In-Between Work by Neil Schell     2-24-2009 Actors at most every stage of their careers experience the phenomenon of being in-between work. Dealing with this situation with the correct mind-set is important to your career and well being. All of you know that your entire career can change in a few days or weeks. You could, at any moment, get called in for an audition that could lead to booking a job on a project that could set you for a life-long career of satisfaction. Because that reality exists, we persist. Looking forward over the long term goals you have for your career is a way of being able to deal successfully with those times of, what appears to be, lean cuisine. Setting 25-year, 5-year, 1-year, monthly, weekly and daily goals that are all in alignment with each other give you direction. Long term direction that is broken down into doable steps in the present always builds confidence in an individual. You know where you are going and have a generally good view of how you are going to get there. Yes, there can be many unforeseen obstacles and bumps in the road but with long-term vision these things become much easier to deal with and solutions just seem to pop up out of nowhere. Additionally, with such future planning in place, you will have a much better idea of what to do when those inevitable times of no work cross your path. I have come to learn of a very simple rule that works every time in these times of no booked work on your calendar. You have to be creative with this rule. You have to figure out how it relates to your situation at the moment and where you want your career to go. But regardless of whether you are just starting out in the film and television industries as a professional actor or you have just come off of 5 weeks of shooting on a feature film, this rule, when applied, works. The more you promote outwardly that you are in business as a professional actor the more opportunities you will find coming to you. Now that all seems very simple. You’re right. It is. But the tendency of an actor who is in-between work is to focus on pulling in or bringing in or attracting work rather than sending out information. There’s an inclination to create a flow toward yourself. You know that old feeling of “I need this job!” or “I want this job!” or “I need more auditions!” Those feelings and ideas and impulses are all directed at creating a flow toward oneself. This does not work. What does work is the opposite. When you put attention on promoting yourself and offering your professional services to those who you know are in the business of either hiring actors (producers, directors) or servicing others who hire actors (casting directors), you create a kind of “vacuum” that eventually brings work to you. Sometimes that work will come from the direct outward flow that you did - that producer you wrote a letter to, calls you and casts you. Sometimes it will come from a entirely different source than those you were promoting to. But, regardless, it does come because you have put into use a very powerful and effective tool that this universe seems to bend to. So when you feel that you need to get a job to come toward you, that is the time you need to create a flow away from yourself to others. I go into great detail regarding this principle and more in my workshops. In fact, my upcoming workshops in Toronto, Regina and Vancouver deal with creative ways you can employ to create this outward flow in a very effective and professional manner. To register for one of these workshops, just go online to: http://www.actorworkshops.com/shop/?shop=1&cat=2 The dates are as follows: Toronto - March 12 & 13 Vancouver - March 28 & 29 Regina - April 11 & 12 Significant savings are given to those who register early. Check online to find out when the cutoff dates are for early registration. © Copyright 2009 by Neil Schell Until the next newsletter… Neil PS Feel 'free' to write to me at  anytime. I will answer. PROFESSIONALS HAVE COACHES, AMATEURS DON'T