Entertainment Industry and Actor’s Marketing

Entertainment Industry and Actor’s Marketing

Tune up your Marketing toolbox
Okay, I’ll say it: Casting Directors today have lost their vision!  Uh oh, before I get in trouble, let me explain myself.  There was a time in the not-too-distant past when casting directors would be FedExed a package of B&W 8×10 headshots. The casting directors had to imagine what those faces—and the actors they were attached to were actually capable of.  The casting director had to figure out if these people could be funny or sincere, if they were a natural beauty, if they were the athletic type, etc., etc, all based on a black and white headshot. You see where I am going. Color helped this process out for sure, but most agents just submitted 1 headshot and everything depended on that headshot, including your big chance for the audition so you could come in person and wow them with your skills.

So what is different today, you ask? Just like it has in every other part of our lives, technology has changed this process forever. What does that mean? Well let’s go back to that technology thing. All actors are familiar with Actors Access, LA Casting, and Casting Frontier.  These are the sites where you pay to put up your resume, photos, and all things cool about you.  It’s true that your agents have access to these accounts; however, did you know that they also have some pretty sweet proprietary software?  Most agents now have in-house software that allows them to electronically search their client database by any number of different fields/characteristics.  Not only can they select you; they can then choose exactly which photo they want to submit for each project.  Some of the agents I have seen have 6 or more completely different photos loaded up on any given client… This is the ultimate in specificity! So you see, casting directors haven’t really lost their vision they have just gotten used to getting exactly what they want.  Because of new technology they have actually sharpened their vision.  As always, you have to have a range of slamming Theatrical Headshots to get you in on the meaty roles. On the commercial side of things, you really want to have a diverse as possible offering of photos.  Be sure to give your agent the biggest marketing tool box they can have, so you can be in as many places as possible to book those jobs!

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