Do you self-sabotage? How comfortable are you with trying something new? In this episode, I speak with veteran talent agent and no-nonsense coach Dr. Albert Bramante. We explore his journey and his mission to inspire actors to develop a growth mindset, embrace conscientiousness, and overcome self-sabotaging habits.
Dr. Albert Bramante, a seasoned talent agent with more than two decades of experience in the entertainment industry, holds a Ph.D. in Psychology from Walden University. Additionally, he is a certified Hypnotist and NLP Practitioner, bringing a unique blend of psychological insight and practical expertise to his work. Driven by a passion for both the performing arts and the human psyche, he embarked on a mission to empower actors to overcome self-sabotage and unlock their full potential. Throughout his impressive career, Dr. Bramante has achieved remarkable success as a talent agent, securing roles for actors in a wide array of productions including TV shows, films, commercials, Broadway, and Off-Broadway performances.
00;00;00;00 - 00;00;17;26
Adam
This episode deals with topics concerning mental health. If you find any of this podcast triggering, please call lifeline on 131114. If you're in Australia or your local mental health provider.
00;00;17;28 - 00;00;43;13
Adam
Welcome to the struggling artist creative resilience. My name is Adam Goodman and I've gone on a journey of discovery talking to people about the highs and lows in their lives and how they continue to move forward positively. This podcast approaches the topic with an autistic performance framework, but could easily apply to all walks of life. The struggling artist is 100% independent, no ads and no sponsors.
00;00;43;16 - 00;01;08;15
Adam
The show is also totally free for anyone who wants to listen. If you're interested in supporting the struggling artists, there is one main way you can leave a review on your podcast app of choice or otherwise help spread the word. The struggling artist has traveled pretty far, almost entirely on word of mouth, so if you have any friends who you think might like it, don't be shy with your recommendations.
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Adam and Julie
Welcome to the struggling artist. Creative resilience. My name is Adam Good Burn and I am speaking with my lovely partner, Julie Goodman. Hi. Hi. So today's episode was was interesting because, every, every end of every episode I sort of put out. So if you're interested in being interviewed, contact me. Right. And I got contacted by your famous.
00;01;47;11 - 00;02;20;21
Adam and Julie
I'm famous. I am, I must be. I got contacted by Doctor Albert Bramante, who's a seasoned talent agent and, yeah, he reached out and and he's been on, other podcasts, and he's written a book, on the idea of, being more resilient as a performer. But that's a fairly broad overview of the book. Yeah.
00;02;20;24 - 00;02;45;26
Adam and Julie
So, I dunno, I just find what the. Hey, that's, he's from America. Your first international gig. It's my first international guest. Definitely. I have made it. It's, I've done, I've done, interstate. But I've not done overseas. It's my first overseas. Okay, that just means you have to get someone from another planet. Now, that's my next challenge.
00;02;45;28 - 00;03;06;09
Adam and Julie
Maybe someone who doesn't speak English. Okay. All right, well, it's a second language that will be mine for the next challenge. Or, or an animal and then an animal. But what do you think? We could talk to our dog here. I know, she could do a tap. Tap? She could. She's tap dancing outside as we speak.
00;03;06;09 - 00;03;31;05
Adam and Julie
Probably. So just to give you a little bit of information about Albert. Doctor Albert Bramante is a seasoned talent agent with more than two decades of experience in the entertainment industry. He holds a Ph.D. in psychology. Additionally, he has certified. He is a certified hypnotist and NLP practitioner, and I did I did have to look that up.
00;03;31;09 - 00;04;20;15
Adam and Julie
So NLP stands for Neuro Linguistic program. So and I have seen a hypnotherapist, and I suppose. Oh, and we're going to be joined by our tap dancing dog. Here she comes. And she's going to sit down in a minute. You said it then. And I think there's a bit of, sort of falsehood regarding hypnotism that you sort of like is what we see on the today shows and like, you know, the old, and, and you're, I look in my eyes, only my eyes and you're under and then you're basically, walking around like a chicken for the next.
00;04;20;15 - 00;04;49;19
Adam and Julie
Yeah. And. Yeah. And I suppose, I mean, we didn't really delve too much into it with our interview with, Albert, but I did find the experience interesting, and I certainly wasn't sort of, clucking like a chicken afterwards, but it's very disappointing it. Well, because I was I did lay an egg a few times. That's metaphorically that's a, that's a, that's a theater humor there too.
00;04;49;21 - 00;05;26;20
Adam and Julie
But it yeah, I did find the experience interesting, and it did sort of make me, become more aware of, how I reacted to certain things and maybe some reasons why I react to certain things. So, yeah, without sort of getting too in-depth talking about sort of my childhood and so on. But it is interesting and perhaps gives a few explanations, but, so it's to Albert is driven by a passion for both performing arts and the human psyche.
