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Exposure
As
an actor you are basically your own business looking to sell your skills to
customers. The customers are the directors. Like all businesses, you have to
compete to get the contract using your training, skills and experience as
the basis for your engagement. You will be given the contract on the basis
of your performance - either in audition, a showcase or from someone seeing
you in action.
Showcases need to be organised by organisations with the clout to pull in
large numbers of directors and are usually to showcase their own talent. If
you are a member of an accredited theatre school, you may have this
opportunity, if not, it is unlikely. Inviting a director to come and see
just you will also be difficult to achieve.
The most likely avenue to work is through auditions. Getting an audition
however, is not as easy as it seems. No matter how much experience you have,
you are never going to get professional work if no-one knows you are there -
maximum exposure is essential. You have to market yourself.
There are three main ways of doing this. Get an agent, get on-line, get your
CV's out to as many people as possible.
Getting an Agent
Agents do important jobs. They have contacts and are good at finding
opportunities. But you can't simply sign on to an agent. Its a mutual
relationship. The agent has got to be assured that you will bring a
financial return on the time and effort they put in to getting you
opportunities and secondly they need to be confident that you are capable of
doing the job. Unless you have a great deal of skill, experience or
potential, they will not sign you on their books.
Getting an agent does not guarantee work. They may get you auditions, but
there are many factors taken into consideration by a director before
choosing to employ an actor - not just their brilliance on stage. And
remember - an agent will take a sizeable percentage of your income.
Getting Online
One way of maximising your exposure it to join an online casting directory.
There are various agencies about offering a variety of services. An online
casting directory will give you the advantage of being viewed by a director
or casting agent without having to send off your CV and headshots all the
time. They search when they are looking - so you get looked at when the time
is right, when they are actually recruiting. All your details will be online
for someone to contact you by.
Good online casting directories will allow you to show your photographs,
update your CV, show your profile in an industry standard format and have
excellent search criteria for directors so they can find exactly what they
are looking for. They will also be reasonably priced. They should not charge
you for any work you get - only for your appearance on their site. It's a
bit like a yellow pages for actors.
Getting CVs out
Your CV is a selling tool. It should be relevant, up to date, well laid out,
contain your experience, skills, training and physical details and should be
accompanied by a professionally taken black and white headshot sized 10" x
8". Sending these out can be expensive. If you send them out randomly to
theatre companies that aren't recruiting it will probably be filed and
forgotten. Always accompany your CV with a covering letter.
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