Category Archives: Acting to be famous

5 Insider Tips for a Successful Career in the Entertainment Industry

Posted on March 19, 2023 by AMP Talent Group

Introduction: Breaking into the entertainment industry can be an exciting yet challenging journey. At AMP Talent Group, we understand the complexities and hurdles aspiring artists face. In this blog post, we share five insider tips to help you navigate the world of showbiz and elevate your career as an actor, model, or other creative talent. […]

Introduction:
Breaking into the entertainment industry can be an exciting yet challenging journey. At AMP Talent Group, we understand the complexities and hurdles aspiring artists face. In this blog post, we share five insider tips to help you navigate the world of showbiz and elevate your career as an actor, model, or other creative talent.

1. Invest in Your Craft
To stand out in this highly competitive industry, dedicating time and effort to hone your skills is essential. Attend acting workshops, take singing lessons, or practice your craft in any other way that helps you improve. Continuously working on your talents will not only increase your confidence but also showcase your commitment to success.

2. Network, Network, Network!
Building connections within the industry is crucial for staying informed about upcoming opportunities and amplifying your presence. Attend industry events, workshops, and social gatherings to expand your professional network. Engage with fellow artists, casting directors, producers, and other industry professionals to create lasting relationships that can make a significant difference in your career.

3. Be Persistent and Resilient
In the entertainment industry, you’re likely to face numerous rejections and setbacks throughout your journey. Maintaining a positive attitude and persistently chasing after your goals is essential to overcome these challenges. Stay motivated, learn from your experiences, and never give up on your aspirations.

4. Create a Strong Personal Brand
Developing a distinctive personal brand will help you stand out in the crowd and capture the attention of industry decision-makers. Invest in high-quality headshots, a well-crafted portfolio, and create a consistent online presence across various platforms, showcasing your unique style, personality, and talent.

5. Work with a Trusted Talent Agency
Partnering with a reputable talent agency like AMP Talent Group can significantly impact your career growth. A good talent agent will provide expert guidance, access to insider opportunities, and support at every stage of your journey.

Conclusion:
Pursuing a career in the entertainment industry is undoubtedly challenging, but with dedication, hard work, and the right support system, success is attainable. These five insider tips will help you stay focused and forge a rewarding career in showbiz. At AMP Talent Group, we’re committed to guiding and championing the careers of our talented clients as they navigate this dynamic and ever-evolving industry.

The Importance Of Being Yourself In This Business

Posted on September 9, 2014 by AMP Talent Group

While you’re going to take on a host of characters and personalities throughout your career, it still remains a fact that in order to succeed you’re going to have to be yourself in this business. And I’m not going to blabber and drill you with that hollow old adage, “just be yourself and everything will work out amazing” because as we all know too well, that isn’t always the case. But finding success in the acting world, as well as in entertainment, is completely about carving out your niche as a performer and tapping into what makes you unique and sets you apart from others in your bracket. As well as finding and unlocking the reserves of confidence that you YOURSELF are going to have to hold onto when times get tough and the rejection splashes over you like a powerful rogue wave.

So in this business of being yourself: What are some of the important things to remember?

You’re the product: George Clooney said it best during an old Inside the Actor’s Studio interview when he said this:

“The product you’re selling is you, we’re all salesmen as actors, but the product you’re selling is extremely and completely personal.”

What George Clooney was referring to is that your typical salesmen will always have different products, or different versions of the same product to sell. But when you’re in the business of selling yourself, you only have one you. If you get turned down at an audition, or fired from a job, it’s going to be impossible not to take it personal because that person, or director, didn’t want you. This is what makes acting such an intimate and intense experience that is often fueled by gut-wrenching rejection. What you can take comfort in is that not everybody is going to want you, but if you stick to your guns as a person and a performer you will work yourself into those areas that are right for you. The rejection is going to hurt, you can’t avoid that, but you just have to learn to deal with it and carry on.

Confidence in You

Having confidence, or learning to develop confidence is one of the most powerful selling skills, as well as coping skills for actors. Most actors have built up a strong level of self-confidence by battling off criticism and rejection. When you walk into an audition, immediately the director and casting directors are going to be able to tell if you’re confident or nervous. They will be reluctant to hire you if you don’t come across as confident, which shows them that they can have faith in you to play the part. Also, your road to success is going to be filled with potholes trying to slowly scrape away at your confidence and self-esteem. Having faith in yourself and your abilities is going to be the big pulling factor that keeps urging you to move forward and take the next step.

