You just booked a job, whether it’s your 1st or your 800th, the excitement you feel when you get the news never goes away (if it has – check your pulse or maybe think about making a career change). So you’re thrilled, you’re elated, and you want to tell your family, your friends, your dentist, and the rest of the world so they can share in your excitement! But should you? The short answer is “NO!” The long answer is you probably shouldn’t tell anyone, for a myriad of reasons, but if you’re going to, then you need to be careful about it.
Here are some reasons you should keep mum on that exciting new job:
1. Confidentiality
Many bookings come with a confidentiality agreement, especially the high-profile ones! Telling people about the job and posting it on social media is a breach of this agreement. It can get you into trouble. At best you may be fired from the job. At worst you may be sued or blacklisted in the industry. Don’t assume however, that just because you haven’t signed an agreement yet or don’t have to sign one, that you have cart blanche to share your good news. Any time you share booking information, you run the risk of losing the job and/or sullying your reputation.
2. Failure to Launch
If you’ve been an actor for some time now, then you know just how fickle the market can be. Receiving news that you’ve booked a job is not the same thing as having a signed contract in place. Bookings fall through more often than you’d imagine for any number of reasons. Not the least of which is that you could end up being injured or sick or take a different, more high-profile or higher-paying gig (remember don’t do this often, if at all – see my post “Should I Ever Turn Down a Role and Why? The Top 5 Reasons”). If your booking is through an agent, you will usually get some sort of cancellation pay, which is a great consolation. But this cancellation pay isn’t something you can proudly show off to all the people you’ve told about your booking. When you share the news of a booking prematurely, you run the risk of looking like a liar (there’s no proof of the job, so you must have made it up) or of just feeling embarrassed when people ask you about the job later and you have to tell them it’s not happening. I’ve made this mistake and definitely felt dumb when I had to explain, “Oh yeah, that fell through.”
3. Hurt Feelings
Sharing your bookings can be so much fun; you’re excited and your friends are happy for you! Except when they’re not. There are times when you’ve gone to auditions with a friend or saw a friend at an audition, and you were up for the same role. If you know that this particular friend would be really hurt by finding out that you booked the job instead of them, it may not hurt to keep this one to yourself. That said, if you have a friend like this, who is unsupportive and always seems outwardly jealous when you book a job, you may want to consider ending the friendship. It’s hard not to get jealous when things are going really well for your friends and you feel like you’re treading water. I’m a big believer in supporting each other always though, especially when you’re feeling a bit jealous. It builds character and tends to help squash that Jealousy Monster. Being jealous from time to time is only natural, it’s what you do with your jealousy that ultimately matters.
4. Braggasaurus
If you share every single time you book a job (i.e. – more than 2-3 times a week), instead of looking like you’re super in-demand and having fun, you can come off as a Braggasaurus. We all know that one actor who starts every conversation by telling you about “ALL” their new credits without any prompting from you or anyone else. Can you say obnoxious!?! This is often a rookie mistake. Yep, you guessed it, when I first started acting, I was a bit of a Braggasaurus. I was just so excited and happy that I didn’t take a moment to consider that I was also being annoying.
So you now know several reasons why sharing that booking information on Facebook, Twitter, or wherever may not always be the best idea. You still want to share it though don’t you? Yeah, me too sometimes! LOL! So how do you do it without ruffling any feathers or losing the booking you’re so excited about in the first place?
A. Wait
I know this isn’t quite what you had in mind, but… If you can... wait until you have the signed contract in your hand or until the job is over and it’s been officially released to the public. This will always be your safest bet! If you did sign a confidentiality agreement, be sure to double-check that it is now safe (legally speaking) to talk about the job.
B. Be Vague
Simply post and tell people that you “Booked a Job,” or "Booked a (insert job type here – commercial, industrial, etc.)," and that details will follow when you are able to say more. This way you are in no way identifying the job, which means – you can’t be fired for outing the company that has hired you and you don’t have to explain anything later if the job falls through. I often use this method now.
