So I have been saying I am going to start a blog for some time now. Well, here goes...bear with me!
Over the past few years I have been getting more and more inquiries from parents as to how to get their children into the all-so-fascinating worlds of acting and modeling. My oldest son Will (age 8) has only been working in "the biz" for three years now, but has modeled for the likes of J. Crew, Boden, Macy's and Brooks Brothers to name a few. He also can be seen in the current Estee Lauder Beautiful perfume campaign (print and television).
What many of you may not know is that I, too have been working as a professional actress for over 15 years now. Although I did a few print ads (remember when Jr. Colony and Fashion Colony were around? I modeled for them with Elaine Irwin who went on to be a famous Victoria's Secret model, marry, and recently divorce John Mellencamp, and now stars in the Almay cosmetics ads among other things!), I primarily was involved in live theater, and local/regional commercials.
So, as a first post I thought I would start with the basics.
Q: Can someone who does not live in NY or LA even have a successful modeling or acting career you might wonder?
A: Absolutely. But remember, even actors who live in NY and LA usually are not able to make a living solely on their entertainment wages. According to The Bureau of Labor Statistics website, "Annual wage data for actors were not available because of the wide variation in the number of hours worked by actors and the short-term nature of many jobs, which may last for 1 day or 1 week; it is extremely rare for actors to have guaranteed employment that exceeds 3 to 6 months." NYC and LA are considered major markets, but plenty of work happens regionally as well. For me, in addition to being represented locally by Image International (http://www.imageintl.com/), I am also with The Bowman Agency in Lancaster PA (http://www.thebowmanagency.com/) and Greer Lange outside Philadelphia (http://www.greerlange.com/) Will is also represented by MMA (http://www.mmaagency.com/). Working locally, then regionally is the best way to get acclamated to the industry, and the local agents often have connections to the bigger city agencies. Will is a perfect example...It was Image International that introduced Will to Generation (http://www.generationmm.com/) in NY and it has been through Generation that Will has booked the majority of his jobs.
I'd love to know what specific questions you might have...feel free to email them to me and I'll answer one in my next post.
Blessings,
Tiffany
