We work with lots of different actors, and often give new actors opportunities to shine in front of the camera. So what if you are new and don’t know much about how to promote yourself?  Here are a few tips to help you get your name out there:

1 – Get a website for yourself. There are many companies that do free or really cheap web pages with easy-to-fill-out templates that will give you a professional look. Some examples are Wix and GoDaddy. These make it easy for you to put photos up, share videos and allow you to blog about what you have been up to.  These sites are easy, even for technophobes!

2 – Have some professional headshots done. You don’t have to fork out for an expensive studio shoot, but having a couple of professional photos will go a long way to getting your face in front of casting directors. Also you can upload these to your website, and social media pages. Secondly, make sure that they are up to date and represent you as you look now, not you from seven or eight years ago.

3 – Have a showreel cut together. You will need to ask the producers of the films you have worked on for the footage that has you in it, especially if you have dialogue. Asking your editor to download the film from YouTube isn’t that great in terms of quality, and you are asking him/her to wade through the whole film to find the 30 seconds where you are speaking.  If you have worked on something where your payment has been ‘showreel material’ make sure you get it off the film makers as this is your currency to securing further work. Also, if you don’t get the showreel material from the film maker you are just working for free with no benefit to yourself.  We can edit a showreel together for you at a great price. Email us on Contactus@fromthe3rdstoryproductions.co.uk

Secondly, make sure you have a reel that you can upload to Twitter directly. This will enable you to participate in the #ShowreelShareday phenomenon started by @KateDaviesSpeak. You can find out more about #ShowreelShareday here.

4 – Think about payment. As a professional actor, you will want to be paid for your work, so make sure that you have familiarised yourself with creating invoices. Admin is part of the business side of acting. You can find templates for invoices and other useful information here.

5 – Promoting other people on social media. If you would like people to like and share your posts to help you get ahead, then you will know that other people need that too. Promoting other people’s work raises your own profile within the film making and acting community, and creates networking opportunities. If you are lucky enough to get an agent, promote your agent too and remember to thank people for giving you opportunities. Engaging people on social media platforms makes you more employable as producers and directors want to work with actors that will raise the profile of their film. This will attract fans, viewers and build an audience that makes the film attractive to funders.