Recently I had someone drop out of a project with me that was going to help further my career...or at least I had hoped that's what it was going to do. We had been working for a few months...negotiating and it seemed like a solid deal. We were moving forward...slowly...but surely. Just last week they decided to cancel the deal. I'm not trying to put this person out in the open because I couldn't care less. What's done is done. The question that I'm asking is: are some things just better off when you do them yourself. You have a better grasp of your vision, goal and how smoothly you'd like to run things. You can leave out the middle man and save money. Yes?
In this business as an entertainer, we have to be multi-faceted. We have to be great performers. We have to understand how to brand ourselves, schedule auditions, manage a job. We have to network and make time for a decent social life. We trust people like agents and/or businesses skilled in their field to help us get to where we need to go.
Thus, already with enough on our plates, we trust these people to get tasks done and when they are not completed efficiently we are left with...well really nothing to say. These instances can leave us hopeless because we constantly hear that there are snakes hiding in the grass just waiting to take advantage of those of us that do not have the time or funds to hire the "BEST" person for the job. We settle. But ultimately when it comes to our careers I suppose that we should never settle. I suppose that we should do our best if we want great results to make time for our careers by figuring out how to do things on our own.
Frankly, I don't want to leave my work in the hands of someone else. Frankly, I'd like to know that if I leave a task for someone and trust them to follow through that it's going to get done. Am I naive? I like to give people the benefit of the doubt but will I just end up kicking myself at the end of the day?
When I started this project (and this is what happens when I start a lot of things) I became paranoid and thought that maybe I should try it myself first. I've been trying not to stretch myself so thin. Maybe I should trust my instincts next time. Only I know what's best for me. RIGHT?
Here's a book on Self-Management for Actors that might make life a bit easier if you haven't yet found an agent/manager to do the dirty work for you OR even if you do have one.
Have a look:http://www.amazon.com/Self-Management-Actors-Getting-Down-Business/dp/0972301984
