The It Factor Productions Finding Fame Guide

FINDING

FA M E The insider’s guide to getting discovered, (finally).

As co-founder and CEO, I wanted to personally say Thank You for downloading this guide.

We consider it a privilege to play a small role today in helping you learn from real people in the industry, if you are interested in modeling, acting, songwriting, performing all of it. Please Enjoy!

To your success,

A LY C I A K A B A C K , C O - FO U N D ER A N D C EO

Being seen, being heard, and being discovered.

To make it in show business you need drive

Some of these people went to the best

and talent. Few people have the talent, and

schools, places like Julliard and Berkley,

even fewer have the drive, that fire-in-the

where just getting accepted is hard enough,

guts yearning to succeed no matter what it

let alone following through and taking the

takes.

classes, and paying the tuition. Now they’re bartending. It’s not fair; show business is just

Say you have that desire, say you work hard

not fair.

at your craft, and shape yourself into the best you can be—what next? For a new talent striving just to get that first job, it can feel like the only way into the industry is to be born into it, or to be discovered in a drug-

“Show business is not fair.”

store like Lana Turner was rumored to have done. The thing those two scenarios have in common, of course, is that they are abso-

Show business is a risk-everything business,

lutely out of your control. So the question is:

and if you decide to take that risk you are

what can you do? What do you control?

going to be living a very different life from your family and friends who might be

Walk into a bar in Times Square, and you are

accountants, or dental hygienists, or baris-

likely to find a bartender who studied acting,

tas. You have to be so quick, as in “jump off

or music, or who aspires to be a model.

a bridge and build a plane on the way down.”

“Building a career in this industry starts long before you get your big break.�

Nothing in school can ever prepare you for the entertainment industry; it is unlike any business out there.

The problem is, people desperately want to make it, and at the same time have no idea what to do. Frequently hopeful young people are pushed into buying marketing materials, even though they have no one to market to. Kids will tell me they have spent all of their money, and it turns out that money has gone to glamour photography that agents don’t want to see, to acting classes or modeling classes taught by people with no real connections in the industry, or to websites no one will ever visit. No one is coming to find you. I think of it as like sharpening crayons: these kids spend all of their time sharpening crayons, but they never get the chance to use them. They are using up all of their own resources, and they are not marketing themselves to anyone who can actually help them.

When casting directors and people who work with new talent talk about what they are looking for, they often speak about an almost indefinable quality. It’s been called “star quality,” or “stage presence,” and it’s even been called the “it” factor. For someone looking to break into the industry, it can be hard to know what exactly the “it” factor is. New talent can often feel lost in the crowd, and long for a way to set them apart, and make someone important take notice.

But breaking into the industry is not just about inborn talent or a special quality—it’s about having done the work to get to a point where you walk into an audition, and the casting director can tell just by looking that you have what it takes. It’s about honing and polishing your craft until a producer can tell from your demo tape that you’ve got a hit song, or learning to be so comfortable in front of a camera that a modeling agent picks you right out of an open call.

Building a career in the industry starts long before you get your big break—it starts with you, working every day to be ready when that big break comes.

Getting Discovered:

101

Personality really overrides everything else, and in an audition you have two or three minutes, tops.

Your job as an actor is to come in there and blow us away, not only with your talent, but with your personality. What I always say is: we have to love you as soon as you walk in the room. Before you even open your mouth we have to love you—that’s big personality. You can’t come in shy, or fumbling your words; you really have to have that big personality. I have met some actors along the way, in my journey, with astonishing personalities, and I know actors that have booked auditions, booked feature films, just based on personality alone. So, that overrides everything, absolutely.

With technology, and how fast the world is moving, everybody wants it yesterday, everybody wants it today, but guess what? Being discovered is not instant coffee. It’s not something you just brew up. I am working with a very famous male model right now, and he is wonderful, and he is talented, and he brings everything he has learned from modeling to the world. But he is in a rush, he wants everything to happen tomorrow, and while he does have tremendous instincts, he has

to develop further, because he is in a tremen-

in the studio. I want somebody who is commit-

dously competitive world, he is working with

ted to being an artist. Come back when that is

people from Stella Adler, and Yale, and from

the only thing you can do. It is a bumpy road,

Julliard, and he has no idea how competitive

and it is not a sprint, it is a marathon.

the world is out there, and he is going to get lost if he rushes it, he is really going to get

You have all these YouTube and Vine sensa-

lost.

tions, to where these people have millions of followers. And most of the time it’s because

