Creating an Acting Showreel – Actor Hub Tips

Make sure that the footage you are using highlights YOU as an actor.

If you are in a film scene opposite Daniel Craig, but you are only really serving him a martini then in all honesty you will probably look like a background artist and the scene won’t impress.

You don’t want to be outshone by the other actor in the scene. You want whoever watches the clip to notice you not your co-star.

Don’t go too far back into your back catalogue. No one will really be interested in watching an episode of The Bill you made in 1996, no matter how great your acting!

Remember that just like your headshot needs to ‘look like you’ your clips do too. They need to be examples of how you will look on screen if you got called in today. If you have put weight on, lost weight, aged, gone bald, whatever, make sure your clip represents you truthfully.

False representation is just going to ultimately annoy the casting director, and believe me, that is the last thing you want to happen.

Make sure the clips you are using to represent yourself are of broadcast quality in both picture and sound.

Putting out poor quality footage is going to make you look bad and amateur.

It is the norm now for actors to self-produce content and there are lots of companies who will do this for you really well. Make sure your clips look and sound as professional as the content on television or the cinema, any less than this will negatively reflect on you, the actor.

Just because you were in it doesn’t necessarily mean you should clip it.

Get someone with an objective eye to watch your clips with you, not your partner, your best friend or your mum! You need to be discerning when choosing your clips. Imagine that you are the casting director, what are they looking for?

Here’s what casting director Marcy Liroff has to say “If it looks homemade, like so much of the self-produced content I see, don’t use it! I’d rather see no footage than bad footage. You can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube!”

Make sure that your clips are easily accessible to those who need to see them.

It has never been easier to get your reel or clips uploaded to Spotlight, this is the best way to make sure that your clips get seen by casting directors and agents alongside your actor’s CV and photographs. As well as Spotlight make sure you get your clips up on any directory you use: Casting Network, Act On This, IMDB.

If you have a website then your clips should be available there. Our website design company www.actordesign.co.uk can help you with this, and we can fully integrate video, especially Actor Clips to your site.

If you upload your clips to YouTube or Vimeo make sure that your contact details is easily viewable. Have it on the video itself, or in the description on the site, better yet have it in both! I would also include your Twitter handle, website address and Facebook page (if you have one). Market yourself across all the social media platforms.

Casting Directors and agents don’t like to receive huge files to their email when they are busy with a project. They will probably click delete rather than open an attachment from someone they really don’t know. If you are sending it via We Transfer or You Send It they probably don’t have the time or inclination to download the file. Remember it won’t just be you sending them a clip, they will probably receive over a hundred!

Make it easy to see your clip. If you are emailing them then send an easy click-able link direct to the video, or better yet a link to your Spotlight Page where they can watch it and see your CV and pics at the same time.

Save the casting director time and effort and they will be grateful. You want to come across as a professional who is serious about your business, not an amateur who is trying their luck.