‘If only an agent would discover me.  If only a record label would sign me.  If only that casting director would pick me.’

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You can’t put a band-aid on a gunshot wound, so let’s go deeper to the source and stop the bleeding.

Try this: stop looking for gigs and start building relationships.

With the onset of social media, the days of ‘please listen to my demo’ or  ’I'm going to send my headshot to every agent in Hollywood’ are over.   Now, more than ever, you have the power to stand out, to get eyeballs on your brand, for free.  Even theater and product reviews are subject to the madness of the mob.  If you do quality work, people are going to talk about you and the quality of those interactions will lead to tangible relationships.  How do you capitalize on those relationships using social media and leverage them for career success?  Read ‘Engage’ by Brian Solis, or follow Mashable, the most influential blog in the world when it comes to all things social media.

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How do you build relationships?

• If you come in contact with someone who is influential, don’t talk shop.  Allow them to get to know you as a person, give them a reason to care about you, not your resume.
• Play gigs for free, offer your services for free.  Unless you really suck you’re not going to get turned down, and it’s a chance to leverage that free gig with a referral or some contacts for future paying gigs.
• Find a business model and stick to it.  If you aim at nothing, you hit nothing.
• Go to networking events.  There’s nothing I hate more than a room full of people, but no one is an island.  Get out of the house.
• For every person who turns you down for a gig, ask them for three people that may be able to help you.
• Invite that casting director, author or marketing guru to your event or show.  They’ll probably blow you off – unless you’re persistent, and that builds respect as long as you know when to chill.  I think influential people are like super models:  they don’t get asked out as often as you think, because everyone thinks they’re always getting asked out, so nobody asks.
• If you’re fortunate enough to book a gig, finish by saying thank you and realize that entitlement is a one way ticket to mediocrity.  Check out Gary Vaynerchuk’s, new book The Thank You Economy.

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These aren’t things I read about on the Internet, they are things I’ve done and continue to do – and they work.

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I look forward to reading about you.

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Kahlil (at) gigsmacked (dot) com

How bad do you want to ‘make it’?

From Dave Chappelle’s appearance on Inside The Actor’s Studio:

“My dad says, ‘to be an actor is a lonely life. Everybody wants to make it and you might not make it’. Then I said to my dad, it depends on what ‘making it’ is. He says, ‘what do you mean?’ I said, well you’re a teacher. If I can make a teacher’s salary doing comedy I think that’s better than being a teacher. And he started laughing.”   His father’s advice, though, grows in significance when considered alongside the backdrop of Chappelle’s latter successes:

“He said ‘Name your price in the beginning. If it ever gets more expensive than the price you named, get out of there’.

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In 2002 I landed an audition for a well funded independent film.  It was being helmed by a director you’ve heard of (I had to sign a confidentiality  agreement) and had already been accepted to Sundance.  The script was making waves in Hollywood and they hadn’t shot a single frame.  It was one of the best scripts I had ever read and I just knew it was going to be my big break.  The role was inspirational and the story was timeless.

My role was that of a homeless man, not a lead, but a character with a significant amount of influence in the story and  a decent amount of screen time.  It was one of those rare occasions where the producers were actually looking for a new face, an unknown.

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My audition was at 10am.  I dressed the part, arrived at 7am, parked a few blocks away and slept behind the dumpster in the corner of the casting office parking lot until the assistants arrived to open the office for the day.  They glanced at me with disgust, snickering and rolling their eyes as they emptied the garbage and sipped their Starbucks.  When the producers’ Bentleys and Benz’s started arriving the treatment continued, but I kept my composure.

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At 9:50am I walked into the office and placed my head-shot and resume on the desk and signed in.  The look of horror on the faces of the casting assistants was priceless.  ’This can’t possibly be the guy in the headshot’.   I was unshaven, unshowered, disheveled and I smelled like piss.  The other guys sitting in the waiting room who were also auditioning for the role had plucked eyebrows, bleached teeth, tight shirts with bulging muscles and dirty jeans on.  They were speechless.

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When it was my turn the producers immediately recognized me from the parking lot.  We went through the motions and did the lines and they offered me the role on the spot.  Not only was I the only actor who was off-book, they also feared that the level of commitment I showed didn’t exist anymore.  They offered me a handshake (and a shower) and told me I was a breath of fresh air.

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A week after that audition I got a phone call saying that due to a disagreement between the creative team and the financiers, the gig fell through.  It had literally vanished into thin air and they didn’t know when/if it would be filming in the future but they thanked me for being willing to ‘pay the price’.

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I hate ‘almost stories’ and I try very hard to forget them because ‘almost’ doesn’t count.  But the lesson I learned that day still gets me out of the bed in the morning.

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Whatever challenges lie ahead, I still take comfort in knowing that I don’t have any competition.  Because I believe that I’m the only one who’s willing to pay the price, and sleep behind the dumpster.

How about you?

-Kahlil (at) gigsmacked (dot) com

During the time I performed at Caesar’s Palace Las Vegas (1997-2000), I spent most of my time trying to figure out how to get the attention of agents, managers and anybody who could help me take my career to the next level.

