I want to be making more money as an actor so I am looking for ways to create more value as an actor, but I am indulging in confusion around it.

I feel like I know how to create value as an actor but not really how to share more value as an actor. Unless I am in a production, I feel like acting happens in a vacuum – like I can act by myself in my living room and become a better actor, but that doesn’t really mean I am offering value.

In the past I have started producing my own work – I’ll write and direct something that I also act in so that I can share it in festivals, with casting directors and on social media. However, I think I have gotten to the point that producing the work has become a distraction and a buffer from acting. To produce something, it takes about 90% of the time and energy to set up the shoot, and only about 10% of the time actually acting.

How do I offer value as an actor without getting distracted by other things? Or is there a better question I should be asking myself? Thanks!