The Successful Talent: Tips for the Actor & Model

RECIPE FOR DEEP DOWN SUCCESS!

Photographer Van Rossen shares on his website modelingadvice.com, just what it takes to be a model, and it's surprisingly deeper than the surface!

Besides needing the physical requirements to be a model you also need a personality for it. Professional modeling is a tough business. Only certain people can stand up to the hard work schedule and stress that modeling demands. So what are some good traits for a model?

1) Love the Show - When you hear, 'It's show time' or 'Time for magic' do you come alive? If you love performing and being in front of an audience, whether it's a room full of people or the eye of the camera, you will enjoy modeling. If it is something you enjoy you are more apt to work hard at it, take greater risk, and work through the hardships that come along. If you love the work, you will love your life. If you hate the work, you'll be miserable.

2) Hard Working - Modeling takes a lot of hard work and stamina. A photo shoot can run as long as 16 hours and at all times of the day & night. Just getting a job can have you running all over town. And at the end of the day you still have to do all the stuff needed to keep you in shape and looking beautiful.

3) Projection - You need to be able to project your personality, your charisma, your charm, and your sex appeal. You need to be able to sell yourself to be able to sell the product.

4) Intelligent - There is a lot to learn about modeling, being an independent business person, about yourself and about surviving in a big world of sharks. If you can't learn it fast you could get eaten alive.

5) Extrovert - You will be constantly meeting new people and walking into new situations. You will be performing before strangers every day. You need to like new experiences, challenges, and meeting new people. If you are shy and reserved you will forever be uncomfortable modeling.

6) Good Self Esteem - Ok, so it doesn't hurt to be a little bit of an egomaniac. This industry is a real ego bruiser. Good self-esteem can help pick you up and get you through those tough times.

7) Ambition - For most, careers in modeling won't come easy. You will have to go through trials and tribulations before you achieve success. The ambition and desire to succeed and achieve your goals in modeling will help you over the temporary set backs that come along.

8) Self-Starter - As a model you are an independent businessperson in charge of your own career. You must be able to take charge of you. This includes your training, your physical upkeep, your professional practices, your finances, and your life.

9) In Control - You need to be able to control your health (size and fitness), your body for posing, your emotions for acting them out, and your life so you show up on time.

10) Organized - You have to keep track of your schedule, your finances, your modeling materials, and your body's up keep.

What is your best personality trait and how does it work to your advantage with modeling?

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HOW TO BECOME A FEARLESS ACTOR

Gwyn Gilliss, the founder and creator of the Actor's Market provides advice from backstage.com; on how to overcome your fear.  It is merely human nature to feel fear of the unknown and entertainment has an endless supply of both!  How can you learn to harness your natural fears to create something artistic and exciting?

Whether you are preparing an audition, or on your way to an interview with an agent and you suddenly have an attack of fear or doubt, how do you get over it?  What do you do?

First, recognize what fear is and where it comes from. Second, fight it the moment it raises its ugly head.

A client recently called me in tears. She was delighted with the idea of relaunching her career and coming back into the acting business after a hiatus to raise a family. Still a beautiful, vibrant, and talented woman, she was in a panic. Overwhelmed with the idea of getting new headshots, meeting new agents, auditioning when she hadn't been active in a while threw her into agony.

"Where does this morbid fear come from?" she asked. It comes from anticipation of failure and a negative outcome. It comes from the "What Ifs" – "What if they don't like me?" "What if the pictures turn out bad?" "What if I'm too old?" "Or not attractive enough?" "What if I spend all this money and I can't get an agent?"

Fear comes from living in a thought realm, an imagined future, that isn't real. It's only a thought, a negative thought, and it can be a habit if you’ve created negative thought patterns. You need to change the habit. Sometimes fear comes from the past when things didn't work out and the thought pattern – "This awful thing is going to happen again" – sets in. It's negative energy stored in your memory. It's also the old part of the brain we all have as humans. It's called the "Croc," "Mammalian," or "Lizard Brain" (the amygdala), the one that is always on edge waiting for a future event for you to be attacked or devoured by a Dinosaur.

Wait! There aren't any dinosaurs or monsters out there! It doesn't matter. The Lizard Brain doesn't know we’ve left the caves and there aren't any stalking animals, fires, floods, or volcanoes. The Lizard brain was dominant in our systems to protect us eons ago. Seth Godin writes in Quieting the Lizard Brain, “It hates change, achievement and risk.”

