Save it For the Stage
Three former classmates from an Acting Master's program in England, all aspiring actors, share their experiences in the competitive and challenging acting industry. They have learned to handle rejection in auditions, take on various roles, and stay dedicated to their craft. They have also encountered various personalities in the industry, and are prepared to spill some of the tea!
Save it For the Stage
#12 Creating Your Own Work and Overcoming Judgement
In this episode of "Save it for the Stage," Shayla, Haley, and Alex dive into the art of creating your own work in the entertainment industry. They explore the importance of creating your own art, the challenges of monetizing and marketing your work, and the delicate balance between auditions and personal passions. They also discuss the courage to take breaks from auditions to focus on what truly ignites them, the necessity of investing in yourself, and the universal fear of judgment when putting your art out into the world. Tune in for inspiring conversations about the freedom and opportunities that come with forging your own path in entertainment.
Shayla Tharp - @shaylatharp_
Haley Pilkington - @hpilkington22
Alex Osborne - @alexanderosborne.official
Shayla Tharp (00:00.302)
We all had have had a week and we're all looking a bit rough. And now our Riverside, we normally record on Riverside. Shout out to them, but they're not getting our sponsor this week. We aren't sponsored, but Riverside was being a bit dowgy. So we had to move to Zoom. Anyway. Yeah. But we have been, we have been trying to talk about
making your own work because this is what happens. Everything else crashes and you have to make your own stuff. You just gotta keep going. The show doesn't stop. You just find a way. Wait, that actually is kind of spiritual that everything just kept crashing and then this episode is talking about making your own work. How beautiful. my God. Is this the new intro?
Honestly, making your own work is like, it's just the way to go. It's just the way to go. I, I don't know. It's the way the industry is heading. I think it's already been that way. I just have gotten on board. I think people that create their own work have been successful with it. I just am like, that's hard. And I'm not creative enough. And you like put yourself down. You're like, I could never make my own movie.
But it's like, we could, you actually can't. You can. You can. A lot of people do it. Literally, I was sitting in my room last night and I was like, I could literally go outside and use my lovely iPhone 15 and make a damn movie. And no one can say anything about it. And I can just put it on YouTube where millions of people can watch it. There it is. There it is. There it is. Done.
The only thing I'm missing is payment. Yeah. But hey, if you get enough views, you could just like, I mean, this is where it's heading, right? It's all like subscriptions and shit like that and monetizing your own world. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Do you guys, are you trying to do any of that monetizing stuff right now? Like right now I'm trying to do, well, this podcast and then plus my own podcast and I'm trying to get it monetized, but it takes a lot of
Shayla Tharp (02:25.006)
time and subscribers and downloads and it's like, it's exhausting. And then YouTube, I'm trying to put my stuff on there. It's a lot to learn. It's a full -time job learning to make your own work, monetize and do everything right. It just takes so much time and effort. It's just damn near impossible, it feels like, unless you're having two hours of sleep at night.
And I'm over that. I can't do that anymore. I can't either. I need the energy to like, A, either be creative, or B, go to my shitty Joe job, so I can have money so I can spend time being creative later. It's just a vicious cycle. Like I want to have the time to learn about monetization, learn more skills, you know, have a better arsenal that can
go with my acting capabilities. It's just like, yeah, it's a job in itself. And it's just like one job is draining enough already. Yeah. But it's like to monetize it too, you have to be willing to put in a certain amount of money as well. So you have to put in money to make money, which is like the whole thing. It's our whole career. Like we like pay for classes and we get like,
We have to learn how to monetize like our skills from those classes, but really like, I haven't seen that money come back at me in a minute now. No kidding. it's just, you have to be willing to sacrifice a few things. I think that's where I'm at with it too is like, do I audition or do I make my own work? Cause I don't think physically I can do both while working, while looking for like ways to actually make money.
because the auditions aren't paying you. No. The slim chance you get something that might give you some couple hundred maybe. Yeah. Maybe. Yeah. And a day away from like your Joe job, you know? Yeah. Like, which is like, is it in the long run, is it, is it always worth it? Right. I don't know. I don't know either. And, and what I've been really, you know, trying to do recently is learn all about
Shayla Tharp (04:49.998)
marketing yourself and how to monetize your channels and how to do this and get this many subscribers so that you can do this. And it's like, my God, it's just, it's exhausting. But, but to know that, you know, if you just think for a second, like get rid of all of that stuff, there is still a platform YouTube where you can just put your stuff out there. If you're not even worried about being monetized and you just want to be creative.
