Hollywood: Who's Making The Rules

Acting has a ridiculous business model: you compete in an over-saturated market for infrequent employment at ridiculously low wages and -- if you're fortunate -- you have a team of 3-5 support people helping you market your business. That is, when they're not marketing the business of twenty to two hundred other people.

So actors are largely left to fend for themselves. It takes a tremendous amount of coping skills to deal with the wildly arbitrary and sometimes capricious nature of the business.

And that means, we make a lot of rules.

Some common examples:

• "I need a new agent."
• "I need to be union."
• "I need new headshots."
• "I need to take a high-profile class with ABC coach."
• "I need to do a workshop with XYZ casting director."

But here's the thing: YOU are making those rules.

There's a reason why every crappy Entertainment Tonight-style interview includes the question: "How did you get your big break?" It's because the answer is different each and every time.

There is no pre-defined career path or twelve-step guide to success in L.A. (Despite what the book on my shelf says.)

Every time you say "I need to do this" or "I can't do that", you are imposing a restriction on yourself. That's not Hollywood telling you what it wants. All they want is for you to be fucking good. They don't care how you got there.

I think it is important to have rules. An organized plan of attack keeps you from wasting precious time and effort. It keeps you on your designated focus.

But the rules are an artificial construct YOU create. They are not a guarantee anyone sold you or an immutable set of laws that run Hollywood. You made them up and their only value is to serve you.

So every once in a while stop and ask yourself "Is this really true? Do I really need X, Y, and Z? Is this working for me?"

If you find yourself answering "no" throw them away and start over. Get yourself out there, put some skin in the game, and do what works for you.

The only rule you can't break is that you're the one making the rules.

-Tom, the most cynical captain of the pep squad you'll ever find.