Talent manager and film producer Bruce Edwin offers free, ongoing advice for actors, models, and bands on how to do the right things in Hollywood. These secrets are rarely taught in school. Find out what industry professionals aren't telling you.
AVAILS:
When a casting director, agent or manager asks
you to give them your avails, that is short for your
availability. Now, this should be obvious, but far too many
actors and modes make this more complicated than it really is.
And your agent, manager, or a casting director is super busy, and
so when they ask when you are available, they don’t want to
hear a rambling three or five minute long list of your dirty
laundry, grocery shopping list, and errands you have to do.
Unless it’s relevant to something they want, they
don’t care, so don’t waste their time. They want the
information asked for, and that’s it. Don’t relay
unnecessary data when doing business, it wastes time, and it
distracts from the relevant data needed to be provided.
When we say give us your avails in the entertainment industry,
that means we do not need to hear what you are doing, when you
are walking your dog, driving your friend to the airport, and
when you are not available. What it means is to tell us or list
when you ‘are’ available from one time to another, so
for example, if you were putting this in writing for them in an
e-mail, you would list something such as follows:
MON - 10am to 3pm open for meeting or casting, 6-9pm open for
phone conference call
TUES - not avail
WED avail after 3pm until 9pm for meeting or ph
THURS- checking out – Vacation in Hawaii, return Jan. 3rd,
avail by phone only during weekdays
ANSWER PRIVATE CALLS:
Do NOT make excuses for not answering your phone, and never tell
anyone in this industry that you do not answer private calls.
I’ve had offices on major film studios, and every studio in
town requires that the companies on their lots use their phone
services, and the numbers are always generally blocked (private)
or have a dummy number. I told a model once that we had a dummy
number, and she got offended and thought I was calling her a
dummy. A dummy number means if I call you from a studio, a phone
number may register on your caller ID. You see that number on
your caller ID, and if you get the wise idea to try call it
back instead of listening to the phone message, a recording will
indicate to you that the number is not in service. If someone
tells me they don’t answer private calls, or complains
about it, it tells me one of several things, 1, they are a
control freak, 2, they are paranoid and may be in debt with bill
collectors who are after them, and therefore are not responsible
or viable, 3, they do not deal with film studios or agencies,
managers, or casting, or 4, some or all of one through
three.
I used to never answer private calls, and then I got this thing
called privacy manager on my phone when I was in college, and
thought it was so cool, which made callers announce their name
before it would let me decide if I wanted to put the call
through. I then started getting complaints about that from big
shots in New York City at some of the major record labels,
telling me it was ridiculous, and wasting their time, and that if
I wanted to work in the entertainment business, I should remove
that, and answer private calls. I listened. They were right, and
now I find myself having to repeatedly give the same advice over
and over again to aspiring actors, models, and even new
producers.
ANSWER PRIVATE CALLS, DO NOT USE TECHNOLOGY TO SCREEN
YOUR CALLS FROM PRIVATE NUMBERS, AND UNLESS YOU HAVE A REAL
OFFICE WITH A SECRETARY, DO NOT HAVE ANOTHER PARTY SCREEN YOUR
CALL.
DON’T TRACE CALLS
Never call back numbers on your caller ID. That is super
annoying. If someone wants you to call back a number, they will
give it to you. I use one line strictly for outbound calls, and
another for incoming and outgoing on deals I know are big. Once
in a while, I will call a potential new client from my private
land line, and they will dial the incoming call that came in on
their phone, without having the number. Don’t do that.
It’s creepy. Again, if someone wants you to have a number,
they will give it to you, do not trace calls and call them and
then ask who this is. “Who is this?! You just called my
number and I traced your call!” NO! Don’t be crazy
with your phone! Answer your phone the first time, and leave the
Dick Tracy work to Warren Beatty. Don’t tell other people
to answer your phone, after you don’t answer yours. Those
that can do something for you in the business most likely are in
a position of financial success and power where they do not need
you or your business to survive and be viable. So they will
think, who the heck is this person, telling me to answer my
phone, when they don’t answer theirs? That's crazy.
Remember, if you are not already famous, or pulling in about a
hundred thousand annually on your work, a casting director,
agent, or manager does not need you. You need them. There are
literally hundreds of thousands of people who are not famous and
not making big bucks with their craft, that we can choose from if
we want amateurs. So don’t act like you are doing casting
or management or an agent a favor, because you are not. They are
doing YOU a favor. This goes back to my top 3 reasons most people
fail in this industry, and those reasons are again
1, does not answer their phone, can’t be reached
2, is not professional, does not treat show business as a
business, too much ego
3, jealous or negative person in their sphere of influence that
drags them down
If you wanted a job at any respectable business, would you show
up with your lover, show up late, complain about former
employers, tell the potential employer to answer their phone when
you call, or complain about how you don’t answer private
numbers? Just because the entertainment industry is more casual
in certain regards, does not mean that you should violate
treating those that can get you a job any less than you would any
other employer. That is one of the major reasons models and
talent fail in Hollywood. If you do not take the entertainment
industry seriously, as a business, then no one will take you
seriously either.
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