Make your plans at least a year in advance. Many things will require that amount of planning, and it's just better for your brain.
GET A CAR
A fuel-efficient one. You can't do justice to your career in L.A. without "wheels" - the distances are too great. If you don't drive consider going to New York instead.
SAVE MONEY
One look at the complete budget and a glance at your personal expenses and you'll see why we say give up the luxuries, and save, save, save. Besides, doing without will be terrific training.
GET INTO THE "RIGHT" UNION(S)
Thousands of aspiring actors go to New York or Los Angeles knowing nothing about the unions. They learn fast.
New York agents tell them, "Sorry, can't help you if you're not Equity." Hollywood casting directors put out casting notices saying, "SAG only"
"Well, I'll be dipped!" they say as they realize Equity isn't owning a home, SAG is not a physical condition, and non-union people will starve. So they try to join. And what do they hear? "You can't join until you've got a job," and, "I can't hire you unless you're union." Eventually, this gets old - so old that they quit.
Pity. Getting in isn't impossible - with a little information and ingenuity. If you can, join the unions before you leave home. But if you can't, don't despair. You may find it easier to join the unions in L.A. than in your native Cleveland.
GET FIT
If losing pounds will make you a beautiful leading lady or a handsome leading man, start jogging. Otherwise, you'll constantly hear you're "hard to place" (cast) because your face says one thing, your body another. If you're a character type your weight may be less important and you can pig out longer at the dinner table. Still, remember commercial casting director Pamela Campus' observation: "Fat thighs do not sell peanut butter."
Anything else about your appearance you don't like? Fix it or learn to live with it. Don't go out on interviews feeling bad about yourself - they're tough enough without that added baggage.
You commercial types especially - get your pearly whites pearly white. To paraphrase Ms. Campus, broken teeth do not sell toothpaste.
And, finally, you don't need a wardrobe that would make Gucci go into jealous convulsions, but get yourself at least one good suit/dress and one good casual outfit.
GET RID OF ACCENTS
No, it's not a crime to have an accent - it's just limiting.
If there aren't any dialect coaches where you live (or even if there are), record announcers who don't have an accent, and work to sound like them. "A cheap way to do it is to get yourself a tape recorder and read something - a play, a scene, a newspaper article - into it every day for ten minutes," suggests theatrical agent Pat Doty. If you can't manage this by yourself run, don't walk, to the nearest dialect coach the minute you arrive in L.A.
GET A JOB SKILL
"The longer my old college chums are in the business, the more realistic they become," says one actress.
Don't expect Hollywood to fall into a swoon over your pending arrival. In fact, it's a fairly safe bet that, from the time you get your SAG card, it will be at least a year before you get your first paying acting job.
You can type, wait table, sell wedgies, etc., without the job getting in the way of your career, but these kinds of jobs are only a temporary solution. If you're smart, you'll find something enjoyable (anything from resume shot photographer to interior decorator) that won't interfere with acting and pays more than a prune Danish - an alternate specialty/skill, almost as much fun as acting, that will carry you during those (inevitable) dry spells. True, hit it big and savings and investments can tide you over. But the average working actor needs a supplementary income. Waiting tables when you're 20 is kicky - but when you're 40 it's a kick in the pants.
If you're without an independent income and unless you're far enough along in your career to chance your savings on the "switchover to L.A." period, at first plan to get (and keep) a full-time day job. It's fantasy to leave your days "free for auditions." What auditions?? Unless you get hot fast in commercials (possible, but so is winning the lottery) you'll need your nights free for classes, theatre and showcasing.
Note: we said and keep your job. The first time you get an audition, or, holy cow!, an acting job, tell your current employer your Aunt Bertie just died and you've got to go and do some serious mourning. The next time, terminate Uncle Fritz (what the heck, you don't like him anyway). Only when you've gotten enough work to bump off the entire clan should you give serious consideration to part-time work.
Also, pass on getting a job within the industry. You'll make contacts all right, but as what? A go'fer? A bookkeeper? Okay, now try to get them to think of you as an actor. Says television stage manager James Hamilton, "I wouldn't recommend actors getting into production. It's very hard to prove yourself as an actor in that setting."
ESTABLISH CREDIT
Anyone who believes all Californians are 'laid back' hasn't met a banker. Before you leave try to obtain one or two major credit cards (American Express, etc.).
Also, many banks require a recommendation from a depositor before they'll be so kind as to let you open an account. Unless you know someone in Los Angeles, a few weeks before you leave, have your current bank transfer some of your money to a bank of your choice.
TRAVEL LIGHT
Wait until you know where you're going to live. Why add hassles?
WHAT ABOUT PICTURES (RESUME SHOTS)?
A photographer in Walla-Walla can't know what Hollywood is looking for. Wait.
SHOULD YOU CHANGE YOUR NAME?
Not if you're thinking of becoming "Rock Granite" or "Jasmine Julep." Those days, thank Arnold Schwarzenegger, are over.
"Iznik Prlrdj" is acceptable in today's Hollywood, if you want to drive people crazy trying to pronounce it. However, if you've got an ethnic name and a non-ethnic face, a nondescript monicker could eliminate your "ethnicity" and increase opportunities.
Before doing anything check with the national offices of SAG, AFTRA and Equity. If another union member has first dibs on your name, you'll have to change it - even if it's your real name. If you're "Bob Jones," and any member is Bob Jones, you'll have to become Robert Jones, Robert C. Jones, or maybe even Iznik Prlrdj.
Whatever you do, do it now - before you have resumes and photos printed up and certainly before you get a few roles under your belt. Changing then will be Excedrin Headache #6 for you and your agent.
All done? You're ready to go. Take a deep breath (it'll probably be the last pure air you'll get for a long time), kiss Mama good-bye, and point yourself in a generally westerly direction…
