126. Before Yes, I Have Questions

It's essential for actors, like any professionals, to consider their career choices carefully. Accepting every job offer without assessing the value of the project can lead to potential issues, including burnout, wasted time and effort, and exposure to toxic environments. Tiwana Floyd's approach of asking herself 11 questions before accepting an acting job offer is a wise practice that can help actors make more informed decisions.

Here are a few common questions that actors might consider before accepting a role:
 

1. Does the project align with my career goals? 
2. What is the quality and reputation of the project? 
3. What is my character's depth and significance in the story? 
4. Is the compensation fair and appropriate for the role? 
5. What is the time commitment and shooting schedule? 
6. Does the project have a positive message or theme? 
7. Who are my co-stars and collaborators?
8. What is the potential for exposure and networking?
9. Does the project have a good production budget and resources?
10. Have there been any red flags during auditions or negotiations? 
11. Does the project offer opportunities for personal and artistic growth?

To Watch
 "Along Came A Callback"
https://youtu.be/wV7e8-F2q44

Acting Lessons Learned is Produced, Written, Recorded, Engineered and Edited by Tiwana Floyd
If you'd LIKE TO SUPPORT the show, here are 5 Simple ways to do so.

1. Follow/Subscribe
2. A ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Rating
3. Write a Kind Review
4. Share an Episode With Your Actor Friends
5. Buy Tiwana a Coffee: buymeacoffee.com/TiwanaF

Be sure to follow on Instagram as well.
@actinglessonslearned @LifebyTiwana

Learn more about Tiwana Floyd at https://www.tiwanafloyd.com

Music Pixababy "Mesmerized" 15617 & 11492_comamedia

Chapters

• 0:00 Job Offers and Communication in Entertainment
• 11:36 Project Opportunities and Beneficial Collaborations
• 19:15 Insights on Selecting Acting Roles

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

It took me about 10 years to learn to take a beat before saying yes to job offers. The level of respect I can expect from someone who invites me to participate in their project can be determined by whether or not they provide me with all the necessary details to make an informed decision about my participation. In this episode, I will share three scenarios that led me to decline offers of projects that didn't benefit me, one scenario that was an immediate yes and the 11 questions I ask myself when determining if a project is worth my talent and my time. Welcome back to Acting Lessons Learned. I'm Tawana Floyd. I share personal experiences and the lessons I've learned and still learning as a working actor in Los Angeles.

Speaker 1: 0:47

Recently, a peer I met in acting class in 2010 contacted me via a LinkedIn DM to offer me a self-tape audition for a SAG after an ultra-low-budget film shooting in three weeks. I'm always flattered to be considered or offered roles by my peers, but LinkedIn was that really the space to make an offer for a self-tape audition? Especially when I know that this peer has my email address because we've exchanged emails numerous times over the years and even if her tech was completely wiped out, she could have used LinkedIn's DM to ask me for my email address. Nonetheless, I was mannerly and asked her to send me the details of this ULB film. Now, I wasn't expecting her to send the details via DM on LinkedIn, so I didn't look for her response there and, in this heavy content digital age, as soon as I left the page I forgot all about her inquiry. But had she sent an email I would have remembered, because an email allows me to respond quickly and to schedule things into my calendar.

Speaker 1: 1:50

I don't know about you, but I am not digging this new norm of disseminating business information via direct social media messages. It doesn't work for me and probably doesn't work for most people. It's simply not the customary or best way of business correspondence, at least in my opinion. No matter how active I may be on social media, things tend to easily get overlooked and a good, old-fashioned email is still the best route for exchanging pertinent information with me. I may even be okay with a text, but still things get lost in text as well. I go to LinkedIn two, three times a week, not enough to see my daily messages, and because most messages there are brief congratulations and such, I don't expect to receive business offers there. In fact I only saw the initial inquiry from my peer because I was on LinkedIn at the time. I don't have notifications come to my devices. My inbox and my devices have enough traffic coming through and I don't need the social media notifications trained to add to the influx of correspondence.

Speaker 1: 2:53

It was several days later when I saw my peer had attached the full script in two character sides she wanted me to self-tape. I didn't even know you could add attachments to LinkedIn DMs and on second thought I could see how one would consider LinkedIn DMs for business, because it is a platform for business and employers use DMs on LinkedIn for outreach. But I guess I would think that at some point those details would move to an email. But what do I know? I'm not regularly scouted on LinkedIn.

