Pilot Season: 6 Tactics For A Successful Pilot Season

Pilot season, which starts at the beginning of January and winds down in May, is a time for anyone who is serious about an acting career to hunker down and really focus because it has the potential to set you up for life. How so?

If you book a pilot and it gets picked up by a network, it could become a series. If that series is a hit, you could go on to shoot 100 to 200 episodes and have it sell around the world (I Love Lucy, Friends) and you could become rich and famous and have the opportunity to do films. All of it starting by you booking a pilot during pilot season.
If you are ready to go for it, here are 6 tactics – a mix of standard and guerilla marketing tactics – to boost up your opportunities during this "fertile" time for actors. Pick out your favorite 3 tactics and go all-out. Here they are.

1. Get an agent or manager who will submit you for television pilots and keep on top of them.

At this time of year, talk to your agent about submitting you for pilots and make sure they are doing it. Meanwhile, use other tactics to get auditions through your own efforts.

If you don't yet have an agent or manager, get one as quickly as possible. Even though agents and managers are busier now than at other times of year, you should NOT miss out on these premium casting months. Get representation ASAP and make sure they are taking action on your behalf.

2. Every 21 days during pilot season, submit a postcard to all of the TV casting directors.

With or without an agent, if you don't have dozens of people in your Rolodex whom you could readily call and get auditions with, then be sure to frequently submit your headshot (or postcard) to the casting directors so they think of you for their projects.

First, submit your headshot and resume with a cover letter, either introducing yourself or re-introducing yourself, then re-submit a postcard every 21 days. If you can't afford the postage, then drop it off in person, but get your picture out there. (You will need to figure out an ingenious way to get on the studio lot to do some drop-offs.)

Although casting directors may tell you not to submit that often, think about it this way. Do you get tired of watching commercials on TV? Wouldn't you rather NOT see them?

Yes, you'd rather not. So why do the advertisers run their commercials anyway?

Because they are effective, that's why. They would not run them if they were not. When you submit, you are simply doing your own commercial so the casting director has your contact info handy when they have a role you're right for.

3. Take paid casting director workshops to meet them in person, even if it is with the assistant.

Whenever possible, take casting director workshops so you can meet and audition for them in person. Although, some people don't like the idea of paying to meet casting directors, and the workshops are listed as "classes" for legal reasons, the reality is that at those workshops you are meeting someone who can move you up the food chain by casting you, so go for it.

If you can't afford them, try to assist and work there for free. Then once you meet the CD, put them on your 21-day contact list mentioned above.

4. Guerilla Marketing Tactic: Scope the breakdowns to find people you know.

For those of you who don't know, The Breakdowns (which actors aren't supposed to see) are a 30-40 page daily report that tells agents all the film and television roles being cast that day. However, sometimes these Breakdowns magically end up in the hands of actors underground (that's why this is Guerilla Marketing) and sometimes agents let their clients see them.

So, if you have access to them, look carefully at each project you could be right for and see if you know anyone involved or if you can think of someone else you know that might know the people listed.

If you do know someone, pick up the phone, call them, and make powerful requests of people. Ask them to let you read for a role or to make a call on your behalf. Don't hold back. You have to be very assertive in this business if you want to rise to the top.

5. During pilot season, whether you see the breakdowns or not, contact everyone you've ever known who has anything to do with producing or casting television shows.

Make sure they think of you for their project if they have one. If they have a project, ask if there are any roles you might be right for and if you could read for it. Be aggressive. Be confident. They would love to cast their projects and move to the next phase.

6. Read the trades – Hollywood Reporter, Variety, or Backstage West – to see what is being cast and take action when you see an opportunity.

If you aren't on the inside track, scan the trades every day or so to learn about the business and find out who's doing what. Subscriptions are expensive, but you might find copies at your local library, if you're in L.A.

Then when you find out about a show you could be right for, you know what to do – jump all over it. Submit yourself with a personalized letter, make calls, make requests, beg, borrow, steal, sneak, bribe… as long as it's morally right for you… just do whatever you have to do to get auditions. No one is going to come looking for you, so you gotta go after it. How bad do you want it?

Here's the bottomline: During pilot season, there are two critical elements. The first is getting the information about what is being cast and who is casting it, and the second is taking massive action to get auditions for projects you could be right for.

When you find something you might be right for, put yourself on the line, don't hold back. Take massive action, and if you mess up, so what? Nothing was happening when you didn't take action. But if you take action, maybe all those acting classes will pay off.

Just do it. Make sure the active casting directors know you exist by checking that your agent is submitting you. Then keep submitting your own headshot and postcards to the casting directors every three to four weeks.

If you don't have an agent, GET ONE, and then submit to the casting directors with your agent's name on your resume as a contact. If you're having trouble getting one or holding off on getting one for any reason, go ahead and submit your picture to the casting directors with your personal contact.

Do all of this as soon as possible. "We're burnin' daylight!" Don't let this pilot season go by without a breakthrough in your career.

-- © 2009 Smart Girls Productions, Melody Jackson, Ph.D. -- Melody Jackson, Ph.D. publishes “Plugged in Hollywood,” the Bi-weekly Ezine on Marketing for Actors. She has been helping thousands of actors break into show business for more than 15 years. If you're ready to kick your career into gear, revive your passion, and have more fun doing it, get your free subscription to "Plugged In Hollywood" and tons of FREE BONUSES at www.SmartGirlsProductions.com. Call us at 818/907-6511 for more information

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