Burbank–April 2, 2013–Since yesterday was April Fool’s Day, I decided to hold off on this post until today lest anyone think I was joking when I posted on Facebook yesterday that the 2nd edition of my book, “What I Wish I Knew Before I Moved to Hollywood” hit #1 in Hot New Releases in the Kindle store for books on the Music Business.  It is currently ranked the #6 bestseller overall in that category, climbing up from #14 last week in that same category.  For all music business books, print and electronic, it leaped 40 spots to #32 this week, from #72 last week.

The book also rose in the kindle category of Bestselling Humor and Entertainment–Movies and Video from the 90s to a solid #46–ahead of “Save the Cat Goes to the Movies” and “Script Lab’s Encyclopedia of Screenwriting.”

The strength of the book sales is buoyed by positive word of mouth and numerous 5 star reviews on Amazon and across the web. Often a book premiers and takes off within a week of release only to see sales slack off. But What I Wish I Knew Before I Moved to Hollywood is steadily moving up the charts as more and more people talk about it and Amazon consistently features it because of its strong sales. 

The radio interview I conducted with host Bill Thompson of The Bookcast last week, where he referred to me as “a wise Buddha” no doubt helped fuel the boost as well. The  interview is available here.  Although mostly focused on the struggle of artist dreaming of Hollywood, the interview was able to touch on the concept that achieving all dreams requires a certain singularity of focus that encounters significant resistance no matter where those dreams lead. The skill set an artist needs to overcome a negative critique or poor record sales or failed audition is similar to the skill set needed for a businessperson to overcome a failed product launch, or a difficult market. The same mental power needed to push past the negative self-talk and self-destructive behaviors that often plague artists, is needed to overcome everyday obstacles as well.  The book is invaluable for anyone looking to be an actor, singer, rapper, director or producer, but it is still very powerful for people seeking hope that dreams can and do come true.

I’m a bestselling author now. I’m living proof of the concepts that I share in the book. But don’t take it from me–take it from the Emmy and Grammy-winning artists, the platinum selling producers and TV Stars I interview who share their 100+ years of combined experiences.

On June 1, 2013,  I will be speaking at the Organization of Black Screenwriter’s (OBS) Monthly meeting. Various topics are being considered for that meeting including: “Protecting your Artistic Soul–How to Keep Hollywood from Killing your Dream,” “Novelizing Your Screenplays–Stop Waiting for Hollywood to Validate (or pay) You,” and various other topics related to issues  covered in the book. (More details to follow.)  Stop Waiting for Hollywood to Validate You is a comment from an Emmy-Winning producer I interviewed in the book.  The phase is indicative of a mindset that plagues so many artists. Artists often believe they are talented, but act as if they are helpless until someone bestows validation on them–a contest win, a contract, an agency agreement, a million-dollar paycheck–or even an unpaid internship. It’s a mindset that begs to be disrespected.

I hope to help fuel a new movement (or at start a conversation about a new movement)  in Hollywood. There are so many amazing stories out there that are sitting around waiting for some Hollywood producer or actor to shepherd them to the big screen.  But what makes it to big screen is completely controlled by mass appeal. Or better yet, by what someone believes will have mass appeal. Even better–what someone thinks has mass appeal… AND LOTS OF LUCK. I want to see writers taking control of their own destinies. Writers are the creators, and the Hollywood dragon lives on our blood. Without writers Hollywood dies. The only reason Hollywood doesn’t respect writers more is because writers don’t respect themselves more.

Writers, actors and other artists have more opportunity today than ever to reach their audience and to make a living as the professional they dream of being. What I Wish I Knew Before I Moved to Hollywood is a guide for helping artists take control of their power, hold it, and wield it to their benefit. It is priceless reading for those who’ve not yet arrived in Hollywood, but it has immense relevance to those here working day-by-day as well. Give your friends and family members the gift of encouragement and the key to following dreams with their eyes wide open. Check out the book today.

