Author: Laura Hunter Drago

One of my favorite teachers in college used to say, “when you look back on your life, you’ll remember the times you were the busiest as being the happiest of your life.” I think that’s pretty true, and it’s especially good advice for people pursing non-traditional, creative careers. The trap of not working a 9-to-5 is that you just don’t have enough going on during your days. This can get depressing, and doesn’t do your career any favors either. The secret to avoiding this trap? Give yourself a schedule. There’s lots of ways to do this. You can make lists…

I was doing my daily casting submissions in the last days of 2015, and one breakdown caught my eye. It was one of those paragraph-long descriptions (which are never really necessary from a casting perspective, are they?) The line that stopped me in my tracks was this: “…attractive but she’s that classic actress type who would be so much hotter if her mouth was always duct-taped.” Let’s move past that fact that I never, not in a million years, would submit to this casting. God knows where the audition would be, and what might go on during it. Think I’m…

National Novel Writing Month takes place every year in November. The idea is to write at least 50,000 words of an original novel, which can be tracked on the NaNoWriMo website. Once you hit the 50,000 words, you “win.” Winning mostly means bragging rights, but also discounts on some cool writer tools. More than anything, NaNoWriMo is about getting a pen to paper (or, more likely, fingers to a keyboard) and just writing. Sounds pretty simple, right? Well… I’ve had a NaNoWriMo account for 8 years according to their website. This is the first year I’ve actually completed a novel.…

I joke that I have had just about every “day job” a person could possibly have, within reason. Everything from a slew of bartending jobs, to exhausted temp worker, to bikini waitress. (In case you’re curious, a bikini waitress is a waitress who serves your entire meal while wearing only a bikini… just imagine running hot food from a kitchen in your bikini. Still the hardest/worst job I ever had.) There’s an old Hollywood joke that I still get a lot. You tell someone you’re an actress and they say, “oh, what restaurant do you work at?” Har-har. Look, I…

You know that line from Mean Girls, “she doesn’t even go here!”? That pretty much sums up my relationship with American Film Institute. I was a volunteer for the annual AFI Fest for several years (and it’s a great experience, I’d highly recommend it) and I’ve also been a SAG Conservatory member since I joined the union in 2012. I find myself on their beautiful campus a lot. If you’re a SAG member and you’re not a conservatory member… join! Unfortunately, the deadline for this year has passed, but put it on your August to-do list for 2016. There are…

A few months ago, I shot a wonderful little film. My co-star was a very nice guy, about 15 years older than me and with a resume much longer than mine. Our scenes involved a lot of flirtation and a couple of kisses. While we were rehearsing, said co-star sent me into a state of shock when he said: “You know, it’s funny. I’ve never done a kissing scene, or even a romantic scene before.” I paused for a moment before responding, “…I’ve never not done one.” I’m serious. I spent quite a bit of time wracking my brain after…

We all know the drill. You work hard, pound pavement, go to auditions, go to callbacks… and then you finally book something you’re really excited about. The project releases, and you’re stoked about what it will do for your career. Sometimes you’ll get a huge response after a project’s release, but unfortunately a lot of times you may hear crickets. Do you know the best way to capitalize on the moment? How can you make sure that other people, especially those that could give you more work in the future, know about your successes? Well, you could hire a—probably expensive—PR…

In any profession that requires you to work from home, a functional and inspirational home office is a must-have. While being an actor requires plenty of driving around to auditions, out-and-about networking functions, and classes or workshops, it also requires a lot of legwork from home. While you might not realize it, you probably spend a good amount of your days dealing with email campaigns and submissions. By taking those tasks to the next level and creating a true home office, I can guarantee you’ll find that you can increase your productivity and make these day-to-day tasks much more efficient.…