as I prepared for this campaign, and here’s what I learned: videos don’t need to be professionally made, but your video should be very personal and introduce the people involved, and include what inspires you about your project. In fundraising, it’s said that people don’t fund projects – people fund people. By showing your audience why this project means something to you, it can mean something to them too. My artistic director and I opted for an interview style approach to introduce our company. We kept it light but passionate, and divided the content into three sections: Our personal introduction, what the company is about, and what help we need and the perks we’re offering in exchange.

We edited our video

Normally, it’s recommended to keep the video short (less then 4 minutes.) For our video, we opted to make it a little longer, but used a lot of jump cuts in the editing which made the video feel a little shorter. We suffered a hiccup here – our editor was fully booked and couldn’t editor our video, so I ended up having to do it. Considering that I’m not an editor by trade, it was a coup even getting it completed. The fun part was that I got to choose what parts I felt were best for the video. We kept a lot of our mess-ups and errors in the final version, because that’s when we laughed the most and showed our personality. We hope that people who watch the video will feel like they’ve gotten to know us and what is special about our company.

We wrote the supporting material to the campaign

On the campaign page beneath the video, there is a section where we can write information about our campaign and why we think it should be funded. I included a brief description of our company, some press quotes about the impact our work has had on audiences, and what they can expect form our season. We came up with a theme for the season, which would tie everything together – “Crimes of the Heart, and the Politics of Sex.” This helped to give our campaign an identity.

We chose our perks

I did a poll on Facebook and Google+, as well as in person, to find out what kind of perks people might like. I pulled some of the best ideas and slapped on some sexy perk names that matched our campaign’s theme.

We launched it!

This was the scariest part of the campaign. Once we clicked “Go Live” the campaign was set in stone and we were committed to seeing it through. Yikes!

We’re promoting it

Now comes the hard part — we now have to jump behind the campaign and promote it as heavily as possible without annoying people. Good friend, John Trigonis, writes in his blog, “The Tao of Crowd-Funding: Three Ps for a Successful Campaign” -

“CROWD-FUNDING IS A FULL-TIME JOB. Anyone who tells you otherwise must not have had a very successful campaign. A successful crowd-funding campaign demands around-the-clock promotion. In today’s technocracy, that translates to constant tweets, relentless Facebook status updates, email blasts up the wazoo, sleep strikes, the occasional hunger strike, and any other means by which to keep your project on the minds of your friends, family, and supporters. It also means having some fun with your promotion, keeping your audience engaged with things like contests, giveaways, fun videos, and the like.”

Now, we’re mobilizing our team

One of the toughest parts of this kind of campaign is to get all members on board as strongly as I am. It’s hard to convince your colleagues to raise money, even if they’ll directly benefit. So, I tried to make it as easy as possible to spread the word to their friends & family by giving them tools to do so. I’ve guided them through the process of how to market online, and given them tips and tricks on making meaningful connections in cyberspace.

We’re 14 days into our campaign, and we’re already about 1/2 way there. But now we have the tough part — we’ve already engaged the audience that’s excited about us. Now we have to mobilize those who are a harder sell. I’m working hard to encourage our company members to get the word out, but we never know if it’ll be enough. People that we talk to seem to love the concept of our theater company, and love the projects we produce. But will it translate to dollars? We’ll only know when September 29 rolls around and we look at the final tally. And that’s pretty scary.

This is where YOU come in…

I would be remiss if I didn’t ask you for your help. Theater in New York City is very expensive for audiences — especially for middle income families and artists. We are committed to providing professional theater at a price everyone can afford – less than $12 per ticket. With your donation of $5, $10, $25 or more, we’ll be able to pay down our theater rental which will allow us to subsidize ticket prices and make theater available to the masses.

So, I’d be so honored if you would take a look at what we’ve created! On our campaign page — http://www.indiegogo.com/TheSeeingPlace_Season3 — you’ll find a kooky promo video, a description of our season, and all of the fun perks that are available to you at different donation levels. I’m sending written updates once a week until we’re in production on our first two shows, and video updates once a month throughout the season. That way, we can keep in touch with donors to express exactly how we’re using the funds, and how we’re able to translate that into even better theater for audiences.

Thanks for letting me share this time with you — if you have any questions about fundraising or our process, please shoot me an email or leave a comment on this blog. Happy crowdfunding!

– Erin

Added Bonus: (Because at Playbills vs Paying Bills, we think you deserve bonuses every now and then!)

Here are some of the interesting articles (and a funny video) that I found when I was researching for this post:

Backstage: Helping Artists Raise Real Money
Top 5 Crowdfunding Success Stories
Xtranormal Video: Explaining an Arts Non-Profit

Erin Cronican is the New York contingent of this blog. Find out more information and view her materials on her website, or read the rest of her blog posts.

Thanks to Linus Bohman for the photo: http://linusbohman.se

Twitter friend and inspirational writer, Gini Martinez (@ginimartinez) posed a really interesting question on Twitter the other day, which got my bloggy-sense all excited. (It’s like Spidey-sense, but for inspiration and not crime fighting.) Gini asked:

 “What would you rather have: freedom or power?”