00;05;26;22 - 00;05;48;29
Adam and Julie
Yeah. Embarked on a mission to empower actors to overcome self-sabotage and unlock their full potential. And that was kind of the main thing that I wanted to target with, with him, because I know I do self-sabotage a lot, and I think everyone, to a greater or lesser extent, not necessarily in performing, would say I self-sabotage. How about you, Julie?
00;05;49;03 - 00;06;17;19
Adam and Julie
You self-sabotage. It's a loaded question, right? Oh for sure, yeah. For sure. I took myself out of things. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And, and why do we do it? And and so I hope you enjoyed this interview. I felt that, Yeah. So it's been exciting. We had a few issues at the beginning with, with sound. But I feel you in on that.
00;06;17;23 - 00;06;42;00
Adam and Julie
During our interview. Dun dun dun dun. Start spread and then you. I'll let you do the singing. You're better than me. I'm leaving today. In fact, for only this part of the interview right now. So enjoy the interview. Bye bye.
00;06;42;02 - 00;07;11;06
Adam and Albert
So, Doctor Albert Bramante, welcome to struggling artists creative resilience. And thank you for joining us today. Oh, thank you so much, Adam, for inviting me. I'm really happy to be here. So for the listeners, this is round two for us with had some technical issues. So some of these questions might be very well rehearsed for the second time around.
00;07;11;08 - 00;07;44;23
Adam and Albert
But I'd like to begin my interviews with asking this question. Do you think artists should suffer for their art? I don't, and this is my opinion. I think it's romanticized the idea of this starving artist as a struggling artist or the tortured artists. You know, the archetype I think is a myth. I think that I have to say, I come from the perspective that artists who work hard, they're business people.
00;07;44;23 - 00;08;15;20
Albert and Adam
They should really be very conscientious. But that doesn't mean struggling. It doesn't mean there has to be pain. That doesn't mean there has to be hardships attached to that. So hard work is very important. And with your vast knowledge to your backgrounds, your your talent agent, your psychology professor and certified hypnotist, what drew you to the arts industry?
00;08;15;22 - 00;08;52;22
Albert
It's very. You know, it's an interesting story. I'm glad you asked. I it started when I was in high school. In college, I was interested in the arts, of course, but I was so interested in psychology. So. But I did take some acting classes in college as electives. And I also was part of like different drama clubs in high school and college and to me, I just enjoy being around actors and creatives and, and theater, you know, kids and theater talks as well as film, TV creative.
00;08;52;24 - 00;09;35;04
Albert
So for me, that's just such an immense environment to, you know, everything. So for me that that would just seem like an additive regression. So when I received my masters, which is right around the time, unfortunately 911 and I was working in social services, I did some crisis intervention and I teamed up with a couple people. We started a organization called Operation Healing America, which was designed to help with the rescue workers and kind of help bring a little bit bit of, aid mentally and advocacy to those that were suffering and displaced after 911.
00;09;35;07 - 00;09;57;22
Albert
And during that process, I started working with a lot of actors that were kind of helping up the cause they were giving back or volunteering and it kind of reignited my college and high school days. I was like, well, let me give this acting thing a try. And so, for about two years, I was an actor, did some local films, a couple of commercials, nothing.
00;09;57;24 - 00;10;29;06
Albert
Nothing anybody would ever say. But what I noticed was I really didn't enjoy it as I thought I was. But what I really enjoyed, though, was the energy, the creative types, the artists, the energy, both behind the camera in front of the camera. I just really enjoyed being around these people, and I really wanted to work in this capacity, not necessarily in front of the camera, but I wanted to work behind camera.
00;10;29;08 - 00;10;55;10
Albert
I've always been another aspect of me, and, in all areas of my life is I've always been a connector connecting people, bringing people together and I started to recommend actors for different projects and started, looking for projects for other actors. And I realized, well, maybe the next progression is to be an agent, you know, because that's what really we do.
00;10;55;10 - 00;11;26;21
Albert
We connect, we're connectors by nature. So 2004 started my first company, Diverse Agency, and I've been kind of doing that ever since. So that was kind of like my foray into the arts and entertainment and show business. And am I right in understanding you're the only one in your family who's into the arts. Yes. Yeah. It, it makes very interesting conversation.
00;11;26;23 - 00;11;56;09
Albert
I will say that. All right. So Richard, how does the rest of the family react to the, the you being sort of different. Well at first they were a little skeptical. Now they kind of realize that there's nothing they can do to talk me out of it. So they kind of just be supportive. I think I get a lot of questions that most of my acting clients get from their families who are not in the arts.
00;11;56;12 - 00;12;23;08
Albert
So do you have anybody who's famous, you know, that I know of or I get, you know, my coworkers child want to be an actor. Can you help them get on TV? No. You know, long story short, no, I'm not the one. A lot of people have the misconception of the agent. As someone who can just pick up the phone and miraculously, you're working with Steven Spielberg tomorrow.
