Back to School: Media 101
Welcome to our fourth and final entry in our Back to School blog series! We’ve tackled resumes, representation, and auditions. We hope that this series has helped some of you to feel more confident in your performing career! This week, we are taking a look at an area of the business that we are particularly fond of… Media!
Websites and Performing Media are our bread and butter, so we are excited to bring this information to you. However, one quick disclaimer before we begin. There is way too much to cover on performing media then we could ever tackle in one blog post. We’ll go over the basics here, but if you need any help or have other specific questions please reach out to us and we’ll be happy to help! Our mission is to help actors like you make their career goals come true.
With all that being said, let’s get to the good stuff!
1. Headshots
The most basic piece of media that every actor ABSOLUTELY needs is a headshot. Every actor, whether a beginner or seasoned veteran, should have a professional headshot. A headshot should be a high-quality photo from around your shoulders and up. For acting purposes, avoid full body headshots. There are tons of photographers out there who are excellent, and who you go to depends on where you are located and your price range. If you are located in the NYC/Tri-State area, reach out to us and we can give you some recommendations.
Also, be sure to have a website quality photo for your online profiles. Your headshot photographer should provide this to you, but make sure you have a high-grade, non-blurry photo for your online presence.
2. Reels
Reels are very important, but can be tricky if you are just getting started. Typically, a reel is a compilation of scenes from your various screen credits. We recommend securing clips that showcase a wide variety of roles. Reels are a great way to show casting your acting range! However, if you are a new actor you might not have any screen credits to show off just yet! This is okay, and there is no need to feel embarrassed about this! If you want to put together a reel before you book that first big Netflix gig, you can record yourself doing some monologues/scenes and edit them together to form a short reel. While clips from actual productions are preferred, anything you can put together to show off your stuff can help you!
PRO TIP: If you can invest a little bit of money in this, we can connect you with one of our colleagues who can help you create a pro level actors reel. It could prove to be a great investment! Reach out for details!
3. Voiceover Clips
This is an important one for anyone interested in doing radio or voiceover work. Just like a video reel, voiceover clips are a great way to show off your range. You can use clips from radio spots, audiobooks, animated projects, etc. Similarly, to reels, you can also put some clips together even if you haven’t secured any voiceover jobs yet. You can find tons of radio commercial examples on google. Record yourself reading a few of them, and you’ve got some voiceover clips!
As we said before, we’re just barely scratching the surface on the topic of media for actors. Please reach out to us if you have any questions, this is our area of expertise! You can schedule a free 15 minute consultation by clicking here!
