"I do one-on-one coaching and I teach on a freelance basis," he explains. "I usually do an hour-and-15-minute session with the actor and then do a follow-up six months to a year later. I've also co-written a book, 'So You Wanna Be a New York Actor,' with manager Josselyne Herman-Saccio."
Given his entrepreneurial spirit, Olivieri didn't wait for a publisher to bite. Instead he published the book himself. And he advises actors and those launching sideline businesses to take the same approach he did. "Make timelines, budgets, goals, and deadlines," he says. "And then share those plans with others. Make sure you keep yourself accountable."
Olivieri has been running his business for the last five years, and the best news of all is that he makes 90 percent of his income from acting and 10 percent from his marketing business. (Currently he is starring in the well-received Off-Broadway revue "The Greenwich Village Follies.") Still, he says, it's nice to have a self-generated business that gives him flexibility and puts him in the driver's seat.
Indeed, that's the main reason that actors become entrepreneurs, contend those with whom Back Stage spoke. All agree that they prefer running a business of their own to temping at law firms or waiting tables or tackling the many other jobs that actors typically take between acting gigs.
For Art's Sake
Sharlene Hartman admits she enjoys her work as an art and antiques dealer almost as much as she does acting. "Right now, I spend a third of my time buying and selling, another third buying objects for clients who call with special projects, and the rest of the time I'm acting," she says. "I do tons of extra work and readings."
Hartman has been a dealer for 15 years. (Among her previous sidelines: running a wake-up call business and videotaping interviews for dating services.) Her specialty is midcentury art objects. She purchases most of her pieces at flea markets and garage sales, sometimes estate sales, and occasionally thrift shops. She sells her wares at flea markets, where she rents space that may cost between $60 and $110—an expense she can share with another seller.
Storage is an obvious issue. So is the cost of purchasing objects, though Hartman insists that you don't need deep pockets and that salable furnishings and art can be found on the sidewalk. "I have a friend who picked up a painting on the street and sold it for $600," she reports. "This is not the lazy man's activity. You need patience. But there is a lot of stuff out there."
Hartman also advises checking your own home or your parents' attic for objects that are ripe for selling. Actors who are new to the business can buy or sell on eBay and Craigslist, she adds. The business is time-consuming, and Hartman concedes that she has lost some background work because of it. But for the most part, she says, it's been worth it: "I make more money at any one antiques show than I do for one day of extra work."
Stanley Allan Sherman lives in the best of all worlds. Though he may be best known for his recurring role as a comical Orthodox Jew on Conan O'Brien's show, he is also a nationally recognized commedia dell'arte performer and authority. But Sherman has as much of a reputation for his mask-making business, Mask Arts Co., and it's profoundly connected to his performing.
"It augmented my career as an actor," he says. "It made my performances richer." His awareness of color, shape, and texture adds a whole new dimension to his acting, he explains.
Sherman began creating masks for his own performance pieces back in the early '70s and developed a special technique for making leather masks in 1976. Working out of his apartment on West 14th Street, he has created masks for the Joffrey Ballet, TheatreworksUSA, the Big Apple Circus, and the World Wrestling Federation, among many other organizations. He also makes neutral masks for schools and high-end custom masks and clown noses for productions and individuals.
"You form a business on the basis of what you love and give a damn about," Sherman maintains. "If you don't care, no one else will. Don't start it just to make money. It's a fallacy to believe business is in business to make money. You're in business to provide a service and product. Money is a benefit. Start small, do quality work, establish good relationships with people, and a reputation will follow."
Who can argue with that?