But those are the very qualities you need as an actor and a creative entrepreneur to be successful!

The good news? The more modern, intelligent, creative brain developed – the one responsible for science, math, writing, the arts, happiness, JOY! So all you have to do is tap into the more modern brain, and that is sometimes difficult because the Lizard Brain has dominance most of the time. Yes! Most human beings are walking around in a state of fear, doubt, and depression. It takes effort to change that condition. How to fight back? Think of something or someone you love – something that would make you happy!

For my client I advised her to think of the flip side of the previous "What Ifs." For example: "What if the photos come out strikingly beautiful?" "What if the interview goes well and the agent loves me?" "What if I'm really good at that audition?" "What if it all works and I book that guest-starring role?" "What if the investment in my career pays back times a thousand?"

Now wouldn't that make you happy? Right. That's using your modern, creative brain overriding the other circuit. And in the process of thinking about what you love, what will make you happy, you become a warrior who wins the battle! You trick the lizard into thinking everything is safe. If you do that daily, for 21 days, you create the habit of conquering the fear. YOU control your thoughts and your reality. So you control your success!

Just by thinking a thought about what you love, you stay in the creative brain.

Then, that brain releases endorphins and all kinds of happy chemicals so you feel better, function better, and accomplish everything easily and successfully! See? It's fun to outwit monsters!

Next time you're afraid to audition, return an agent's call, commit to that class, buy those gorgeous red shoes, or take any step to go forward in your career, call it what it is, Lizard Brain! And tell it to go away!

Yes, whistling a happy tune or just daydreaming about playing your dream roles, working with your ideal agent, or on the set with terrific A-List actors you admire, all those thoughts become your reality. Just do it – it works!

How do you control your "iizard brain" -- and in turn, control fear?

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YOUR HEALTH AND CAREER

When you think of the modeling industry, the thoughts that may come to mind is how stressful and competitive it may be. Your perspective would be on target, but Marcia of modelingjobshq.com shares her perspective on what to expect vs. what is marketed to us in a model's lifestyle.

Mental Requirements of Becoming a Model

Fashion models and aspiring fashion models don’t have to take written tests to work. The work can be very testing however. Models who work in television often have to pass speaking tests if they have “lines” to say in a commercial.

Understanding the goals of the people who hire models is essential to the success of any prospective model.

Why?  Team players get ahead. Prima donnas get work – for a while. Keep in mind that for every successful model there are literally thousands waiting for a turn. You can’t afford to be a prima donna unless and until you deserve it. Given equal physical attributes and knowledge, clients will choose those who are pleasant to work with versus those with an unjustified attitude.

Until you have been in front of the camera you cannot judge what work goes into the photographs or what the model has endured to get that great shot. Models must be strong enough to endure tough conditions, repulsive environments and less than dignified surroundings at times in their careers. Just ask a swimsuit model how many times those beach shots were taken in bitter cold temperatures!  A model must know and understand that being a model is very hard work! And a model must understand that there are many types of modeling besides fashion modeling.

Health Requirements of Becoming a Model  A model only looks good when they are in good health and take care of their bodies. This means always getting a good night’s sleep before a shoot. No one looks good with bags under their eyes (no matter how good the make-up is), and no one looks good suffering from a hangover either.  Drugs are a definite no no as well. The stories of wild parties and high drug use in the modeling industry are usually just rumors. No successful model would jeopardize a career just to get high. No one can look healthy when they are addicted or are a heavy user of any illegal drug.

How do you maintain your health to stay focused on set?

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OVERLOOKED HABITS OF A VOICE ACTOR

Want to be a voice over artist?   Want more voice over work?  Learn the ropes!  Dave Courvoisier of corvo.com, provides seven habits/tips that are overlooked on how to be a successful voice actor.

#1 Overlooked Daily Habit of Successful Voice Actor

Take care of your mind and body and soul.  Health, good eating, sleep, exercise, and equanimity/moderation in all things.  It’s the core.  The center.  Get off-kilter in any of those foundational concepts, and the strain starts to show elsewhere…like your reads!

#2 Overlooked Daily Habit of Successful Voice Actor

Relationships.  Before we knew anything else, we were relational.  Family, friends, acquaintances, work-mates, neighbors, and virtual/distant persons.  Not just people in voice acting, but people from your past, your present, and relations-in-progress.  This is the richness of life.

