How to Build Real Career Momentum Before the Fall Season
Last week, we looked at where the work is right now and why waiting until September to think about the fall season means you’re already behind.
Now comes the more important question:
What are you going to do with that information?
Knowing that a television series is in production doesn’t move your career forward.
Knowing that a theatre has announced its season doesn’t move your career forward.
Knowing that casting is picking up doesn’t move your career forward.
Taking action does.
August is your opportunity to turn what you know about the industry into a plan for where you want to be in it.
Not someday.
This fall.
TARGET: Decide What You Actually Want to Go After
Start by getting more specific about the work you want.
Not:
“I want to book more TV.”
Not:
“I want to do more theatre.”
Instead, identify the actual projects and roles that make sense for you.
If television and film are your targets, start with UTDA’s Projects in Development and Currently Casting and identify projects in your market that genuinely fit your casting. Don’t just collect titles. Look at who’s involved, where the project is in the process and where you might realistically fit.
If theatre is your goal, do the same thing with the upcoming season. Explore UTDA’s Theatre Companies and Seasons, including upcoming auditions, and then go deeper.
Look at the 10 Most Produced Plays, 10 Most Produced Musicals and 10 Most Produced Authors. Which shows and writers are appearing again and again? Which roles could be opportunities for you?
Give yourself an assignment:
Find 10 projects or plays being produced this season that have a role you would love to play—or where you could realistically be cast.
Now you have targets.
For each one, ask:
- Who is casting it?
- Who is directing it?
- Have I worked with or met anyone connected to it?
- Does my agent know I’m interested?
- Is there an upcoming audition or another appropriate way for me to get seen?
- Do my current materials make a convincing case for me?
Add those 10 projects or plays to your UTDA Target List. You’ll be notified when there’s new casting information, audition and networking opportunities, news and other updates connected to your targets.
Then use UTDA to dig deeper. Who’s casting the project? Who else is involved? Do you already have a connection to someone on the creative or casting team? Are there upcoming opportunities to get seen?
UTDA gives you instant access to the information that helps you answer those questions—and a place to keep track of the industry relationships and opportunities connected to the work you want to pursue.
Now your list isn’t just a list.
It’s something you can act on.
This isn’t about submitting to everything.
It’s about identifying the opportunities where you have a genuine reason to say:
“I belong in that room.”
STRATEGIZE: Give Your Representatives Something to Pitch
If you have an agent or manager, don’t wait for them to figure out your entire fall strategy.
Ask for a meeting.
Bring your research.
Instead of saying, “I’d really like to do more TV,” be prepared to discuss the actual projects you’re interested in and why you are right for them.
That starts with knowing your type—how the industry is likely to see you, the roles you can realistically target and where your unique qualities fit. The clearer you are about your type, the more specific you can be about the projects and roles you want your reps pitching you for.
Not sure where to start? Read our Top Tips to Find Your Type as an Actor.
Maybe there’s a recurring role coming up that aligns perfectly with your casting.
Maybe a casting office that already knows your work has several projects on the horizon.
Maybe a theatre is producing two plays containing roles that are strong fits for you.
Tell your rep.
Ask:
- Can we target this?
- Do you have a relationship with this casting office?
- Is there someone here you think I should reconnect with?
- Are my materials selling me effectively for this kind of work?
Your representatives are part of your team.
Give them useful information they can act on.
And remember: your agent has many clients.
You have one career.
You should know what you’re asking your team to help you build.
NO REP? CREATE YOUR OWN TARGETED OPPORTUNITIES
If you’re currently unrepresented, you don’t have to wait until you sign with someone to become proactive.
Go back to the projects and roles you identified.
Now research legitimate ways to get seen:
- Are there appropriate self-submission opportunities?
- EPAs or ECCs?
- Open calls?
- Networking events with the Casting Director?
- Workshops?
- Readings?
- Industry events?
- Does a theatre accept actor submissions?
- Is there someone connected to the project with whom you’ve already established a professional relationship?
