Entertainment Freelancers and the Entrepreneurial Mindset, Part 2

In a previous article about Entertainment Freelancers and the Entrepreneurial Mindset, we were introduced to Professor James Undercofler’s “Zones of Definition” for Arts Entrepreneurship:

Zone 1.a — Personal Entrepreneurship

Zone 1.b — Adding Brand to Zone 1.a

Zone 2.a — Making a Career for Oneself

Zone 2.b — Creating a New, but Recognizable Not-for-Profit Entity

Zone 3.a — Create a Recognizable, but New Not-for-Profit Entity with a dual Social and Artistic Purpose

Zone 3.b — Create a Recognizable, but New Not-for-Profit Entity with a Social Purpose

Zone 4.a — Create a Totally new Not-for-Profit Entity

Zone 4.b — Create a Totally New Commercial Entity

I added:

Zone 5 — Create a New, but Recognizable Commercial Entity

We will now go into more detail on how Zones 1.a, 1.b, 2.a and 5 can apply to Entertainment Freelancers.

Zone 1.a — Personal Entrepreneurship

This Zone contains the building blocks of any freelance career. As a Personal Entrepreneur, you need to accept that you are responsible for getting yourself work. It doesn’t matter if you have an agent or a manager or a friend that is a producer. Those folks may help, but it is not their ultimate job to ensure that you can pay your rent.

With an acceptance of that responsibility, you should shift your thinking about work from “someone needs to give me a job” to “I need to find opportunities that match my talents.” Next, you must refine your skills in “sales.” I put it in quotation marks because many folks may not immediately consider these skills to be “sales.” However, resume and cover letter writing, auditioning, interviewing, networking, etc. are how a freelancer sells his services. To complement these “sales” skills, the Personal Entrepreneur must also develop a basic understanding of accounting and finance. Since there is no guaranteed bi-monthly paycheck being direct deposited into your account, the Personal Entrepreneur needs to develop a clear financial plan that separates business expenses from personal expenses, plans for social security and tax obligations, and ensures that you will not become destitute if there is an unexpected change in this month’s cash flow.

Once you shift your mindset to be a Personal Entrepreneur vs. an employee or freelancer, then you are already steps ahead of people who fail to make the transition. It is what allows an artist to properly pursue a career vs. stumbling from job to job.

Zone 1.b — Adding Brand to Zone 1.a

Once you have accepted the mindset of a Personal Entrepreneur, you can start to focus on becoming more than a writer/actor/etc. looking for the next job. You can create and manage your personal brand. A brand takes the individual from simply being a participant in the “gig economy” to actually becoming a business that does not rely on others to create opportunity.

The first step in establishing a personal brand is to determine what you present to the world. This can be as simple as using your legal name, or it could involve something as complex as becoming a corporation. Deciding whether to incorporate or organize as a separate entity is a choice that can be heavily influenced by liability, taxes and other financial concerns. It is worth talking to a CPA, attorney and/or doing significantly more research to determine what makes sense for you.

Regardless of whether you use your legal name or create a company name, it is important to remember that details matter. For instance, if your name is John Doe, but everyone calls you Jack then you have to decide whether your brand will be “John Doe” or “Jack Doe.” You want the name to be consistent across all your professional communications and your non-private social media accounts. You also want the name to support the story that you are trying to tell about your brand. Are you a casual laid back brand, then maybe you go with Jack. Are you a serious professional that is analytical and detail oriented? Then maybe your true legal name, John, works better. Are you from another country and trying to decide whether to use the original spelling of your name or an Americanization? This also depends on the brand and persona that you are trying to project. If there is a benefit to being the exotic artist, then use the original, Étienne, but if you want to focus on your expertise regarding the American experience in the late 20th century then maybe choose Steve. Remember that your brand does not have to stay congruent with your personal communications, so your friends can still call you Étienne even if you present yourself as Steve. This is common practice in Hollywood where Robert De Niro is known as Bob, and Martin Scorsese is affectionately called Marty. There can be a small divide between a personal brand and a person. It just falls on the individual to maintain this divide and prevent a slip-up.

Once you have determined your brand, then don’t be shy about getting the name out in the world. If people don’t know what you do or that you are looking for opportunities, then they can’t recommend or hire you.

Zone 2.a — Making a Career for Oneself

This Zone is where you figure out how to include enough services in your offerings that a sustainable career is possible. Unfortunately, a lifelong career in the arts is difficult. In fact, the vast majority of SAG-AFTRA members make less than $20k a year through their acting. This means that to sustain their artistic endeavors they must supplement acting income with other things. This could be teaching classes, lecturing as an adjunct professor, working at a theatre or taking advantage of other skills in one’s toolbox. However, a modern arts entrepreneur needs to be open to multiple revenue streams and services. This zone is heavily dependent on your individual skill sets and career aspirations, but the key take away is congruent with what has been discussed above, be proactive and discard the employee mindset that tells you to wait for a job or paycheck. You have to look at everything around you and think about what opportunities exist and how can you take advantage of them.

Zone 5 — Create a New, but Recognizable Commercial Entity

This Zone is related to 2.a in that it can be a major asset in Making a Career for Oneself. Look at your daily life and determine how you can position yourself to run a company that offers more than just your individual services. For instance, a film director can start his own production company to both develop projects for himself while also having the company produce projects for others, a cinematographer can start an equipment rental business to profit from gear that would otherwise sit dormant, an actor could solicit his friends to help coach professionals that struggle with public speaking or presentations. The opportunities are endless, and you don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Also, remember that your company doesn’t have to be related to your artistic passion. For example, you could create an embroidery business that helps generate income while you pursue a career as an actor. If you can successfully craft a solution to someone’s problem, then you have found your first customer. Creating your own commercial entity is simply another way to use your skills, network and ideas help to support your career in entertainment.

The Zones discussed above are a simple introduction to how freelancers should change their viewpoint on work so that they can escape the reliance on someone else to support them. By removing the employee label and accepting that you are solely responsible for your own success, you can start to see the opportunities that are all around you.

Timothy Cubbison is the General Manager of Horseless Cowboy, a creative consultancy that helps bridge the gap between technology and entertainment. His credits include the casting, writing, performance capture and VO production of over 1 million lines of dialogue on 50+ video game and virtual reality titles.