C. Share Away
If you are absolutely sure that the company who booked you won’t mind and you’re in no way concerned about any of the other reasons “not to post,” then share away! Hopefully there won’t be any repercussions and your friends and fans will rejoice with you. As long as you haven’t overshared your welcome that is!
Next Week: 48 Hour Film Project: What to Expect
Here are some reasons you should keep mum on that exciting new job:
1. Confidentiality
Many bookings come with a confidentiality agreement, especially the high-profile ones! Telling people about the job and posting it on social media is a breach of this agreement. It can get you into trouble. At best you may be fired from the job. At worst you may be sued or blacklisted in the industry. Don’t assume however, that just because you haven’t signed an agreement yet or don’t have to sign one, that you have cart blanche to share your good news. Any time you share booking information, you run the risk of losing the job and/or sullying your reputation.
2. Failure to Launch
If you’ve been an actor for some time now, then you know just how fickle the market can be. Receiving news that you’ve booked a job is not the same thing as having a signed contract in place. Bookings fall through more often than you’d imagine for any number of reasons. Not the least of which is that you could end up being injured or sick or take a different, more high-profile or higher-paying gig (remember don’t do this often, if at all – see my post “Should I Ever Turn Down a Role and Why? The Top 5 Reasons”). If your booking is through an agent, you will usually get some sort of cancellation pay, which is a great consolation. But this cancellation pay isn’t something you can proudly show off to all the people you’ve told about your booking. When you share the news of a booking prematurely, you run the risk of looking like a liar (there’s no proof of the job, so you must have made it up) or of just feeling embarrassed when people ask you about the job later and you have to tell them it’s not happening. I’ve made this mistake and definitely felt dumb when I had to explain, “Oh yeah, that fell through.”
3. Hurt Feelings
Sharing your bookings can be so much fun; you’re excited and your friends are happy for you! Except when they’re not. There are times when you’ve gone to auditions with a friend or saw a friend at an audition, and you were up for the same role. If you know that this particular friend would be really hurt by finding out that you booked the job instead of them, it may not hurt to keep this one to yourself. That said, if you have a friend like this, who is unsupportive and always seems outwardly jealous when you book a job, you may want to consider ending the friendship. It’s hard not to get jealous when things are going really well for your friends and you feel like you’re treading water. I’m a big believer in supporting each other always though, especially when you’re feeling a bit jealous. It builds character and tends to help squash that Jealousy Monster. Being jealous from time to time is only natural, it’s what you do with your jealousy that ultimately matters.
4. Braggasaurus
If you share every single time you book a job (i.e. – more than 2-3 times a week), instead of looking like you’re super in-demand and having fun, you can come off as a Braggasaurus. We all know that one actor who starts every conversation by telling you about “ALL” their new credits without any prompting from you or anyone else. Can you say obnoxious!?! This is often a rookie mistake. Yep, you guessed it, when I first started acting, I was a bit of a Braggasaurus. I was just so excited and happy that I didn’t take a moment to consider that I was also being annoying.
So you now know several reasons why sharing that booking information on Facebook, Twitter, or wherever may not always be the best idea. You still want to share it though don’t you? Yeah, me too sometimes! LOL! So how do you do it without ruffling any feathers or losing the booking you’re so excited about in the first place?
A. Wait
I know this isn’t quite what you had in mind, but… If you can... wait until you have the signed contract in your hand or until the job is over and it’s been officially released to the public. This will always be your safest bet! If you did sign a confidentiality agreement, be sure to double-check that it is now safe (legally speaking) to talk about the job.
B. Be Vague
Simply post and tell people that you “Booked a Job,” or "Booked a (insert job type here – commercial, industrial, etc.)," and that details will follow when you are able to say more. This way you are in no way identifying the job, which means – you can’t be fired for outing the company that has hired you and you don’t have to explain anything later if the job falls through. I often use this method now.
C. Share Away
If you are absolutely sure that the company who booked you won’t mind and you’re in no way concerned about any of the other reasons “not to post,” then share away! Hopefully there won’t be any repercussions and your friends and fans will rejoice with you. As long as you haven’t overshared your welcome that is!
Next Week: 48 Hour Film Project: What to Expect
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