Larry Garrison - Breaking into Acting For Dummies

Everyone needs a head shot. However, you may also consider using your head shot for postcards and business cards for your personal use in networking:

Postcards are especially useful as thank-you notes (and don’t forget to include your contact information on these post cards, too!). By displaying a miniature version of your head shot, they also put your name and face in front of a casting director for a second time.

Printing your head shot on business cards is a great way to promote yourself. Carrying around and handing out business cards is quick and easy — not to mention inexpensive as well.

Your head shot provides the first impression that most agents and casting directors get of you. Make a great first impression, and you get a chance to make a second impression, which can lead to that all-important callback (or better yet, an actual role in a production). But if you make a poor first impression with your head shot, you may never get a chance to audition for any roles, even if you’re the best actor in the world. Here are a couple points to consider.

The most common complaint among casting directors is meeting actors who don’t look anything like their head shots. Often, the head shot portrays a young, glamorous actor who looks like someone who could play a supermodel or a body builder. Yet when the casting director finally meets that actor in person, in walks a person who looks nothing like the head shot. Refer to the earlier section, “ Picking the right look,” for more information.

You may look exactly like your head shot, and your head shot may perfectly reflect your unique personality. Yet your head shot still won’t be perfect if it isn’t free from a variety of technical problems that could make your head shot a liability instead of an asset.

Some common technical problems include head shots that are out of focus, blurry, or too light (or too dark). A head shot needs to portray your face clearly so casting directors can see what type of look you present.

Make sure that the professional photographer’s samples are in focus with nondescriptive backgrounds and that the photos jump out to you.

Casting directors, producers, agents, and managers want to see a representation of your talent. If you have acted in film, television, theater, or any other type of production, use that video clip to show your work. Because auditions are sometimes recorded at home on your phone, it’s in your best interest to send those recordings to casting directors rather than sending nothing at all.

Make sure you figure out how to record your audition professionally from your home, if you aren’t called in to a casting director’s office.

Some actors construct acting pieces and put them on YouTube as examples for work. You can use whatever you have that truly represents your best work to promote yourself.

Don’t use anything that looks unprofessional or that would insult anyone in the industry.

As you progress as a working actor, you’ll have more professional clips to use as an example of your talent.

Chapter 5

IN THIS CHAPTER

Making up your acting resume to look like a star

Highlighting the important info

Knowing what not to put on an acting resume

Comparing resumes: veterans versus novices

Casting directors only care about one thing: Are you right for the part? So, they aren’t looking for career objectives, salary requirements, or whether you worked at a Fortune 500 company for the past five years. They’re looking for evidence to justify whether you may be the right actor for a particular role. This chapter shows you what to include (and what to exclude) from an acting resume as well as how to create an impressive acting resume when you have little acting experience.

Most resumes, if not all, are posted on an acting website. On other sites, you follow the site’s format, where they ask you questions to create your resume. Though in this chapter we guide you on how to construct your resume, know that there are many different ways of showing your best qualities.

A typical resume lists a job applicant’s previous employment, experience, education, and so on. As an actor, you don’t need a typical resume. You need an acting resume. An acting resume focuses exclusively on acting and establishes your credibility as an actor by listing your acting experience and training. Your acting resume should promote you as an actor, show agents and casting directors that you’re serious about being an actor, and have the necessary training, skills, and/or experience to do the job if hired.

Creating an impressive-looking acting resume isn’t hard. You can choose from a variety of ways to put your resume together — all of which are correct. But if the content and appearance of your resume is sloppy, hard to read, and disorganized, you come across as a sloppy, disorganized actor. Make sure that your resume is easy to read, neatly organized, and loaded with experience that’s especially appropriate for a particular role. Doing so makes you look your best.

A good resume (and a great head shot) can help open doors for you on the casting sites that you join. But after that, it’s up to your talent, your looks, and a little bit of luck and timing to help you land a role.

Acting websites have become an important tool in your career. These sites memorialize your head shots, video clips, acting credits, skills and training inclusive of your representation and union affiliations. Each site may have a different format. Simply fill in the appropriate information and post your head shots to exhibit your different looks. Pay the extra funds so that you can show a dichotomy of looks.

The various websites have different formats. Here are some of the most common websites:

Actor’s Access ( https://actorsaccess.com )

Backstage ( www.backstage.com )