Speaker 1: 3:23

What annoyed me most about this LinkedIn self-tape audition was there was no value factor, no mention of the pay rate, no character breakdown where it was shooting, no filmmaker names and no submission due date Basically nothing that tells me whether or not this project would be good for me. You know, like an actual detailed breakdown. This is Hollywood. Everyone is in business for mutual benefit and I'm looking for my mutual benefit in every project that's presented to me, but actors tend to be undervalued or treat it like we have no right to ask questions on how we'd like to participate. We're kept in the dark on many things and told that we should just be happy to be working at all.

Speaker 1: 4:05

Since I don't beat around the bush and have been called straightforward and direct more times than I can account for, I graciously replied, thanking her for the scripts, but requested that she send me a proper email with all of the details. Was that Pretentious of me? Should I not have the nerve, the gall to ask for something so basic? Should I have done the whole phony corporate pleasantry talk up top? No, I wasn't in a mood. Brass tax girl set me up for success". She responded by asking if I had submitted my audition yet, to which I answered no, and asked if she had read the previous message requesting a proper email with all the details. I explained that I didn't receive the LinkedIn script attachments when she sent them and only now noticing the scripts and the sides. And between you and me, I wasn't going to read the scripts until I received the details, because I don't believe in wasting my time if I'm going to pass on something. All I asked for was the necessary information before I prepared the audition to see if the project was of any interest to me, and then I closed with if they had already cast a project. I appreciated the consideration. Crickets no, not crickets, because crickets communicate loudly Nothing. She didn't respond, never heard back from her. I mean a simple response like hey, tawanna, we've moved on, would have been a good business practice, but how could I expect such when it all came through a DM in the first place? Also, I didn't ask that. She let me know either way, so maybe that's on me.

Speaker 1: 5:36

These are the little things I pay attention to when deciding to accept a job or even to audition or to work with someone, things I judge people by on my barometer of will this be a good business partnership? I view everything as a partnership, a collaboration. I don't care that I'm the employee, that I'm being hired. Along with my talent, I bring value to every project I work on. I carry years of professionalism, I'm effervescent and solution oriented and I hope to elevate projects. So, yeah, I demand to be met with the same, if not more, respect, consideration and professionalism when I'm hired to collaborate.

Speaker 1: 6:13

I'll mainly be discussing independent projects that are mostly helmed by up-and-coming filmmakers. For the most part, professional sets tend to meet my value requirements and I'm not bashing up-and-coming filmmakers. I actually prefer to work with them because they are so collaborative and creatively inclusive. I extend grace to new or less experienced filmmakers because we're all learning as we go. However, I don't care to be discounted by new or veteran producers or directors, so I tend to watch the actions of soon-to-be employers. How are they treating me before I say yes. How are they treating others? Because there are always signs of bad behavior. The cliche actions speaks volumes is true.

Speaker 1: 6:55

I give credence to what people do and disregard most of what people say, because you know people will say anything to get what they want from you and I'm not exempt. I'm a human. We're all humans. It's part of our makeup. But there are levels to deceit, hypocrisy and manipulation, and I find it alarmingly sinister when people make promises they know they can't keep, or when their objective is to just get more from me than what I signed up for. Because I'm quiet. People think I don't see them, but I do. I see them and when I do, they are surprised when I give them pushback.

Speaker 1: 7:29

Now, there's no evidence of mal-intent with this LinkedIn self-tape audition. Actually, I think it was more of a down-to-the-wire issue. They had a short window to get the project cast and perhaps the wheels were just about to come off. Or maybe she didn't like that I was summoning professionalism, or she's just bad at communication. You know, it's astounding how many people are bad at communication yet want to be in positions where communication is the key element. It's all conjecture, but I have to deduce that if she wouldn't see the importance of giving me the necessary details up front to discern if the project was right for me, it's highly possible she may think my needs as an actor are a non-factor, and to me, all the things I've mentioned are red flags. It's just a matter of how willing I am to overlook red flags, because they don't always lead to disaster.

Speaker 1: 8:20

I'm reminded of a different time when another peer sent me a request asking me to be in her short film. This time it was through Instagram Instagram DM and while I am on Instagram way more than LinkedIn, I see DMs there more frequently, but still I would have preferred an email, because Instagram definitely isn't for business protocols. You can't DM Spike Lee and pitch him an idea on Instagram. I mean. I know there's people who do it and they probably get pissed when he doesn't respond. But there is a protocol that I don't think that's going away. You have to go through his team, his lawyers, his agent, his production company and you're not getting Spike Lee directly. But I digress, my peers DM read hey Tawanna, I wrote a short and want to film it. There's no pay. Here's the shoot date. I have a role for you if you're interested.