There's still an outlet for you, which is lovely. You can just put your work out there and it's out there. You know, you don't have to do all the stuff beforehand if you don't want to. but it's. Yeah, we're having to do all of the things now, instead of just being an actor, we're having to be graphic designers, marketers, lighting, the whole crew basically and post and pre -production and script writer.
And it's a lot, but I mean, it's what we went to school for so we can do it, but like, it's a lot. Yeah. Yeah. It is a lot. Yeah. I need to talk to myself to pay myself more at this point because I'm doing way too much and I'm giving, not giving myself a raise. I need to give myself a raise honestly. But it is like, it's like also the passion. We do have the passion for it. So the passion's there. So check.
Check! Done! Got that one done! But it's like the, it is the work behind it. And some, if you're lucky, like if you follow the passion through the drive to do whatever your heart is telling you to do, like whatever the creative vibes are giving you, you can potentially like get people interested in your project and who want to hop on. So like...
There's always people in undergraduate degrees who are kind of like looking to do free work and call it an internship. And no, I said that really badly, but I know what you mean though. It's like a thing. It's like a thing like you, because we are professional actors. We went to school for it. We have a graduate degree. We're making our own work. We've been paid before. We've been paid before. And to make your own work is like just a
Shayla Tharp (07:17.422)
you should be able to get something back from that, whether it be some students who want to learn something, who want to learn from you and or just give you like that extra help that you need and we'll get credit for it. Yeah, I don't know. It's just kind of hard to keep following it through. But as long as the passion's there, follow it. Follow it. I hate when people there's
Kind of a hatred, you know, like if you go on backstage or whatever and you see those projects that are like, this is going to be unpaid or whatever. And it's like, it absolutely sucks when I read that. Cause I'm like, this job should be paid. But I also feel like some people are, they have nothing. They are literally working with what they have and they're being upfront that this is going to be a passion project and they're being honest about it. They're not trying to cheat you. So as long as you know that I feel like free projects aren't all.
horrible, you know, it's not they're not all just bad projects. Because you're getting exposure at the end of the day, like whatever it is, you're going to get exposure if it's a short film, a theater piece, you can still invite people to see you. You can still invite like reps to see you, whatever. But yeah, I think my struggle is, though, like every time I go on backstage or like any of the casting websites, I'm not feeling super
like excited about what I'm seeing. No, I couldn't agree more right now. Like I'm just not like, no offense to like keep creating creators, keep creating. But like for me personally, like I'm not getting drawn to a character. There's not been like, like I've been looking at those unpaid gigs just cause I'm like, I want something juicy.
Like I want something and I can't find anything. And I wonder if it's because my own brain is like focused on this other thing that's like, Hey, do this, do this thing. Like you're passionate about this, do this thing. And it's not really hooking onto any of the other, you know, applications right now. Like I'm just like, I don't want to, I don't want to do that. That could be so true though. Maybe you have such a better idea in the, in your subconscious that needs to come out and be told.
Shayla Tharp (09:38.19)
Yeah. I think that's what it is, but I'm, I'm struggling to give up like the auditioning side of it. Like I'm struggling to like, don't give up. You don't need to give up. It's just more like that can be on the back burner. Yeah. Right. Right. Like taking a little break from it. It's hard. It feels like, it feels like I'm not doing the thing. Like I'm not doing the thing. If I'm not auditioning, I'm constantly like reaching out to agents or whatever. Like it feels like I'm not doing the thing. Like you're a failure. Yeah. Yeah.
At this point, because I don't have the energy to really like go on backstage, like I'll start an application and I'll just let it delete itself, which really says a lot because it's just like, well, if I was really interested in this, I would have completed the application. Right. So like at this point, like with, with, you know, wanting to create stuff and like trying to balance a work in creative life and doing improv outside, it's just like, I'm just.
