Stuart K Robinson Creative

Once a day an actor or actress tells me, “I can’t get an agent” or “I can’t break out of my slump”.

Are you kidding me? If recent history has taught us anything, it’s that anything is possible if the will is strong enough. By saying “I can’t”, we give ourselves an excuse not to succeed. I’m not saying the challenges aren’t mind numbingly tough. Believe me, I know. But if this career is what you truly want, and you won’t be happy without it, what choice do you have but to press on and find your dream?

The actors who say “No agent will sign me”, I ask “How many have you asked”?

The response usually is: “Well, I mailed to fifty of them”. So, you didn’t get “no” for an answer. You got a non response, which is a “yes” waiting to happen. All that’s needed is perhaps better pictures, stronger cover letter, a personal connection, some brilliant tape of your latest performance, a good word from a respected colleague, repeated attempts, or a combination of the above. How many wonderful relationships would have never come to be if one of the couple had given up after the first non response?

Come on! Get fired up and figure out what it is about you that will make money for that agent- and find a way to articulate it in the shortest time possible. Where is the money?

Once you believe there’s money there, and have the vocabulary or materials to represent that belief, then you can convince others. Yes, you can!

Make good things happen.

Stuart K

“If we don’t start, it’s certain that we won’t arrive.” – Unknown

So often actors say to me that they can’t stand the rejection of our business.

I always try to remind them that what they are feeling is not rejection, rather disappointment.

You have to keep in mind, no one is rejecting you- they don’t know you and all of which you are capable. They are rejecting the emotional/behavioral choice you have offered them. Think about that: one of thousands of choices you could have made. They have determined, rightly or misguidedly, that your choice is not the answer to their needs. They may recognize your talent, but have no time to shape that talent into what they are looking for.

So, there is no rejection; only the decision to continue the search for a choice that better answers the need. And that, it’s true, is disappointing. So, in lieu of depression, hating the business, or reinventing yourself, the solutions are basic:

1. Continue the effort to make better choices.

2. Get better at handling disappointment.

Our profession is filled with little and big disappointments. But it also is a journey of the most positive and rewarding creative experiences one can imagine. It will all balance out if you let it. Hang in there… your day is coming.

Stuart K

“It’s not what happens to you that determines how far you will go in life; it is how you handle what happens to you.” – Unknown

You only have three seconds.

The largest difference between commercials and theatrical projects is the value of a second. Remember, in a film, an audience can wait 15, 20 or even 30 minutes to piece together vital information about a certain character: who, what, when, where, why. A commercial is less than 30 seconds total! For this reason, our viewers have only seconds to be 100% in the loop and prepared to be subconsciously brainwashed by our hidden sales message.

So, it would stand to reason that the most important part of a commercial audition would be the first three to five seconds.

Never mind the age-old argument about whether slating in-character works. Simply ask yourself: after five seconds, have the advertisers decided I’m right for the part… or am I out?

Granted, if you get caught falsely trying to “indicate” that you are right for the part, you are using bad acting techniques, and deserve to be disqualified.

But, the fear of indicating does not excuse you from bringing the qualities the commercial needs.

So, practice, practice, practice… and win the game in the opening seconds.

Stuart K