00;12;23;10 - 00;12;45;03
Albert
It doesn't doesn't work. That. Oh, no, sadly, the movies aren't real, you know, or the TV entourage was real. Well, that's where I get a lot of people, I think, confuse where it's like, oh, well, hey, do you think maybe you can get me, you know, my my child in commercials now, you know, so I get a question of that.
00;12;45;03 - 00;13;19;03
Albert
And sometimes I've run into people who, you know, like maybe have a family reunion or family party, like, hey, Albert, are you still doing the town thing? And I'm like, well, it's a talent thing. Great. But then me, I'm like, I'm just playing. But I work really, really hard. Do you think that's the biggest misconception a lot of people don't realize is that people in show business work incredibly hard, and sometimes they may not be a lot of return immediately to kind of show for that.
00;13;19;06 - 00;13;39;05
Albert
So that's where I was kind of saying earlier about the your question about, you know, should art, should art of suffer? No, but they are really hard, and very focused and very, very disciplined. So yes, I was the only only one of my family. I was also really only one of my family to go to college and earn a PhD.
00;13;39;12 - 00;14;01;04
Albert
So it's like a double whammy, you know, if you think about it. You know, I get, I get the questions of sometimes, hey, my coworkers out to, okay, can I get some free therapy from you? You know, I'll get combination or both. And then, of course, when I give my perspective, I don't want to hear that.
00;14;01;06 - 00;14;25;03
Albert
Okay. The more jazz, you know, sort of like that, it's kind of getting interest. That's why I often tell people like, yeah, I don't give advice because most of the time people want they don't want to hear the truth. They want to hear what they want to hear. Just parroting somebody else's voice. So, you know, because I have family all over the country, you know, so-and-so's doing this.
00;14;25;03 - 00;14;46;00
Albert
What do you think is the problem? And I'm like, you're right, you're wrong. Like on one jazz, you know, sort of like, you know, you know what I just mean, you know, so it's it's family's very, very interesting thing. I can probably have a whole series of podcast episodes on my family, but that's another story, for another day.
00;14;46;04 - 00;15;14;06
Unknown
But, yeah, my family's very interesting. So I think I think most people would be saying this family. So just saying. Oh yeah. No. And that was something I learned. Even my lesson in psychology, I'm like, yeah, most people, I would say the idea is dysfunctional family is probably more mainstream than everybody would like to lead on. That almost all families have a bit of dysfunctional in there.
00;15;14;08 - 00;15;36;20
Albert
So the key is to bring the fun into it. Like that's why, you know, fun is a root word of the fun. You know, there's fun and dysfunctional thing about it. So if I were functioning, it would be boring. Of course. Got to make it fun. So from your viewpoint, why do people feel they're inadequate in what they do?
00;15;36;21 - 00;16;16;08
Albert
What was this feel like? It's a common issue in Western society because we place touch it. And that's a great question. I'm glad you asked. A lot of it is placed on expectations from others and whether or not it's, you know, through the old childhood patterns, you know, like the child trying to please a parent, you know, from the terminally incredibly psychologically or but that's he is we tend to still run the script of that child trying to please a parent only prayer is a world world around us.
00;16;16;15 - 00;16;34;12
Albert
Also, I think social media, what you know, is kind of both a blessing and a curse, because a lot of times you'll see stuff happening on social media from our friends or associates, and then we there's a part of us that like that fear of missing out. What's wrong? Why am I not getting all that? You know, there?
00;16;34;12 - 00;17;16;25
Albert
It may seem, agent, I don't. This is a mess. Why am I not doing this? You know, and then you start what's going on in my life. So I think a lot of it is just both by other expected explanations of others. What we perceive others to be doing, and of course, operating on scripts that we have that were, you know, still operating on your children, trying to please the parent, trying to please the adults in our lives and trying to, appear that, you know well around it and trying to appear that we're better than we are and we're our own worst critic, too, because most of the time we don't realize how successful
00;17;16;25 - 00;17;32;10
Albert
we have been. You know, we're so critical of ourselves. We're so critical of everything we do that we we delete a lot of stuff that we we have accomplished. And.
00;17;32;12 - 00;17;53;23
Albert
Most of the time it's like the people are really feeling inadequate, really have everything going for them. They just don't see it. So without stealing your thunder and I mean I if people want to get more detailed they can purchase your book. That might be a subtle sort of. Do you, do you want to sort of plug, plug.
00;17;53;26 - 00;18;24;25
Albert
So the rise above the script. Yes, that's right above the script confronting self-doubt and self-sabotage for performing artists. And it's available on Amazon. And the paperback, e-book and audiobook versions are available. I highly recommend it, not just for actors, but even anybody who's dealing with, you know, self-sabotage, feeling inadequate self-doubt. And there's a lot of actual strategies in the book.