Every year 111,000 people move to L. A.–many of them looking for success in the entertainment industry. Tens of thousands audition for American Idol, America’s Got Talent, X-Factor and other talent shows hoping to break into an industry most only think they know. My goal is to help them know it better so that they have a better shot at their dreams.

On March 7th, I released the 2nd edition of What I Wish I Knew Before I Moved to Hollywood exclusively on Kindle. The new edition contains new interviews with an Emmy-winning producer and Film-festival winning screenwriter/director along with the interviews with Grammy-nominated singers, platinum-selling producers and award-winning movie and TV stars. The new edition is available for only $4.99, which is about a 1/3 the paperback price.

To help spur interest in the new edition’s release, I’m giving away 12 autographed copies of the 1st edition paperback in a contest on Goodreads (Click here to enter).  The contest runs through May.

If you know or care about anyone even thinking about a career in the entertainment business, no matter where they are in the process, get them this book. The title is What I Wish I Knew BEFORE I Moved to Hollywood, but the information is good for people already in Hollywood, too. What does it take to keep going?  How do you get seen? How do you get booked? How do you stand out?  What is your voice? Your niche? Your type?  And how do you stay encouraged in the hard times? Every year 111,000 move to L. A.  But every year 100,000 move away–many dejected, frustrated and sad. Those are the ones who didn’t read this book.

What’s it take to make it as a singer in Hollywood–read what Chante Moore had to say about it in my book. Trying to be comedian? Read what a standup comedian and writer for Steve Harvey, D.L. Hughley and Bernie Mac says. Want to be a producer? See what the Emmy-winning producer has to say. Want a directing/screenwriting/development deal at HBO? My interviewee had one.  Want to be an actor? Find out what a star who makes $250,000 a week says about how to become one. Want to do make-up? Find out what the head make-up artist for one of Fox’s hit dramas says you should do. Want to rap or make beats? Find out what Dr. Dre and Ice Cube’s go to guy says.

Artists love to act like they have it all together–keep a smile, be positive, stay away from negative energy. That’s all great. But are you getting where you want to go? If not, it smart to get help when you need it. It’s one thing to make others think you have it all together; it’s quite another to fool yourself.

One might think that an actor who’s achieved the success that James Franco has would just content himself with being a young movie star. Usually the million-dollar paychecks and lush lifestyle of one of Hollywood’s elite is enough to satiate even the strongest appetite for success.  That’s why it stood out to me to learn that James Franco was also pursuing an advanced degree in English. By advance degree, I mean PhD.

According to Wikipedia, in addition to graduating from UCLA, Franco:

…moved to New York to simultaneously attend graduate school at Columbia University’s MFA writing program, New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts for filmmaking (NYU), and Brooklyn College for fiction writing,while occasionally commuting to North Carolina’s Warren Wilson College for poetry. He received his MFA from Columbia in 2010. Franco is a Ph.D. student in English at Yale University and will also attend the Rhode Island School of Design.

What a busy guy.  But why? Well, also according to Wikipedia, Franco enrolled in UCLA after being “dissatisfied with his movie career.” Although I’ve been saying for years that Hollywood isn’t all it appears, I wasn’t thinking that applied to people who achieved stardom on the level of James Franco.  Currently, he also teaches a class at NYU on turning poetry into film.

What does all of this tell us about Hollywood? It tells us a little about the quality of effort and focus often possessed by those who succeed here. People think of Hollywood as a place where people live the easy life. For most, Hollywood is anything but easy. Before you make it you struggle to get known, build relationships and do your craft. After you make it, you may struggle with keeping your integrity, staying on top, landing the right roles and not alienating your audience.