Speaker 1: 9:09

Now, this peer and I, we were both improvisers and we had worked together prior performing in live shows. I am a fan of her comedic voice, but I remembered her work ethic was a bit um, low energy, to say the least, which is another thing I look for in people and their projects. I have an extraordinary work ethic. A poor work ethic will cause me to lose my shit. You know what I mean. I mean I don't want to pick up your slack or watch your project fall apart while I'm on it, because I mean come on, what are we doing? We're in Hollywood. If we want to be noticed, we've got to be excellent.

Speaker 1: 9:45

This peer had shorted me on the details also, and I presume it was more of an oversight, because, you know, improvisers write, we get inspired. We write things all the time. We cherry pick our friends and our peers to participate and I'm mostly always down to do a sketch with my improv people, but mainly those I know who value good writing, performance, production value and editing. I just prefer to work with improvisers that produce great work. That's the stuff that gets recognized and helps everyone to elevate in their careers. Now I was genuinely flattered to be considered To be thought of, but, as the saying goes, flattery will get you nowhere. In this request there was no value offer for me. Still, I strive to be gracious with people or, at the very least, respectable. Are you filing a SAG after a micro-budget agreement? She replied no, but that she could if needed.

Speaker 1: 10:40

Since she was also in the union, I followed up, asking what her plans were for the short like once it was completed. How many days was she looking to shoot? Who was the DP? Who was directing? Where would it be shot? What was the story, what message was she looking to convey and who's the audience? I'm not looking for her to say she'd rent some big, expensive space or a red camera.

Speaker 1: 11:04

I know funding a project can be hard and I actually enjoy guerrilla-style filmmaking. It has its fun moments. It feels like we're getting away with something. It's serious but it's less precious. When I talk to producers and media makers, I'm interested to learn about their creative vision and their intentions for creating something, because if we're just creating something for the sake of creating and it's going to sit on your hard drive, what's the use? I want to hear a pitch. Enroll me with a good pitch.

Speaker 1: 11:36

Thankfully, this pair didn't try to do what my friends call big-timey. She didn't try to drop names or say she was going to do some astronomical things with this short film, nor was she offended that I was asking these questions. She actually surprised me with her response by saying you know, tuana, I hadn't thought of those things. I was just going to throw it on Instagram and I wasn't mad at that. But I do need to at least be listed under a SAG after a micro-budget agreement, and since this request came in at the height of the pandemic, I passed because I didn't trust that she would keep me and the crew and other cast members safe.

Speaker 1: 12:13

Then there was this other time where a male colleague contacted me to be in his web series. He sent an email. Actually, he sent a really good email, chock full of all the details. He wanted to meet me for coffee, but I try not to meet people in person to eat up my time with inquiries, so we spoke on the phone instead. He pitched his vision, but I wasn't clear on the story engine, so I had a lot of questions. He had too many ideas fighting for attention. We had also worked together in a writing class setting and I was reminded that he was known for having difficulty editing his script down to a core idea. Now here he was being precious with the web series. The premise was convoluted and mucked up by too many ideas. It required editing. Also, he didn't have funding, so he couldn't pay me or make a promise of deferred payment because he wasn't planning on filing a SAG After Micro-Budget Agreement.

Speaker 1: 13:11

Now this is probably going to start sounding like a commercial for SAG After's Micro-Budget Agreement. It's not. But as a SAG After member, if you want SAG After members in your film, you might as well just file this agreement. If you're making something that's under $10,000, and you want SAG After members in your project, then you should file this agreement because you can do it online. It's immediate and if you get an idea today and write it tonight and want to do it tomorrow. All you have to do is file online and you'll get the paperwork right then and there after you file. And while I'm on a subject of SAG After, if your approach to work on someone's project and they say it's been registered for a SAG After Agreement, ask them for the project's title and the producer's name, then call SAG After to verify that there is in fact a contract agreement in place.

Speaker 1: 13:59

I once called a producer in a lie when he told me that he had an agreement and when I called SAG After, it was non-existent. I understand. Not everyone knows this information, especially if they're non-union. Like my male colleague, I offered to assist him with filing the micro-budget paperwork until he inadvertently tried to convince me that I could work on his project without the SAG Agreement in place, because a few of his cast members were a SAG After and they were working on his project. He was so concerned with having me perform a few lines on his web series riddled with premise holes and not recognizing that what he was asking me to do was to jeopardize my good standing and my reputation and my membership with the union.

