The 20-Year Plan : When Acting Becomes Life with Albert Brahmante

Think rejection hurts? Imagine facing it every day as part of your job. Dr. Albert Bramante, a veteran talent agent with over 21 years in the industry and founder of Bramante Artists, knows this reality well. "The truth is, you're going to hear more no's than yeses, no matter your talent," he says. His transformative advice: reframe rejection. “Use the no as a gentle reminder that your services aren’t needed today.” With this mindset, auditions become less about judgment and more about the joy of performance, turning what could be demoralizing into moments of growth.

Over the years, Dr. Bramante has witnessed seismic shifts in the entertainment industry. Movements like #MeToo spotlighted long-standing issues of exploitation, while the COVID-19 pandemic halted productions and darkened stages for nearly two years. Just as the industry began to recover, the 2023 writers and actors strikes hit, causing what many described as a recession. At the same time, streaming platforms increased visibility for talent while driving down pay, forcing even lead actors to seek side jobs. Success, Dr. Bramante emphasizes, isn't a lucky break but a long-haul strategy. "You need a 10- or 20-year plan,” he says. “This is a lifelong journey.” To dive deeper into surviving and thriving in entertainment, follow Bramante Artists on Instagram or visit bramanteartists.com.

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Dr. Albert Bramante
• 2:13 Dealing with Rejection in Acting
• 6:33 Industry Changes: MeToo and Pandemic
• 10:05 Streaming Services Impact on Acting Careers
• 14:32 The Importance of Trust and Consistency
• 18:09 What's Next and Contact Information

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:02

what's up everybody? This is ryan van ornam and we are back for another scaling up success. Podcast power by synergist. Today I have albert bramante. Albert, how are you doing today, sir?

Speaker 2: 0:13

I'm doing excellent, uh, thank you for inviting me absolutely.

Speaker 1: 0:17

It's a pleasure to have you on. Uh, actually it's dr bramante, correct that's correct.

Speaker 2: 0:23

I do have a doctorate in psychology.

Speaker 1: 0:27

Man, man, that takes a lot right there, let alone what you got going on. So tell me a little bit about what you got going on with Bramante Artists, sure.

Speaker 2: 0:37

Well, I've been a talent agent for about 21 years. I represent actors full time for theater, film, tv, commercial print, voiceover and Vermont the Artist was founded in January 1st 2024, so a relatively new entity. But I've been an agent I've had my own different companies for the past 20, 21 years. So my day-to-day is representing actors for film, tv, theater, commercial print, voice over.

Speaker 1: 1:10

Man. That that's. There's a lot that goes into it. You know, like you've been in that business for so long, but, like you know, tell us what does it take to to be an agent, for you know, in that industry I mean, people come in and out of that industry. People come in and out of that industry a lot, would you agree?

Speaker 2: 1:27

Absolutely. There's a high turnover rate, unfortunately, in this industry. It's a really exciting industry, but it's also extremely competitive and probably one of the most competitive industries out there in the world today. And it can also be, you know, in a sense hard and challenging and for some actors have even said it, to be soul crushing to some degree because of all the no's. The reality of an actor or performer is that you're going to get more no's than you are going to get more no's than you are going to get guesses, no matter how talented, no matter how gifted of a performer you are. That's the reality of the business.

Speaker 1: 2:14

And that's so critical. You know, like with dealing with rejection is something that you're probably having to coach a lot of your clients about, which is is that something that just some people just aren't used to and maybe can't even can't even function after a certain amount of time, or is it like it's it's more just the resiliency side of it, right Of like going to audition after audition after audition and then like, yeah, I got my big break? You know, like, tell us more about that.

Speaker 2: 2:46

Sure, that's exactly what. What is needed as an actor is a resiliency, and I think my wish is that this is more in acting training programs taught more about the grit and the resiliency that you need to, you know, kind of not only to survive but thrive in the industry. So you know, being told no over and over again can sometimes be, you know, cause self-doubt, and I think the message that I'd like to hopefully get across is that to reframe rejection as more of less personal, because when you hear the word rejection, that kind of means very personal action and it's not you know, this business is really not personal and if you reframe it as you know, use the, use the, the no as a gentle reminder of that your services are not needed today, rather than, I know, being all automatically all together.