The craft of acting is all about being human

Acting is all about bringing real human experience and emotion to the camera. So in order to do this authentically, you’re going to have to draw from your own life experiences and emotions. This is how you’re going to make your performance believable in front of an audience. You could say that being an actor is just like being in a continual state of self-discovery and self-sacrifice. You constantly have to search deep into the archives of past experiences, moments, and thoughts, to find bits of yourself you can bring to new characters you play and sacrificing yourself as a vessel to convey these experiences to your audience. By deciding to be an actor, you’re committing yourself to connecting with humans and people at an ultra-personal level. You have to commit yourself to breaking down the walls and offering every bit of who you are to your audience. The only way you can do this is finding your truth and living with it cohesively, as well as finding the truth of the characters you play.

Being yourself in this business is absolutely everything. It’s the gold mine that you have to draw from with every new job that you take on. It’s why acting classes can often feel like emotional torture and therapy at the same time — we’re having to search deep within ourselves, sometimes into deep places that we want to avoid in order to open up what it is we need to bring to the material. So don’t be afraid to go there, to continually discover, learn, and show exactly who you are. That’s where the good stuff is.

5 Reasons Why You Should Never Pursue Acting To Be Famous

Posted on August 26, 2014 by AMP Talent Group

“I want to be an actor!” Even just admitting those words is a huge step in the direction of your dreams. For a lot of people it’s a scary step because it finally becomes real when you say it out loud. All your fears, doubts, insecurities, and disapproving opinions of others come rushing to […]

“I want to be an actor!” Even just admitting those words is a huge step in the direction of your dreams. For a lot of people it’s a scary step because it finally becomes real when you say it out loud. All your fears, doubts, insecurities, and disapproving opinions of others come rushing to the forefront. But it’s that all too important first step. Just before you go any further, you have to ask yourself this very important question:

“Why do I want to become an actor?”

If your answer is that you want to be in magazines, date supermodels, own an island in the Caribbean, and walk red carpets, then you probably need to think again before you walk down the acting path. The biggest mistake you can make is get into the business because you want to be famous or you want to be a celebrity. You have to be in this business for the love of the craft. For the love of taking on new roles and characters, for the pure joy that you get from telling stories and helping play a small part in telling some important ones. You goal has to be in service of the craft and the art form you’re cultivating. Ultimately, your drive in this business has to stem from a place of pure passion.

So what are some of the dangers of pursuing an acting career when you’re chasing fame?

Reaching the level of A-list Hollywood movie star is rare: The harsh reality is that very few actors will ever reach that A-list Hollywood movie star level. The term “starving artist” has to be a label that you aren’t afraid of, because for a period of time you will struggle to make a living as an actor. There are very few actors out there who were lucky enough to drop right into it and be successful immediately. I’m sure you’ll hear stories of guys like Johnny Depp, Leo Dicaprio, and James Franco who killed it from the start, but they’re rare cases. You need to dream big, so there’s no problem with wanting to be an A-list Hollywood movie star because you’ll know you achieved great success in the business if you get there. But you have to love it enough that you’d be willing to put in a lot of work and push through the years of being a struggling actor, or a middle class actor and not get depressed and discouraged. If you want to be famous, you will give up or get angry when things don’t work out the way you fantasized them in your head.

Your role selection might lead you down a bad path: Let’s just say, if you’re in it for the money and fame, you might take some roles that are “artistic suicide’. Yes you need to pay the bills, so of course you will take whatever role you can get in the beginning, but once you start to see some success, you can go after those roles that really challenge you as an artist. If you’re in the business for the wrong reasons, you might take the more commercial role that pays you more money and gets more attention, but doesn’t really challenge you or interest you as a performer. So if your intentions aren’t coming from an authentic place, you might end up with a career that isn’t all that respectable. When you see a lot of big name actors taking time away from film careers to do a play, or taking a smaller and grittier role in an indie film, you know they’re really in the business for the love of the game.

The business is a grind: There’s no way to sugarcoat it, the film industry is amazing, but it’s cutthroat and it’s a grind. Being an actor isn’t all about having assistants and people doting on you all the time. Days on set are long and they can be exhausting. If you don’t love it, it might be a nightmare for you when your call time on set is 6am. You have to love the process of what it takes to create something, whether it’s a film, a show, or a commercial. Acting is all about the process and being a vessel to help execute a creative vision. It will be easy to lose sight of these things, or not even be aware of them, if you’re only concerned with being “the next big thing”.