#3 Overlooked Daily Habit of Successful Voice Actor

Perspective.  …also known as balance.  Spend too much time on any one thing, and you miss the big picture (forest/trees?)  Be a well-read, broadly-influenced, renaissance man/woman.  Inspiration can be drawn from the most unexpected reaches of newly-discoverd corners.

#4 Overlooked Daily Habit of Successful Voice Actor

Career vs. Job  I’ve mentioned this before on my blog.  Jobs can be gotten.  Careers are planned.  Jobs pay the bills (sometimes).  Careers set you up for life and retirement.  Jobs can run your life and your schedule.  When you have a career, you can more often choose time and place.  A job will keep you in the trenches, with a career, you can at least choose which trench.

#5 Overlooked Daily Habit of Successful Voice Actor

See the broad/high/long view.  Details are important.  You can diligently build a beautiful house, but if you did so with the wrong plans, then your detail work is for naught.  Keep the value of hard work, but look up from the plans long enough, and often enough, to make sure you’re following the right blueprints.  In Driver’s Ed (remember Driver’s Ed?) they used to call that the broad view — keeping your eyes high and attentive.

#6 Overlooked Daily Habit of Successful Voice Actor

Surprise yourself.  Restated:  Stretch yourself.  Sometimes you just have to ask yourself:  “If I don’t do this, will I spend the rest of my life wondering if I should have?”  But the admonition here is beyond challenging yourself.  It’s choosing to place yourself in an uncomfortable position to reap the rewards of discovery.  Did it work?  Maybe not, But you learned something.

#7 Overlooked Daily Habit of Successful Voice Actor

Never underestimate practice, persistence, patience.  Now it’s time to get into the trees.  Application of desire and planning.  Can you look yourself in the mirror at the end of the day and assure yourself that you did the WORK?  Was there progress?  Do you have the patience to build on today’s incremental success to achieve your goal in the long run?

What are you overlooking in your career that could make a difference?

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GAINING THE MODELING ADVANTAGE!

Marcia an author from modelingjobshq.com, provides useful information about the importance of learning what type of modeling is right for you. Knowing this information may secure your delivery in audition and may set you apart from your competition. 

It is important for a prospective model to understand two ineluctable facts.  First the needs of the market determines what models are needed; and second, the prospective model should understand the type of model that they want to become.  By understanding the type of modeling you are interested in, you can learn what the requirements are and if you can meet them.

Understanding the divisions in modeling can also help in avoiding a rip off.  Most rip offs and bad business decisions happen when a wannabe model is thinking of one type of modeling (usually high fashion) and a scout, agent, photographer, etc. is recruiting for another.  The garment and beauty product industries are large users of models. People want to see what clothes or beauty products look like on a body. High-fashion, designer-label garments, are designed for what fashion designers view as the “ideal woman.”  In smaller markets fashion models often don’t meet these measurements. It is more important the look of being tall and slender be there and that the sample clothes fit. The “look” can run from classic beauty to some extreme looks for fashion magazine editorial.

If you are going to work in front of the camera you need to be photogenic and you can’t know [if you are] until you do a test shoot. This doesn’t mean you need to rush out and find a photographer. If you are photogenic in snap shots that have been taken of you, chances are that you will be in front of a professional photographer as well.

What type of model do you want to be?  What type of modeling is a good fit for you according to industry standards?

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JOE ESTEVEZ'S ADVICE FOR ACTORS

David Patrick Green, a private acting coach and entrepreneur, had the pleasure of speaking with the well known actor Joe Estevez. During their conversation, Joe shared information from his 30 years of experience in acting and gives insight on how to have a long lasting career within the industry.

As with most secrets in life, being a talent boils down to "things your mother told you." Even though he might not tell you this, I would say that one of the reasons Estevez has been successful must be due to the fact that he is such a kind and generous man. Actors take note!

He boils his success down to the following three factors.

1. Positive Thinking. Estevez has acted since high school. At first, he didn't take it that seriously and not much happened for him Shortly after returning from military service, he lost nearly everything and found himself in a small, sparsely furnished room in the Hollywood Hills wondering where his next meal would come from. He was feeling dejected. Fortunately for him, the Beatles had begun experimenting with meditation and positive thinking as a result of their exposure to some of the gurus in the Far East. Estevez decided to immerse himself in any material he could find on the subject of positive thinking. He turned it into a way of life. Everything suddenly changed. A small movie role turned into a huge voiceover contract. He noticed that if he kept the positive energy flowing, he didn’t have to look for work. Work was finding him.

