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Media & Strategy · MS elective · 3 credit hours · 16 sessions

The Business of Performing Arts

Talent gets you in the door; business keeps you there. This “Survival Guide” course equips performers and directors with the entrepreneurial skills to navigate the entertainment industry. Students will learn how to secure representation (Agents/Managers), understand union contracts, manage their finances as freelancers, and market their personal brand effectively.

§ 01 By the end you can
  1. Understand the Industry Ecosystem: Casting Directors, Agents, and Managers
  2. Prepare professional marketing materials: Headshots, Resumes, and Showreels
  3. Navigate Unions (Equity/SAG-AFTRA equivalents) and standard contracts
  4. Manage "The Business of You": Taxes, Invoicing, and Side Hustles
  5. Develop networking strategies and audition etiquette
§ 02 Sixteen sessions

The whole semester.

  1. 01The Industry Landscape: Who is Who?
  2. 02The Actor's Toolkit: Headshots & Resumes
  3. 03The Demo Reel & Website
  4. 04Finding Representation: Agents vs. Managers
  5. 05The Casting Process: Breakdown Services
  6. 06Audition Technique: In-Room vs. Self-Tape
  7. 07Networking: Festivals, Mixers, & Workshops
  8. 08 · MidtermMidterm Examination
  9. 09Contracts & Deal Memos: What to sign
  10. 10Unions & Guilds: Benefits & Rules
  11. 11Financial Literacy for Freelancers
  12. 12Self-Producing: Grant Writing & Crowdfunding
  13. 13Social Media & Personal Branding
  14. 14Mental Health & Handling Rejection
  15. 15Career Longevity & Pivoting
  16. 16Final Project: The Career 5-Year Plan

Midterm around session 8. Final project briefed at session 8 or 9 and developed in stages until the juries.

§ 03 Final project

Final Project: The Career 5-Year Plan

How it’s judged

Recommended reading
  1. Self-Management for Actors by Bonnie Gillespie
  2. The Business of Acting by Brad Lemack
  3. Acting as a Business by Brian O'Neil
  4. Ask an Agent by Margaret Emory
  5. Create Your Own Career in the Arts (Grant writing context)
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