00;18;24;27 - 00;18;48;17
Adam and Albert
What's some of the methods that you use in terms of trying to, get people to move beyond this, struggle of, self-doubt and inadequacy? Well, the first thing is there's a couple different things that what I can tell you is the using a concept of what I call the happy file, which I talk about in my book.
00;18;48;17 - 00;19;13;23
Albert
And that is kind of like keeping like a gratitude journal. And some other. It's not the same thing as maybe a traditional gratitude journal, but what I often say is I document all the good things that happen to you every time you get recognition, even if it's just a pat on the back by, you know, a coworker, an associate, a student, a fellow, you know, colleague.
00;19;13;25 - 00;19;43;11
Albert
You put that you document that, you document any awards and accolades that you receive over time. And then what you're what a lot of people often find is that list a lot older than they thought it was going to be. And and so refer to that list when you feel, moments of self-doubt coming in. The other thing to do is to take action because in fact, if you're a concept and action that's going to create self-doubt, if you're not the method of action.
00;19;43;13 - 00;20;05;15
Albert
So that might that may mean taking small steps towards your goals rather than sitting there saying, well, someday I'm going to do this because if you're a procrastinator, which I am to some level, you'll you'll be sitting on so many great ideas. And then the more that you sit on them and nothing gets done, the more likely the self-doubt.
00;20;05;18 - 00;20;50;19
Albert
It's going to just intensify and grow. So taking action and then really celebrating your achievement and even a step further with going the action step outside your comfort zone. You know, do something that might not, that may make you want easy, which is maybe going live on social media, maybe going to give a presentation at the Chamber of Commerce or Toastmasters, do something that really makes you uncomfortable initially, because that alone will rate will jump snap you out of a series of self-doubt or cycle, self-doubt and self condemnation or feeling sorry for yourself.
00;20;50;22 - 00;21;22;12
Albert
What I often used to do prior to the prior to Covid 2020, I used to just for fun, would host karaoke nights in New York City, you know, at the bar. And I'd get a group of people together and we would just have a good time karaoke. And I've heard other speakers and other presenters say this, which I found this after the fact and noticed how karaoke is one of the best ways to step outside your comfort zone and increase your confidence.
00;21;22;14 - 00;21;46;22
Albert
I have a couple of, my colleagues who teach like a public speaking seminars or, you know, confidence seminars, and that merely a first exercise of the day of day. One of that workshop is to just go out in public and make a fool out of yourself and when you're able to do that, everything else becomes so much easier.
00;21;46;24 - 00;22;22;24
Albert
So step outside your comfort zone, take some uncomfortable actions because that's the only way you're going to grow, and it's only going to change and then celebrate the achievements you've already had. So those are some of the strategies, I would say. And then another important one, which I talk about in my book, is a company you keep. So, and I'm going to borrow this from I, and I borrowed this from, Jim Brown and Tony Robbins, who are, at least in this stage, very highly regarded, motivational and self-help, expert.
00;22;22;26 - 00;22;48;29
Albert
So proximity is power. So what that means is the crowd that you keep the company, you keep is going to be both vertically and virtually. So what I often would say is, go to work, you know, find an accountability group of people that are just like you, trying to be better because you'll inspire each other and lift each other up.
00;22;49;02 - 00;23;14;17
Albert
Just like, on the other hand, if you're around five people in your life that are negative and judgmental, you're going to become that same way. So who you hang out with is very important. That's really good. Good advice. So in your years with an experience, do you feel that things have changed with fear and the imposter syndrome and self-sabotage?
00;23;14;20 - 00;23;41;07
Albert
You mentioned before that social media has kind of played a part in and maybe has heightened that that level of, inadequacy? Do you feel that it the tide has changed or it's just escalated? You could make arguments for both, I would think. I would imagine, you could actually make arguments for both. It definitely escalated with social media.
00;23;41;07 - 00;24;13;02
Albert
But at the same time, though, it's very easy now to get support and easy to learn new things with the amount of free to low cost options available. And now with AI, you know there's so much more. Now, of course, you know, you have critics of AI and skeptics of AI, one of them being that can replace human interaction, which is a concern, and also the fact that AI is developing at lightning speed, sometimes a little too fast.
00;24;13;04 - 00;24;48;08
Adam and Albert
Where do you sit in the AI argument, your feelings on it? I kind I've kind of like in the middle where I'm like, yeah, it could be bit of concern. I am concerned with people turning to, chat bots for companionship or, you know, for friends or even even in some aspects, romance, you know, like falling in love with the chat bots, which I think is, a cause of concern because nothing could replace human interaction at the same time, AI is also amazing for learning, amazing for content creation, amazing board.
00;24;48;11 - 00;25;06;25
Albert
I kind of like having a second brain and and tool. So there's a lot of stuff now. The finger taps on knowledge that we can get and learn at a faster rate. You can also automate a lot of stuff. We do, especially as entrepreneurs and business, people that there's a lot of tasks that can be automated through AI.
