MUGWUMP SOCIETY ANNOTATED LIST OF PROVEN CAREER STRATEGIES

Every student at THE WADDLESWORTH should have a killer look and a definite career strategy.  You will know what the strategy is, and will have a plan for executing on the strategy with 9 month, 3 year and 9 year achievable goals.  Ad hoc or "hope for the best" are not really valid strategies.

I used to simplify my description of strategy into two categories.  However, as Einstein is known to have said, let's make it "As simple as possible, but no simpler."

HOW DO YOU MEASURE SUCCESS?
The actor should have two major questions in mind when choosing a overall career strategy:

1. "With my unique look/personality, how do I book as many acting jobs as possible?"
2. "With my unique look/personality, how can I become known to the general public?"

Because addressing either of these concerns will resolve the other.  The greater the public awareness of your face/name, the more likely you are to be cast in a project.  And the more acting jobs that that you do, the more likely you are to become recognizable.  In Hollywood, the recognizable actor is called THE PROMOTABLE NAME or sometimes THE RECOGNIZABLE NAME.

THE MUGWUMP ANNOTATED LIST OF PROVEN STRATEGIES
In order to simplify the discussion of career strategies, I'm giving each strategy a catchy name based on a recognizable actor that used the particular strategy to have a career.  Here's a catchy list of strategies, don't take it too seriously, the list is all about the long-term commitment to the work, the training and the lifestyle.

THE WALKEN
Christopher Walken is famous for two things: playing Christopher Walken and never saying no to a chance to play Christopher Walken.   Walken is legendary for never turning down a role, no matter what it pays, as long as there is a gap in his schedule to fit it in.  I even know someone who had a phone conversation with Walken regarding an indie film they wanted him to do.  Of course, said roles would be what are called "pay or play offers", which means that the shoot date is certain and the money is on the table.  This is a "slutty" career strategy based on having a unique look, a distinctive type and the ability to play only one character: yourself.  It helps if you are inimitable in some way.

THE POSEY
Parker Posey is the indie queen.  Like Christopher Walken, she has appeared in a great many roles, big and small.  Although she eventually reached the studio level, her entire career was based on taking any/all small roles in indie films (probably many of which were favors to friends).  Parker Posey took a "slutty" career strategy in that she never pretended to be "too good" for a small role and thereby built a huge fan base and public awareness.  A byproduct of the Posey strategy is an increased likelihood that you will end up in an indie darling film that goes to Sundance and wins a jury award.  Because nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition and nobody expects Juno to generate $500M in box office receipts.

THE JANE LAUNCH
Although Jane Lynch is undoubtedly best known for Glee, she came to my attention as the butch blonde that kept popping up in my favorite Christopher Guest movies.  Even by 2005 I could not have told you her name, who she was, or where she came from.  It was only later that I learned that she was an alumni of The Second City Chicago Mainstage (like many other promotable names).  Therefore the foundation of The Jane Launch is finding a springboard as a mainstage performer at one of the several highly regarded comedy theatres in the US and abroad.  Booking the mainstage of The Second City or The Groundlings is definitely different, possibly an 8 year undertaking, but since it's the foundation of The Jane Launch, you'll want to start there.  Jane Lynch, like Walken/Posey, is also well-known for acting in her friend's movies/sketches etc, no matter how small.  It's all about saying YES rather than NO.  Jane Lynch is also known for achieving worldwide success late in life.  Although she was not a household name when she booked Glee, I'm sure she had auditioned in every major comedy office in Hollywood many, many times before booking her career changing job.  The point is: she was auditioning.  Success was just around the corner even if nobody was expecting it. 

THE LRP (Lance Reddick Protocol)
The Lance Reddick Protocol (or LRP) is a strategy for the actor/actress who wants to have a career in television (ie. to become a Series Regular).  I regularly discuss this strategy with my clients and this particular strategy was described to me as a template by my agency mentor, Erich C. Smith.  He, in turn, had been provided template by his mentor, the late Melissa Berstein.  Does the strategy work?  .Lance Reddick was an alum of the Yale School of Drama.  I think it's safe to say if you're going to attend Theatre School in the US, Yale is a top choice, because ICM/CAA/etc are said to attend the Yale graduation showcase.  Nevertheless, Wikipedia reports that Lance Reddick played the role of Stage Hand on The Nanny (read: Co-Starred).  The LRP is very simple:  choose an appropriate role for yourself and do everything you can to TYPECAST YOURSELF.  The people who tell you to avoid typecasting yourself would be broke within 9 months of starting as a junior television agent, if not sooner.  For the aspiring television actor, the LRP is the way to go.  It's also essentially the only choice for the ladies in the hard category.

THE HORROR CORMAN
The horror Corman actor first attends the Dov S-S Siemens 2 day film school for a crash course in Roger Corman filmmaking.  If you don't know who Roger Corman is, your ignorance of the history of film is already legendary and you might want to keep quiet when asked to dispense advice about Hollywood.  Dov's 2-day film school is around $400 (less with Groupon).  In his school Dov teaches anyone (including the actor) how to make a feature film for less than $20K USD that can be sold to an international distributor like Lionsgate or Blumhouse for $250K or more and, in the process, create movie stars out of the leading cast members.  Many of Dov's students are actors frustrated at being on the outside, desperate to get in.  Dov's filmmaking techniques are wonderfully formulaic.  He provides the recipe, and anyone with half a brain can cook it, and as long as they don't try and make a ROM-COM, they will sell the film to a major distributor (as long as the film gets finished).  I was very fortunate to stumble into Dov's 2-day film school before I took any other class in Hollywood.  I also bought his DVD version for an additional $400 just so I would have all the video lectures to refer to.  I'm actually thinking of attending again (I took it in 2007) so I can hear Dov's latest and greatest advice.  Dov has been teaching this template for at least 30 years.  Dov used to be a line producer for Roger Corman.  The Horror Corman protocol is for the actor that can't get a role and has a head for business and the capability to produce a solid film.

THE KEY PEELER
Key and Peele are alumni of the sketch comedy scene.  In fact, if you go to the Second City channel on YouTube, you can see that they were creating sketches on YouTube for Second City before they got their show on Comedy Central.  The Key Peeler first develops their skills in sketch comedy.  You're a Key Peeler if you have a tight SNL REEL that major casting directors say "is great".  The secret to the Key Peeler is that it is possible to book a Series Regular role on a network sketch comedy pilot with nothing but a SNL REEL (or by being seen in a showcase).  Two of my clients have done it and I know others who have done it as well.  Once you have your  Series Regular credit from a sketch comedy pilot on a major network, the doors to the television sitcom automagically open for you.  For the Key Peeler, being a great sketch comedy writer and being able to write material for yourself, including sketches and monologues, is critical.  The CBS Diversity Showcase, UCB Maude, Groundlings Sunday Co. and the like can be considered "gateway drugs" to the Key Peeler.  It's a very reliable path to a comedy career.