If someone come to me and says “I really

they’re very talented. Case in point, this kid

want to sing,” I can’t make you an artist: you

King Bach. He is so funny, and he has all these

have to be an artist and come to me. Nobody

little compilations, and they’re all like fifteen

could make me a record executive; if you are

second clips, and they’re all funny, and this kid

an artist, then you will make yourself, every-

has millions of followers. He gets paid some-

thing you do will contribute that. You have to

thing like $10,000 a month, just to feature

come to me fully-formed, you have to come to

products. That’s where marketing is going

me as an artist. I am the facilitator, you are the

these days. These people who have these

artist. I can’t throw pixie dust on you and make

huge social media footprints, that’s power.

people love you: I need to hear music that is

Having the drive and passion is so very impor-

ready. Even if you’re a DJ, I need to feel your

tant, if you do not have the fire in your heart.

sweat and your DNA in the work that I am

You are just wasting your time and need to

listening to, the equity. When everybody else

find another field to work in.

is out and partying and getting high, you are

If you’re serious about this business, we can help.

Before deciding if you want our help, think about the following words: Imagine that tomorrow, you could be face-to-face

with

an

Academy

Award-winning director, talking about your ambitions and hearing his advice. Imagine you could talk directly with a casting director who works with some of the biggest names in Hollywood, and get his tips on auditioning. Imagine you could play your demo tape to the producer for a major record label, and get her immediate feedback. Imagine the casting agent for major make-up and clothing lines could look at your face, and tell you in that moment what kind of modeling you are best suited for. Would you do it? Would you be ready?

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H O W TO

Build relationships with people who matter Anyone can meet people; the question is how you meet someone who can help you.

When we first started we had to go out and build relationships.

VIP Talent Connect was started back in 2006 with just a simple idea to help talent meet people in the industry.

We would have never imagined in six years our events would have such

process, to make sure this is something

an amazing lineup of experts such as

they are serious about – this is not

“Demi Lovato” or ‘LL Cool J’ or the Vice

“Comic-Con.”

President of Universal Records.

Major

agents and casting directors choose to come to VIP because we allow only 125 of the top talent to meet with them. Each and every talent goes through an interview

“Players and Haters – How being the Best can Bring the Worst out in People”

Did we have individuals who didn’t

that idea is wanting something and doing

believe in us, of course, even a star like

something to make your “dream” happen

Demi Lovato have people online who will

are two different sides of the solution.

criticize her music or weight almost every day. Take a look at any celebrities twitter account or a video they post on “YouTube” or “Vine” and you will see what we mean.

“Some people when they are insecure about themselves need to attack those people or items they want or to be like.”

“Never worry about bad press: All that matters is if they spell your name right.”

– Kate Hudson So when you decide to travel down this road -always understand that is your duty to be above these comments and to educate those around you, pass the advice on, that is why all talent who interview with us: are given the chance to have

We have had our haters and always will

access to our online learning guides

just like any one who finds success. The

about breaking into the business. We give

difference is I think is for us we always

everyone a checklist of what to do; we

looked for the perfect talent in the begin-

find out where you are headed and help

ning and when someone was not the right

provide the “roadmap” to get you there.

fit we did not invest the time and resources to educate those people, to explain them what they could do to improve their talents.

Ice T’s favorite line is “Haters are going to

“See no two people in this business are alike. So you really need to know where you want to go – before anyone could help you.”

hate on you, no matter what” Our company was created for talent to When you have an opportunity of a

connect with some of the most powerful

lifetime it is difficult to lose it and not walk

people in the industry; to meet with

away feeling depressed or upset and

agents, casting directors, producers,

some people cannot take the blame

Grammy Award-Winning artists & Acad-

themselves so they lash out – “It is them,

emy Award-Winning directors, literally the

not me! I will be famous” – the issue with

top 35 people who can change your life.

Ready to start?

O U R IN T ER V IE W P R O CES S We will follow-up via email: once we have availability for interviews: we do have a tremendous amount of applicants – so please allow a few days. If we do not contact you, you may contact the office to check on when we might have openings.

V IP IN T ER V IE W CHECK L I ST Once you are scheduled:

We will host a Video Interview and chat for 30 to 45 minutes We’ll uncover your biggest struggles and what exactly is getting you stuck We’ll identify your most pressing needs and define some goals After learning more about you, we will schedule an additional follow-up interview and we will make a final decision on that day if you are accepted or not.

If you are ready… You’re in for the adventure ride of a lifetime!

We hope this guide provided you with some good information to help you find a starting point or at least a direction, feel free to start your own roadmap and if there is anyone in your life you feel could benefit from the information we provided please pass it on.

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If you’re the type of person who has to fulfill your dreams, you’ve gotta be resourceful to make sure you can do it.

V I N D I ES EL