We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kevin E. West. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kevin E. below.

Kevin E., thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

The idea of ‘making a living’ (ie: pay all of your bills) purely from acting or other type of performance art seems logical and flows easily out of our mouths. However, the reality of accomplishing it, becomes much more difficult from the second we ‘decide’ to try and achieve it. I started out doing Stand-up and, simultaneously, live paid improv work. I made all of the standard steps of getting agents, auditions, etc. and slowly a career began to emerge in mostly episodic hour drama television which has sustained me, until recently. Ironically, per the current SAG-AFTRA strike the streaming services changed casting a lot and 2013-2023 has been a unique challenge as a caucasian male if you’re not a major star. Still, I feel the MOST important moment in that journey per your question is what I call ‘the tweener time’. What I mean is, IF you have not suddenly become a Series Regular and are making $30-50k per week, but you’re auditioning activity keeps you very busy and you’re occasionally booking work you’re hustling your butt off. That is the ‘Tweener’ time you’re super crazy busy and yet your return of total compensation/income is NOT quite YET paying all of your bills. THAT, to me, is the most difficult part of the journey to earning a full-time living from your creative work…is having to still work to pay your bills while working as an actor but not yet being able to fully pay your bills. This can be a difficult emotional SPLIT of focus.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Like many young kids I started out wanting to be a professional athlete. The great value in that is learning to handle defeat as well as building a terrific work-ethic especially if you have solid athletic skills, and I did, I was an All-Star baseball player and the #1 golfer of my High-School team. However, life likes to hand us all difficult ‘home situations’ sometimes and we have to pivot off of those dreams and create a new one. Since I was always kind of a ‘Class clown’ going into the performing arts was a somewhat natural transition albeit I was a small-rural town Tennessee lad. I raised the money, as I did not come from any, to attend and compete in what was then called M.A.A.I. which is today’s version I.M.T.A. The competition was held at the Waldorf-Astoria in Manhattan and there were 3 categories; Fashion, Runway & Commercial. Well, my height and face really only gave me a chance in the Commercial Competition. I wrote and created my own 30-second commercial and I WON it beating out about 500 actors from all over the U.S. which led to lots of agent meetings and such. That was the beginning of my career. Being from TN, I didn’t jump to NY or L.A. rather I started in Atlanta long before it was the actor marketplace it is today.

I had a fully written out 2-year plan, booked several jobs, and joined SAG & AFTRA. One of my credits was booking a big studio feature film, Made in Heaven, with Timothy Hutton. I came out to L.A. doing Stand-up, Improv and despite being offered to tour as a comic I decided to stay put and focus on the on-camera part of my desires. My first union principle speaking role in L.A. was ABC’s, General Hospital, and my first primetime guest star was, Matlock. From that moment in early 1990, to guest starring in the season 2 premier of HBO’s The Righteous Gemstones, the rest is history.

Along my journey, within the first 3-4 years of living in L.A. I noticed a certain type and level of pain, frustration, aggravation etc. with the PROCESS of trying to become a working actor. While at my core I’m an artistic sensitive Pisces I also grew up in a tough rural town and played the hard-nosed position of third base in baseball. One fateful night I awoke from an extraordinarily vivid dream and began writing out an idea that would eventually become the award-winning actor business organization I founded known as, The Actors’ Network. Such an organization at that time had never existed in the history of the U.S., and to this day The Actors’ Network has never been duplicated.

Allow me to add an important note of clarity, no, The Actors’ Network was not a casting workshop business but rather an actor’s business education organization. To highlight that point here is a tremendous statement by one of the top Commercial agents in the U.S.: “Simply the finest actor organization I have ever seen. I have been a guest speaker many times and have found talented actors who have eventually become clients of mine.” —David Ziff (V.P. Commercial Dept. – CESD L.A.)

