ON ACTING AND AUTHORING
YESTERDAY, I posted on Writing and Authoring. Today I’d like to talk a bit about Acting, a late-in-life career for me. It began with the opportunity of playing the lead role in the K. Simmons Production of STATIC (2021) — https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15420946 — and supporting actor roles in the Kurt Ken Kaminaka Production of THE PERFECT ILLUSION (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt18690318) as well as the upcoming films THE MALTESE COLLECTION (https://ksmediagroupinc.com/maltese-c...), FINDING KATE (https://ksmediagroupinc.com/finding-kate) and the 2 Liters’ Shady Films Production of MOCOS (https://janik.yolasite.com/mocos.php).
Acting and authoring (I have authored and published over 60 books and articles, and am the recipient of eight literary awards– https://janik.yolasite.com/janik.php) share several attributes, the most prominent in my opinion being authentically the putting oneself in another’s shoes. That attribute, which I call “true” empathy to distinguish it from mere “stated” empathy, is, again in my opin, one of the key, guiding traits of humanism. They differ in that the characters in books, ebooks and audiobooks are dimensionally constrained compared to movie and film characters. Still, if authoring is a subset of acting in general, it isn’t in detail. That is, being a good actor doesn’t mean one will be a good author and vice versa. Personally, I find acting particularly fulfilling, but, at the same time, would never give up my authoring.
They are also both similar and different regarding the business of acting and authoring. In both, reader/viewer quality is paramount, and name-and-book-or-movie title recognition is singularly important. Both have a complex business structure that can make “breaking into the field” especially difficult. A history of quality, current name/title recognition (often translating to having at least a million lifetime copies sold), is almost a requirement to join an established, traditional publisher or production company. Producing a theater-quality movie/film, however, is orders of magnitude times more expensive an investment (I would have to say gamble) both for the producer and actor, than publishing a good book. And once “broken in,” the process only then truly begins with the need to continue to author books or appear in films, each time with higher earning expectations.
When asked if I would recommend authoring or acting, I often remind that “many are called, but few are chosen.” Like other humanities, professional authoring and acting success stories are few and far between. One actor-friend likened acting to going to Las Vegas to make money. There is, however, something uniquely human about the humanities that can be strongly compelling, whether one remains an amateur writer or actor, or “goes professional.” If the latter, I strongly recommend a second, third or fourth career to consistently “pay the bills.” In my case, my second career has been dancing, silly boy that I am.
The Edge of Madness
#DanielSJanik #RaymondGaynor #GaryMartine #author #actor #book #ebook #audiobook #movie #film #acting #STATIC #ThePerfectIllusion #TheMalteseCollection #FindingKate #KSimmons #Kurt Ken Kaminaka #2 Liter’s Shady Films #humanities #gamble #professional
Acting and authoring (I have authored and published over 60 books and articles, and am the recipient of eight literary awards– https://janik.yolasite.com/janik.php) share several attributes, the most prominent in my opinion being authentically the putting oneself in another’s shoes. That attribute, which I call “true” empathy to distinguish it from mere “stated” empathy, is, again in my opin, one of the key, guiding traits of humanism. They differ in that the characters in books, ebooks and audiobooks are dimensionally constrained compared to movie and film characters. Still, if authoring is a subset of acting in general, it isn’t in detail. That is, being a good actor doesn’t mean one will be a good author and vice versa. Personally, I find acting particularly fulfilling, but, at the same time, would never give up my authoring.
They are also both similar and different regarding the business of acting and authoring. In both, reader/viewer quality is paramount, and name-and-book-or-movie title recognition is singularly important. Both have a complex business structure that can make “breaking into the field” especially difficult. A history of quality, current name/title recognition (often translating to having at least a million lifetime copies sold), is almost a requirement to join an established, traditional publisher or production company. Producing a theater-quality movie/film, however, is orders of magnitude times more expensive an investment (I would have to say gamble) both for the producer and actor, than publishing a good book. And once “broken in,” the process only then truly begins with the need to continue to author books or appear in films, each time with higher earning expectations.
When asked if I would recommend authoring or acting, I often remind that “many are called, but few are chosen.” Like other humanities, professional authoring and acting success stories are few and far between. One actor-friend likened acting to going to Las Vegas to make money. There is, however, something uniquely human about the humanities that can be strongly compelling, whether one remains an amateur writer or actor, or “goes professional.” If the latter, I strongly recommend a second, third or fourth career to consistently “pay the bills.” In my case, my second career has been dancing, silly boy that I am.
The Edge of Madness
#DanielSJanik #RaymondGaynor #GaryMartine #author #actor #book #ebook #audiobook #movie #film #acting #STATIC #ThePerfectIllusion #TheMalteseCollection #FindingKate #KSimmons #Kurt Ken Kaminaka #2 Liter’s Shady Films #humanities #gamble #professional
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