Speaker 2: 3:45

So that's one of the things I, you know, would really love to get across is that there's no such thing as rejection.

Speaker 1: 3:53

And you're always learning from those things too Cause, like whether you're like you go into an audition and you may not get that role. But man, you, you came so close. I I don't. That may not be, it may be hard to swallow the first couple times, but, man, you're learning every single time, would you agree?

Speaker 2: 4:15

absolutely, and if you look at, you know there's no such thing as failure, only feedback. So you take the the nose as opportunities, opportunities as a stepping stone. You can learn so much from that and then therefore get much better auditions in the future. And a lot of working actors that are successful adopt the mindset of when you're auditioning, look at it as an opportunity to perform and an opportunity to show that you know your ability to perform, rather than looking at as a you know, an object, failure so, or task so when you have that audition, you have two minutes to perform and performing is what actors truly love to do. I have two minutes to perform and performing is what actors truly love to do. No-transcript and do what I love.

Speaker 1: 5:11

Yeah, and man that there's there's so many nuances to that too Like there's people that can probably take it as like man. I only got two minutes to show what I got. I got to try to over over practice and try to over deliver when probably the most successful are the people that are comfortable within their own skin during those two minutes. Right.

Speaker 2: 5:31

Absolutely. And that's not about proving yourself, because you already, you know, proved yourself, you went through the training and you're already here. So it's not about proving yourself, it's about having fun and being in the moment. Yeah, still preparing and, and you know, before the audition is important, but also, at the same time, just taking it as a perform, an opportunity to perform, and as soon as the opportunity is over, let it go. You know, opportunity to perform and as soon as the opportunity is over, let it go.

Speaker 1: 5:58

You know it's over.

Speaker 2: 5:59

Yeah, you know as soon as the audition is over, it's time to move on, and it's time to focus on your next, you know opportunity to audition or perform.

Speaker 1: 6:09

Tell me a little bit about that because like you know, you, you, you said you've been in the game for like, like almost two decades now. So tell us a little bit of like how that industry has kind of changed. Do you see, like that there's been different, different pieces of it. I mean, I, I'm, my guess is like that, the, the Me Too movement has changed a lot of that, that, that piece of it. Would you agree?

Speaker 2: 6:38

Uh, yes, I mean, I would definitely say Me Too too. Uh, has made people more aware, and you know when I even I, when I have conversations about, you know harassment or inappropriate behavior. I also want to mention that it's for both genders, it's not just you know you are towards females, although tell me more about that well, there's exploitation, and it, and not just exploitation on a, you know, physical or sexual, or violation.

Speaker 2: 6:58

It's also exploitation of your talent and money, time. So and that's with both genders too, interesting harassed you know on set and on stage over the years from either other male or even female you know uh violators in a sense, wow, so it's, it's a it's, it's not, it's a thing, unfortunately, you know, an equal opportunity.

Speaker 2: 7:27

Um, so the me too, was definitely 2016, 2017, when, you know, like the whole bill cosby and Harvey Weinstein cases broke. Then another thing that really changed the industry was the pandemic COVID. Oh, okay, for a while it was shut down, you know, not for a long time, but on the film and TV side it was shut. You know, production was shut down for like a good, you know, five or six months, you know, until you know they started getting more. You know, medical advances and testing situation set up Live theater was shut down the longest, for almost two years. Wow.

Speaker 2: 8:20

So if you were a theater actor, producer, stage hand, stage manager, worked in a box office, it was a really hard two years because the business was was uh, so you had to pivot. And then another obstacle we had in our industries in 2023, the, the Writers Guild and the Screen Actors Guild both went on strike within two months of one another and it was a good six months where they were both on strike at the same time. So if you were a screen actor, a writer, you had almost no career in film and TV for for months and then. So the industry had recovered, but not quite yet and it's still.

Speaker 2: 9:01

We're still on a point where you know, where some experts are calling it like an hour version of a recession or a great depression in the film and tv industry because of what's been going on. Um, and that's why you've been seeing a lot in the news about tax incentives and more funding and more tax breaks for productions, because a lot of productions were moving overseas, a lot of productions were moving outside. So, as a local actor in New York, la or Atlanta, it's now a little bit tougher experience now because there was less productions that were happening, but my goal is that I'm hoping that we come back to that.

