I was reading a Backstage article that suggests Pilot Season may be a thing of the past soon. I don't live in Los Angeles, but had begun making plans to go out there for a month or two at the beginning of next year to try for some auditions. Should I begin rethinking this plan?

Also, I have agency representation in my hometown of Minneapolis - but none in LA considering I don't live there. How do actors who travel to the city specifically for these auditions get seen without an LA agent? Are there some LA agents that will temporarily work with out of town talent?

Thanks!

Yes, there will definitely be a pilot season in 2009. (Assuming SAG doesn't strike!)

But there's absolutely no reason for you to come out to LA for pilot season. No one will be interested in seeing you. You have no representation and no LA TV credits. Think about it - if you have no TV credits, why would a network approve you for a TV pilot? The whole idea of "going to LA for pilot season" is a thing of the past. It doesn't work that way anymore.

The only exception would be kids or very young actors who have representation and bring something to the table.

Frankly, I don't understand why actors with no credits give so much thought to pilot season. You have to commit to a career, not a season. That means moving to NY or LA and starting to book mainstream credits that will make you more attractive to the people who cast these multi million dollar pilots.

Pilot season is very misunderstood so if any of you have any questions, sound off and I'll try my best to answer them.

Also, one of my agent friends wrote a book called "An Agent Tells All" which has an entire chapter on pilot season. It's a must read!

I think now they cast pilots all year long. My daughter had 4 pilot auditions this month!!

That wasn't my point. Pilots have been cast year around for over five years now. But the majority of mainstream pilots are usually cast during the conventional "pilot season" - which is January - April. Some people believe this will change because of the recent strike but as anyone on the inside knows, Hollywood doesn't really like change. So we'll see...

Secret Agent man...
Here, here!

I totally agree except for ONE point: the pilot season concept doesn't exist for kids either. And sadly, they one of the biggest targets for pilot season "scammers" because they *think* they can get discovered with no experience.

You might be interested in this article in relation to kids and pilot season:
http://www.bizparentz.org/thebizness/pilotseason.html

Bottom line: In the last "real" pilot season we had, there were 11 series regular roles for kids in the end. Of those, 10 were established kids, with serious resumes. Film leads, prior series regular roles. Just like adults, network wants to sign off on established kid talent, and with more than 20,000 kids in LA the talent pool is deep enough to get it.

By the age of 10, it is not uncommon to be sitting in the callback room with 20 kids who ALL have 6 years of union membership, a couple of series, a couple of film leads, and 5 - 10 guest star roles on their resume.

Just wanted to chime in that it is that different for kids than it is for adults.

Anne
BizParentz.com
P.S. LOVE this section of the message board, and I really appreciate you taking the time to moderate it. I know you must be busy, and you are doing a great service!