00;25;06;25 - 00;25;38;28
Albert
So I kind of think it's great, but it's also at the same time I, I think it's like, you know, the same thing with anything too much, it's no good either. And, and when I see people like, oh, I can't do it, I for therapy, I don't, I don't know how I could be a therapist or a coach in my opinion, I can offer helpful suggestions, but a good coach has to be able to to modify and adapt to the person in front of them.
00;25;38;28 - 00;26;05;28
Albert
I cannot do that. So that's why I'm kind of like a little bit, you know, skeptical when I see these AI therapy bots because it's not going to be able to know how to read body language. It's not going to know how to be able to read, but it's only going by what type. Yeah. Or what you should say tag to be able to read the nuances of body language, the nuance, the tone of voice, all of those things that a live therapist can do for you, you know, and that.
00;26;06;01 - 00;26;43;03
Albert
So I would definitely say I don't find AI to be an effect therapist. And it certainly uses that companionship. But now again, information automation. Great. But I kind of, I'm very, very skeptical about replacing human interaction. Absolutely. This revisiting your work as a talent agent with, with your experience, what would be a common mistake that people make when they're approaching you for work?
00;26;43;10 - 00;27;03;18
Adam and Albert
You've already mentioned something. So just approaching, like giving you a job and you go, that's not going to happen. But what would be some common to say someone just walking in and approaches you and says, I want to be an actor, I want to I want to be working. And you go, right. What? Be sort of the next steps for you in terms of what would you be doing in them?
00;27;03;21 - 00;27;29;23
Albert
Well, the next step would be okay. So what training have you had? What it is for, for acting, where's your headshot? Where's the resume and what experience are you at? It was interesting because I'm one of my high school reunions I attended a while back, and, somebody approached me and said, you know, I really want to get to, you know, I want to be signed by you.
00;27;29;25 - 00;27;50;20
Albert
And this is what was done with high school, and I can run. And I was the conversation. So so, you know, tell me, what do you do that you know, what experience do you have? And, you know, tell me all about this. I have none. Okay. So what makes you think I'm an actor? Well, I can sit in front of a mirror or do impressions.
00;27;50;22 - 00;28;15;23
Albert
Now, I had a couple of alcoholic beverages, in me already, so I think it took every muster of my ability to not start laughing and say, that's not how it works, you know? And that's how a lot of people, I think, find really to be a rude awakening because it looks so easy when you're watching an actor on TV, on stage.
00;28;15;25 - 00;28;41;21
Albert
But very, incredibly difficult because you have to be able to perform on demand. Yes. Repetitive over and over again like an actor, you know, like I've, say I want to be in movies. I'm like, well, can you convey the same emotion and same intensity 45 during 40 or 50 takes? Because I had to do that, set that up between for each scene.
00;28;41;24 - 00;29;08;20
Albert
And it's like they can't because it's that requires training. And I'm and I'm saying, you know, I would tell I don't deny that you can be great, but you need training because there's a technique behind it. So I think, you know, I think the biggest thing with having misconceptions about the industry works also being too pushy or not being disciplined enough.
00;29;08;22 - 00;29;33;13
Albert
I've had conversation with an actor with like, DM me on social media was like, hey, I want to be represented by you. I'm like, great, send me your information. Eight months later, here's my information. I'm like, okay, where were you? You know, and I, you know, and that's a big red flag for me, because then I have to wonder if I send you an audition, are you going to get back eight months later?
00;29;33;16 - 00;29;58;20
Albert
And I don't as it's dark, so. No. So I think sometimes actors are overly pushy or not quite persistent enough, is it to feel it's that kind of, instant success, that sort of springing up with, reality shows and so on where where people can be instant celebrities overnight. That people just think, well, it can just happen.
00;29;58;20 - 00;30;23;17
Albert
I think that can happen. Or you'll hear like, oh, so inside the big breakout moment, they work one day and nobody and next thing they've discovered and now they're on this TV show. What, you often don't hear the subtext behind that. They were acting for 15, 20 years before they got discovered for that over. So there's that saying that it takes you 15 years, 10 to 15 years to become an overnight success.
00;30;23;20 - 00;30;50;02
Albert
So and one of the successful shows we had in the States, for a while, that won so many awards called This Is Us. I was on NBC and they stayed and most of the the cast that were like the regulars were new, were new, like, when I say new, not new to acting, but new to the, you know, viewers, in a sense, they were not named.
00;30;50;02 - 00;31;13;12
Albert
But if you look at the history, a lot of these people that were considered, all new cast were acting through 15 to 20 years prior to to that. Yeah. Like they were working consistently in stuff that maybe you wouldn't normally say, you know, theater, in the independent films, small speaking roles on TV. So that's the biggest thing.
00;31;13;12 - 00;31;38;21
Albert
It takes a while, takes a lot of persistence. And that's why I often say, especially to new drama graduates or new theater graduates, when you're out of school, I would have at least a 10 or 20 year plan. Give it at least ten years full time, all in before you can start to say measure. Is this thing successful or not?