In one of the first interviews I did after my book came out, I appeared with a director who almost hired Franco for his first major lead. The director went with another actor instead. During the interview he lamented that, had he hired Franco, he’d be driving a much nicer car now.  (You can see the interview HERE: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3).  Franco noted in interviews that one of the things that initially hindered him in pursuing an acting career was his fear of such rejection. Perhaps that’s another reason he decided to make a backup plan?

My personal opinion is that he was tired of playing certain types of roles and wanted to play someone more intelligent but couldn’t get cast–thus all the press about going back to college.  Is a coincidence his latest role was playing a scientist in Rise of the Planet of the Apes instead of a pot dealer in Pineapple Express 2? By doing something intellectual in his own life, he changed the way casting directors and audiences saw him.

Still, whether you’re the type of person who needs to burn bridges to keep you from turning back, or the type of person who thinks though all the angles, it’s interesting to note that even someone who succeeded in Hollywood at the highest levels still keeps his options open… just in case.

Update 3/7/2013: (The 2nd edition of  What I Wish I Knew Before I Moved to Hollywood available now exclusively on Kindle for only $4.99. Get yours now. Click here. Kindle e-books can be read on I-phone, I-pod, I-pad, Android, Mac and PC with the free Kindle App.)

One of the great places to learn lessons about Hollywood is the commentary section of DVDs.  It’s amazing the insights you can gain from filmmakers talking quite innocently about the process of getting the movie made. Sometimes the things they think they’re teaching you about the movie business aren’t what you walk away having learned. In fact, sometimes you can learn things they don’t really want you to know.

Just recently I watched 8 Mile—the Eminem bio film. The film is about rapper Eminem struggling to become a successful recording artist in Detroit by winning rap battles. It follows the exact same format that most “outsider young person struggles to find himself in a strange world” films (Step Up, Stomp the Yard, Drumline, Bring It) follow.

In the DVD extras, there is a section about filming the rap battles themselves.  Particularly, there is a story about how the film’s director and producers decided they wanted to have local rappers actually battle Eminem in order to get a more gritty realism.

The call goes out among the hundred or so extras who made up the crowd during the club and rap battle scenes. Three rappers, the ones who possessed the skills to top a real rap battle in the room, would then be put in the film as star actors featured battling Eminem. This was a chance of a lifetime for these actors who’d only been booked in very low paying extra jobs where their faces would likely never even be seen (see article on being an extra here). Here was a chance to be credited in a major motion picture, to have the camera right in your face and to be able to launch a career in acting.

Dozens of the extras tried out for the roles. Most were rejected out of hand, but quite a few showed promise. Eventually the contestants were whittled down and three lucky and talented ones were chosen. They were very talented too.

One by one, the rapper/actors/contest winners took their positions before Eminem to battle him. Although initially told to save his voice for the dialogue scenes and only to lip sync his comebacks against these rappers, Eminem couldn’t let the taunts in front of the packed room go unanswered. Impressively, true to his character in the film, he improvised clever responses to each rapper—clearly putting them in their place.

So what did we learn from this DVD extra? That Eminem is actually a very good rap battler? Yes. That’s what the film director wanted us to learn. But here’s what we learned that he didn’t want us to learn: After all of the contest—all of the hopes and dreams of each rapper in that room being placed before them—the promise of a starring role in a major motion picture. After winning the contest and being chosen as one of the three actors to battle the star; after filming the battle against Eminem and rejoicing, celebrating and telling all their friends and family about it; after the movie comes out six to nine months later, after all of the anticipation, after buying the popcorn and taking your seat in the theater….

Not a single one of those actors’ battles appeared in the film.  Every single one was cut. Every one. Those actors are not featured anywhere except in the DVD rap battle extras section. But at least they were featured there. Many actors find their roles, in fact, whole characters cut from movies. Where they expected a reel to show agents, managers, casting directors, or at least a credit for their resume, they may get nothing.

Some executive didn’t think the scene was necessary—one battle too many. Or it didn’t work—the lighting was bad, etc. For whatever reason, the film you starred in you no longer star in. The film goes on to be number one at the box-office—oh well, at least it got released. Hundreds of movies get filmed that never even get released.