You won’t put in the time: They say that it takes 10 years to really create a body of work as an actor. That’s an entire decade if you weren’t aware. For somebody who’s just starting out in the business, that number can look more daunting than Everest during a windstorm. So it doesn’t seem normal for somebody who doesn’t love it to invest that amount of time for a superficial outcome. Also, you need to train and put in a lot of your own time to build your skills as a performer. Someone who is chasing fame probably won’t go that extra mile to improve the same way somebody who truly loved it would. For this reason, they probably won’t ever be as good and book as many roles. So make sure you love it and are prepared to dedicate yourself to it.

Understandably, an actor needs to crave the spotlight and love the attention to a certain extent. That will require a certain amount of the ego to be involved. There has to be that element in someone who is pursuing this as their career. If there isn’t, you probably won’t be able to rise to the occasion and separate yourself from the competition. And, underneath that dream of seeing your name in lights has to be a completely head over heels love affair for the craft of acting and art of storytelling.

Top 10 Secrets To Success

Posted on July 15, 2014 by AMP Talent Group

So you want to succeed in the entertainment business? Here are 10 of the most important tips you’ll need to live by in order to find the success you’re looking for: 1. Love What You Do. The most important thing with any artistic pursuit is that you absolutely love it. It’s a hard road being […]

So you want to succeed in the entertainment business? Here are 10 of the most important tips you’ll need to live by in order to find the success you’re looking for:

1. Love What You Do.

The most important thing with any artistic pursuit is that you absolutely love it. It’s a hard road being an artist or a creator, but it’s also a very rewarding one if you’re in it for the right reasons. It’s important to ask yourself the question, “Is this something that I can live without?” If your answer is “no” then you know that you have to do it.

2. Be All In (Complete Commitment).

The people that choose to be actors, models or artists, have to be completely and utterly committed to it. The people that call themselves “part-time actors” are never going to be successful because they aren’t completely committed to it. Whether it’s fear of failure, or even a fear of admitting that they want to do this, holding yourself back and not putting it as the most important goal in your life is setting yourself up for failure. When you make the decision that you want to be an actor, that goal has to be the driving force in your life. If it isn’t, and it’s just slotted in as a “hobby”, then you don’t stand a chance of succeeding.

3. Always Be Working And Studying.

The simple truth is that those who are practicing are those who are working. The only time that you shouldn’t be studying and practicing is when you don’t have enough time because you’re working so much. No matter how talented, or experienced you are, there is always something for you to learn. The most successful actors understand the value of always staying a student. They understand that there will always be someone smarter than them, or more talented than them that they can learn from. A List, award winning actors such as Meryl Streep, Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, and Anne Hathaway and countless others continue to study with coaches and master the craft of acting, even to this day. Remaining humble and working hard at learning the craft and studying is a key force in driving home your success.

4. Patience And Persistence

Being an actor requires an enormous amount of patience. Whether it’s waiting for the next audition, or waiting for the cameras to start rolling, actors are always waiting. It’s the name of the game and has to be something that they can handle. At the opposite end is persistence. So many careers are sprouted from stories of perseverance and sticking it out when the rough times came. It’s essential that you’re in for your career for the long haul and won’t jump ship when you can’t afford to pay your hydro bill or your sleeping on a friends couch, as well as have the endurance to continue to pound away on your craft even when the breaks aren’t coming your way.

5. Create Your Own Opportunities.

In order to get lucky, you have to work extremely hard and show initiative by creating your own opportunities. So in other words, don’t be lazy. Be proactive and create your own projects. This keeps your skills in top shape, as well as creates products that could be launching platforms for your talents. This also helps your Talent Agent to better market you for even bigger opportunities. Whether it’s to market yourself as an actor, writer, or filmmaker, creating your own projects sows initiative, and is how a lot of people get discovered. Remember Goodwill Hunting? Matt Damon started writing that script in a playwriting class at Harvard in his fifth year. Then with the blessing of his teacher, Damon dropped out of school and moved to LA to finish the script with his good buddy Ben Affleck. That movie launched both those actor’s careers into the stratosphere. If it wasn’t for them taking it upon themselves to create their own movie (vehicle) to market their acting talents, then the names Matt Damon and Ben Affleck might mean absolutely nothing to us now. Or how about Garden State? Zach Braff wrote and directed that little movie, which turned him into a household name overnight. The best example is probably HBO “Girls” creator, Lena Dunham, who quickly became the “talent of the moment” by continuously creating her own projects that showcased her writing, directing, and acting talents. She even created the show Girls, based loosely off her own life in New York. This just shows how important it is to create your own things. You can’t catch your breaks and get lucky without working hard and going after what you want with passion, initiative and good work ethic.