00;31;38;23 - 00;32;02;09
Albert
Because what I found in my many years of doing this, you know, I've been doing this for 21 years. It's all the number of actors that are still acting from when I started. But there's also a lot of people who left the business. I remember one, one, interesting example that really stood out to me that opened up my eyes.
00;32;02;12 - 00;32;26;04
Albert
I went to this showcase for this university, had their BFA program. There were 16 seniors that were graduating about to go into the real world, into New York. It was a, college in the New York area that did their showcase here. I took it there were 16 people in the class. I did happen to sign one of the time, and I was having kind of like coffee.
00;32;26;04 - 00;32;46;02
Albert
We met up for coffee like two years later, and I was asking, how are your classmates doing? You know, like that you graduate? Yeah, we keep in touch. She's like, but. And I said they were 16. Yeah, 14 in a row. No longer acting. This is only two years later. And I'm thinking to myself, this is not good.
00;32;46;05 - 00;33;11;24
Albert
They spent upwards of 80 to 200,000 USD to pay for a course, a program that they're not using. Now, could it be that I a lot of times around these programs, compared to students for the business side of the little teachers that need the, you know, performer technique, which is great, and it's important to get that. But there's also the importance of the business too.
00;33;11;24 - 00;33;38;27
Albert
And had a really sell yourself. And so I think all performing art and artist programs should have a business component, a business class. And if you're going to be doing this full time that you should be required to take, required to take, because it's a you need to have that business set. So and then that's how was really not having a good business plan is the biggest mistake.
00;33;39;00 - 00;34;09;11
Adam and Albert
You must be a quite a catch as a talent agent with your other skills. Do you find that your spending time doing a lot of counseling to your clients. Yes I know some, some, some clients are just okay here's your audition. You know check in. Great. Others sometimes I will, you know, have to give a little bit of, of a pep talk, you know, because in, you know, incredibly, it's very exciting and quite great.
00;34;09;11 - 00;34;32;18
Albert
You know, I love what we do, but it's incredibly challenging business. Because of how competitive, really competitive it is. You know, there's at least in New York City, I would say your work from between 100 and 50, 200,000 actors, which is a lot. And then usually double that in L.A., Los Angeles, and then, of course, and around the world, the country world.
00;34;32;20 - 00;35;03;13
Albert
So you're talking, I least, 1 million to 1 million have actors across the world that are doing this full time. The competition is intense, and it was estimated, even by the screen actors of statistics, that only 2 or 3% of actors are going to make a living out of that. So 97% are going to always be out of work, which is a very staggering number.
00;35;03;16 - 00;35;32;23
Albert
So there needs that to be that resilience, grit sometimes that help a little bit with that providing a little bit of coaching there. Yeah. Yeah, I'm feeling a bit like this in terms of remaining relevant in my well, I'll say my middle years. How do you remain relevant in a competitive industry. If training, if getting a keep working, keep practicing.
00;35;32;25 - 00;36;01;24
Albert
So even during the pandemic, one thing or during that actor strikes both, both the pandemic and the actors like there was a lot of a lot of downtime for actors. So the one thing I would say we have kind of, working with my clients here, start learning monologues, start running things, keep practicing, turn the camera on, record yourself doing a monologue, get together with some with an actor, friends, and even do a resume and do a scene.
00;36;01;27 - 00;36;46;25
Albert
Just practice, practice, practice. Also stay in class. Being class is extremely important. Now this is a two parter question. Part one. Question. What advice would you give someone starting out in the industry? So what they so I would say train, train train train also join Facebook groups, join actual groups over actors. But then Facebook, LinkedIn, be part as many communities you can and network network, network network.
00;36;46;28 - 00;37;08;29
Adam and Albert
And the part two of that what is what is the piece of advice would you give to someone who feels overwhelmed by self-doubt and is considering leaving the performing arts? Well I would say what what it really there's so many different factors. So first thing is I would want to figure out what exactly is, is going on.
00;37;09;02 - 00;37;33;21
Albert
And if they need to take some time out because then they need to really money because I've had this happen to where I've had, prior to the book, I need to take a break for health reasons. Or maybe they need they have a financial crisis and they need to put some money and work. So the first thing I would kind of do is, you know, find out what's going on, think if they really need just a break.
00;37;33;23 - 00;37;59;26
Albert
Maybe they're burnt out. So do something different. What I would also say is every actor, while it's great to be cool of acting, be passionate about it. You should always have some side interests and side hobbies that can consume part of your time. And then also just really take stock of what you achieved over time. And there's no such thing as a very small achievement.
00;37;59;26 - 00;38;39;07
Albert
Achievement is achievement. So when we start to see that we achieve things, it raises ourself a profile up. Excellent. Goodies. If I truly said five. Question number one what is one item on your bucket list. Go to Italy under food. You've never been. Nope I don't know. I have to do that for my family. You know family from with a name like Vermont.
