I am reposting some of my older blogs from my old website, Enoughacting.blogspot.com; and I will be giving some updates. This is one!
Should I move to Los Angeles?
Over the past 2 – 3 years our industry has had some drastic changes. Years ago, the only place to be an actor was in Los Angeles; so we packed our bags and moved in waves to fulfill our dreams. This is not the case anymore. I wanted to touch on this subject because I get the question, “should I move to LA?” a lot! Now, before I go into this you need to know every actor is different and you are all in different places in your career and your craft; so make sure and take that into account. Louisiana, Georgia, and the Carolinas have been shooting more film than imaginable. Names and budgets from 42 to X-men First Class, The Change Up, Footloose, Wanderlust, The Blind Side, and that is just a few from Georgia. Louisiana shoots almost, if not more, feature films than Los Angeles does. 21 Jump Street, GI JOE Revolution, The Host, Battle Los Angeles, and Django are just a few that have shot in Louisiana. Now, I am a firm believer that you should not be auditioning until you are ready for it. Not all actors are ready for auditions; and, hopefully, you guys are smart enough to find an acting coach willing to be honest enough to let you know when you are ready. Don’t get into acting for the money because that doesn’t happen when you first start. Seven years is what we call an overnight success in this industry. Now, the good thing about smaller markets, for actors that are ready to go out on auditions, is the fact that you aren’t going up against 15 actors that all have great resumes and have been acting for years. Don’t get me wrong, there is some wonderful talent in smaller markets, such as Louisiana; so you are still going to be going up against good actors, but it will be narrowed down to 5 – 6 great actors instead of 15. This is and will always be a competitive industry, where others will have complete and unfair advantages. Sometimes you may go in for a role that has already been booked and the person that got it just happens to be the producers girlfriend.
UPDATE!
It’s now 2017 and Atlanta has become the number one place for filming in the world. Let me say that again, THE WORLD! In the above message, I want to be clear. You shouldn’t be auditioning for big jobs if you are not ready. However, you should be auditioning for indies, college projects, etc. Those are where you cut your teeth and really have that freedom to screw up! As for moving to Los Angeles, I still think the same. If you live in an area that is growing in film popularity like Atlanta or New Orleans, then rack up some co-star roles and build a reel. In short, kick some ass in your local market and go to LA when you have a resume to stand on. Going to LA after booking one tv show, isn’t going to get you in the game.
I will do a future blog about being filmmakers on the way to being actors. No excuse not to. But again, that will be for another blog!
Any specific questions or comments please feel free to ask!