Welcome to Hollywood. Such things happen here. They don’t always happen, but they do happen. The point is not to discourage you. The point is to make you aware so that, if it does happen, you don’t give up.

Good luck.

TRL

Update 3/7/2013: (The 2nd edition of  What I Wish I Knew Before I Moved to Hollywood available now exclusively on Kindle for only $4.99. Get yours now. Click here. Kindle e-books can be read on I-phone, I-pod, I-pad, Android, Mac and PC with the free Kindle App.)

The thought of being in the movies might be too unrealistic a dream for many people, but it’s actually easier than you may think.

If you live in any city with a significant amount of filmed production, chances are there is a casting office dedicated to casting Extras for movies, TV and commercials.

Extras, also known as background talent, perform as part of the setting of any production. In any movie, TV show or commercial set in a public place, there are people in the backgrounds of those scenes that are being paid to be there. If they are doing their jobs well, you may not even realize they are present, but the person who passes in front of camera in such a way that you can barely make out the color of their coat is an extra. That person was told to walk in front of that camera at that time and that person was paid to do it.

The great thing about being an extra is that the main requirement is that you look like you belong in the scene—you don’t have to act, sing, dance or speak any lines. If your scene takes place in a park, all this is required is that you look like someone who might be in a park. If your scene takes place in an office building, any look common to such offices is fine. “Look” generally means clothing. That means to book parts you will need to have a variety of different wardrobes. If the movie is set in the 70s, clothing from that period is necessary, etc. The more clothing styles you have, the more jobs you will qualify to do.

Most extra’s faces never appear on camera. If your face appears on camera, you are considered a “featured extra” and will earn more money—as well as a Screen Actor’s Guild voucher for your work that day. Receiving three vouchers (or being asked to speak even a single line of dialog) grants you the right to join the Screen Actor’s Guild under Taft-Hartley. Membership in the guild doubles your pay as an extra. There are, however, more jobs for non-union extras than union extras. So being in the union, although it has perks such as health insurance and higher pay, doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll work more.

In general, you bring your own clothes. You stand where they tell you to stand (called your “mark”).  You do what they tell you to do (called your “blocking”). And you keep quiet. In a few days you’ll receive a check that represents at least $8/hour. The minimum salary you can be paid for up to an eight hour day is $64. That means, even if you only work three hours, you still get $64. The base salary for extras who are members of SAG (Screen Actor’s Guild) is currently $134 for up to eight hours of work. And the base salary for AFTRA (Association of Film, Television and Radio Artists) extras is currently $99 to $134 for up to eight hours of work and varies depending on the show. In addition to your day salary, you will also be paid overtime should you work more than eight hours. An average workday for an extra is twelve hours.

If you’re over 18, but you have the ability to look 18 or younger, you can make a lot of serious money as an extra. Many movies, TV shows and commercials revolve around high school aged kids. The problem with working with people under 18 is that their parents must also be on set and special permissions must be signed. So teenagers in film are usually portrayed by adult actors. The same goes for extras. Extras who are able to portray 18 years or younger can earn over $50,000 a year.

When the camera is not on, you may enjoy the same free craft services (prepared meals and refreshments) as other known actors on the set. Besides enjoying the craft services, you may get a chance to mingle with the director, get to know the producer or other actors and maybe even get invited to a party at one of the star’s homes. But make sure you don’t initiate any of these conversations with the stars. Speak if you’re spoken to, but otherwise, keep quiet. Nothing makes an A.D. (Assistant Director—the person in charge of extras on the set) more nervous than having one of his employees offend the star. Violating the pecking order can and will get you fired. So don’t take pictures. Don’t swoon over stars. And stay out of the way.

