After winning the category performance by an actress in a supporting role for her work in “Les Misérables”, the beautiful and massively talented actress Anne Hathaway, who can also sing and dance, poses for the press with her Oscar® backstage at The Oscars® live on ABC from the Dolby® Theatre in Hollywood, CA, Sunday, February 24, 2013. Photo credit: Greg Harbaugh, used with permission, ©2013 AMPAS, all rights reserved.
Bruce Edwin is founding CEO of the A-list firm Starpower Management LLC, publisher and creator of The Hollywood Sentinel, and producer of motion picture. His services, based on his years of expertise and success in the music and film industry are sought out and used by some of the most powerful companies and stars in entertainment. This article series, a precursor to his upcoming book series, is his way of giving back to models, actors and bands, with knowledge, that in its totality and with its unabashed honesty cannot not be found anywhere else—for free. Whether you want to be a famous model, actor, singer, director, producer, or whatever, the following advice will help you in most any chosen area of entertainment.
1, Get educated. Read many books, articles, blogs, and watch many documentaries and interviews by those who have succeeded doing what you want to do. Education in the area you want to succeed in is key to mastering that area.
2, Get a mentor. Find a person doing what you want to do, that is successful at it, and ask to study with them, train with them, get coached by them, mentor with them, intern for them, or assist them. Watch, observe, and learn. After you are competent, then duplicate their successful actions in your own unique way.
3, Promote. You must get out there and meet people all throughout the industry and promote yourself non-stop. When I first began as a talent manager, I would go out (or would have my interns, assistants, or clients go out for the company) four to five nights or more out of the week to events, passing out hundreds of cards on a regular basis, and collecting thousands of business cards from others, and then following up on every single one of them and creating new business. That which does not expand, contracts. You must constantly be promoting yourself and constantly creating new business leads and opportunities for yourself. Do not wait to be 'discovered.'
4, Get 'their' information. I am always amazed by people who tell me they met some big star or important A-list VIP, and they did not get their information, or only gave them 'their' card, and then complain to me how they never heard back from them. Duh. An A-list star or top executive does not need new business from an unknown. You 'must' get 'their' information, and then, follow up quickly.
It's not who you know in this business, it's who knows 'you!' - A.C. Lyles
5, Promote more. Promote in person. Promote online. Promote with fliers. Promote in every single way possible you can think of, and then promote some more. I was driving down Sunset Boulevard one day, and I passed a diner that had a bunch of classic cars parked in front, which I noticed. But what really caught my eye was a man sitting in a folding chair near one of the cars, smoking a pipe next to a big pink elephant. Yes, an actual elephant. The man was named David Lynch, and he was promoting his new film coming out called 'Mulholland Drive.' It was brilliant and funny, and kept me happy thinking and talking about it for months to follow. If one of the best directors in the world can sit on a lawn chair in the grass outside of a diner with a pink elephant to promote his movie, can't you do something too?
6, Learn from everyone and everything. I recently heard something to the effect that "A person can learn from everyone, even if their intentions are different than our own." This is very true. That person that rejects you, annoys you, or even makes you mad, may be in your life at that moment to teach you something. Life is a lesson to learn. Be open to all moments and experiences as a learning adventure. Learn what you can from all, and don't take anything personally that would lower your mood to anything less than happy.
7, Avoid pessimism. Even if your life is going well, which I doubt it is if you are pessimistic, your life will go much, much better if you shift your mindset to one of optimism. Just assume that things will work out in your favor. Assume that people want to help you. Assume the good in others. Assume that the universe is a benevolent place. And assume that, as Napoleon Hill stated, "What the mind of a person conceives and believes, the mind of a person can achieve with a positive mental attitude." It is true. Most mainstream media wants us to believe that the world is dangerous and that everything is falling apart. The reality is that most of the world is at peace, most people are not dying, and most things are working out just fine statistically. Contrary to what most mainstream media thinks, people want to be happy. They don't want countless stories of death and despair. This is why most Hollywood films have the so called happy ending. Audiences want to be lifted up, not walk out depressed every time after they leave the theater. People want to be happy. Avoid negative people. It's easy to feel like garbage in a world controlled by low toned media and government. It is a challenge to go against the odds and be optimistic. Olympic athletes assume and visualize that they are going to win. To assume failure on the playing field of life is suicide. Assume the win.
8, Don't let others drag you down. It is one thing to get a positive mental attitude, but it is quite another to maintain it time and time again, through stress, difficulty, obstacles, problems, rejections, and failures. It is even more difficult to obtain a positive mental attitude (PMA) when others are around you with a negative attitude. Negative attitudes are more contagious than the most viral cold or disease, and they are destructive. If you wouldn't deliberately expose yourself to sickness and disease without wearing a mask to try ward off the germs or better yet- get away from the area, why would you deliberately expose yourself to the toxic, harmful, and even deadly effects of others negativity? Negative people are poisonous to success. Avoid them at all costs. Offer the pessimistic and negative a vaccination of positive thinking, and an education in self help to help them help themselves cure their affliction if you wish, but then run! I have stated this over and over, and I will tell you here again; The number one reason most people fail in the world of entertainment is due to being at the effect of others negativity, pessimism, and invalidation. Do not be the effect of others toxic thought. Be cause over your life, and instill and insist on optimistic, winning attitudes from all around you.
9, Get an agent, manager, publicist, and entertainment attorney. To start with, all you need is an agent or manager. Eventually, you will need both, and you will eventually need a great public relations firm and entertainment attorney. Every star has all of these, so if you want to be a star too, then you need to operate at that level.
10, Have honesty, integrity, and kindness. Treat your word as your bond, and your bond as your life. Go out of your way if need be, to keep your word about all things to all people. Tackle your goals with ferocity and rapid speed. Be honest in all you say and do. Never lie, cheat, or deceive. Do what you say you are going to do and do it quickly. Only work with others of high integrity and good values, with ethical standards of excellence. Be kind to yourself and others. Respect yourself and others. Follow the golden rule and treat others as you yourself would like to be treated. Be a nice, pleasant person. Treat all people at all all levels of their career, or in whatever industry they are in, with kindness, warmth, and respect. Help others out of the kindness of your heart, and don't expect anything in return.
Follow these 10 steps, and I guarantee you, your life and your career will be far better for it. As always, if I can be of help to you in any way, feel free to contact me in writing at the front page of The Hollywood Sentinel in the contact box at the bottom of the front page. I hope this helps many of you.
This story is ©2013, Bruce Edwin / The Hollywood Sentinel, all world rights reserved.