Almost
Certainly
Not.

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If you’re looking at your lack of auditions over the last 2 months with the very real feeling that the industry en masse has finally sussed you out and pigeonholed you for disposal, nearly every actor I’ve spoken to has confirmed the following:

it’s a friggin wasteland out there.

I’ve had 2 auditions in the last 2 months. This is low.

I feel like this absence of auditions comes around this time every year. But that does not make it any less unnerving. Nor does it help me prepare better for it. So this week I went on a bit of a rampage to find out exactly why January/February, or Janfeb as it thusforth shall be known, sucks so friggin hard.

But first, here’s baba o’reilly to keep you company on the journey

Baba O’Riley – Remastered 20… The Who PREVIEW   ​

Now, let’s talk about what’s been happening over the last 2 months:

1. The Industry shuts down over Xmas and doesn’t gear back up until mid-Jan

Oui, agents are back sitting at their desks at the start of Jan but it takes Production a while to get back into the swing of things. This means projects won’t look to casting for a few weeks after that.

This season’s TV projects get greenlit in late Autumn, they’ll then slow down over Xmas and won’t get to casting until Janfeb to be prepped and sent out in March/April.

Here’s a scientific timeline of what that looks like:

2. Theatre No-Man’s-Land

2 slightly different things are happening in theatre world:

• A huge amount of energy goes into the big, revenue generating Xmas shows. In January, as the shows close, Production are focused on post-mortems and, realistically, taking a break before the next onslaught.
• This year’s Spring shows were cast last autumn and the Summer shows will probably be casting from March onwards, this leaves Janfeb to become a super deadzone of theatre casting.

3. We depend on the US

85-86% of our industry is paid for by the US.

Which means – when they shut down. We shut down.

Many studios make the decision that rather than pay people through a broken up period – and losing momentum across November’s Thanksgiving and the December holidays – they’ll say

Once again this means auditions won’t trickle down to little old us until around March-ish.

4. A perfect storm of Budget Cuts

Post-pandemic, the streamers threw all of the money at making new shows to win the battle of the punters.

600 scripted original shows were made in the US in 2022 up from 389 in 2014.

And then their model changed.

They moved away from the “get more customers no matter the cost” business model to the “shit we need to stop losing so much f*ckng money” model.

Cancellations. Cuts. Commiserations.

It’s estimated around only around 400 shows were made in 202.

Which means, we’re back to 2014 numbers.

Our terrestrial channels rely on US streamers and big networks to co-produce their shows + with fewer people watching terrestrial all spells a big reduction in projects being greenlit.

Fewer projects to be cast in.

Resulting in this Janfeb feeling even bleaker than usual.

5. Daylight

This one’s bonkers.

If you work in film and tv – the reason why you are probably not in work right now is because there are far less projects shooting over Janfeb, not because of the xmas slow down but because of the amount of light in the sky.

January Useable Daylight: approx 7hrs

June Useable Daylight: approx 15.5hrs

Crews are contracted to work 10hr days. If producers can only get 7hrs of filming from them, instead of 9 or 10 if they waited until mid-March, the economics don’t really work out.

If you’re in a period drama that has around 40% of its scenes outside, shooting over Janfeb that will cost you man hours that you don’t see on film.

Not to mention the UK’s glorious Janfeb weather…

Iceland has lovely scenery sure, but producers also love unlimited daylight.

What does this mean?

You are not broken. And this is not in anyway your fault.

You have not been blacklisted.

You are not about to be dropped by your agent.

Nor do you need to find someone else to rep you (at least not for this reason)

You will audition again, it’s just that this Janfeb period of time is shit show everywhere –

but you can use this knowledge to your advantage:

Next year

• Book a friggin holiday for Janfeb.
  ​Tell your agents to hold all your auditions – spoiler: there won’t be many that come through anyway.
• Relax for proper – like proper proper. give yourself a break from the hustle.
• Earmark this period as a good time to build your other income streams using your skills to make you less reliant on the “wait until they allow me to act” industry or use the time to make your own work.
• But mainly relax. You deserve it.

​

See you later Janfeb.

See you fkn later.

Talked to an actor who’s worried about Janfeb related issues? They might find this newsletter useful: ​sixfigureactor.net​ Share Reader Win This week I went to see reader Lizzie’s understudy run. And oh man, it was sensational. 2 things here: Huge well done Lizzie – you were awesome. If you want to see a West End show but can’t afford tickets (me) or are sick of sitting in the gods (me) find out when the understudy run is and then go watch that – not only is it free, and there is seating where you can actually see the actors – and the actors are so friggin good. There is something electric in the air – it’s like you are watching the show on its opening night. ​ ​If there is something you want to see and haven’t been, find out when its understudy run is and get yourself there. ​ And thank you so much to new readers Lucy, Maggy and Neve for your thoughtful, insightful replies – it’s really one of the best parts of my day reading and replying to you. Can’t wait to hear more! Audiobooks I have been asked about this a few times and so it’s time for me to finally get my shit together and do something about it: In April, I’ll be helping a small cohort of actors do what I did and set up their own Narrate Audiobooks From Your Bedroom business. I haven’t ironed out all the details yet, but if this sounds like something you’d be interested or you want to know more/have any questions, click below and I’ll send you some more details about it in the next week or so. ​ I’m Interested! You The last few months have been tricky. But What you’re doing is incredible. You’ve chosen to create a career out of your art. Very few people have the courage to choose that. I hope this weeks letter has helped bring some clarity as to why things have been so hard and quiet lately (once again, and I cant repeat this enough – it’s not you). Have a great week. If you have any questions or thoughts – just reply to this email – I always love to hear how you’re finding the newsletter (any and all feedback welcome). You’re awesome. A x P.s. Where have you always wanted to go? Thinking about your Janfeb ’27 holiday. Not to sound like a well meaning grandparent but if you put aside £50 every month starting now – you’ll have around £500 to blow on pina coladas. P.p.p.s If you have a moment and enjoy clicking things – let me know how I’m doing 👇

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