00;38;39;10 - 00;39;04;26
Albert
Yeah of course. Well I can say I went for the first time ever, in October last year, and it's wonderful. It was one of the highlights. So. Yes, I would highly recommend it. Go to Italy. Question two. What is the most unexpected piece of advice you have ever received?
00;39;04;28 - 00;39;29;06
Albert
Unexpected, kind of thing. I think it's something that kind of just stuck with me about, like stepping outside your comfort zone and, real quickly, I tell, it really invigorated me. So as I told the I kind of host karaoke event. So one day I was in New York City, I had a long break between, what, one activity to another.
00;39;29;06 - 00;39;50;10
Albert
So what I'll do, I'll go to karaoke. Me, you know, I didn't know anybody there, but I was go with the intention of watching. Now, I didn't read the description of the room enough. Obviously, because you're required to say so. I'm in a room of 20 strangers. I don't know. I've never seen these people before in my life.
00;39;50;13 - 00;40;08;28
Albert
And this was a little bit different of Captain Karaoke. And like, I'll bombard this was a closed room. And so I'm in there and watching it. And they were pat. It was like passing a record around. Each person would sing a song in the past and like over. So they came to me and said, what do you want to say?
00;40;09;00 - 00;40;33;17
Albert
And I'm like, like you have to say, okay, so I picked a song and I just, I just started singing. Now, one thing I can tell you, when you're in a pub, when you're in an open area bar, you don't hear your voice singing. But I was in a closed room with glass all around me. So I heard myself loud, clear and in stereo.
00;40;33;19 - 00;40;40;02
Albert
And it was scary as could be.
00;40;40;04 - 00;41;11;00
Albert
And everybody was sounding so good. And here I am singing. And I haven't had even anything that no alcoholic beverage here. So I'm totally sober like this. Then I had to do another song. I walked out of there feeling so good. Actually, one does what I did. Was that absolutely scary? But it felt so good. So I would say stepping outside your comfort zone and really doing something scary.
00;41;11;02 - 00;41;39;11
Albert
Oh that's wonderful. Which might lead us to the next one. Question three what brings you the most joy. The most joy would be making something or seeing something that created work. Whether it be, you know, having an actor job that I recommend them for and then watching them either on stage or on screen and be like, I contributed to that.
00;41;39;13 - 00;42;07;06
Adam and Albert
Oh that's wonderful. Question number four. What is something that strangers often incorrectly assume about you tell us that a lot of strangers feel that I'm very reserved and not a sociable person. Which is the furthest thing from the truth. So I would say, that would be the biggest thing that I would say if we get that wrong.
00;42;07;08 - 00;42;35;15
Albert
What do you think? They think that of you? Well, I think because, you know, I may not my resting face is kind of like, serious. I look serious. Obviously I'm not engaged. And plus I, you know if I'm in a new situation I'm tend to be quiet. I can relate to that. It's that just, just feeling the, the vibe of the crowd before you.
00;42;35;15 - 00;43;02;18
Albert
Yeah. Yeah I want to involved about the crowd and and it really puts everything in a different mindset. Some groups I can go into, I'm totally comfortable, others I'm just not comfortable. And that's why I come to the conclusion where I would say, I'm in the middle between being introvert next to it because like, there's times where I've been in like large groups and I love being around people, but sometimes where I say, this is a little too much for me, I gotta, I gotta leave.
00;43;02;20 - 00;43;30;06
Albert
Fair enough. Now final question. If you could read the mind of one celebrity, who would it be? I probably would say like maybe more on Brando or Anthony Hopkins or Anthony Hopkins, just to kind of see how what that process is, is how they prepare for our role and how, you know, they execute a role.
00;43;30;08 - 00;43;57;28
Adam and Albert
Yes. Marlon Brando certainly has a lot of respect from, I was trying to remember when you mentioned Marlon Brando's, seeing an interview. I think it's Robert De Niro. And he was talking quite harshly, and I think that was asking a similar question. Who who would you like to have a conversation with? And he said, Marlon Brando because, because he had quite high respect.
00;43;58;00 - 00;44;23;27
Albert
And it's interesting. So because you do hear, I've heard sort of very conflicting reports on his method of performance that, some people respected and other people thought, oh, no, he's just lazy or, you know, the stories of people putting up, dialogs on cards and him hiding pieces of dialog, in certain places around the set while he was performing.
00;44;23;27 - 00;44;58;27
Albert
Suppose he wanted it to be fresh and new. Interesting that it sort of. It just reminded me of De Niro's comment. Yeah, well, there was also another story about and I forget which actor it was, but there was an actor who just kept forgetting his line that Marlon Brando delivered. So Marlon Brando did. He kind of taped and the word on the tape and put it on his tongue so the camera didn't see it, and then every time he would deliver the line to the actor, you know, he would kind of stick out his time, like being coy and sarcastic, but he wasn't doing it for the role.