A few of our successful Alumni include: Maggie Grace (Taken trilogy), Masi Oka (Hawaii 5-0/Hereos), Christopher Gorham (Lincoln Lawyer), Chelsey Crisp (Fresh Off the Boat), Naomi Grossman (American Horror Story) & dozens ‘n dozens more. During the life of the physical organization from 5/1/1991 to 6/30/2013, I created the first and still the only, annual business of acting curriculum in U.S. history.

My career performing and my career educating actors is well-documented and yet what I see today now that my organization has been closed since 6/30/13 is beginning to look a lot like the despair I saw before I founded it. Digital technology is great but it has separated us from other humans and one of the KEY elements to building a career is meeting humans and how you engage with them in addition to being very talented with your craft. It is after all, SHOW & BUSINESS.

In addition to that history, I also have a long history of Union service within SAG-AFTRA and also the grassroots group, @unionworking. At the time of this interview SAG-AFTRA is ‘On Strike’ against the AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture Television Producers) and I am one of the 43 people representing 160k actors nationwide on our Theatrical TV contract Negotiating Committee. In addition to that I’m on the Natl. Disciplinary & Organizing committees. I have been the CHAIR of the L.A. Organizing committee from 2019-2023 as well as having served as Co-Vice Chair of the L.A. Conservatory committee and the L.A. Technology committee in the past. My knowledge and expertise covers every aspect of this profession.

For those who have been coached by me, learned from me, heard me speak and or were former members of The Actors’ Network I’m commonly referred to (metaphorically) as the ‘tenured professor’ opinion leader on the business of acting. While there are now dozens of so-called actor business experts found online the truth is virtually all of them are stock rubber-stamped ineffective programs based on a degree of hype and pipe-dreams. Actors, through NO fault of their own, are the most under-educated professional community in the world…and it isn’t even close.

The most important aspect that we are never presented with at any age or time in our career is that the ‘Business’ of acting is FAR more subjective, emotional and psychological than we think it is. We tend to see it as only doing a few tasks such as: getting headshots, finding a representative, editing a demo reel etc. etc. The reality is that having success within the business of acting cannot be left to just tangible tasks when HOW you write emails, text, language on social posts, understanding how to talk with your representative, how to organize your home-office and the simple short subjective networking conversations with industry players is the PhD of the business of acting. This is why those who work with me have an advantage and my desire to help actors (and parents) master the business of acting.

The easiest way to work with me is here:
www.theactormba.com

My unique business of acting book & 2-hour craft program are found here:
‘7 Deadly Sins – The Actor Overcomes’
‘The Actor’s Guide to GETTING THE JOB’
www.kevinewest.com

I’m also the creator of the BackStage award-winning interview series:
www.actorbizguru.com

The Actors’ Network: www.actors-network.com

I have spoken or been a panelist on the business of acting all over the U.S., including the WGA West, Showbiz Expo, as well as, Sweden and Kiev. I would encourage all film festivals, theatre companies, arts universities and acting programs to book me as a panelist. I welcome all parents to reach out and work with me so that they’re not taken advantage of or duped into paying thousands of unnecessary dollars. And finally, for actors of every level of experience to realize that this profession is FAR MORE complex to manage and navigate than you’ve ever been told and it can quickly take a toll on you mentally and emotionally, so let my high-end expertise help you avoid it.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I love this question for a number of reasons because of the inherent subjectivity of the creative arts which have a natural ‘pivot’ built into them. There are (2) distinct times in my life/career in which I have had to pivot, one for a great reason, and one for a less than great reason. Since life tends to always force us to deal with Yin-Yang it makes logical sense we all learn to adapt.

My first pivot came in what I’ve discussed and coached actors on for years when their careers reach a place of hyper-activity without sustainable income. What I mean by that is if you’re not fortunate enough to go from not working at all to a degree of 1% success then most of us go through a period of time in which you’ve done some jobs, you’re very busy with auditioning activity but you’re not making a living and still have to support yourself. This is a major KEY moment of pivot psychologically where you have to keep your focus/time on the prize while still having to do a irritating part-time job or even full-time. To keep your focus you must learn to say “NO” a lot to friends, family, distractions etc. so that you can be successful in the ‘crossover’ moment from that in between phase to making a living.

