RESUMES
An actor resume is 8 inches wide by 10 inches tall, is properly formatted and is
to be attached to the back of your professionally taken headshot with four staples,
two on top and two on bottom, near the corners, and stapled from the front of the photo.
These are industry standards. Don't get fancy trying to be different and get noticed,
it just may be cast aside as being from someone who is not professional or familiar
with the industry.
Format...
A lot of sources will give somewhat different interpretations of proper formatting,
but here are some basic rules to go by...
Include your name, height, weight, eye and hair color, your agent's contact information,
and your training, experience and special abilities. No need to include your age,
as they don't usually care how old you are, they just want to know what age
you look like for the camera, which they can judge from your headshot.
Don't include personal contact information, unless you don't have an agent yet,
in which case use your phone number and email address.
Don't include your social security number, that will come later when you're signing
with an agency or filling out tax forms for a client who has hired you.
This is an acting resume. No need to include your time flipping burgers or as
a computer data entry specialist. If it's something spectacular that a
casting director may need to know, like skydiving instructor or circus juggler,
you'll be including that in the Special Abilities section at the bottom of your resume.
Don't ever, ever give yourself credit on your resume, or anywhere else, for that matter,
for something you didn't actually do. It will bite you later.
Start with the heading, Experience. Create sub headings for Film, Commercial,
Voice Over, Modeling, whatever applies to you. Beneath each of those, create three columns.
In the first column, the name of the film, project, job, etc.
In the second column, your role or character name.
In the third column, the name of the director or equivalent.
Beneath all of that, your relevant training.
Beneath that, special abilities, like an instrument you play well, sports, unique
voices or characters, and if you have a passport, include that, so a casting agent
will know you can work out of the country, if you'd like to be considered for that.
Getting Experience to Put on Your Resume...
Assembling your resume can be tough when you're just starting out, and you don't
think you have anything to put on it. Did you take any theatre classes in high school
or college? Do any community theatre? Those could be a start. As you build your
resume over the years, you can gradually fill it with bigger roles and start dropping
the less impressive history.
Take acting classes. Education is good to have on your resume, as it shows you may
know something about what you're doing, and that you're serious about it.
Audition for roles in local student films, independent short films, or
whatever you can find to act in. Don't worry about getting paid right from the start.
Look for local film schools, like MPI in Troy, where you can audition for student
films every couple of months. The students make films as part of their curriculum, and
need local actors to work for free. It's great experience, and you never know
who you might end up meeting or networking with there. It's not Hollywood,
but it's something to put on the resume until you do hit the big time.
More to come...