As the whirlwind of evolving technology storms on, we find the after effects permeating every facet of our lives. The film, theatre and television industry is right at the forefront of this evolution and we see some definite adjustments occurring in how projects are put together. It has never been easier for a producer to reach out to thousands, if not tens of thousands of performers and crewmembers, to put together a casting call for a project that fifteen years ago, few outside of a certain geographic radius would have ever heard of. The traditional method of putting together big budget films and shows still remains fairly standard. However, auditioning in the independent market has seen an evolution that allows for more people to have opportunities, and for producers to see more people than ever before. Unfortunately, with this increase of ease in auditioning for projects, we have seen several bad habits creep into the system that makes things much more difficult for the producers. When one is doing their best to get hired by a production, whether it be cast or crew, the last thing you want is to be difficult to those who are making the decisions. Specifically, the dealing of the digital transfer of headshots, resumes, and occasionally, audition tapes. Today we’ll talk about a few pitfalls we see a lot of new performers and crew falling into and how to avoid them. For the sake of brevity, we’ll refer to any group of directors, producers, casting directors, designers, etc, who are assembling cast and crew for any kind of production as “producers”.
Traditionally, a performer would get the heads up on an audition from their agent or possibly through word of mouth or some other form of alert. They would show up with their headshot and resume, present it to the producers and proceed with the audition. Nowadays, more and more audition notices as well as virtual audition submissions are being made through social media and other forms of web transfer. In a previous project I was assisting on, we had an audition that was sent to us from the other side of the globe. Several other performers who could not make it to the auditions on the assigned days also had the opportunity to email us their headshots and resumes as well as links to video auditions. For a low budget film, we were stunned to receive/view well over 300 auditions. In addition, in the ongoing efforts of businesses going paperless, as well as the ease and lower cost of maintaining digital files of talent rather than hard copies, many to most of our submitters sent us a headshot and/or resume by way of the Internet. This experience, along with several other similar ones, raised some concerns that I feel would help the producers life be a lot easier, as well as make the performers look more professional. Of course, the caveat with all this is to ALWAYS follow the instructions of what the producers want. If they ask for something out of the ordinary, go with the flow, along with the blessing of your agent, if applicable. Let’s start with headshots.
Digital Headshots
Many times a producer may ask you to email them a headshot. There are a number of do’s and don’ts that will help you look good and make their life a lot easier. First, NEVER, ever, ever use a “selfie” or a photo you took of yourself looking in a mirror. It’s just wrong. Don’t. For that matter, do your utmost to avoid using photos taken by a phone camera. Cell phone cameras have improved a lot in recent years, but they still look amateurish to someone trying to sell themselves as a professional. The optimal solution is to use the original digital file your photographer used for your professional headshot. Most photographers will include digital versions of your photos as part of the package or for a small extra fee. This is worth the extra money. If you have no other options, leave a scanned version of your professional headshot as a last resort. It never looks as good as the original digital file, but it’s better than a selfie.
Once you have your headshot, check the file size. You should not send an image that is more than about 2 MB in size. Any larger and it just bogs the process down. You don’t want to have the producer forced to put all her work on hold as her computer is locked up trying to download your 30 MB hi-res headshot. If you are unfamiliar with this process, simply right click on the file and you will typically have another menu pop up that will have some version of a “get info” option. That button will let you know a good deal of information about the image, including its size. While we are talking about file size, it’s also important to know that a picture can be too small. If you pull up the image and it appears fuzzy or “blocky” the photo is too low a quality to be viewed at a decent size. This will largely depend on the dpi (dots per inch), but you typically don’t want to send any photo that is smaller than 400 KB. If your photo is too small (and you don’t have a higher resolution copy) there is little you can do other than take a new photo. If it’s too large, you can adjust file size through Photoshop or other similar programs or to send it through PDF, which is what we will likely be doing anyway. More to follow on PDF’s…
Once your photo is a manageable size, you’ll want to save your image and give it a new name. Nothing is more frustrating for a producer to be searching through hundreds of images of photos to try and find the one performer who’s headshot image has the filename, img574373.jpg. Go ahead and use your name, first and last (because there just might be another G_Balawolski out there), and if you want to add “headshot” or the date or something else, that is fine. The rule is keep it clear and simple.
