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How to be a "real" actor/writer/speaker/artist?
Hi Wil. I know you’re not about dwelling
in the past when it comes to your acting career, but I did want
to say that I think "Young Harry Houdini [imdb.com]" is an
oft-overlooked film that you should be very proud of. Okay, so
maybe I was only like 10 when I saw it, but as an amateur
magician it really had an effect on me, and I thank you for your
role in it.
A related question then: What advice can you give (beyond
saying "be born with raw talent") to folks like yourself who see
themselves as creative types with an interest in acting,
writing, speaking - the public arts, if you will - but who also
don’t want to tread the over-worn path of mainstream media and
every other Hollywood actor-wannabe? You seem to have done an
exceptional job being a part of the underculture - sci-fi TV,
self-publishing, blogging, small theater, etc., so it would seem
you have some insight into how to participate in these arts
without becoming corrupted by the process of getting involved.
WW: Thanks for your kind words about Young Harry
Houdini. I am very proud of that film, and I think it’s a shame
that Disney hasn’t released it on DVD. It’s a great little
movie.
A very quick story about working on that film: I had several
scenes with Jose
Ferrer. He played a snake oil salesman who I (as Erich
Weiss) traveled with around the Old West. During the journey,
Erich discovers that he’s got real magical powers, which
he uses to eventually become Harry Houdini.
We were filming a scene that took place late at night, around
a campfire. Near the end of the scene, Jose was supposed to get
up from the fire and walk into the wagon that all of our
characters used to get from city to city. Well, during one take,
someone forgot a line or something early on in the scene. So
Jose stood up, and ad-libbed something like, "Well, I’m off to
bed! Good night!" As he walked into the wagon. The director cut
the scene, and when Jose came out of the wagon he said, "I’m so
sorry, my dear, but there was a long silence, and I felt
compelled to fill it."
At that moment, I learned how important it was to be
present in a scene, even if I wasn’t talking, and when to
fill the silence, or just let it hang there. To this day,
whenever there’s a silence in a scene, I feel compelled to fill
it.
The short answer to your question is: Create something, and
release it yourself. You don’t need anyone’s permission, and the
traditional rules about distribution just don’t apply anymore.
The long answer to you question is: First, create something
for yourself. You asked about acting, but this applies to a
book, a ‘zine, a website, a web-comic, a short film . . .
whatever. Don’t wait for someone else to give you something to
do, or give you permission to do it. Just create something that
you are passionate about.
Go ahead, I’ll wait.
Okay. Most of this answer is going to apply to writing,
because it’s where I’ve had the most experience in doing it
myself vs. doing it the traditional way, but it’s easily applied
to creating in other mediums. Here is the most important thing I
can tell you: You do not need the so-called traditional
channels of distribution to get your work to an audience, and
you’ll probably be happier and more successful by not
going through those channels. I’ve done it both ways, and
self-publishing and distributing was more fun, more creatively
satisfying, and much more financially rewarding than the
indescribably frustrating process of doing it the other way.
This is the best advice I ever got from a fellow author, and I’m
thrilled I can pass it along:"Nobody is going to work as hard as
you are to promote and sell your work. Books sell as well as
their authors promote them, and don’t expect anything from your
publisher after the book is turned in."
When I wrote Dancing Barefoot, I had a lot of the
concerns I think you’re referring to in your question: I just
wanted to create something, and give it to an audience. I didn’t
want to experience the same process of begging and rejection,
ultimately culminating in some form of (what often feels like)
selling big parts of my soul that I have experienced my whole
life as an actor. I knew that there was an audience for my work,
and because of The Internets, I had a way to reach them. So I
learned all I could about self-publishing, asked lots of people
lots of stupid and not-so-stupid questions, and came up with a
way to publish, market and distribute my work on my own terms.
This had a couple of huge benefits, that should appeal to any
creative person: I could let the audience decide if the
material was worthwhile or not, and I had complete control over
the way my work (and by extension, I) was presented to the
audience. When I went the "traditional" way, I didn’t have that
control, and it was endlessly frustrating. O’Reilly insisted,
against my advice, on marketing my story as a Star Trek book,
which it clearly is not. I warned that they would alienate an
enormous potential audience of non-Trekkies with that plan, but
my pleadings fell on deaf ears. Unfortunately I was right,
(Barnes and Noble won’t even stock Just A Geek I’ve never
seen it in a single store. According to a store manager, "Star
Trek books just don’t sell after the first week.") Just A
Geek was abandoned shortly after its release just before
Christmas, no less before it ever got a chance to take off. I
worked on that book for two years, and poured ten times more
energy into it than I put into Dancing Barefoot, and I
was rewarded with a frustrating, depressing experience that I
will never repeat.
It goes back to the advice my friend gave me: As a creative
person, whether you’re an author, musician, actor or filmmaker,
you will end up working harder than anyone else to promote your
work, despite the promises they make to you before the contracts
are signed. So why give up creative control and an enormous
share of the profits when you’re going to do most of the work
anyway? Why bust your ass to make someone else rich? There isn’t
a stigma attached to self-publishing (or performing in a small
theater, or distributing your performance on DVD via the
Internet) like there used to be, because more and more people
are coming to understand that the audience is an enormous
collection of little niches, and every single one of them can be
served by small presses or indie distributors. So if you don’t
want to participate in the soul-crushing aspects of the
entertainment industry, you don’t have to. Self-publishing (or
self-producing or distributing, or whatever) is risky, but it’s
the best way to participate in the arts without being corrupted
by the process of being involved. Of course, you must have some
inherent talent to create good work, but your question implies
that you’ve already got that part of it worked out. I’m trying
to show you how you can take your talent, use it to create
something, and then take your creation to an audience.
- You want to publish a book? It’s easier than ever to
create an e-book with free software like Scribus and
OpenOffice.org, and use a service like PayPalDownloads to
deliver it.
- You want to release your music? Garageband will host
your files and connect you with people who want to hear you.
- You have a great idea for a play? There are 99 seat
Equity-waiver theaters in every big city in America.
- Don’t want to shop your brilliant short film to myopic
studio buyers who are just going to steal your idea anyway?
Produce it yourself! Film it on digital video, edit it on
your Mac, and create your own DVDs.
- When you’ve got a physical product to sell, PayPal will
process payments for you and create shipping labels you can
print, or you can use a service like Yahoo Shopping to do
your fulfillment.
If you’ve got passion, you believe in yourself, and you’re
willing to take financial risks, you don’t need anyone’s
permission to release your work. Your success or failure won’t
be left in the hands of anyone else. You are in charge,
and you’ll sink or swim based upon your efforts. I’ll
repeat, as the voice of experience: You do not need the
so-called traditional channels of distribution to get your work
to an audience, and you’ll probably be happier and more
successful by not going through those channels.