Speaker 2: 9:45

Right right, we come back to resurgence.

Speaker 1: 9:48

There's been multiple challenges in addition to it just being a challenging field to begin with, do you feel like the increase in streaming options has changed the way that actors have looked upon their gigs?

Speaker 2: 10:05

Absolutely, both in a positive and sometimes a negative way. So the positive sign is that the amount of productions, the amount of opportunities has, you know, multiplied by four or five times, especially when Netflix and Hulu and Amazon and Apple and YouTube all got into the content creation game. So you know, when I first started, you know, as a New York agent, we had very few TV shows. We had the Soaps, you, the lawn order, the sopranos. We didn't have a whole lot, yeah, so it was. If you wanted to be a film and tv actor, la was the place to be, okay. You want to be a theater actor, new york was the place to be. So that's changed. You know, I'd say the past 10 to 12 years that you jumped from, like at one point it was like we were going between 70 to 80 shows a year we're being produced in New York. So, as an actor, that's a goldmine.

Speaker 2: 11:05

Now the downside is the payment in residuals has decreased because there's so much doubt, space and so much you know competition. So the amount of payment that you know you would receive, you know being, you know whether it's a day player, a guest star or you know one-off, you know, or even, as you know a series regular, which means you're in every TV episode has decreased. So it's challenging because I work with people who've been series regulars on shows and you would think, well, they must have a lot of money and that's not always the case. I know people that are series regulars that still need survival jobs to pay for. So that's where it's, at the downside. So there's advantages and disadvantages of that.

Speaker 1: 12:05

That's kind of crazy that there's so much difference in the way that the industry has changed. Now, like that, you know that you have, like you said, the DT series regulars that are, you know, stillars that are still having to have other types of employment, maybe even just to get by. That's kind of crazy.

Speaker 2: 12:23

It is Well. You also have that, plus the rising just living cost of living too, so you add a combination of that and also the lifestyle of it. Know, the life cycle of the series regular can change, um, because initially, when you're hired as a series regular for a show, you sign a six year or seven year deal you know, and now, which that sounds great and it's and it's helpful, but the show can get canceled.

Speaker 2: 12:53

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, and that means there goes the contract, like in 2022. I had hired a um. You know, we got somebody on the series right over an apple tv show, which is really exciting. The deal was, the contract was great, it was lucrative much more than this actress had ever made but the show only lasted one season. It was canceled. And that's not in my control or the actors. That's outside of the actors' control and that can be sometimes hard too. So you can be one minute working a series regular and then a year later be unemployed. You know an out of work actor again.

Speaker 1: 13:34

Yeah, and and really like the, the way that that lifestyle is too. You have to keep up with the Joneses a lot of times, you know whether it's like. You know that they're keeping their, their acting chops up. They're doing, you know, probably having a higher like a physical trainers and staying and staying active, in peak shape, because the body composition for people on screen and stuff like that, it matters for a lot of those roles. There's a lot more that goes into it. The cuisine that people eat, the food that people eat, the. The cuisine that people eat, the. You know the food that people eat. You know like it's. It's so much different than you know. Uh, just somebody, just you know that is just trying to get by working for themselves. You know you have to keep your body in tip top shape.

Speaker 2: 14:30

Yeah, your body and your mind in tip top shape too, you know, and that's both of those places need workout you know, regular workouts and regular now that's and that's, and that's the thing that there's.

Speaker 1: 14:42

There's so much that goes into it that people don't know that they're. They're spending a lot of money on that kind of stuff, like acting coaches. Don't come cheap. You know talent. You know like uh and and helping you, helping them find new roles and new gigs. You know like go into that. There's probably you. You have to be connected, you know, across the country and the world to you know so many of these opportunities that that your actors are finding Right.