And don’t automatically assume that not having representation means you can’t reach out directly. Strategic self-submission can be part of your career plan—especially when you’ve identified a project that genuinely fits you and you understand who is casting it.
But there’s a big difference between a thoughtful, targeted approach and simply emailing casting directors asking for auditions. Know when direct outreach is appropriate, what to send and how to make the interaction professional.
Use UTDA’s Theatre Company listings and upcoming auditions as well as UTDA's list of Projects Currently Casting to find opportunities that align with the stage work you’re targeting. Use UTDA’s List of Networking Events to search for workshops, panels and other events that could put you in the right professional rooms.
Whether you’re responding to an open opportunity or reaching out directly, targeted self-submission is very different from sending the same headshot and résumé to 100 people and hoping somebody responds.
Know why you’re submitting.
Know what you’re submitting for.
And know why you make sense for it.
At the same time, if representation is one of your fall goals, now may be the time to begin a new rep campaign.
Research the agents and managers who make sense for where your career is now—not where it was three years ago.
Your goal isn’t simply to find an agent.
It’s to find the right next partner for the career you’re actively building.
WATCH: Study the Work You Want to Book
If you want to work in television, watch television.
If you want to work in film, watch films.
If you want to work onstage, go see theatre.
That shouldn’t be passive entertainment.
It’s part of your job.
Watch the actors.
Listen to the writing.
Pay attention to tone.
Notice how comedy is being played.
Notice how drama is being played.
Look at the kinds of characters being written.
Pay attention to the directors whose work makes you think:
I want to be part of that.
Then look them up.
What else have they directed?
What are they doing next?
Who casts their projects?
If there’s a director, writer, theatre company or production company whose work genuinely aligns with yours, follow what they’re doing. Create a Google Alert. Read interviews. See their work.
Don’t wait until their next project appears on a breakdown to learn who they are.
ASSESS: Does Your Marketing Reflect the Work Being Made Now?
Once you’ve watched the work you’re targeting, turn the camera back on yourself.
Pull up your reel.
Look at your headshots.
Look at your clips.
Look at your casting profiles.
Then ask a harder question than, “Are these current?”
Ask:
Do these materials make sense for the tone and type of work I want to book now?
Pay attention to the kinds of projects you’re seeing onscreen.
Genre boundaries are increasingly fluid. Science fiction, horror, comedy, drama and satire can live inside the same project. Comedy itself can range from broad to dry, grounded, uncomfortable, absurd, character-driven or dark.
Look at the shows you’re targeting and ask what they require from their actors.
If you’re seeing more genre-blending projects where heightened circumstances are played with complete emotional truth, can casting see that ability in your reel?
If you’re targeting contemporary comedy that’s grounded, character-driven or uncomfortable, but every comedic clip you have feels broad or traditional, is there a disconnect?
If the roles you’re right for increasingly move between comedy and drama, do your materials show that range?
You don’t need to chase every industry trend or reinvent yourself every season.
But you should understand the storytelling world you’re asking someone to cast you in.
If your reel doesn’t show it, what can you add?
If your headshots don’t communicate the qualities required for the roles you’re targeting, what needs to change?
Don’t update your materials simply because someone told you actors should update them every six months.
Update them when they aren’t doing the job you need them to do.
Read more on the 13 Essential Marketing Tools
CONNECT: Strengthen the Relationships That Move Your Career Forward
Now look at the people already in your professional world.
Who have you met this year?
Who auditioned you?
Who taught a class you loved?
Who directed you?
Who gave you useful advice?
Who told you to keep in touch?
Who haven’t you spoken to in six months?
Career momentum doesn’t only come from meeting new people.
Sometimes it comes from strengthening relationships that already exist.
Send the update.
Congratulate someone on their new project.
Go see someone’s show.
Attend the event.
Follow up on the introduction.
Reach back out to the casting director who told you to keep them posted.
And be just as intentional about the new connections you make.
Use UTDA’s List of Networking Events to search by the type of event you’re interested in—or by the industry person you want to learn from or meet.
Is a casting director you’ve been hoping to meet teaching a workshop?