While we are on the subject of names, it’s also important to remember to use the same name on all your correspondence with the producers. It can become wildly confusing to have people use different names between what’s on their headshots and resumes, to what they sign in emails, married names, maiden names, stage names, etc. Find one, and stick to it. It also helps to have an email address that is simply your name and possibly some corresponding numbers or something simple. It also appears more professional to have emails sent to your name rather than actingIZlyfe4RealZ@hipmail.kom. Again, headshots, resumes, signatures, emails, email addresses… one name.
Resumes
On to resumes. Your look and your experience, along with your audition are the only things that producers typically have to go on. So you cannot afford to slack off in the resume department. First, there’s no reason why your resume needs to be longer than one page. If you really need to use more than one page, it typically feels like you are trying to compensate quality for quantity. Having a single page, with some white space to spare, is a good thing. If you really do have so many high quality items to put on your resume that they simply will not fit on one sheet, let the producers know, by placing a brief notice that a complete resume is available if requested. A link to a personal website is great for this. That way, if they choose to look it up, you can wow them with more content than just your resume. In addition, avoid the temptation to use smaller font or widen margins to allow for more content. Never go smaller that 12-point font. Remember, you want to make reading the resume easy for the producers. When they are sitting in auditions for an entire day (typically multiple days) and they are seeing dozens if not hundreds of resumes, the tendency is going to be to skim. Nothing says “skim me” more than large blocks of small text. Keep it simple and clear.
How one should lay out their resume on the page to typically comes down to preference. Though once you have your resume the way you want it, you’ll need to save it as a PDF. This almost totally universal format will allow the producer to receive your document and view it in a digital format that matches the layout you built it in. Do not send a Word, Text or any other type of file format. The producer may not have the same software as you and they might not be able to view it. In addition, the format may be skewed between versions and the typographical and grammatical error alerts can be distracting and unprofessional. Oh, and for heaven’s sake, please don’t copy and paste your resume into the body of an email. It’s happened and it’s ugly.
Once you have your PDF version of your resume, if you want extra points with the producers, you can combine it with your headshot so it becomes a two page, single file, PDF document. If you have Adobe Acrobat (highly advisable if you do not), you can merge files together into a single PDF document. At worst, you can take your resume, create a second blank page, and drop your headshot on the second page as an Insert Image. Of course, once you have done this, make sure that you rename the document as your name and double check to make sure the file size is less than around 2 MB.
Another good note, even if you have submitted your headshot and resume to producers previously, if you are invited to a live audition, be sure to also take a physical paper copy with you. They may not want it, but it’s better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it.
Video Auditions
On occasion, a producer may request or accept a video audition. As with headshots, avoid using cell phone video if at all possible. While we are on the subject of cell phone video, if you absolutely have no other choice but to shoot on a cell phone, PLEASE remember to shoot in the traditional landscape format, not portrait. No one watches film, television or video in the taller portrait format.
Unless specifically instructed, always send a link to an online-hosted version of your video, not the actual video file. Video files are very large and depending on the quality and duration of the video, you can bog a producer’s computer down for a long time waiting for a big download. Upload to YouTube, Vimeo or some other video hosting site and send the producers a link and any applicable privacy passwords.
Production value counts, so do you best to get good lighting, make sure your lines are clear with no echo, and eliminate background noise and distractions. It’s also probably a good idea to mount your camera on a tripod rather than going handheld. This will eliminate bad shaking and jerky camera movements and the distracting creaking and cracking of the plastic housing that frequently comes with cheaper video cameras.
Again, don’t forget to slate on camera and rename the file to your name.
Emails
With the ease of emails over handwritten letters, we have gotten out of the habit of good writing manners. Be sure to identify whom the email is intended for, remind the producers who you are, what part or job you are submitting for and any other pertinent attachments, links or information. Keep it brief and professional and sign off with your name- again, making sure you keep your name consistent with all your other correspondences and information.
If you prefer all your communication with the producers take place through your agent, please tell them and use the agency email and phone numbers as the points of contact.
It’s easy to think of the producers as the bad guys, especially if you have been passed over for work time and time again. The reality is that they desperately want to find amazing people to work with… they want to say yes! It can be tedious to wade through hundreds of people trying to find just the right fit. If they are forced to spend time “fixing” things you send them, which will unfortunately taint your name a bit. If you make life easier for them, it just may be the thing that keeps your name in the forefront of their minds. Good luck out there and keep working. Now… Back to One!