6. Find A Mentor.

A lot of very successful people (in and out of the entertainment industry) will tell you that it’s impossible to be successful without a mentor. That’s because a mentor helps you to steer the ship. They help to cut years off your road to success by making sure you’re doing the necessary things in the present to help you get to your end goal. Talent Agent, Anne Marie Perrault says “Finding a mentor is absolutely essential and can be a major a factor in ones career success. It is important to seek out professionals in the field as they are a wonderful source of career advice. The best ways to find one would be to find someone in the industry that you admire, whether it’s someone you meet on set, or a teacher who you really respect, in some cases it can even be your Agent or Manager”. Don’t be shy to ask someone if they’d be interested in mentoring you as well. They will take it as a compliment. You can meet regularly to talk about your career, or you can even just keep in touch through email or on Skype to ask questions, and check-in every now and again. Your mentor will be essential in helping you to answer those difficult questions, help lift you up when times are tough, and ultimately, help you strive to becoming a better performer and person.

7. Take Full Responsibility For Everything That Happens To Tou.

The first step to happiness and success is taking full responsibility for where you are in your life. The moment you stop pointing the blame on other people, or things, is the moment that you finally point yourself in the direction of success. So you didn’t get that audition? The director did not think you where right for it or had someone else in mind. You didn’t book the role? It’s nobody’s fault but your own for not delivering the way you needed to or maybe you just are not ready, or are having a bad day. Leave it at the door. Don’t beat yourself up for it. Use any shortcomings and failures as an opportunity to look at yourself in the mirror and figure out how you can be better. Learn from each experience. Your career and your life is completely up to you, you’re the one in control of your fate, so make sure you step up to the plate. The happiest and most successful people in life are those who feel they have complete control over their lives. This starts with accepting complete responsibility for where you are and understanding that you’re the one in control of your success or failure.

8. Set Goals

So you want to be the next big leading man or woman, do you? Yes that’s a lofty goal, but can you do it? You better believe you can! It’s definitely a big dream, so how do you make it seem more manageable, or achievable? You break your dream down into something smaller; you break it down into parts called goals. Then you break down the steps that you will need to complete (accomplish) in order to reach those specific individual goals. Once you do this, your wildest dreams will seem a little more in reach. You have to have a plan; you have to create a vision for your career. You do this by creating goals on paper, then continuously visualizing yourself successfully moving towards those goals. When Jim Carrey was a broke, struggling comic, he would drive up to Mulholland Drive a few nights a week and visualize himself making it big in Hollywood. He even wrote a check to himself for 10 million dollars and filled it out as “acting services rendered”. It was only a number of years later when he became one of the biggest stars on the planet; booking roles for the exact amount of money he said he would, 10 million dollars. Believe you can, believe you will, create a vision, put it down on paper!

9. Take Risks

Those that take risks get noticed. Most people will say that choosing to become an actor is a big risk in the first place. They may be right. Actors have to take risks on a regular basis. It’s part of what being an artist and a performer is all about! When you choose to pursue your passion as a profession, you have to face fear and walk down a road that offers very little security. This is the all-important first risk that you’re going to have to take. You then have to continue walking down that road fearlessly. You have to believe in the process, believe that the journey you are on will take you to where you want to go. You will also have to task risks regularly with new roles and parts that come your way. You’re going to need to venture out of your comfort zone and try new things, do roles that scare you and really go for it with complete disregard for failure. They say that success is a sum of thousands of failures, and they’re right. Failure is success’ most important pre-requisite, which is even truer when it comes to the performing arts. Take risks, overcome fear, and you will grow closer to success!

10. Be Confident And Believe In Yourself.

On your “Road to Success” you’re going to have to make a lot of big decisions. In order to do this, you’re going to have to be strong and be true to yourself. If you continue to do that, you will make decisions that are the most agreeable to who you are as a person and you will stay on the right path. You have to be confident in yourself and make sure you treat yourself the right way. On your path to success, a lot of people will tell you that you’re crazy and you won’t ever reach the big dreams you’ve set for yourself. You have to silence those voices, look inside and believe in that vision you have for yourself. Not everybody is going to see what you see, so you have to understand that and not dwell on the opinions and perceptions of others. Confidence and success is made by marching toward your goals and dreams with massive action, even in the face of adversity and fear of failure. This is an absolute must in achieving big success!

It’s a comforting feeling knowing that your success is completely up to you. You’re the one in control of the universe you create for yourself. Understanding and believing in this is definitely the starting point for every big dream or goal. Start living by this philosophy and your success will start to grow exponentially.

Now go out there and build the life you’ve always dreamed of!