I wrote back, “Oh gawd, can’t I have both?”

And she responded with, “You tell me, Miss Erin. Can you?”

And Ladies and gentlemen, just like that the gauntlet was thrown… and this blog was born!

The Argument for Freedom
I think most actors would agree that freedom is vitally important for their acting career. Freedom allows us to set the schedules we need rather than the schedules that are required of us. Financial freedom means we’re able to take projects that we love rather the ones that help pay our bills. Logistically, freedom allows us to really live the life of an actor, rather than having to split our focus. I feel incredibly lucky that I learned early on that I needed to learn how to be self sufficient so that I could have freedom to pursue acting fully. This meant I practiced for many years under the direction of amazing business owners and working many more hours than I was paid, just so I could learn all aspects of owning a business. And fortunately, I was able to translate that to a coaching career the fully supports my #1 passion: acting. I experience immense freedom as a result of these choices (not the least of which is completing this blog at 3am, knowing that I don’t have to get up in the morning.)

Freedom, for me, also means the space to create. Actors can often feel confined by a particular way of working, which can stifle their creativity and make the process more difficult and less enjoyable. Sometimes this way of working is imposed by a director who has a specific artistic vision, and sometimes it is imposed by executive producers who hold the financial fate of the production in their hands. To be free of that would mean such a difference in what we’re safe to create.

We can also feel barred from fully experiencing the range of emotions we need for our characters. Freedom, to me, allows me the safety of going really deep in my work as an actor. I’m currently working on the role of Anna in the play, “Closer,” and believe me, when we get to the end of Act One and I’m in a violent fight with Larry (both verbally and emotionally), I need the freedom to explore and risk failing in order to bring my best performance to audiences.

The Argument for Power
Ohhhh… power. Power seems to make the world go round. Power allows us to stand tall for our desires and beliefs. Power makes people simmer down and listen. It gives us the opportunity to lobby for the kinds of roles we want, work with the kinds of people we admire, and chart our own course in our careers.

Power allows us to command the kind of money we deserve for the work we offer. In a recent  article on day jobs, I talk a lot about the power an actor has with their voice to demand the things that they need. We are often afraid to stand up for ourselves, opting instead to be easy going — sometimes, even complacent. If we feel powerful, this means that we can easily assert our position without the need to beg or plead. And when we don’t get what we want, power gives us the strength of character to understand that the word “no” doesn’t de-value our worth.

Power also allows us to give opportunities to those we want to support. One of the most exciting things about being managing director of a theater company is that I get to offer work to actors, directors and designers that I know and love. It is absolutely amazing to be able to give back to those who have made my life as an actor a true dream. Thus, power allows me the chance to make a difference in the lives of others — which is my core objective in life.

My Argument for Both
I actually believe that having freedom gives you power, and having power gives you freedom. So, this little exercise made my head spin a little, because I didn’t know how I could live with one without the other. It’s a huge “chicken or the egg” argument.

Truly I believe my freedom started because of different kind of power — the power of crazy optimism. When I was only 24, I read a newspaper article that talked about owning your own home. “You can own for the same amount as you rent!” the article said. For some reason, I had the gumption to do some research and found that, with a First Time Homebuyers loan, I could indeed, afford own a home – I was able to buy a townhouse with a mortgage comparable to what I was paying in rent. I lived there for 2 years but started to feel overwhelmed by the responsibility of owning. So, I sold the townhouse — luckily, for a huge profit — which then allowed me to pay off my debts (read: more freedom.) I then got my Equity card (read: power), and due to auditions/rehearsals I decided to quit my day job in favor of a part time job. Selling the townhouse allowed me the financial freedom to do so easily. Power leads to freedom leads to power leads to freedom. And so on, and so on.

Having my own business, where I control my hours, my workload, and my income, has been a huge freedom for me but it also comes with great power, and great responsibility (cue the super-hero movie music!) I can’t pretend it’s all perfect – the power that I have limits my freedom somewhat, because anytime you have power it means that people are counting on you. And some days, my need for freedom wins out and I don’t get the work done that I need to. But the most exciting part of it all is that I CHOOSE EVERY MOMENT. And that, my friends, is why I believe you can have both at once: Freedom makes me feel immensely powerful, and power makes me feel incredibly free.

So, let me turn it over to you: Would you rather have freedom or power? Please leave a comment and get the conversation going!

Erin  :)

Added Bonus: (Because at Playbills vs Paying Bills, we think you deserve bonuses every now and then!)

Often, the result of having freedom and power with “work-at-home” employment, is being sucked down into various rabbit holes of silliness and mischief on the internet. Here are some fun articles you might like:

Why Working At Home is Both Awesome and Horrible
5 Questions You Need To Ask (To Avoid Ruining Your Life)
You Should Be On Broadway

Erin Cronican is the New York contingent of this blog. Find out more information and view her materials on her website, or read the rest of her blog posts.

Holy roller-blading Shakespeare! It’s almost the end of August. We’re about 66% of the way through 2011. That just blew my mind a little bit. How are those annual goals coming along? You still have 4 months to make them happen so let’s get crackin’!

So what the heck have I been up to that’s keeping so busy that I haven’t posted very frequently in the last couple months? Well thank you for asking, I’ll tell you.

