Blog - Posts tagged ‘z cards’
A few photos from a portfolio session I had with Actress, Model and Dancer Frankie Caviglioli in the studio this week. We had a great afternoon and captured a whole range of different looks for her portfolio, we ended up under bridges, in skate parks and up trees, but that’s why I love shooting portfolios, everyone brings something slightly different and is willing to try new things. Thanks Frankie!
Great session last week with Actress and Dancer Tasha Chance. Tasha bought a load of energy to the studio, was absolutely fab all afternoon, and gorgeous in front of the camera too.
Needless to say, the headshot is a must for every actor or actress wishing to be seen, but also for dancers and singers too, without a decent headshot you won’t be able to be seen as ‘professional’, but what else can you use?
The price of printing has plummeted recently, with companies competing with each others services, the price of getting 10×8 inch headshots printed is half the price it used to be, but other services are equally as cheap.
For the purpose of this post i have posted fictional material for Actor and Model Henry Dyson.
Do you have a business card for starters? The price of cards is so minimal it’s rediculous for you not to. How many times do you meet people in the industry day to day? Freinds of freinds, people on jobs, it doesn’t matter who they are, and doesn’t matter if they are not a casting director themselves, if you can hand over your card it will jog their memory of you, and may lead to them recommending you to someone in need of an actor. Companies like Vistaprint offer free cards and you pay for the postage, good for someone on a budget.
You need to think of yourself as a product. Doesn’t sound like a nice thing, but the fact that people want to spend money on YOU, makes you one.
This is where other material comes in too, how about simple postcards with you headshot on the front and contact details on the back, or even additional photos. You can use them when you go for a casting, a simple reminder of you, small and concise.
Models and Dancers have z-cards, a similar thing, an A5 (half the size of a price of A4) card that will usually have a collection of 3-4 contrasting photos on the front of them in different envoironments/outfits, that allows prospective employers to get a feel for them and acts as a calling card. Why not the same for actors?
For many a website is a daunting idea, the development, maintenance and content scares people, but why would you not use the most available tool in the world, the Internet! There are fantastic casting websites out there that allow you to create your own profile, I guarantee that if you are on a site like casting call pro, and I google your name (let’s say ‘Joe Bloggs Actor) your profile will come up top of google, maybe even higher on the listings than if you had your own website, because they are well listed and get constant traffic. A friend of mine who is an actor, set up a website just last week for just £60 with his own name as the web address, and multiple galleries, an about me page and his c.v. on Wix.com. You would be mad not to take up offers of website like these.
It is so easy for people to click on to and profile pages to link to your website, and like the business card, it is a tool that can be put out there and you never know who will find it!
For content like video and show-reels, there are sites like YouTube and Vimeo where you can even create your own channel, upload clips, show-reel material and other promo material and send it out as part of your ‘calling card’ package.
Try adding a signature to the bottom of your emails if you haven’t already, it’s very simple to do in your email settings, allowing you to list your name/number/web-links etc at the bottom of every email.
The web is such an amazing tool for pulling all of your resources into one place. The industry is changing slowly, with so many young performers coming through every year it is impossible to cast people on their extensive C.V’s, it has to be about you, people should be able to get a feel for your personality and why you are unique.
Some things to remember with regards to your branding…
- Try and link all of your web resources to one place (spotlight link, YouTube, casting website profiles, agents website, flickr, facebook, twitter) and keep them updated constantly with relevant information that proves you are a human (keep it clean!)
- Try and keep your branding similar, if you choose to get postcards printed think about how the design could match your business card and website, just look at the examples above.
- Keep it all simple!
If you believe what they say about 90% of the industry being luck, then why not increase your chances, having the promotional tools above can do just that, if you really want to win the lottery, you would buy more than one ticket right?
