Acting Tips: When to Stay in LA and When to Go

The great thing about acting is you have a lot of free time; the worst thing about acting is you have a lot of free time.  

Ah, but which is when? Because let’s face it, actors still have a life filled with places to go, people to see, things we need to do, and things we want to do. Those who book a lot of roles often can’t wait to get out of town. Actors who haven’t been booking are often afraid to leave lest they miss their big break. 

Winston Churchill once said, “It’s all chance or destiny, and our wayward footsteps are best planted without too much calculation.” Okay, you get it: let go, let God. But don’t forget that there’s another interested party in this equation: your agent. Try selling him/her on “chance or destiny” when they call to tell you they’ve gotten you a big pilot audition for Friday, and that just happens to be the day you’ve booked an early flight out of town. (Whaaattt!!!)

Relax. There is some pattern to this business in Hollywood, even today when projects are casting almost year ‘round. Here are the years' busy times and down times, so you can put your life in order.

Mid-January through March: Busy, busy, busy. Despite all the media focus on films and cable, which cast throughout the year, a huge part of the business is still at the networks, so be on your toes. Most network pilots are cast in late winter through early spring and casting for network episodics, which started back in July, is still underway. Your agent won’t leave town and neither should you! Other opportunities will come up later, but this is the busiest time of the year.  Stay close.

April and May: Take a break. Plan a vacation, plan your wedding, if you’re primarily a film actor take that role in a stage play. There are always commercials being cast and small projects going on, but the pace visibly slows. If you hang around town, you’ll be asking yourself why your agent isn’t calling and why no one loves you.

June: For the most part, it’s still slow. If you’re hoping to pick up a series regular role, know that new pilots going into production make last minute cast changes around now, and existing series sometimes add roles before the new season goes into production in July. If you think you might have a shot at these, it’s best to hang out in town. Otherwise you can let your Alaska cruise drift into June. 

July through November (Thanksgiving): Episodics are casting like crazy and there are still a few network pilots being pitched. Cable shows and films are ongoing. Commercial casting slows during the summer, but picks up again in the fall. Don’t wander far unless there’s an unavoidable personal crisis that you have to deal with. 

But what about summer, you say! Don't I get a vacation? Well, hey, California is where people go in the summer….and you’re already here! Stay flexible, if you can. My husband and I typically stay out in the Santa Clarita Valley during busy times, because we like the hills and my hour and 15-minute drive in is worth it. But summers in the Valley are miserably hot, so July and August we enjoy the sea breezes over on the coast. The beach adds another 15-20 miles to my drive, but since it’s not a daily commute and it’s just for a couple of months, we make it work. 

Wherever you are, see if you can make staying nearby seem like a vacation. Also, I hear from my friends in production that work slows down a bit in August, so that may be a time when you can feel less guilty about moving your base a little farther out.

November (Thanksgiving) through mid-January: The holidays are the slowest time of the year for actors. Commercials are still casting, including some of those Super Bowl wonders, but after Thanksgiving most other productions slow down until everything grinds to a halt completely just before Christmas. Work doesn’t pick up again until the second week in January, so attend those family get-togethers, go skiing, plan a winter vacation, enjoy yourself. 

And that’s it!

Throughout the year, the important thing to remember is to book out with your agent whenever you’re away from LA. You and your agent have to work as a team and you don’t want them blind-sided to find you out of town after they’ve spent hours pitching you for a project. Sure, you can often self-tape auditions or sometimes even fly back to be considered for a particularly lucrative project. But if you consistently show up for the auditions your agent has worked hard to get for you during the busy times, they’ll be understanding when you need to take a break or attend to personal business during slow times. Just let them know.