2. Commitment. Estevez wasn't always an actor. After returning from military service, he moved back to Ohio and started doing factory work, which he soon found he hated. Taking a leave of absence from the factory, he left for California and never looked back. He committed himself completely to his craft. He said humans need to open themselves to all of the possibilities of life. We are a spiritual entity far more than a physical one. If you set a timetable for yourself, if you give yourself an out or have a backup plan, eventually you will take it and never realize your true potential. You have to be willing to ride the highs and lows. He believes the universe recognized his commitment to acting and the results were inevitable.

3. Helping Others Without Reservation. Estevez believes that if you read for a part and you can think of someone else who might be good for it (despite you wanting that job), you must tell them about it. The universe will reward you, not necessarily how you might think, but the reward will come. Wish other people well. While it can be difficult, the practice of being happy for others can help us pass through negativity. Joe believes he is often hired because he is easy to work with and people enjoy being around him more than anything else.

Estevez realized another reason he kept getting work was that people kept referring him for projects. He started to realize that if you treated everyone well, everyone would always be happy to recommend you. So from the gaffers to the grips, to the casting director and the production assistants, Joe treats everyone with equal import. As they say, your reputation precedes you.

One final piece of advice I got from Estevez - and this may be a downer to some - is that you have to "live" life. He believes that if he hadn't felt dejectedness and lived in squalor, he wouldn't have realized the need for extreme positivity. You have to face your demons to destroy them.

The only real regret I could get out of him is he wishes he had been nicer to people, including his first and second wives. He said that if someone had told him at eighteen this was the life he was going to have, he would have taken it in a second. To me, that is the real sign of success and a complete person. The trappings of fame and fortune do not make you happy inside. They do not reveal, but instead disguise the truth. It is what is inside that really counts. And Estevez's insides are made of gold.

Are you really living your life in a way that will aid your career?

 

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THE MUST HAVE CAREER SITES

Taryn Southern, provides great advice from backstage.com; on what websites are best to use in today's marketplace. Whether the goal is to socialize, promote your work, or just to be current with the latest trending technology, these sites are worth considering. 

Q.: I want to start building a presence online, but I’m so overwhelmed I don’t even know where to start. Do I need to have a Twitter page? What are the “must haves”?

A.: There are no musts, and maintaining a social media presence simply isn’t of interest to some talent. But if you want to optimize your brand, industry relationships, and work opportunities, you should strongly consider investing your time and energy in the following sites:  

Facebook Fan Page Unlike a personal Facebook page, a fan page is a place where you can safely and shamelessly promote your work without confusing potential fans and collaborators with photos of you knocking back margaritas last Friday. Once you create an account, upload your headshots, press photos, and demo reel, and update the page with posts about new projects.

Personal website This is the only platform over which you have complete control. That said, a crappy site is worse than no site at all. Make sure it looks professional, can be viewed on a mobile device (no Flash!), and contains the following: contact info, résumé, reels, short bio, social media links, and photos. 

YouTube Account Even if you’re not out there making your own videos, you can still benefit from having a channel page that showcases your demos and/or clips of your work. If there are videos or trailers already on YouTube with you in them, you can create playlists so these videos will automatically show up on your landing page. Confused?  Head to my channel, and check out how I organize my playlists.

Twitter It’s hard to explain the benefits of Twitter to people who don’t actively use it and engage with the community, but it can be a wonderful tool for self-expression, branding, and even networking. It’s the one platform where you can easily reach out to pretty much anyone, as well as read about last-minute filming opportunities, screenings, and events. If you’re going to make the leap, just make sure you learn and abide by proper Twitter etiquette.  

Before you get started on any of these platforms, make sure you register one name across the board (e.g., my Twitter, Facebook, and website pages are named TarynSouthern) to avoid confusion. 

Caution:  taking on too many new sites at once could cause you to feel overwhelmed.  Pick only a couple to start with and commit to becoming comfortable on those chosen platforms before adding new accounts.  And have fun with your social medias!  Just like in the casting room, the industry is drawn to those who express positive ideas and thoughts relevant to our interests!

What social media platforms are you already comfortable using?  How have you already benefited from them?

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THREE OF THE BEST TIPS

 

Amy Jo Berman, a successful Casting Director for 18 years in Los Angeles shares these three acting tips using the great actress Lena Dunham as her muse and inspiration.

