My 10 steps To Start Your Acting Career In Los Angeles – For International Students

(before the Optional Practical Training starts!)

To all international students who have come to Los Angeles to pursue acting: First of all, half the battle is just making it here, so if you have, Congratulations 😀

Enjoy the triumph for a moment then dive straight into show business. This path is one of the toughest ones out there – across all industries!

According to my current teacher at UCLA, one percent makes it big and the rest makes about $10 000/year . But if you absolutely can’t imagine doing anything else and intend to make this your career…

The List

Step 1

The first three months: Get your stuff together: Find a good place to live,  buy a car if you can afford it, establish healthy routines. Don’t dive into auditioning yet. Focus ONLY on taking acting classes. Stick to them. Get comfortable with your Actor’s Instrument: the body, the voice, the imagination. Take this time to settle in into your new home and with yourself.

Step 2

Month 3: Research a great headshot photographer and take your HEADSHOTS

Step 3

Month 3: Write a RESUME

Step 4

Month 4: Sign up on casting websites such as LA Casting or Actors Access.

Step 5

Month 4-12: Start submitting to casting notices on these websites.

Step 6

Month 4-12: Start auditioning. Your options will be unpaid gigs; student projects and low budget projects. If you have never auditioned before this is a great place to start. They are learning too so go to all auditions you can get. You will learn tons and be ready when the paid auditions start happening.

Step 7

BEFORE each audition you get, write down a backstory for each character – this will be your own private ongoing character study/audition class.

Step 8

AFTER each audition you get: Write down everything you remember about how it went, how you felt, what you did well and what you could do better. Especially write the names of everyone in the room – This is great for your growth and for when you get a callback.

Step 9

EDIT together your own reel from the projects you have acted in – if you have managed yourself this far,  you can totally learn how to edit too!

Step 10

Network, Network, Network!  By the time you get your OPT, you should have more projects on your resume than when you started, a great headshot and a great acting reel.

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This is the plan I followed my first year in LA to advance my acting career as much as possible without having a work permit. If you are in LA on a student visa, like me, you are not allowed to get paid. Notice the word choice – you can still work, yay!

The exchange will be  great (hopefully) experiences on set, nice reel material and food (not always great lol). Also, I met many cool people: directors, producers, set designers, cinematographers, hair and makeup artists, PAs, actors (lots of American ones that work for free too) and started building a network. This will be good if you want to create your own project eventually..!

NB: It will take at least one – two years to build up great reel material, depending on the quality of the projects you are in and how long you have to study before your OPT. Get used to the hustle. If you book one project a month, that’s fantastic!

 

In my next blog posts I will go deeper into what each step entails. See you soon again!

Cheers,
Ina