Speaker 2: 15:10

Yeah, I mean you know having those connections and they took me sometimes years to cultivate myself. You know these connections and these with with casting directors and producers, Having those connections and they took me sometimes years to cultivate myself these connections With casting directors and producers. So, Because they need to, it's all about trust. They need to be able to trust that I can deliver and they need to trust in my ability To find talent. And that takes a while Because it's about credibility. The same thing as an actor. So what I often say In that respect the same thing as an actor. So what I often say in that, in that respect, is that as act as an actor if you want to work in a major market you know new york la atlanta or a major hub you need to

Speaker 2: 15:47

have a, not just a five-year plan, but a 10 or 20-year plan. Wow, this is not not a marathon, this is a, not a sprint. It is a lifelong journey, not a sprint. And very rarely is there ever a concept of the overnight success you know like, oh, just a quick thing. I mean that sometimes rarely can happen, but very often you don't see the behind the scenes aspect of it. You hear my heroes Well, they just were discovered out of nowhere, but you didn't hear the fact that they've been working 10, 15 years behind the scenes aspect of it. You hear me hear well, they just were discovered out of nowhere, but you didn't hear the fact that they've been working 10, 15 years behind the scenes grinding.

Speaker 1: 16:22

Right, tell me, tell me more about what it takes to build up like that, those connections in your business because, like I mean, that's, that's the trust factor that people are hiring you. Right, and you've been in that industry for so long, you have those connections. So tell me what it takes to get to a point where people want to be a part of your agency.

Speaker 2: 16:47

It's trust consistency. So being, you know consistency is knowing that I'm not gonna give up too easily and I'm not gonna just give up too easily and I'm not going to just open and close right away. So you know, it's all consistent over time. And there's also a concept known as social proof, which means you know, showcasing that my actors are booking, that I'm able to make successful placements, and that is by persistence. So that's why it's important for consistent marketing in any field, especially for actors, there's the importance of consistency.

Speaker 1: 17:24

I love that man, I love that and, as being you that entire time, you've grown inside of that and you have those connections that you've built in that industry that sets you apart from anybody else. So that that's, that's, that's key right there. So what's what's next for the evolution of your business? What do you? Where do you see it going? Like, I know you're in New York, but are you, you? You making connections across the country?

Speaker 2: 17:50

Yeah, making connections across the country LA, atlanta, chicago how big is that? Atlanta and the Chicago areas for.

Speaker 1: 17:55

Atlanta and.

Speaker 2: 17:56

Chicago.

Speaker 1: 17:57

How big is that? Atlanta and the Chicago areas for film and stuff now?

Speaker 2: 18:03

Chicago is big for theater and there are a couple of TV shows that film in Chicago. You obviously have Chicago Med, chicago Fire, chicago PD and other TV shows like the Chai on Showtime. You also have Atlanta, which is like Tyler Perry, oprah Winfrey, all those networks and studios BET studios. A lot of homework movies are made down in the southeast of Atlanta, new Orleans, so those are thriving. It used to be, like I said, new York, la mainly.

Speaker 2: 18:42

LA but LA's been struggling in the past few years and that's why they just passed more tax incentives to bring back more production than LA, because LA's been suffering.

Speaker 1: 18:54

Right, right, no, and it is crazy because that was the Mecca for like 30, 40 years and you know, whether it's the political scene, the socioeconomic scene, even the wildfires, there's so many things that have changed the dynamics out in SoCal. So, um, man, this is, this has been a, you know, a really great insight into that, that career genre that a lot of people probably don't even didn't even know. You know these, these, these things are happening. So thank you so much for sharing your story and we really appreciate you coming on. Man, how can people get ahold of you if they want to get get involved into the, the acting scene?

Speaker 2: 19:35

So you can follow us on Instagram. Vermont Artists. We're right on Instagram. You can go to vermonteartistscom. If you're an actor and want to submit for representation. There's a form you can fill out. You can also follow my personal Dr Al Vermonte on Instagram or LinkedIn under Al Vermonte. So feel free to reach out to me on all those platforms. I'd love to Fantastic.

Speaker 1: 20:02

Fantastic, dr Bermonte. It's been a pleasure having you on. Thank you so much for your time today. Really appreciate it. Go check him out, bermonte Artist. This is Brian Van Ornum with Scaling Up Success Podcast Powered by Senators.