Fortunately, I have an agent. So like the only time like I do have auditions is if I let them come through my agent at this point. Yeah. And even this like even the stuff that I get, it's mostly, you know, commercial work. And it's like, it's not really like, this is a really juicy character. It's just like, no, I'm auditioning for like, I don't know, Burger King or something like that. And it's just like, I do I do get you in terms of just like.
There's nothing appealing. There's nothing interesting. But like, yeah, it does make it easier just having an agent just give you stuff while you can try to focus on your other creative outlets. Right. Because you don't have to really focus like they're just let like you can still feel like you're doing stuff because you're like, my agent gave me that I'm gonna just apply to that real quick. I don't have to think about it.
Like when we're on backstage, we're trying to pick out our own things. We're just like putting so much mental energy towards like, is this worth doing? Let me read about it. Like it takes time to read through all of that shit and like also have the energy to write for your passion project or go to work. But I also don't think taking a break, cause I've been struggling with this as well. Like when I moved back, I was like, I feel like I'm failing because I'm not auditioning and I'm not.
Shayla Tharp (12:01.358)
But it's also been a welcomed break. I actually think I needed more than I had thought. When you're doing that audition train for so long, it just, you burn out and you don't even realize it. And sometimes working on something else, even if it's the writing aspect or video editing, anything other than auditioning or reading lines, just breaking up that monotony is...
refreshing and then when you're ready, you can go back into auditioning and you'll have more energy and brain power to do it. But maybe, I don't know. But for me, it's been a nice break, but I really still struggle with it. I'm like, I feel like I'm not doing what I'm supposed to be doing. But I'm trying to welcome the creative break. I'm trying.
I feel like if it's, I want to just be like, yeah. Like if you have that creative vision, just follow it. And you know, we're artists. Like I just want to live like that, but that's like rich people talk. Like, yeah, I'm going to follow this idea that I just don't have to think about. I have the luxury of not working a nine to five or working at all because I just have so much money. And I can make these projects happen.
Yeah, no shade, all shade. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I just don't know. I don't know what the solution is. All I know is you got to just do what you want to do. Whatever your heart.
is kind of leading towards at the moment, I guess. I don't know. That's what they say on the TV. Like Haley was saying, you just got to have the passion because I can think of a person who's a good example. And he's my best friend who I've mentioned before. He's just been he's been working on a passion project for seven years now. And this short film is finally getting into like coloring.
Shayla Tharp (14:16.078)
and everything, like it's almost wrapping up. But, you know, it's, he is a good example of like, he had a drive and he stuck to it. And, you know, over time he didn't have energy for like certain auditions and stuff like that as well. Like he's like, I'm not doing more any commercial auditions. I'm not doing this kind of stuff. Like he created a good routine and it's just like, you know,
Everyone needs to get to that point if they want to stay in this industry. It's just like, you got to get that routine and that passion going at the same time. Right. Yeah. I also feel like, yeah, like you were saying Shayla, like I don't have to give it up fully. Like I can take a break, but honestly, like if that, I think why I want, why I'm struggling so hard with it is because like everything in me is telling me to like follow this idea.
and just fuck everything else and just follow this idea because you can't really get anywhere unless you really give it your fuck at all. Right? Like, you can't really get move forward unless you're doing the hard work. Like a lot of creators like have just like to have talked about how they were fucking grinding and like they work so close to giving up.
but like sticking through it, then they finally found success. Like you really have to give your all into it. And I think like by taking like a little break or putting it on the back burner is going to allow me to like fully hone in on it. And you know, maybe it does go somewhere. Maybe it gets seen by an agent and then an agent's like, Hey, I want to represent you. I'd like the show that you're producing, whatever it's, there's multiple ways to get noticed. And I don't think
that meant necessarily should be the goal. I think it should be trying to be, follow your passion and get paid for it, right? Like I think that should be the goal. And we keep getting worked up into like, I'm not doing enough. I'm not doing enough. No, focus on that one thing and do that thing. Yeah. Especially, especially when the industry is not giving anyone really any jobs at the moment. So if now is the time to take that break from, from acting or just let it
Shayla Tharp (16:39.054)
kind of sit for a moment, then this is the best time to do it and to work on your own things until the industry's up and running again. But I think it's only beneficial to kind of once in a while step away and be like, I have another passion and I'm going to follow it and I'm going to do it and I'm going to work hard at it because we're just creatives and that's our brains are like a hundred percent in. Yeah, we are. We're weird. Yeah, we're weird.
