Been thinking a lot about this subject of career longevity. As far as a career in entertainment goes, I'm at the beginning of my career. It takes a long time to get to the level where you really want to be. I'm talking about to work your way up to be on the short list of #1 guys - we'll say top 500 of IMDB meter ranking. Guys that writers write for, and top agencies fight for.
See, I've always understand that this acting career takes a long time. Sure, you could the lottery and book one audition and be a overnight success, but a) that is like hitting the lottery and b) I wouldn't want to. Can you imagine being thrust in the limelight with no true training, or understanding of what you are doing or did to get there? Lots of "overnight" success in this business usually does not happen overnight. I'm talking like 99.9% of it. It's after years of hustling and grinding it out, working your way up, studying your craft, getting to know the right people, working on some smaller projects, creating a good trustworthy reputation (I think this might be most key because 1-so many wacko's in this business and 2-people are investing tons of money into projects and you are spending VERY long hours with people on set to be nothing less than a GREAT person meaning kind, trustworthy, honest, etc is not going to work) you suddenly get a role that seems to of been so lucky to get but it's after not getting thousands of them before and then becoming an "overnight" success to everyone else, but that's just because they didn't know who you were before.
I've talked to a lot of people about this who have been in this situation and it's always the same. I've also seen this happen a lot. Guys grinding it out, probably started way before I did and invested a lot in terms of their career, making the rounds and then - boom, overnight they seemingly come into the public awareness from a project out of no where. From an early age I think I knew this, and I was not into the starving artist lifestyle. It didn't appeal to me. I thought I was too smart for that. I will probably get a lot of shit for that b/c it's not the "artist" way of thinking but I don't really care one bit. Would like to see any actor come to me after 10 years of struggling and being a bartender and seeing all his friends have this life and do these things and then question what they are doing, etc, etc, and then have to take all these crap acting jobs just for money and not have the career he/she wanted anyway. I like to hedge my bets. I like a sure thing....or as sure as you can get.
I was ready for this career to take 5, 10, or 15 years if need be. If never "happened" then at least I was set up anyway and was going to ENJOY it (this is a topic I will get to in my next blog), but the sure thing was that I was going to be able to always pursue this dream. That was a sure thing. Whether I "made it" or not, and that is very subjective anyway, was always up in the air. I remember talking to Mark Wahlberg early in my career and he said, we'll the 5 year plan is to be bi-coastal...when I asked him about going to NYC or LA. So I was about 25 years old at the time and already knew it was going to take a bit. Here's a pic of us, when I was working with him for a few years, actually having the conversation...
I may of actually been bigger than him in this pic... I was a bit of a meat-head back then... Oh, and he's not taller than me I was just down the hill a bit... just wanted to clear that one up!
I knew that if I wasn't already an established actor in my 30's (meaning realistically making a good living and steadily working) I was not going to want to be up til 4 or 5 am bartending. I had to much respect for myself to do that. So I started thinking of good jobs that people had as careers already and trying to match up the most flexible one. The first I immediately thought about when talking to my uncle was to be a real estate agent. He had his real estate license and made like 5k on a Saturday afternoon for walking someone into a house basically. I thought I could do that so I did it. I got my license right after college and started doing it right when I got to NYC as well. It's the absolute most flexible job you could have and most lucrative at the same time, (Although I think the most flexible with a guarantee of some income is being a Lyft or Uber driver which I probably would have done had they been invented when I first came to NYC) The only problem with real estate is if you don't do a deal you don't get paid - it's 100% commission based but the money you can make is substantial. This drove me nuts for awhile, but in NYC I was lucky enough to make well over 6-figures just renting apartments out part time, never not being able to make an audition- and since most people work day jobs that means your showing at night anyway but not working til 4 am just 8pm or so. Even more so if something does pop up usually you can reschedule the appt until the next evening.
Then, even better I decided to become a broker/owner and saw the value in not having to worry about doing a deal but having agent's working under you doing deals and you getting a piece of the commission to the house. This is the website for my real estate company Prestige Properties www.prestigepropertygrp.com .
BOOM!
I also bought a few properties after college which has turned out to be an amazing venture. If any actors are reading this and are able to store away some money and buy and investment property -DO IT. It is building you equity for the long term and could make you money right now in right market. For instance, I live in Hoboken, NJ minutes from Manhattan, however I bought a house last year for 40k down (145k purchase price) and I pay $1000 mortgage a month but make $2100 a month in rent that is $1100 in my pocket and also when I pay that $1000 that essentially the tenants pay it goes towards my equity of paying principle down to having eventually no mortgage or when I sell it I don't owe anything. Not to mention big tax write-offs for depreciation and also the property itself usually appreciates in value over years for the most part. Win-Win-Win-Win. Boom.
In another avenue of creating passive income for myself I've stumbled across an online course that teaches you how to actually create a physical product and learn to sell it on the biggest online marketplace in the world - I love the idea of making money in your sleep. So that is another venture I'm trying. I'm not making a lot but at least its fun, rewarding, and there's room to grow. Here's the link to the first product I ever made: Ice Ball Maker. It was a top seller. It wasn't about finding the "perfect" product. I was just willing to try. Now I have a few other products lined up as well...
Click picture and buy one for yourself or as a gift through Amazon.com!
See for me - I was always about setting myself up. I never listened to anyone who said you couldn't do it my way. I was under the belief that you could be a good business man but also a good artist as well. Just had to train and work at both. Can't be working on being creative 24 hours a day just like you can't be doing business 24 hours a day. Time and place for everything. I just heard a podcast the other day that reconfirmed this idea for me. It was a guy named Tim Ferris, the author of the 4-hour workweek, interviewing Arnold Schwarzenegger - who was under this same mentality and was actually a milionnaire real estate property holder before ever hitting it big as an actor. Now that is what I'm talking about. I have four investment properties that I've bought since graduating college and make me money every month.
I think I may write a book on this subject sometime.