00;44;58;27 - 00;45;26;00
Albert
He was like, do it to kind of remind the actor, this is your I. You know, like so I think nuances like that I find amazing. Yes. He's certainly a character that sort of really stood out. And I mean it worked for him. I don't, I don't know if I could quite get away with some of the things that he did, but but he is sort of quite an iconic character I think.
00;45;26;03 - 00;45;43;13
Albert
Yeah. Well I mean and, and that's another thing to I would tell actors to live with somebody, you know, it's great to learn from them, but I wouldn't say emulate them or try to be like them because everybody, you know, if you if somebody else on the street, any actor try to pull off a Marlon Brando, it's not going to work.
00;45;43;15 - 00;46;06;00
Albert
Because it's not that a good actor really brings themselves to the character. So, you know, this is where I think I mistake actors, makes a brand like, hey, you know, I'll get emails like I'm the next, you know, Denzel Washington from the next Meryl Streep. I'm like, no, you're not, because there's only one. Denzel is only one Meryl.
00;46;06;04 - 00;46;28;22
Albert
And it should stay that way. But they'll never be another you. And that's where you've got a bridge gap in that or be somebody else. So somebody would try to be more on Brando. It wouldn't work. Yes. It, it's, and it's that trying to that idea of selling yourself of you've got something worth and that's unique as well.
00;46;28;22 - 00;46;52;11
Albert
That's worth giving out to the people that, we all have to try to accept as well, because we identify with the meryl's traits, the Marlon Brando show. Well, everyone loves that, so I'll be that instead. Yeah. Doctor Albert Bramante, thank you so much for your time. Thank you. It's it's been it's been so wonderful talking to you.
00;46;52;13 - 00;47;16;12
Adam and Albert
If people wanted to connect with you, how would they go about doing that? So you can go on my website. Albert, vermont.com. You can also, find me on, social media and on LinkedIn or Instagram and or Vermont. I would love to, talk to you. Thank you so much for your time. Go well.
00;47;16;15 - 00;47;27;20
Adam and Albert
Okay. Well thank you, thank you, thank you.
00;47;27;23 - 00;48;03;14
Adam and Julie
Thank that was interesting. It was, it was some I think this you could really delve quite deeply into the idea or self-sabotage and why we do it. And it's really, not something you can adequately cover and one interview, it's, it's and it's so different for different people. So, but it certainly it gave me a sort of, a broader appreciation.
00;48;03;14 - 00;48;31;04
Adam and Julie
And also the other thing was, some ideas in terms of how to, just be relevant in, in the industry. I mentioned right at the beginning and I think I, and I incorrectly gave the title of the book that Ava had written. So the title of the book is called Rise Above the Script Confronting Self-doubt and Mastering Self-sabotage for Performing Artists.
00;48;31;06 - 00;49;02;12
Adam and Julie
And it's available, what's available on Amazon, that's for sure. So if you're interested. And the only other thing I'll just mention, I think, Albert said that that he has a website to WW dot Albert, Vermont or one word.com, and I'll put that on the, no, no, it's. Yeah. No, I'll be really interesting to read the book because I think he touched some ideas, some things, you know, you kind of get you can understand where it's coming from.
00;49;02;12 - 00;49;27;12
Adam and Julie
But to be like nice to sort of see how he develops those ideas further in the book. So yeah. And I really I suppose that it's again, it's still, yes, obvious, but just, I liked, his experience as the casting agent and people just expect that you can go up to him and they say, fine, you know, give me a job.
00;49;27;12 - 00;49;51;04
Adam and Julie
I just want to get him straight into commercial. And it's, a lot more difficult than that. It's not a simple thing is. Okay, here's a job for you straight away. Yeah. And, obviously in America, there's a lot more people and a lot more competition. But just even where we are in little Adelaide, it is pretty stiff competition to, to to get work.
00;49;51;04 - 00;50;09;13
Adam and Julie
So it's not just a matter of waving a magic wand and, and getting an agent, and then instantly you get work. Yeah. Oh, look, it's definitely a tough road. And I don't think, anyone, you know thinks any different, but it's always good to hear diverse perspectives. And, and I think we probably had an agent before. No, not at all.
00;50;09;13 - 00;50;32;29
Adam and Julie
Yes. And it's quite good. And I think the the bottom line is just talking to each other about it too, because I think everyone has got great ideas and, and what they're doing. And I and this whole process, I'm talking to people and seeing what they're doing to sort of generate, continue work. And it's very inspiring.
00;50;32;29 - 00;51;08;01
Adam and Julie
So keep talking. Everyone talk to each other. Yeah. So, so thank you very much for listening. As always, please communicate up to here, your thoughts and look forward to talking to you very soon. Bye. Goodbye.