This was a letter I wrote to a friend of a friend who is about to graduate high school and wants to be an actress. She is talented enough to get into AMDA, but couldn't afford to go.
So you can't afford to pay for your school. As an actor you need to realize that this is the first in a long long line of disappointments and denials. even successful actors hear "No" or "You can't" a thousand times more than they hear "You got the part" - The hardest aspect of the job - isn't acting, it is withstanding rejection and other pitfalls. When I first moved to LA someone told me that every "overnight success" is ten years in the making.
Take heart there are always alternatives.
The best part about school is that it is a relatively stress free environment that is structured to make you learn. Finding a play or film to act in is easier in an educational setting than the real world. Networking is easier. And there is Homework - Are you really going to read a biography of Bertolt Brecht on your own instead of watching TV? What if you have a paper due on said book? The point is that education sets up incentives that real life doesn't. And a degree from a good school will unlock doors and give you opportunities that will otherwise be closed to you.
And there are plenty of better places than AMDA. I would hate to break it to AMDA but studying only musical theater and dance is really limiting for someone trying to enter a contemporary entertainment industry. If you've got good grades USC, NYU, Cal Arts, UC Irvine, Southern Oregon Uni... all have good acting programs and have carry more academic weight than AMDA does. If you don't have good grades, there are community colleges that you can use to get into the better schools.
The other alternative is not going to school - Speaking as someone about to finish a masters in screenwriting that will cost me over $100,000, sometimes the schooling can be a hinderance to success. I say will cost me because the majority of that 100 grand I borrowed (student loans). For the next 30 years, I will be paying about 800 dollars a month for this education. That is on top of rent and bills and everything else. This makes it hard to take time off do other things that could further a career in entertainment or other life goals for that matter. Despite all the great promotional material, and other things these schools say - No School (not even the best school in the world) guarantees a job or a the part of your life in a show that'll make you famous/rich/successful.
If you want to be an actor - move to LA or NYC get a job with a flexible schedule and start doing any jobs that will get you on set. (Production Assistant, Extra) you can find these online with a quick search. Volunteer at places where you will meet other actors, writers, producers, directors, and other creative folks. Buy some books (or better yet get a library card and borrow the books) on acting, improv, play scripts, tv scripts, movie scripts - read as much as you can. Take classes in improv (UCB, Second City, Groundlings) or acting (ask around - private teachers can be shady). There's nothing like practical experience. Stay away from credit cards, embrace a thrifty life style, and realize that success (whatever that word might mean to you) will take a longer than you think.
And if you decide at some point you want to go back to school, or do something else- it will ALWAYS be an option. The time to take chances and make mistakes is when you are young.
This is just my epic 2 cents. I wish you the best of broken legs as you decide your future.
So you can't afford to pay for your school. As an actor you need to realize that this is the first in a long long line of disappointments and denials. even successful actors hear "No" or "You can't" a thousand times more than they hear "You got the part" - The hardest aspect of the job - isn't acting, it is withstanding rejection and other pitfalls. When I first moved to LA someone told me that every "overnight success" is ten years in the making.
Take heart there are always alternatives.
The best part about school is that it is a relatively stress free environment that is structured to make you learn. Finding a play or film to act in is easier in an educational setting than the real world. Networking is easier. And there is Homework - Are you really going to read a biography of Bertolt Brecht on your own instead of watching TV? What if you have a paper due on said book? The point is that education sets up incentives that real life doesn't. And a degree from a good school will unlock doors and give you opportunities that will otherwise be closed to you.
And there are plenty of better places than AMDA. I would hate to break it to AMDA but studying only musical theater and dance is really limiting for someone trying to enter a contemporary entertainment industry. If you've got good grades USC, NYU, Cal Arts, UC Irvine, Southern Oregon Uni... all have good acting programs and have carry more academic weight than AMDA does. If you don't have good grades, there are community colleges that you can use to get into the better schools.
The other alternative is not going to school - Speaking as someone about to finish a masters in screenwriting that will cost me over $100,000, sometimes the schooling can be a hinderance to success. I say will cost me because the majority of that 100 grand I borrowed (student loans). For the next 30 years, I will be paying about 800 dollars a month for this education. That is on top of rent and bills and everything else. This makes it hard to take time off do other things that could further a career in entertainment or other life goals for that matter. Despite all the great promotional material, and other things these schools say - No School (not even the best school in the world) guarantees a job or a the part of your life in a show that'll make you famous/rich/successful.
If you want to be an actor - move to LA or NYC get a job with a flexible schedule and start doing any jobs that will get you on set. (Production Assistant, Extra) you can find these online with a quick search. Volunteer at places where you will meet other actors, writers, producers, directors, and other creative folks. Buy some books (or better yet get a library card and borrow the books) on acting, improv, play scripts, tv scripts, movie scripts - read as much as you can. Take classes in improv (UCB, Second City, Groundlings) or acting (ask around - private teachers can be shady). There's nothing like practical experience. Stay away from credit cards, embrace a thrifty life style, and realize that success (whatever that word might mean to you) will take a longer than you think.
And if you decide at some point you want to go back to school, or do something else- it will ALWAYS be an option. The time to take chances and make mistakes is when you are young.
This is just my epic 2 cents. I wish you the best of broken legs as you decide your future.
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