And, we're willing to risk it all. We're willing to risk it, but no money. Yeah. But I also think you have to, the stupid thing is true of you have to spend money to make money. Yeah. I think, you know, like when I was first starting my voiceover work, it was fine and I was doing okay, but, I got some money from
lower projects I was doing and then with that money I bought newer equipment. And then it was then I'm getting higher paid projects. And then I bought newer equipment. So it's like, you got to spend the money, believe in yourself. I bought, you know, most of my equipment with a little bit of the money I made and mostly just my credit card. And then, you know, because I took that risk, it paid off. Yeah. But
Again, I don't know it. You're right. You do you do invest in yourself because like all the background work that I've done, which is the only stuff I've been able to get on set for just like I've just straight up use those paychecks for like the new light that I got right there. The new tripod, the backdrop and everything. And it's just like, yeah, yeah. And it does. It does. Like it's a business investment because like also
aside from creating your own work, it's just like, look, this guy is professional. He's got this, he's got this, he's got this. And you know, you like being creators and whether we're working for someone else or doing our own stuff, we do need to put the investment in ourselves, you know, and it does take time. Like the good things do take time. I agree. It's just building your pro
Shayla Tharp (18:59.086)
portfolio yourself up, you believe in you, so you're going to spend the money on something you're passionate about, something you work hard on. And I think that shows to other people that you're serious or I don't know. It can also be a very privileged thing that I'm saying, like spend money to make money. Cause not everyone's in that position. but I do find it to be somewhat accurate. I mean, I mean, technically we're not in that position, you know?
True, true, true. You right. I really shouldn't be spending any money. Yeah, actually, you know what? No one listens to me. No, no, that's not what I was saying. My debt, my debt is there. Yeah. She's there. She's screaming. But I think we're doing it and I'm proud of us. Yeah. I mean, this is it right here. Yeah, we're up. We're things. Yeah.
We're doing it right now as we speak, literally, as the words are coming out of my mouth. Yeah. And I think at first I was kind of embarrassed doing podcasts and stuff, because obviously everyone's got one right now. It's the popular thing to do. So I was a little embarrassed. And then obviously to speak about myself is embarrassing. To be myself is embarrassing for me. And I just had to be like, OK, get over it. Get over it. And just do it.
You are your business. You got to put your effort into this and your money and your time and just be who you are and go do it. Just shut up and do it. I'm definitely in that. I feel like I'm gearing up for that fuck it era because I want to post this thing on TikTok that is so stupid. It's so stupid. Do it. But it's like, I'm like, my God, it's a little showy. But what?
Fuck it, you know, fuck it. I have a lot of friends right now that are hopping on the TikTok like bandwagon of like where they, what is it? Show products and like, you need this in your house or whatever. I don't even give a shit. Go make your bank. Do it. I do not care that you look ridiculous because we all do, but we're all doing it and I don't care. The world is a mess right now. I don't, I don't even care about the cringe. Like put it out there.
Shayla Tharp (21:26.798)
Put it on the TikTok, just do it because in the long run, sure, if you look a little silly, who's gonna care? Most people scroll in 0 .5 seconds. Literally. So make your bank. Speaking of TikTok, I did reactivate mine because I have been thinking about doing sketches on Harry Kane. There he is. It was just like, you know, it was the only thing I was doing during the pandemic in Canada and like.
Like just I was so embarrassed to admit it, but I'm just like, nah, at least I would be putting something out there. Yeah. It'd be ridiculous. Yeah. I would take time for it, you know, like to stray away from like the niche D and D comedy. It's just like, I just gotta do something. I just gotta try and see what sticks out there, you know? Like, yeah. What I've learned is two things. The things you create need to help.
