an actor's resume! what the heck do i do?

whether you’ve been in this biz for 5 months or 5 years, casting people want to see your resume…it gives them an overview or highlight of what you’ve been doing re: the business of acting…even if it’s not much, it will say if you are actively pursuing your dream or just hanging out, waiting for a “miracle” to fall on your head…so remember, next to your headshot, it’s the most important thing they will see about you…

casting directors have a job…to find the best actors for the roles for the project…they want to find who is right for each part, so having a resume that looks good, helps them with this process…

do not put an acting resume together as if it was a simple resume! this is not an employment resume…that is totally different! an acting resume is exclusively about acting…what you’ve done, who you’ve trained with, your special skills, etc…

to explain this fairly quickly…(God knows i can run off at the mouth, er, I mean post)…let me list what the acting resume should look like…

1.your name on the top center in a larger point size than the rest of the resume...
2.your phone number - NOT home phone – either cell, pager or answering service…(if you have an agent or manager, then you may have letterhead with their name and phone on it – but if you don’t have letterhead, then put their info. in yourself and leave your personal info. off)
3.physical characteristics…NOT age…casting people go by “age range” anyway, so you don’t want to knock yourself out of the running by giving them an exact age when you may look younger or older which could work for the part…
mostly, this would mean hair color and eye color, with height and weight being optional – personally, we’ve been told by my daughter’daughter’s reps. not to put that in…but to each his own…
4.add your membership in any actor’s unions (SAG, AFTRA, ACTRA, AEA)
5.now put your first bold heading: FILM/TV – then underneath, list the credits if there are any…
6.now put your 2nd bold heading: THEATER – then underneath, list the credits if there are any…
7.now put your 3rd heading: COMMERCIALS/INDUSTRIALS – do the same here…although this may change in time to say “no conflicts” – which i’ll explain at another point, but for now, to help fill up the resume, if you have something here, then list it…
8.your college degree if related to the industry
9.now put your next bold heading TRAINING – list acting classes, workshops, private coaches, dancing and singing classes and anything else that is appropriate for this area…
10.next major heading: SPECIAL SKILLS – this may include different sports, playing of an instrument, martial arts training, etc…anything that gives the casting person an overview of your child’s abilities…

remember, if you’re just starting out in acting, the hardest part is figuring out how to fill up that VERY blank page! know this though, EVERYONE started with a blank page at some point! even the biggest and brightest stars started this way…some a 4 years old…others at 25…even others at 40…so don’t despise your small beginnings…

hints: use plenty of white space in between headings…use a larger type size, such as 12 or 14 point…and don’t forget to include ANY acting experience no matter how trivial…even those bit parts in your child’s class play…as the resume grows, you can remove those roles for hopefully some that are bigger and juicier! J

hope this helped some of you…i think i’m probably going to cover some of the actor’s training needs in the next couple of blogs…you just never stop training…even if it’s “on the job training”…the actor never stops growing in his craft…

have a glorious and beautiful day in this biz!

hugs and out~