HOW TO INTERVIEW:
Be nice, and be diplomatic. Look at yourself first. Put your
attention on the solution, not the problem. Don’t blame
everyone else and get mean and grouchy. I have had clients that
have blamed me, the traffic, the weather, their age, their
wardrobe, their face, their body, their boyfriend, their wife,
their family, the industry, the political landscape, the time of
the year, the economy, their car, the gas prices, the parking
situation, the security guards, the location of a place, the
secretary, the internet, the map, their chemistry, their work
load, their vacation, their dog, their hair, and over a hundred
other ridiculous excuses.
ALL EXCUSES ARE RIDICULOUS, BECAUSE NO EXCUSE IS
VALID
The only excuse my office accepts is an emergency situation. As
one of my friends who teaches acting says to her students, if you
flake, you better be ready to give me a hospital room number or
show me a funeral program.She’s hardcore. So is life. Life
doesn’t operate on excuses. You might, but it will get you
nowhere, so stop bothering with excuses. Effective leaders do not
accept excuses. Losers and quitters may accept excuses, but not a
winner. Erase excuses from your vocabulary. It’s all you.
If your career is not where you want it to be, then you are the
reason. No one else. If your agent or manager is doing a lousy
job, then it’s still your fault that you didn’t get a
new agent or manager, not theirs. If your relative is making you
feel like dirt for pursuing your dreams, it is your fault if you
keep listening to them. If your jealous partner won’t let
you succeed, it’s your fault, because only you can let
yourself do or not do something, and it’s your fault if you
let him or her stop you.
Take responsibility for yourself, and stop making excuses.
Excuses are a sign of weakness, and success in Hollywood is about
power. You need to be powerful and take responsibility for
yourself and your actions. Excuses lead to failure, and
ultimately if you keep making them enough, death. Responsibility
is action, a characteristic of successful leaders, of those who
win against all odds. Take control of your life and your career
by accepting total ownership of all of your actions and results,
whether good or bad.
E-MAILS
Answer all e-mails promptly and courteously. If someone sends you
an e-mail that could hire you for a job or bring you business,
always reply as immediately as possible. If your agent or manager
sends you an e-mail, even a form letter, reply to it, even if
it’s a ‘Thank you!’ or ‘O.K., I read
this.’
If your representation says they want better communication with
you, then be very glad of that, and do what they say. If you
don’t, you can be sure that that agent or manager will not
have you at the top of their list for very long.
Be sure to address the name of the person you are writing to in
an e-mail, and spell words correctly and use correct grammar. I
regularly get in sloppy e-mails of requests from actors or models
to represent them, with misspelled words, and poor writing. These
e-mails go to the trash in a matter of seconds. Don’t
bother e-mailing an agent, manager, producer, or casting director
without sending them your current photo and any other tools you
have. Or if you are a musician, send your music. You need to get
our attention immediately by standing out from the other hundreds
of e-mails we get in daily. This seems obvious, but it should be
stated still for some. Don’t resort to only communicating
with someone via social networking and assume the other person
received your message. Some people have a life outside of
Facebook, MySpace, or twitter. Don’t assume some one else
received your e-mail for that matter. If no reply, e-mail again.
If no reply, call.
MASS E-MAILS
Avoid sending mass, blind carbon copy e-mails to potential
representation or casting. If you really want to work with some
one bad enough, you will send it only to them with a personal
e-mail or letter. If you do send a mass ‘bcc,’ be
certain to be smart enough to actually send it as a bcc send, and
not a carbon copy send where you give everyone on the E-mail list
each other’s e-mail. One SAG actress recently did this to
me, in addition to having a poorly written e-mail. Big
mistake.
MUSICIANS—BOOKING YOUR TOUR:
You must have a designated driver whose main job is to drive, and
stays sober and drug free. You must also have a relief driver who
helps them out part time when they need to sleep. You should
really invest in an audio navigator that dictates each direction
for each city you go to. Also bring a Thomas Guide map as a
backup, and Map Quest print outs to compare and contrast any
confusions you may encounter. Allow down time between driving to
get out and walk around, stretch, and of course, bathroom breaks.
You should never drive more than one day to get to each gig,
unless the money is really, really good. Life on the road can get
stressful, tiring, boring, and stinky. Be sure that the band and
crew you go with has bathing and good hygiene as a priority, and
that their lifestyle matches yours.
Bring some good books, a kindle, laptop, internet service, cell
phones, battery chargers, of course music, magazines, and other
things to keep you in touch and entertained. Earplugs are also a
good idea, not only for the stage, but for the road when you want
more quiet than your band does. Of course, bring plenty changes
of clothes for all types of weather, money for hotels, and a
first aid kit. A blindfold is also a good idea for when you need
to catch some sleep during the day. A credit card, ID, and cash
are of course essential, as is a cooler, ice, and plenty of food,
drinks, and water. Unless you want to draw attention to yourself
by the police or vandals who may hate your band or thieves who
want to steal your gear, avoid bumper stickers and things on the
outside of your vehicle that will scream, “Hey! We’re
a band!” For that reason, tinted windows are a good idea.
But beware, some cities have laws against tinted windows. Do your
homework.
Most major labels provide what is called tour support, that means
they may include in your contract the payment of a tour van, a
bus if one is really a big star, or pair you up as an opener for
a band already on the road and let you follow them. Most majors
have a tour support department that helps book tours, a booker, a
tour publicist, and a road and tour manager for their artists. If
you do not have major label support, you will need to do these
things all on your own, or get someone to help you do them.
CONTRACTS:
You must have a contract for every gig you play. Even if
it’s for 50 bucks, you should have a contract. Always get
half of your fee mailed to you and make sure the check has
cleared, before you play. If you can, set up a PayPal or direct
deposit. When I handled one national tour, money was
electronically deposited straight to the artist’s account,
so they could get their money on the road at the ATMs.
Never play unless you get half your money up front, and then,
your tour manager needs to collect cash or a cashiers check in
person on the spot from the venue, ideally before you hit stage,
but at the very least, immediately after. I have been on the road
with bands where some venues tried to stiff us. You need to be
prepared to be tough and get in some faces if you have to. Let
them know you mean business. The music industry can be a dirty
game, so don’t expect everyone to play fair.
RIDERS: A rider is something added to a standard performance
contract that is particular to each band or artist that you want
or demand, such as green M&M’s picked out of your candy
bowl (Van Halen), recycled toilet paper (Sheryl Crow), or more
reasonable things like a soundperson with a certain ability, a
video screen for an FX projection, a demand that no competing
drink is served that would upset the beverage company endorsing
you, or the like.
LINGO: The lingo for the music industry is a language unto itself, and like the film industry, if you don’t know it, you can forget about being an insider when you meet people that are in. Some of these terms will be covered in the next issue.
I hope this was of help to many of you.
As always, if you have questions, you may call my office for free advice. Be sure to check out the back issues in our archives section, and our next issue.
www.ElenaTalan.com
www.BruceEdwin.com
www.StarpowerManagementLLC.com