So how do you become an extra you ask? It is actually quite easy. There are about thirty-five extra casting offices in Los Angeles. There are at least ten in New York and a few in other states. They can easily be found with a Google search. On top of the physical casting offices, there are dozens of online casting offices for people who live further away.

In most cases, you either sign up in person or submit your photo and fill out an extensive questionnaire to explain what special abilities you have and how you prefer to work. The agencies generally require a fee of between $10-25 to register. Anything more than this, such as being told to have headshots done with a particular photographer or being told to give any other money, is suspect. The questionnaire is to help identify any special talents or abilities you have. For instance, if a film requires extras to be in a swimming pool, the casting office may choose only those who indicate ability to swim and who are willing to appear shirtless or in a bikini. Special talents like juggling, doing handstands, gymnastics or dance moves might be required for extras appearing in films featuring such scenes.

The casting agency wants to know if you can drive a motorcycle, drive a car, do stunts, appear nude or partially nude, speak a foreign language, operate a crane, throw knives, or any other skill a filmmaker or screenplay may possibly call on. But it isn’t necessary that you have any of these abilities. In fact, being an extra requires only three major skills—the ability to show up on time, the ability to endure long waits and the ability to do what you’re told.

The job of the casting agency is to announce jobs that are available for actors. Generally your job is to call the agency’s line in the evening and listen through a host of positions or call the agency to let them know you’re available to work. The agency will let you know if they have work for you and, if so, your “call time” (the time you are due on the set). They will also let you know what type of clothes to bring and who to see once you arrive.

Once on the set, you will check in with the A.D. and he/she will explain what they want you to do, where to wait, and any other directions you will need.

Contrary to what you might expect from being around movie or TV stars, working on a production set has been described as the most unglamorous job there is. Long periods of downtime are best spent with a book or in quiet conversation with other waiting extras and actors. And most times, if a big star is on the set he or she is surrounded by their own people all the time so it’s not quite hobnobbing. But if you possess the ability to be on time, endure long periods of waiting, and do what you’re told, you may find work as an extra any time you need a little extra money.

Well, the first show is at Midnight here in L.A. I imagine it’s opening around the country at midnight as well. That would mean that, for anyone on east coast time, it will likely open just as I’m finishing this post. Twilight has become a phenomenon.  My daughter is on “Team Jacob”—the werewolf.

No we’re not going to the opening tonight, but she did insist I drive by the theater to see her comrades camped outside. They’ve been there all day (some probably all night). They must be the first in the seats to see it. She wanted to be with them—wearing her New Moon shirt, gushing over a guy who, only a few years ago, she didn’t even notice when he was in movies. Amazing to watch as new stars are born.

I want to write something that big so bad. I want to have teens and their parents and grown people who should know better camped outside the theater talking about which is their favorite character. As one now successful actor I interviewed in What I Wish I Knew Before I Moved to Hollywood said, “I remember, years ago, I was in Gelson’s Market with only a couple bucks in my pocket when in walked this big movie star. I said to myself, ‘That’ll be me one day.’”

There’s something much deeper about this movie phenomenon we are experiencing.  Stephanie Meyer took the traditional characters of vampires and werewolves and turned them into the Capulets and the Montagues. She then took a pale, blood-sucking, night crawling, serial killer and turned him into a diamond-skinned, superhero with a powerful love Jones for the only girl in high school whose mind he can’t read.

High school? What’s Count Dracula doing in high school? Seriously, this guy is a couple hundred years old. So what if he’s young looking? What kind of perv is that? I mean, when I was 17 I thought I was too mature to date 16 year-olds. This is a guy whose obviously never heard the words to Steely Dan’s Hey Nineteen—“We got nothing in common. No we can’t talk at all.” And that guy was only 15 years older than the young girl he was considering.

But alas… love.

But since when do werewolves actually turn into giant Wolfwolves?  What is this? Do silver bullets even work anymore? Vampires have superhero powers? They can come out in the sun? They don’t drink human blood? They don’t turn into creepy bats? They can’t be killed with crosses, holy water and garlic? They don’t have fangs? What the hell? Are they trying to put Blade out of business?

