by Casting Director, Terry Berland
Are You Clickable?
Recently, I was honored to be the guest speaker at the monthly Casting Networks seminar. Being there with all the actor folks was an electrifying experience. In the beautiful SAG-AFTRA space housing the event, the energy was ramped with learning energy.
Of course, I brought up the fact that you are most competitive with a theatrical reel accompanying all your submissions. This was a big surprise to some still thinking, “What? A theatrical reel for commercial submissions?” “What you have to see me act for a commercial?” Then of course there was other talent who were ahead of the game and knew this already.
However, surprisingly, there was a common general confusion in the room regarding the best way to get your reel attached to your submissions.
On The Talent End:
- You need to upload your reel into your Media Bin
- After that….you need to edit your Casting Networks resume
- Click button that says, “attach video reel,” select the video and press save.
- Then, I learned from the talent that I will get the best results if I click
- “Select Media Submission”.
On the casting side:
- I see a green play button on the photo of whoever submitted with media.
- If your reel or any other video is attached to your resume on a permanent basis, I see a filmstrip next to your thumbnail photo.
Another place you can be “clickable” is on your own website. The general rule is the more you show up on the internet the better.
Word Of Caution: Do not have your business website take the place of submitting your reel on your breakdown.
If you send a casting director or a producer from your submission to another location to view your reel, it’s an extra step that can be crucially detrimental to you. Consider the typical scenario of about 1200 submissions for each category, many times adding up to 4000 submissions. The person making the choices is forced to take the quickest route to research selection choices.
Remember we are a team. Casting wants talent selections as organized as possible and Talent want as many opportunities to audition as possible.
Any reproduction or usage of this article on other websites must be credited to Terry Berland, Casting Director and linked back to here.
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Terry Berland is an award-winning casting director for on-camera, television, voice-over, and hosting. Her casting awards include Clio, The Houston International Film Festival, Art Director’s Club, Addy, and the International Film and Television Festival. Her former casting staff position for Madison Avenue giant BBDO/NY has lent to her deep understanding and involvement in the advertising industry. She is known throughout the country for her talent development and is the co-author of the how-to industry book,”Breaking Into Commercials.”
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