Dearth of TV Acting Jobs Blamed on Industry Transformation

Donnie Riser on set. Courtesy of Donnie Riser

Last year, Donnie Riser’s television acting career was on fire.

After booking a co-star role on NBC’s “New Amsterdam,” he auditioned for the network’s “Law & Order,” was pinned five times for speaking roles on CBS’s “The Equalizer,“ and was put on hold for three co-star scenes alongside Tom Holland of ”Spider-Man“ in Apple TV’s ”The Crowded Room.”

Since January, however, he’s only had two television (TV) auditions.

“After the SAG-AFTRA strike ended in November, my talent manager told me to prepare for an onslaught of auditions,” Mr. Riser told The Epoch Times. “It’s disheartening. I stay positive by being proactive and showing up.”

While he waits for more TV auditions, Mr. Riser relies on his faith and works as a commercial print model.

“I’ve had quite a few commercial print modeling gigs this year,” he said. “I have a new client that’s been using me a couple of times, but I still have to do other in-between jobs to support my commercial and lifestyle modeling.”

Mr. Riser is not alone.

Talent agents, producers, and talent managers had also noticed a contraction in TV show auditions on both coasts and a virtually nonexistent pilot season in 2024 compared to four years ago in 2020, when 12 full-length pilots were filmed in New York and eight in Los Angeles.

‘Slow Start’

“Everybody can agree that it’s a slow start,” Kathy Olsen, founder of Encompass Arts Management in New York, told The Epoch Times. “It’s picking up as networks become a little less gun-shy about things. I’m staying optimistic.”

Deadline reported that the decline in television acting jobs is a long-term trend fueled by industrywide cost-cutting, and while streaming platforms are making up for the lack of network TV shows, talent sources say they pay less.

SAG-AFTRA’s spokesperson Pamela Greenwalt did not respond to requests for comment.

Actor Avery Mason, for example, receives residuals for his portrayal of Black Grimace in 18 episodes of “Power,” which was executive produced by 50 Cent and aired on the Starz cable network. But he’s not receiving residuals for his 2019 role in “The Punisher” when it aired on Netflix before it moved to Disney Plus.

“It surprised me because I thought that any work I did using my likeness paid residuals,” Mr. Mason told The Epoch Times. “I accepted it anyway.”

Actor Leo Rossi, who has been acting in television and films for 50 years, suspected there would be no pilot season in 2024 when the SAG-AFTRA strike extended beyond September last year.

Avery Mason on the 'Power' set with co-stars J.R. Ramirez and Tommy Sikora. Photographer Myles Aronowitz/Courtesy of Avery Mason

Mr. Rossi wrote the screenplay for the 2018 film “Gotti” and co-starred in it along with John Travolta and Kelly Preston. He currently has a recurring role on Amazon Prime’s “Gravesend,” along with Chazz Palminteri, Gabriella Palminteri, and William DeMeo.

The streaming series “Gravesend” just landed Shaquille O'Neal in his first dramatic acting role, according to Mr. Rossi.

“I hope pilot season picks up, but I wonder whether network shows will ever go back to being the power they were before when streaming is winning all the awards,” Mr. Rossi told The Epoch Times.

Although TV acting is reportedly undergoing a transformation due to the influx of streaming platforms, the entertainment industry itself is here to stay despite the overhaul.

The International Trade Administration found that the U.S. media and entertainment industry makes up $660 billion of the $2 trillion global market.

“Everybody from traditional media rushed into streaming, and there was a great deal of money available to do that, but with any investment, at some point, you’ve got to show the profit, and that’s the moment we’re in right now,” producer and talent manager Steven Adams told The Epoch Times.

“That’s why you’re seeing so much cost-cutting and the loss of tens of thousands of jobs,” he added.

Steven Adams at the 2022 Olivier Awards in celebration of the play The 47th at the Old Vic Theatre in London. Courtesy of Malachi Marlan

Mr. Adams, who began his career at the Paradigm Talent and Literary Agency, is a member of the British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) and the Producers Guild of America (PGA).