I think I understand why my daughter is on Team Jacob. I think Jacob represents, for girls, the best of both worlds. On one hand, you’ve got this cute boyfriend with a great body that everyone thinks is hot. On the other, you’ve got this big shaggy dog to protect you. Girls and their fantasies.

The point of this blog is for writers and film makers. The Twilight Saga represents the best of all worlds for the Hollywood movie machine and at the same time manages to be fresh, new and young.  Vampires are among the most produced characters in Hollywood. From the dawn of moving pictures, vampires have creeped across the walls of theaters. From Nosferatu to Dracula to Blade, the basic makeup and character of vampires has remained unchanged.

What Meyer’s did so brilliantly—and if she is to be believed from her interview on Oprah, so accidentally and luckily—is figure out how to combine genres in a commercially viable way. Romance/Horror/Fantasy/Adventure.

BUT…  Good thing she wrote it as a book. If she’d pitched it as a movie or screenplay before it was a successful book, no one in Hollywood would have touched it. How do I know? Because Nosferatu came out in 1921 and no one touched it since—not successfully anyway. I should say not seriously. There may have been comedic takes on vampires or werewolves that did pretty good, but they didn’t change the nature of those archetypes.  This is a prime example of a movie that only got made because of the book.

Hollywood will happily film a successful book, video game, TV show, stage play, fairy tale or an endless number of sequels, prequels and remakes; but when it comes to putting millions of dollars into original stories movie studios, more often than not, pass.

What’s that say to you about your new, original story that no one’s ever seen before? If no one’s ever seen it before, don’t expect Hollywood to make it.

But sell it as a book first or turn it into a successful stage play, and if you’re sales figures back it up, Hollywood will come to you.

Please tell me what you think. Do you agree? Disagree? Did I miss something? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below. Thanks for reading.

Good Luck,

T.R. Locke

This is the third in a series of articles about relocating to Hollywood or New York to follow dreams in the entertainment business.

Part II–Actors

If you’re an actor and you’re wondering whether it’s time to move to New York (the home of live theater and a decent amount of film production) or Hollywood (the home of most film and television production), you might want to consider a few things.

In a blog I wrote last week, I detailed information I learned from one of Hollywood’s top stars whom I have the honor of knowing and thus interviewing for my book. Consider these business facts:

• There are 120,000 SAG (Screen Actor’s Guild) actors in Hollywood.
• At any given time 85% of them are out of work.
• The average salary of a SAG actor is less than $10,000 a year.
• Most of them are just trying to earn the required $7,500 a year to keep their health benefits.
• 18-20% of them fall into star roles and make serious money.
• Less than 1% are the ones you read about and know, the real stars, the actors who make million dollar and double digit million dollar salaries.

The actor I interviewed falls into that last group—earning $250,000 an episode for his role in a hugely successful show. He’s one of the lucky ones. But it took many years for him to get to that point.

The question that is perhaps most important in making this decision is whether the move will afford you greater opportunities than it will cost you to do it.  Here’s what I mean:  It is obvious that there are many more auditions being held in Los Angeles and New York than in Baltimore, Cleveland, Tampa, Salt Lake City and perhaps the rest of the country combined. But what might not be so obvious is whether that translates into a better shot at becoming the actor you want to be. It would seem it should. But consider this:

• There are many more actors competing against you for that very reason.
• Because there are so many actors, there are gatekeepers set up in L.A. and N.Y. to block many newbies.
• Many of the actors competing against you have far more experience than you may have.
• If you don’t have an agent (most new actors in Hollywood/N.Y.  don’t), you may not even hear about the auditions for your type.
• It will cost you far more money to wait for your chance in N.Y. and L.A. than any other place in the country.