The second pivot in my career actually started about 5-7 years ago and at this moment in time that SAG-AFTRA is ‘On-Strike’ it is completely befitting. Why? Around 2015 or thereabouts it started to become quite clear to me, with the streaming digital world we’d moved into per television, that being a caucasian male over a certain age and yet, not a star, that continuing to make a living was going to become perhaps MORE challenging than it even was before I had begun working at all. The prospect of this reality has required another pivot to gather up my life’s value, history, expertise and network to supplement my soul artistically, creatively, emotionally, psychologically and financially with a few intelligent business options.

The most important piece of information I can give you about pivot number two is to ensure that you’re not just making decisions out of habit, which is easy to do when we’re older, but much more about what you’ve learned throughout your life per your true skillset, desires, and what feeds your joy. I wish you the very best because for every athlete, musician, and even other professions the second pivot is almost inevitable for us all long before retirement.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

I love this question because I still believe the perspective has value for non-creatives in their personal and professional lives. While I certainly feel that many non-creatives will understand my thoughts it would be natural, however, for the actual application and execution of them to be far from second nature. The ‘struggle to understand’, in my humble opinion is very simply, STRUCTURE. The creative world offers very little infra-structure to its work. Metaphorically I would say blank canvas but it’s important to note that what I mean in the non-creative world are two items; office and staff. Also add, in many professions, an operations manual, instructions or guidelines. Most all of us literally from birth are provided structure, some degree of ‘life fencing’ in which we function, learn, work, and engage. Purely creative people are required to invent-build their day to day operations manual just to stay on track with a self-created ‘ToDo’ list and self-policing in a way.

From a distance we might think that it is easy, or rather not that difficult, yet bear in mind we have to continually adjust it, maintain it and recreate it regularly while also dealing with all of the other elements of life. We like to discuss self-mastery as a spiritual goal or a mantra but the self-mastery of daily business structure is extraordinarily challenging. I’m personally a ‘7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ person (Stephen Covey) and one of the key elements of the Franklin-Covey system was 15-minutes in the morning and 15-minutes at night to keep yourself organized when you do not have a direct superior or group (coach) to keep you dialed in. We, as people, don’t often realize how much our lives, decisions and direction are driven by either fear or consequence. The inherent structure of the office or normal business environment becomes unconsciously ‘a given.’

The truth and reality of creative financial insecurity coupled with the lack of provided structure led me to one of my favorite ‘Kevin’isms’ created for performers back in the early 90s which emphasized the difficulty of the creative journey: “you can’t get fired from a job you don’t have.” –Kevin E. West. Often, in life, it is consequence that keeps us moving forward but without consequence in building a creative arts career a successful result can be exceptionally daunting.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://kevinewest.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thekevine
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theactormba/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinewest/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/thekevine
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@theKevinE
• Other: https://www.theactormba.com/ https://www.actorbusiness.com/ https://www.instagram.com/theactorsnetwork https://www.facebook.com/groups/theactorsnetworkfb https://www.linkedin.com/in/actors-network-the-aka-t-a-n-0b1a6bb/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/unionworking

Image Credits
Main Pic: Kevin E. West (Photographer) David B. Lowe #1: Jennifer Garner & Kevin E. West #2: Michael Chiklis & Kevin E. West #3: Kevin E. West (Photographer) Aaron Han #4: Thomas Gibson (Criminal Minds) & Kevin E. West #5: Timothy Hutton & Kevin E. West #6: Kevin E. West (CSI – Vegas) #7: Davanté Adams & Kevin E. West #8: Frances Fisher (Titanic) & Kevin E. West