My agents tell me they’re getting six or seven pilot breakdowns a day, so this must be it! Wowie zowie, it’s pilot season AGAIN!
Truthfully, I don’t get too excited about pilot season anymore. For most actors it is the industry equivalent of playing the lottery. Your chances of success– booking a series regular part on a show that goes on to become a hit– are so low they’re laughable. It may actually belong in one of those unusual statistical categories along with shark attacks, getting struck by lightning or dying in a plane crash.
I think of it this way: to “win,” I need a major network or indie producer to put together a show that is thematically close to home for me and that includes a character that is alot like me, especially in terms of look. Then I have to cross my fingers and hope my agents can get me seen. Then I have to hope that I pass a series of auditions and screen tests that could number ten or more, knowing that at every step of the way something as arbitrary as my height, eye color or resemblance to the producer’s notorious ex-significant other could very well come between me and the part.
That’s an awful lot of stuff that’s totally out of my control. No wonder I don’t get real excited about pilot season.
Yet.
Because as I continue to work hard at the daily grind of being an actor, particularly in impressing casting directors and producers with my work at auditions or in booked gigs, my stock rises. The list of “people I know” gets longer, and the opinion those people have of my abilities gets stronger. I start to find myself in a position where I’m actually being requested before a breakdown even comes out. My agents haven’t even had to make a call! (yes, this does happen!!!). That means I’m being seriously considered, not just getting a quick look so somebody can truthfully report to their boss that they covered all the bases.
Now that’s something to get excited about.
Hey, I’ll still gladly go out on whatever pilot auditions I can get. Why not? But I’m not going to make pilot season my focus any more than I would cash all the money in my I.R.A. for lotto tickets. Pilots are an amazing opportunity, but so are episodics, regional theatre jobs, off-B’way shows, and sometimes even student films and the stuff you produce on your own.
Diversify your portfolio. Keep your focus on the long-term, even during pilot season.