SMFA Love!

SMFA stands for Self Management for Actors and is the title of one of the fabulous Bonnie Gillespie's books, now in it's 3rd edition. The book is available at her website, http://selfmanagementforactors.com/smfa/, as well as Amazon, Kindle, etc. Bonnie is an actor turned casting director/author and has taken on the mantle of teaching actors how much they can do on their own for their careers. As if that's not awesome enough, she's also the author of The Actor’s Voice column on Showfax (http://more.showfax.com/columns/avoice/) and a constant source of encouragement and concrete career advice for actors everywhere. I was lucky enough to spend my entire day yesterday in her very first SMFA seminar.

We met at the Temescal Canyon Conference Center on the first sunny day LA has had in a week and we did so much stuff! We typed each other, figured out what shows each of us would fit in on, developed our pitches, and discussed a myriad of other actor tools that will help us nurture our careers. Bonnie reminded us all that we’re here for the long run. This is a business founded on relationships and that foundation takes time to build. I also found out that your first co-star role and your first guest star role are two of the hardest things for an actor to get. So… what’s the best way to get in there? Referrals to casting directors? Play the numbers and target CDs on the shows that need the most co-stars every week? Beg everyone I know I to give me a co-star role? That’s the question I forgot to ask… I’ll email everyone from the seminar today and see what they think. Go figure, I come up with a pertinent question 4 hours AFTER we finish.

The shows that came up the most for me were Cougar Town, Modern Family, Trauma and House. Three of these shows are AFTRA which is great for me since I’m AFTRA already. Also, I’ve already started a relationship with one of the CD’s on Cougar Town, so I’ll continue to build that. For the other three, it’s time to start targeting them through casting director workshops and other networking events. I’ve set up google alerts for their names plus casting so I’ll know if they have speaking engagements or workshops I can attend or an interview on-line I can read, and I’m joining Women in Film today so I can attend their networking events. I guess if I focus on the process and not the end result, I’ll feel busy and pro-active instead of feeling like I’m waiting for something to happen, and that’s much more fulfilling!