Book Review: The Savvy Actor Career Manual
August 19, 2010 by Lance Carter
Filed under Acting Advice Columns
The Savvy Actor Career Manual bills itself as ‘The Most Comprehensive Actor’s Business Guide Ever’ and while that’s a pretty big claim, I have to say if it isn’t, it gets pretty close.
It’s written by Jodie Bentley and Kevin Urban, both actors themselves so you know this isn’t some dreck that someone is trying to peddle to gullible actors. They live this manual and have seen results. And plus, after reading this, they truly want you to succeed.
The manual comes in a big 3-ring binder with tabs to sort out the 8 sections; Long Term Vision, Goals, Branding, Marketing and 4 others. Each section goes deep into helping you create your business.
Since it’s also a workbook, it also comes complete with spreadsheets, charts, sample cover letters and more (all of which you can also download to use and re-use).
At the beginning, the idea is for you to start thinking of acting as a business (which if you’re not already, you should). So, they begin with helping you create a long-term vision. They have self-evaluations, milestones (from 6 months to 20 years) that you write down in detail. After that, they make you promise – in your own declaration – that you will follow what you have just written.