1. Be Yourself. I know you’ve heard that a million times. But truth, isn’t Lena just the embodiment of that? She doesn’t have the traditional size 0 body that most female leading women have in Hollywood. (By the way, when did 0 actually become a real size? That just seems wrong.) In fact, she regularly parades around naked on “Girls” despite the fact that she’s not “perfect”. And yet, she doesn’t seem to have a care in the world about it. And it certainly has not limited her success in any way.

She doesn’t think, act, look, or talk the way our common perception of a leading lady in Hollywood “should." And yet, there she is. So how is it that she is such a success? This leads us to…

2. Follow Your Passion. Lena did not sit idly by and complain about her crappy agent and wonder why she was NOT a success. What she did do was CREATE. She wrote and created shorts and did creative projects. This led her to create her indie film “Tiny Furniture” which she wrote, directed, and starred in. That film led her to her deal at HBO, which led to “Girls” and here we are.

What is YOUR lesson in this? Do what you’re passionate about while being yourself. Maybe that’s filmmaking. Maybe it’s writing. Maybe it’s totally outside of entertainment. Maybe you like baking pies. Whatever it is, do it passionately and with joyful enthusiasm while being you.

As a casting director, what I noticed from meeting thousands of actors over the years, was that many of the ones that were the most successful always had something else fulfilling and creative in their lives. I’ve talked to actors who had antique businesses, who are passionate about doll-making, skydiving, owned and rented out villas in the Italian Riviera, record MP3 meditation CDs, etc. The list goes on and on.

So, do those passions guarantee a successful career as an actor? No. There are no guarantees in show business. The only thing they guarantee is that you will be way more interesting, more passionate, and more creative and connect with way more passionate, interesting, and creative people in your life AND career.

Do you think that that passion and flowing creativity might give you an edge in your next audition or meeting over the other actors out there who aren’t?

My experience says a resounding YOU BETCHA!

3. Make Authentic Connections When Meeting “Players." When I was working on the L.A. casting of the pilot for "Girls," there was one thing that certain actors did that lit Lena up like a Christmas tree. If you do this regularly, you will give yourself a great advantage in this business.

Find out a little about the people in the room BEFORE you get in there. Sure, it's easy to know about the Aaron Sorkins and JJ Abrams of the world and all their projects.

But many times, when you audition for a pilot, the Creators are NOT that well known, like Lena Dunham when we did the “Girls” pilot. For goodness sakes, GOOGLE THEM! IMDB THEM! Find out what you can.  

Will it get you the part? Probably not. But will it make the beginnings of a CONNECTION with a mover/shaker in this industry? Abso-freakin-lutely!

Lena lit up like a Christmas tree when someone came in to our producer sessions to audition and genuinely told her what a fan they were of "Tiny Furniture."

Genuinely.

Be genuine.

Be authentic.

Don't kiss up.

Just do your homework and find a bridge to make a connection or just make someone's day.

Keep planting seeds like that and watch the amazing harvest you will have in your career.

These three simple ideas can change your perspective; can change how you are received and viewed; and can change the direction of your career to a smoother and more fulfillling road!  Which idea might be the most difficult for you to implement?

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HOW TO LOOK YOUR BEST FOR THE STILL CAMERA

Bryce Buell, a international professional model gives tips from his experience on the best way men can prep for a photoshoot. Not all of these tips are just for the guys, though.  Listen up ladies and heed some good advice!

As a full time fashion model throughout the 1990’s, fitness took a vital role in my career. While I was a fashion model and not a “fitness model” per se, my ability to maintain a lean, fit body led to many opportunities that my thin but unfit counterparts could not partake in such as underwear ads, Men’s Fitness articles, swimwear, romance novel covers, etc.
The secret was to maintain a body that looked very muscular in underwear or swimwear, but still allowed you to wear standard catalog industry suit sizes (40R – 42L) nicely and other clothing for my more mainstream work in catalogs. The secret to achieving this balance was simple: definition.

Definition is achieved through maintaining a very low body fat percentage. A high degree of definition makes you appear very muscular when in fact you may not carry a lot of actual muscle mass on your frame.

Once you achieve a low body fat percentage through proper diet and exercise, your biggest enemy to looking as defined as possible is water retention. Water retention makes one look “soft” and less defined. Fortunately there is an easy, natural solution. If I knew I had a body shoot coming up, my trick was to drink at least a gallon of water a day for at least four days before the shoot, five days is even better.

