20-Something Actors, Theatre/Drama/Acting Degrees, and Pilot Season

Yes. What @soozievt says is definitely true, but you do not need to be a great musician to make it happen in your own way and you can accomplish lots of things towards that end while you are still in school.

My alma mater has a good alumni network, but not nearly as expansive as schools like Tisch or USC and what exists from the Drama department is mainly centered in NYC. However, immediately after graduation, I was able to hit the ground running in LA with top tier rep, a pie survival job at a production company, a nice place to live with chill roommates, and a mobilized network from which I was able to expand organically - to soon include some influential Trojans and Tischies - and it had nothing whatsover to do with the LA showcase which was kind of a fail my year no thanks to its out-of-the-way venue.

How? It started with me having gotten hip to the self-production craze early on and showing up on campus with a handful of short screenplays that I had labored over the summer before while taking the time to acquire a working knowledge of filmmaking. I then made it a point to get to know the film students with whom I began to collaborate. Some my projects, mostly theirs. This led to me gaining the attention of the local filmmaking community with whom I worked during the summers and ending up with some films that I was in doing well at small festivals and a couple of others - one written by me - gaining lots of praise at big ones.

In the meantime, I was making it a point to reach out to working alumni from both the Drama and Film departments via social media - mainly Facebook - and by senior year, I was well positioned on their radar. Honestly, I didn’t even think of it as “networking” at first. I was just sincerely curious about what the people who were ahead of me were up to. But I realized that I was doing something right when an Emmy winner who I had never met in person and had no idea was visiting campus tapped me on the shoulder and gave me a big, surprise bear hug when I turned around. haha It’s also how I got to know Fishbowlfreshman who graduated from the same high school four years ahead of me even though I had no idea that she was “Fishbowl” at the time until she inadvertently outed herself to me. Sorry, but you have no idea how hilarious that name is when attached to her. haha

So, kids. What are some of your core competencies you can nurture that might help you along in the future? You’re actors so you have lots of them right there within you. Ponder it. I’m sure some of you are also thinking that “networking” is phony and cheesy, right? I did at one time, but nope. Just be interested and ask interesting questions. It’s what will make you interesting.