Again, I’m not writing this to pour water on your fire. I’m writing this because I believe, as one quote says, “The best way to achieve your dreams is to wake up.” By wake up, I mean recognize the realities of the world you are looking to enter. Too often young actors are lured to Hollywood with dreams of becoming the next Will Smith or Jennifer Aniston. They are lured by the glamour of the less than 1% of actors who enjoy such glamor. Not many have their hearts set on even being one of the 18-20% group—those actors whose faces you may recognize, but whose names you don’t know.

It’s much easier to be a big fish in a small pond. One thing for sure about Hollywood, here you are swimming in the Ocean. Before you move here, make sure you’re ready for the salt water and sharks.

How do you do that? You get big in your town first. You find the theater groups that are active where you live and get involved. If you live in a very small town, you might want to move to a city near you to expose yourself to more opportunities.

Most actors considering a move to New York or Hollywood should have already done these things. If you have succeeded in those smaller ponds, move up to a lake. There are many acting opportunities in larger cities like Las Vegas, Orlando and Chicago. You may want to cut your chops in those large cities first. Doing so will get you used to the process so that, when you do get your shot in L.A. or N.Y., you’ll know better what to do to win the role.

But say you’ve done that as well. Let’s say you’re going to get a roommate (or two) and make the costs of living in one of these cities as cheap as possible. What’s the benefit of moving to N.Y. or L.A? Mmm…?  Maybe sharing my story would illustrate it best.

Here’s the set up: I moved to L.A. with my family after placing as a semifinalist the Chesterfield screenwriting contest, getting an offer to purchase my screenplay, and attaining representation as a screenwriter. At our new apartment in Burbank another couple had moved here in support of their son’s acting career. He’d won a major talent contest in New Mexico, had gotten an agent and booked a few TV shows and movies. The mother had just taken a job as an agent with her son’s talent agency.

Within two months of being here, while chilling in the hot tub by the pool, the mother asked me if I’d ever done any acting. As it so happened, I’d been the star of nearly every high school play we’d done from my sophomore year forward. She said she’d like to rep me, my wife and daughter as actors because she believed we’d book a lot of roles. I thanked her, but said “no.” I was focused on writing.

My wife and daughter, however, said, “Sure! That sounds cool.” Soon they were in movies—The Italian Job, The Hulk, Legally Blonde;  commercials for Time/Life, Rent-a-Center and others, and making decent money while hanging out with the likes of Mark Walhberg, F. Gary Gray and Mekhi Phifer—all without having taken a single acting class or having any experience at all. Once my wife took a few classes, she booked more work. After two years of being asked, I finally said, yes. Before long, I too was booking commercials for Time/Life, Papa Johns and others and going on auditions for movies and TV shows including Stargate Atlantis, CSI,  and ER.

My point is that none of us had any intention of being actors, yet we fell into it in Hollywood. However, none of us are famous, nor have we made a career of acting as the less-than-1-percent actor I mentioned above. He too fell into acting—in college—in a small town. He moved to medium city—got big there in the local theater groups, then moved to N.Y. where he did Broadway and off-Broadway shows. Finally, he moved to L.A. where he struggled for nearly 20 years before he became a less-than-1-percenter. But he succeeded at making a career of it because when he got to L.A., he knew the game thoroughly. He pursued his dreams wide awake and understood it might take many years. He was ready to swim in the ocean.  The question is, are you?

Now tell me what you think. Do you agree? Disagree? Please share from your experience in the comments below and share this article with others. Also look for my next article on Singers and Musicians in the next few days and please check out my book for the complete stories and all the other advice from this actor and many other successful celebrities.

Good Luck

TRL

Update 3/7/2013: (The 2nd edition of  What I Wish I Knew Before I Moved to Hollywood available now exclusively on Kindle for only $4.99. Get yours now. Click here. Kindle e-books can be read on I-phone, I-pod, I-pad, Android, Mac and PC with the free Kindle App.)