6 Tips For Actors To Get Started In The Industry
Here are the 6 essential tips for actors who are just starting out in the entertainment industry.
1. Learn Your Craft – Develop your tools for acting out different characters, personalities and emotions by attending acting schools, working with acting coaching or even taking improv workshops. Student films are another great way to get working experience on set.
2. Headshots & Actors Reels – These are essential for actors directly impact your career! You’ll want both the images and demo footage to showcase your best qualities, so make sure you do your research and hire a professional photographer or demo reel production company!
3. Join Actor Resource Networks & Databases – Put your best foot forward on these platforms to increase your chances of booking work wether or not you have representation. Some notices will only go up on one or two boards so it’s best to keep tabs on all of them.
4. Improve Your Demo Reel (Often) – Once you’ve done the first three steps and have booked some roles you can start to tailor your headshot, resume, and reel to include the best performances and set ups you have to offer. Also, if you have more footage to choose from you can customize the reel for the role you’re submitting for ie: dramatic reel or comedic reel
5. Create A Website – Gather all the best clips and reference materials you have and put them online! This step could come earlier, but again you’ll want to make sure you have a-list content otherwise you’ll be sending the wrong message to potential casting directors, agents, etc. This would also be a good time to upload your footage to a personal YouTube page if you haven’t already.
6. Get representation – Research agents and managers that cater to your skillset as an actor and set up a few meetings. At this point in the process you should have a few credible shows or projects under your belt, high quality demo reel, headshots, and website to make it an easy pitch!