Thrival Job
As you may or may not know, I started a company in college with some peers that helps out-of-state students get in-state tuition. The good news is that we’re doing incredibly well, are expanding to new states, hiring new employees, and significantly growing our company. All of this has taught me a tremendous amount about how you scale an idea/project/company and has proffered a lot of insight into my pursuit as an actor. I’m increasingly convinced that being an actor is exactly he same as being an entrepreneur. The only variation is that for actors their product is themselves. Everything else is exactly the same, and the lessons from the world of entrepreneurship can be directly applied to the entertainment business. I don’t think I’ve ever read a single article from the Harvard Business Review or Seth Godin’s Blog and not been able to find a correlation to my career as an actor.

The “bad news” in all of this is that I spend a considerable amount of hours in my week growing our company, getting new clients, etc. I am now at a point where this can be the only job I need to support myself which is incredible, although the time commitment can be a bit of a time-sucker. Fortunately I can effectively craft my own schedule, and when I have a same-day commercial audition I can just grab my laptop, make some phone calls on the road, and head out.

New Manager
I’m excited to do some more blog posts around this, but I recently signed with a new manager, David Kohl of Stein Entertainment Group. Well, I’ve never had a manager before so I suppose it’s A manager, not a NEW manager. I’m thrilled to have brought him on to my team, and think that he’s going to be a tremendous business partner over the next couple years. More on all this soon.

Acting Classes
For most of this year I ended up focusing quite a bit on my commercial career. I took Killian’s Workshop (AMAZING, by the way) as well as the first two levels at UCB (and am looking forward to more). I’ve also been going on quite a few commercial auditions, though they seem to come in waves. All this to say that I hadn’t really focused on the theatrical side of my career so I audited a bunch of acting classes (because everyone loves their acting class) and have been taking a scene study-esque class with Anthony Meindl and an audition technique class with Billy O’Leary. Both of which have been amazing and a great reminder of why I actually do all of the hard work. Performance is such a rush. Oh! And I re-took Mary Lou Belli’s Advanced 3-Camera Sitcom Class which was a stitch. Louder, faster, funnier!

Shots of My Head
I fairly recently did a wonderful (and wonderfully affordable) headshot session with Cathryn Farnsworth and was thrilled with the results (see: new manager). The top row of pictures on the actor page of my website are from that shoot.

Get the Uhaul…
For various (good) reasons that would bore you I’m moving in with AJ Meijer of Inside Acting Podcast fame over in Santa Monica. I’m really excited to mix things up after being in the same place for a while, and to continue to be surrounded by amazing people. If you really like packing and lifting boxes hit me up on September 1st.

Action!
Most fortunately I’ve been able to work on a couple really cool projects recently, and also see them in their finished form. I was in Episode 4, Part 1 of Brandi Ford’s delightful web series, Diary of a Wedding Planner (I start at minute 2:25). I also starred in a short film called Boss’ Weekend that my friend David who I went to college with wrote, directed, and produced in conjunction with John Myers and Wood Pictures. I’ve also had a number of projects I did in the past show up on my IMDb page which for some reason brings me great joy. Perhaps because it will forever be a reminder of the amazing projects I’ve been a part of and the crazy-talented people I’ve had the fortune of working with.

Final Thoughts
The longer you’re in LA the easier it is for time to run together. As a result I find it increasingly important to step back and appreciate how far I’ve come. It can be easy to forget the elation I felt when I got my very first audition in LA (a crappy music video spoof for which I lip-synched a rap, in case you were wondering). As I enter a bit of a transition period I’m committing myself to focusing on being present, in the moment, and smelling those fu&k!ng roses. =D

In a city with over 250 established theatre companies, dozens of union-franchised talent agencies, and a handful of major casting offices, it can be a nightmare trying to find the information you need to get your acting career off the ground. The amount of opportunity for younger actors in Chicago is staggering, but it comes with an equally massive amount of information to digest.

Thank goodness for the Act One Reports.

For those of you not familiar with Act One Studios in downtown Chicago, it’s one of the most recognized actor training centers in the city.  As part of their efforts to foster emerging talent, the helpful folks at Act One have organized a fantastic subscription-based website, the Act One Reports, to provide actors with a ton of resources to boost their professional pursuits.

It only costs $25 annually, and the benefits of subscribing make it easily worth the cost. The site gives you instant access to super-helpful information that would otherwise require scouring the Internet, thereby saving you valuable time. Need to know the contact information for any given agency in the city? Trying to find a reputable headshot photographer? Looking for a theatre to rent for your next production? You’ll find it all right there. Sure, the website might not be the most aesthetically pleasing thing to look at, but it gets the job done.

I encourage you to check out this helpful resource, but bear in mind that websites such as this are a nice launching point, not a replacement for good, old-fashioned relationship-building! Is it important to be knowledgable about the details of your acting community? Of course! Is it a stronger, longer-lasting, more powerful choice to get to know the people in the industry personally? Duh.

~JVB

Joe Von Bokern is the Chicago contingent of this blog. Find out more information and view his materials on his website, or read the rest of his blog posts.