Is there a panel with someone connected to one of your target projects?
Is a theatre holding an event or audition that puts you closer to the work you’ve identified?
The point isn’t to attend everything.
It’s to choose the rooms that make sense for the career you’re building.
UTDA’s Targeting feature can help you stay on top of those opportunities. Target the people, companies, projects, plays and authors that matter to you, and you can be notified about related networking events, auditions and opportunities as they’re added.
That helps you put your time, energy and money where they can matter most.
Follow the work that excites you. Build relationships with the people doing that work. And keep putting yourself in the rooms where those two things can come together.
SUBMIT: Make Every Submission More Intentional
Before you hit submit, ask yourself:
Why this project?
Why this role?
Why me?
If you can’t answer those questions, reconsider whether this is where your energy should go.
More submissions don’t automatically equal more momentum.
Better-targeted submissions can.
That means understanding your casting, knowing the project, having the right materials and making it easy for someone to understand where you fit.
Your job isn’t to convince casting that you can play absolutely anything.
Your job is to help them see where you are a compelling solution to a problem they need to solve.
SHOW UP: Participate in the Industry You Want to Join
There is a difference between wanting an acting career and actively participating in one.
Go to the play.
See the film.
Watch the show.
Take the class.
Attend the screening.
Go to the networking event.
Read the trades.
Support another actor.
Meet collaborators.
Create something.
Walk into the rooms you’re able to walk into.
Some days your career work will result in an audition.
Most days it won’t.
That doesn’t mean nothing happened.
You may have discovered a director whose work you love.
You may have identified three projects to discuss with your agent.
You may have realized your reel isn’t representing you effectively.
You may have reconnected with someone you haven’t spoken to in a year.
You may have submitted for exactly the right role.
That’s momentum.
CONNECT THE DOTS
By now, you’ve probably noticed that none of these actions exist in isolation.
A project leads you to a casting director.
A casting director leads you to an upcoming event.
A theatre season leads you to a role.
That role leads you to an audition.
Watching a show makes you rethink your reel.
Your research gives you something specific to discuss with your agent.
A professional relationship you maintained six months ago may suddenly connect to a project you’re targeting today.
That’s where having the right information becomes powerful.
The real value of UTDA isn’t simply finding a name, project or event. It’s being able to connect the information and turn it into action.
Don’t just look up a casting director.
Look at what they’re working on and decide whether there is a reason they should be on your radar.
Don’t just browse agents and managers.
Identify the representatives whose clients, relationships and areas of focus make sense for your career and use that research to build a targeted rep campaign.
Don’t just look at a theatre company.
Look at the season, upcoming auditions, the people involved and the roles that could actually fit you.
Move from:
“I’d like to work more this fall.”
to:
“These are the projects I’m targeting. These are the people connected to them. These are the relationships I want to strengthen. And these are the actions I can take next.”
That’s a very different way to approach your career.
REPEAT: Momentum Comes From What You Do Next
Here’s the catch.
You can do everything in this article once and still not build much momentum.
One afternoon of research won’t do it.
One round of submissions won’t do it.
One meeting with your agent won’t do it.
One networking event won’t do it.
A career moves because you continue moving it.
Research.
Target.
Watch.
Connect.
Submit.
Follow up.
Learn.
Adjust.
Do it again.
That’s when something interesting starts to happen.
You stop asking yourself:
“What should I be doing for my career?”
Because you know.
The bigger question becomes:
How do I keep all of this moving without letting things fall through the cracks?
That’s where your career needs more than motivation.
It needs a system.
And that’s where we’re going next.
YOU ARE THE CEO
You can have a wonderful agent.
A great manager.
A supportive acting teacher.
A fantastic headshot photographer.
A network of talented people who believe in you.
But none of them is the CEO of your career.
You are.
So get in the game.
Bring passion to it.
Bring curiosity.
Bring enthusiasm.
Bring belief in your talent and your place in this industry.
And then back that belief up with action.
Don’t wait for fall to happen to you.
Decide what you want from it—and start moving toward it now.