people because most people that are on there want entertainment or they want advice or they want something to help them with a problem. So usually your content needs to be geared towards people and helping them. But most of the time for me, it's always just kind of about, I don't want to say about me, but I'm doing the projects for me because I enjoy working and being creative and
having an outlet for it and if I help people, that's even better. And I don't know, it's just, I need to do it for me in a weird way. I agree with that. I'm not even gonna like pretend like it's not self -indulgent. Like I ever post a video, I'm like, yeah, I hope people see this shit. Like it, like it, come on. But see your -
your stuff is also helping people you're helping you know, right, you want awareness of, you know, health issues, which yeah, helping you like an cathartic way of getting it out, but it's also helping other people without even really realizing it, I think. Yeah, I think like, that's the reason I started doing it. And like, then, like a few of the videos, I was like, this is kind of fun. Like, whatever, I'm gonna do this for fun. And honestly, like,
Shayla Tharp (23:47.182)
It's just another way of getting seen. It's just another way of getting seen. And if I don't hate it, then awesome. Like this is fun to do. Yeah. And if we acknowledge like what we're doing is cringe, this is all cringe. This can all be cringe. Everything is fucking cringe at this point, which is fine. I accept it. We're moving on and we're just doing it. And that's why people watch it. They want to see the cringe though. Well, they're literally.
a white guy in Toronto doing improv. There's nothing more cringe than that. You know what I mean? Like, like just like, it's just like, yeah, I love doing improv. Ooh, this guy, this guy next. You know, there's the, there's the taboo behind it. It's just like, yeah, I really love improv. I'm a white guy. I love doing comedy. I love making stuff up, but you know, I can't write that stuff down. It was just like, you look at those guys and you're like, I'm a funny guy.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No. I literally, but it is my identity now. Fair enough. Do whatever you want, man. That's the whole thing. Yeah. Do whatever you want. There are literally no rules. Yeah. I kept thinking like in my head you feel
It's so weird. We go to school to learn how to be outside of the box, but you feel like you're in a box and I need to follow all these rules to get an agent to do this, to get my next steps. I need to follow the rules, but there are no fricking rules. There is no, literally no box for me. I can't fit it into a fucking box. So I can't like I literally there's not one because if I think about like my type or whatever, like, okay, yeah.
from a distance, that's her type. Let me get a little closer. I don't know what the fuck she is. Like, I don't know where to put her. That's Haley Pilkington. She's her own box. I'm my own box. So that's why I feel like I need to do this. And man, I'm nervous, guys. I have something I want to post. It's going to be so cringe. I'm just going to do it. Just fucking do it. Send it to me if you want. And I'll be like, OK, Haley, that is really cringe. But I probably won't. I'll just like it's fine.
Shayla Tharp (26:10.67)
I'm just going to post it and then text you when it's up and then you can tell me to take it down or not. Great. And I probably won't because it's always so much worse for the person that's doing it than, you know, we always are more embarrassed about anything we do. We're like we're our own worst critic at the end of the day. And like that's a hurdle to get over when creating our own stuff. Yeah.
And just learning to not, I mean, not care is not what I mean, but you can't, you can't care about other people's crappy opinions, I think. I think that's what it is. You gotta be your number one fan. It's the fear of it, definitely. And you just have to be like, well, I'm doing it because I like it. And like what people are going to say. And yeah, I just feel I, the more I keep like,
that voice keeps coming up like, shit, what are people going to say? The more I'm like, I don't give a fuck. Like I actually don't give a fuck. Like I literally don't. Like my mom, like I get nervous about like my parents seeing something. I'm like, actually I'm an adult. I don't care. Yep. Yep. It's like, listen, like listen or watch or don't like just pick, like, I don't care. I just don't care. And don't. Yeah. Just, just go about your day. I don't care.
But yeah, this stuff is all just so freeing and nice. And it feels like we've kind of opened up a new door to possibilities and opportunities because, you know, now I know how to edit videos, audio. I know how to do so much more than I did before only because I've been creating my own projects that may or may not be seen, but I have now learned the skills that I can bring to other projects.
It's always just like a benefit. Should we make a movie? Yeah. my God. I'm so in. Let's do it in January when Alex goes to NYC and I'll come back. And then we'll do it like Central Park. Yep. Free everywhere. That's free. Yeah. Yeah. Perfect. All the parks. Yeah. All the parks. All the parks. That big one.
Shayla Tharp (28:36.526)
Yeah, that big one. That big one. You know, the big one? The big one that's in all the movies. That one. Amazing. There we go. I'm proud of us. Yeah. I'm proud of us, too. Well done, guys. Create your own shit.