Drink more water so your body looks less bloated? That doesn’t make any sense… or does it?

The reason may seem counter-intuitive at first -- but the science behind it and the real-world results are sound –- the more water you drink, the less water your body will retain. Why? Because unless you are already drinking at least a gallon of water a day, your body is in a state of dehydration. Anytime you are thirsty, your body is heavily dehydrated and desperately needs water – hence it signals you, “Hey, I am thirsty!” As a result, any water your body receives it will hold on to, often under the skin, making you look smooth.

When you drink at least a gallon of water a day, after a few days your body realizes it is getting enough water and therefore it no longer feels the need to retain as much as it can and it dumps it. The end result is your musculature will look sharper, feel tighter and will photograph much better. When you drink that much water your urine should be very clear – so clear that as my dear friend and model colleague Jonah Taylor used to say “you could re-bottle and sell it.”

Working the still camera as a talent is imperative!  There are many reasons as models cross into on camera work and actors continue to do still shots to learn the other side of your industry as a talent.  What other tricks have you found that make you look your best before a shoot?

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PARENTAL TIPS FOR CHILD ACTORS

Pamela Goldman, a Youth Commercial Agent provides advice for parents who have children who aspire to act. 

Most of the time, the process by which work is secured is easy. Agents send out appointments, and actors prepare for the audition and do their best to book. However, in the youth market, there are things that parents should remember so we can always remain on the same page without encountering any problems.

1. Stay out of the child-actor gossip grapevine. The waiting room of a casting office can be an interesting place. Some parents love showing off their children, discussing what they’ve booked, and loudly coaching them on the material. It is easy to overhear the parents who compare their child’s audition ratio to others, or mention what their agent is sending them out on. My advice is to go to the audition with your child and bring a book or an iPod and stay out of everyone’s business. A lot of things can be misinterpreted, misconstrued, and can turn off even the most positive and supportive parent and child. Calling the agent after overhearing comments, which may be hearsay and may not be relevant, is a distraction and is not appreciated. Information relevant to your child’s audition will be disseminated by the casting director and feedback will come from the agent.

2. If you live on the East Coast, it's not necessary to move to L.A. right away. One of the most consistent frustrations we deal with is new clients thinking that in order to be a “star,” they have to pick up and move across the country. It is very intense to take your child out of school and alter their daily routine and chances are – in all reality – that moving there without a manager or any credits could end up fruitless. A good rule of thumb is to give your representation a solid year or two before making the leap if that’s the end goal. Let your agent cultivate relationships for you, get some nice credits on your resume, and find a manager to help you through the daunting task of West Coast activity. As well, in this age of technology, it has become easier for an actor to book L.A. television series and film roles from the comfort of their own homes with tools like Skype or your taping room.

3. Don’t lose faith in us. As youth agents, our main goal is to develop young talent so they can graduate to become successful adult actors. If we are keeping you on the client list, we have faith in you. We believe that one day (hopefully soon!) we will get that call that you booked your first commercial or guest star role. As discussed in past columns, this business isn’t easy and will take time. We need our clients to keep the faith that we are working hard every day and are doing our best to make things happen. Even if you haven’t had an audition in a month, chances are that we’ve pitched you for potential jobs a good number of times within that period, and if it were up to us to choose, we’d send you out on every appointment possible. We believe in you, so believe in us that the commitment we’ve made is important to us.

Heeding advice from an outside party when it comes to the success of your child's career is one of the hardest things a parent has to do in the world of entertainment.  Last year, for example, The Avenue Agency had a child actor seen for a major soon-to-be released movie.  The child had been overcoached and it showed in the initial audition.  When the parent finally learned to step back and let the child do what they were there to do, the pieces fell into place.  The child actor ended up working alongside major celebrities.  The parent's still struggle not to get caught up in the industry heresay from other talent parents, other agents, and a variety of other opinions, but their experience keeps them focused and driven to support their child. 

Aside from child actors and models, this is also great advice to heed for the adult actor!  The same is true about not getting caught up in the casting room showmanship or gossip meant to intimidate the competition.  It's true that an agency committed to your best interest believes in you long before he/she ever gets paid.  Honoring that commitment and showing that you are doing your part to help the partnership is crucial to your long term relationship and success -- minor or legal adult!

How do you show your agent that you value their hard work and your partnership?