In 2023, outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas determined that more than 20,000 media jobs had been eliminated since 2020 when 30,000 workers were downsized due to the pandemic.

“Streaming is unprecedented territory, and people are learning the limitations and what their audience’s parameters are,” Mr. Adams said in an interview. “Even though the rest of us are dependent upon production happening on a regular basis, these entities are correcting themselves financially, and they’re going to take as long as it takes to do that.”

Amy Lord Posey (L) and Tina Randolph Contogenis co-founded Eris Talent Agency in 2017. Courtesy of Amy Lord Posey

Amy Lord Posey, co-founder of the Eris Talent Agency in New York and Los Angeles, predicts the current lull is just a blip on the screen due to two strikes in a row in 2023 and that an avalanche of TV acting jobs will come roaring back soon.

The SAG-AFTRA strike began in July 2023 and ended in November 2023, while the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike began in May 2023 and ended in late September 2023.

“There’s usually a push during what was pilot season, but there were so many things that were precast already that were on hold just because of the strikes,” Ms. Lord Posey told The Epoch Times.

‘Actors Can Star in Their Own Material’

She advises actors she represents to create their own content and pursue film festivals and stage exposure while waiting for the pilot season to rev up.

“This is the time to be in a play, write and film your own stuff, and practice the craft of acting,” Ms. Lord Posey said in an interview. “It’s a different world in which actors can star in their own material.”

Actor Stefano Da Fre, who was previously cast in “Law & Order” and HBO Max’s “That Damn Michael Che,” is ahead of the curve.

He saw the writing on the wall in 2019 and began pursuing work behind the scenes as a director, writer, and producer.

The first and second films he directed and produced—“The Girl Who Cannot Speak” and “Stolen Dough”—were acquired by Apple TV.

“The traditional media landscape has completely changed, and it’s funneled down to the way actors are making a living,” Mr. Da Fre told The Epoch Times.

“Television networks like NBC, ABC, CBS, and the CW are competing against streaming platforms like Google, Amazon, and Apple, and they don’t have the same budgets. Disney doesn’t have the money that Apple TV has,” he added.

Actor Stefano Da Fre (R) on set directing "Stolen Dough." Cedric Boadi/Courtesy of Rosso Films International and Stefano Da Fre

Network procedurals, such as “Law & Order,” “Chicago P.D.,” and “FBI,” provide actors and their talent agents some consistency due to the high number of co-star and guest star roles they cast per episode.

Series regular roles, however, are increasingly harder to come by, according to Ms. Lord Posey, who has noticed network procedurals casting recurring guest star roles instead of billing them as series regular roles.

“One wonders if what was once considered a guest star role that’s now a large co-star role is billed that way as a way to save money,” Ms. Lord Posey added.

Dick Wolf, the creator of multiple television network procedurals—including “Law & Order,” “Chicago P.D.,” and “FBI”—declined to comment through his publicist Pam Golum.

Under SAG-AFTRA’s pay scale, network series regular roles generally pay more than guest star roles, and guest star roles typically pay more than co-star roles.

Tom Paolino. Courtesy of Tom Paolino

Actor Tom Paolino auditions at least twice a month, and, so far, in the first two months of 2024, he’s auditioned for Robert De Niro’s Netflix series “Zero Day,” Jessica Chastain’s limited series “The Savant” on Apple TV, and an episode of “An American Sports Story” on the FX Network about the late New England Patriots football player Aaron Hernandez, who died a convicted murderer.

After having appeared in CBS’s “FBI: Most Wanted,” and “Blue Bloods” as well as NBC’s “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” Mr. Paolino is raising $1 million to produce his own television pilot and series called “Lawyers Gone Bad” in Buffalo, New York.

“I choose to focus on joy and what’s going well,” Mr. Paolino told The Epoch Times. “I have no control over the ebbs and flows of the industry. I don’t give it any energy.”