After several failed attempts at getting big agencies like ICM or CAA to come see me perform, (Kah-who?) I turned my attention to the celebrities that were performing in the casinos adjacent to Caesar’s Palace.

I was performing in a show called Caesar’s Magical Empire, an extravagant dinner/magic/theater show that took guests back in time through the catacombs of Rome and into ornate dining chambers, which is where your personal wizard (me) would perform for you and the other guests.

For an unknown actor like me it was a great showcase, and I knew it was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

But what good is performing in Vegas if the right people don’t see you?  I decided to use the pedigree of ‘having my own show at Caesar’s Palace’ to entice celebrities to come and see me perform.  Whoever was in town would hear from me.  Lionel Richie, Bette Midler, didn’t matter.

The most important thing was for me to sound like I owned the place, to speak with authority – fake it to make it.

My first call was to Luther Vandross, who was performing in the main room at Caesar’s Palace.  I called the Caesar’s Palace operator and asked for Luther Vandross.  ’Please hold while I connect you’.

‘Hello’

‘Yes, this is Kahlil calling for Luther Vandross.’

‘This is Luther’.

I nearly shit myself.  It’s HIM! But it was too late to turn back. Fake it to make it.

‘Hey Luther, it’s Kahlil, I have a show here at Caesar’s Palace and I’d like to leave a few comps for you and a guest to come check me out’.

‘Well, I would love to come support you young brotha, but they got too much air conditioning in this casino.  Bad for my voice.  I ain’t comin down

there unless they turn off all the air conditioning.’

‘Well, I don’t know if that’s possible sir, but…it would be great if you could just…’

‘Sorry Kahlil, can’t do it.  But good luck with your career, and thanks for calling.’

Wow.  That wasn’t so bad.

Now I was feeling myself.  My balls doubled in size. (figuratively)  I called Bill Cosby’s room at the Mirage.

‘This is Kahlil calling for Bill Cosby.  What? Yes, he is expecting my call.’

‘This is Bill’.

I nearly shit myself.

But I held it down, and Bill and I spoke for almost 30 minutes, and the conversation ended with him saying he was impressed with my courage

and he’d love to see my show.

I told him I’d leave two tickets at the box office for the next night.  When I hung up I ran to my General Manager and told him about it.  He didn’t believe me.

Bill never showed up.  He sent Cameron Cooper, his assistant, to see my show and I also got an autographed photo with my name spelled wrong.

Mr Cosby had to leave town abruptly for LA because the trial of the person who shot his son was beginning sooner than expected.

But I didn’t care.  I was one step closer to conquering my fear of picking up the phone and calling ANYBODY.  Agents, managers, whoever.

One of the most valuable lessons I have ever learned – I needed to stop scaring myself into being scared.  Success is simple – just believe.

All I had was a phone book and a little courage.  (and extra underwear just in case)

Now, it’s your turn.

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Who you gonna call?

-Kahlil (at) gigsmacked (dot) com

This content originally appeared on POW! Right Between The Eyes! the blog of Entrepreneur, Business Guru and all around great guy Andy Nulman.

I’d normally list a bio here but Andy has done way too much cool stuff (he started the world famous Montreal Just For Laughs Festival). Read more about Andy Nulman here.

THE OVERHAULING OF SHOWBIZ (excerpt)

‘Tom Silverman, founder of Tommy Boy Records dropped this bomb at his 2010 New Music Seminar in New York:

• Of the some 100,000 albums released last year, 17,000 of them sold only one (!) copy
  
• More than 81,000 albums sold under 100 copies.
  
• Just 1,300 albums sold over 10,000 copies (an astonishing figure given that these numbers combine physical and digital album sales)

Yowtch!

But this type of paradigm shift (now there’s a term I’m sure you haven’t heard in a while!) is happening everywhere in the world of leisure:

• Amazon reported that digital ebooks are now outselling its hardcovers.
  
• The geeks have inherited the earth and now rule Hollywood’s roost thanks to Comic-Con.
  
• Other than tentpole events, more TV is timeshifted than watched live…and watched on devices other than TVs.
  
• Green Day is simultaneously appearing in huge outdoor concerts, on Broadway and in Rockband.

The Web is changing, and will continue to at a dizzying pace, the way people find out about shows, the way they buy tickets to them, the way they attend them, the way shows are marketed and–most notably–the content of the shows themselves.

Given AttentionSpan 3.0, how can I continue to shoot TV shows on a single-focused, old-Broadway-styled stage, and present them to an at-home audience with only one moving image on screen at a time?

So here’s this week’s brain-splattering lesson:

The music biz is just the canary in the coalmine; The Web is about to destroy and overhaul all of showbiz as we know it.

Them’s tough words, but they’re true.

The evidence is everywhere.’

-Andy Nulman

www.andynulman.com

Still don’t get it? Read this: Talent Isn’t Enough.

Kahlil (at) gigsmacked (dot) com