Speaker 1: 14:44

I have so many of these toxic circumstantial stories and I hope that you're starting to see the through line of these three incidents that not one of these peers considered how their project would be mutually beneficial to both of us. I can't fathom what they think the trade-off would be for me. Many of my actor friends just want to work, and early on in my career I shared that sentiment. But now the work has to have a purpose for me. In Hollywood it's easy to be deluded, to think that one's idea in script is a masterpiece and that anyone they ask should be honored to participate in their project. And I'm not here to burst anyone's bubble, because anything can happen in Hollywood. But I must be certain that I'm not signing up for a nightmare experience To protect myself from project catastrophes.

Speaker 1: 15:37

I ask myself these 11 questions before I say yes, and I must answer yes to six out of ten of them. Does the role advance my career? Is this a new or different experience I haven't done before. Will I generate revenue now or later? Will I be artistically challenged? Will this project put me in front of a larger audience? Does this elevate my profile? Will I enjoy it? Does this role support my purpose? Will I help someone that I want to help? Do I love the story. Does the script disparage minority groups and global citizens? I've shared projects that didn't measure up to my values and I want to leave you with the project I immediately said yes to.

Speaker 1: 16:19

A couple years ago, writer, producer and actor, jason Eccles a performer whose work, ethic, comedic sensibility and film taste I revere sent me a wonderful email about this project. He wrote and requested to schedule a Zoom call to discuss it further. I have to say I adore Jason. We met in 2008 while working on a hysterically funny UCB sketch comedy show called Jesus Wasashi, written by Charity L Miller and directed by Leanne Bowen, and I've stayed in close contact with that entire cast ever since. So I was looking forward to hearing about Jason's project. He opened by telling me about the origin of the story he scripted, how it was loosely based on a real event, how it went from a story he told in a bar to friends to an idea, to a script, and this is where he had me hooked, mine and yeses. Jason said I remember you saying your dream role was to play an oracle in a dystopian future. I was stunned because that was a fact, but I didn't remember telling him that. He went on to say there's a role. It's not an oracle, but she does impart some sage wisdom to my character.

Speaker 1: 17:29

The film was Sag Aftra. There was pay. He shared his excitement about the cinematographer and the producer. Slash lead actress and the other women I'd play opposite were both women I knew and were funny and respected. Jason pitched his project powerfully and I was enrolled. He found a way to add value to my career. He found a way to make it mutually beneficial for us both.

Speaker 1: 17:55

We shot the short film Along Came a Call Back with a small cast and crew. If there were any hiccups, they weren't visible and it's the best footage of me and my work. To date. Along Came a Call Back has garnered 17 film festival laurels. It has won Best Picture, best Direction and Best Actress. Go Catherine Lydstone. And if you want to watch this humorously relatable short, check out Along Came a Call Back on Amoleddo's YouTube channel. The link's in the description.

Speaker 1: 18:26

And while I'm here, I want to say a special thanks to… all the indie filmmakers and sketch comedy writers who asked me to participate in their projects without an audition, who just knew what it is that I can do and truly found the perfect balance of mutual benefit while exhibiting outstanding professionalism with extraordinary stories. Shout it out Charity L Miller, duane Colbert Mackenzie, horace Michael Vakaro, jesse Esparza, monica Smith, robin Lynn Norris, atul Singh, brooke Trantor, david Alfano, josh Callahan, cecilia Pleva, Cheraine Mackay Robinson, marion Lewis, tim McAfee Lewis and Jason Eccles. I appreciate you, guys. That concludes this episode of Acting Lessons Learned.

Speaker 1: 19:15

I hope you found helpful insights you can employ in your acting career, especially when considering which project you say yes to. I should disclose that I have used my 11 questions to decline a couple of network television auditions for disparaging global majority citizens. I let my agents know the things that I am unwilling to do and the roles I have no desire to play. I hope that you will go forth courageously in your pursuit of the best roles for you. Thank you for listening and if you'd like to support the show, you can rate me 5 stars. You can leave a loving review. You can share this episode with as many actors as you think would enjoy hearing this topic. You can buy me a coffee, oh, and you can also now check out my latest launch, actor Business School, on YouTube. I'm on Instagram as well and all of the links are in the description, so I will see you in two weeks and from here on out, let's say yes to the things that really provide value for us, mutually beneficial. I'll see you in two weeks. Bye.