CREATE A DEMO REEL THAT GETS YOU NOTICED

Below are suggestions for best practices to create a reel that will get you noticed:

-if you are looking for representation and will be going out for co-stars have a 1:30-2 min reel ready

-if you start going out for recurring guest stars and especially series regulars, have a 5 min reel ready

-in both cases, put the best stuff first. Odds are the whole thing won´t get watched anyway, so definitely open with your strongest work

-also in both cases, the focus needs to be on you; if another actor has a big chunk of dialogue, cut it if you can; its´s your reel, so we want to see as much of you as possible -not some other random actor

-act now consultant Becca Leigh Gellman told me that recently a client sent a reel where he didn´t even speak until 18 seconds into it. It´s important that you are talking at the top of the reel; no need to open with some long, artsty fartsy, slow-motion shot, panning the skyline. A reel is not the place for that; you just want to show what you look and sound like on camera, so they get a sense of you.

-of course, the quality needs to be excellent and professional- well lit, good quality sound, writing, etc. If you aren´t sure what industry standards are like, ask someone you trust before you post it for all the world to see

-once you have enough material you can do a comedy and drama reel, some people like it, I suggest it. If it is a theatrical reel, I shy away from putting a commercial in it at all or at least not the first bit at the top of the reel. I actually have a completely separate reel for commercials as well as for comedy and drama

-most importantly for Casting directors ,you want to have each scene posted separately as a clip on Actor Access, not as full length reel. These can be just 5-20 seconds long and the point is to just show you has one particular character

-for each scene, label it with the genre and the character. For example: “DRAMA- criminal minds- serial killer”. This way, when you/your agent is submitting you, they can select the clip that is most appropriate for the specific role. 

-when you do post your reels make sure the thumbnail of the reel is also a clear shot of you; but not a wide shot of you and someone else, or something else together. If it´s a clip for a particular character, make the headshot the one that matches.

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