I played a detective in a very successful short film. The film won awards and is in lots of festivals. I want to show my work as the cop character to CDs who cast TV cop shows. The short is 14 minutes long. Any suggestions on how to get CDs to see my work in the short?

Definitely use your best scene from this short on a demo reel and send it to all of the cop show CDs out there. If you feel the whole short is worth sending, certainly you can do that, but it’s less likely you’ll get a CD to sit down and watch the whole film unless you have a relationship with a CD who is especially supportive of your work and eager to see the film.

The fact that it was in festivals and has won awards will help with the buzz factor, but sometimes there just aren’t enough hours in the day for watching all of the tapes and DVDs we receive — even those provided by our favorite actors. We mean to. Really, we do. But the pace of casting can be outrageously fast and that can mean, in our downtime, we’re not looking to spend more time doing “casting work,” even if it would look, to you, like “just a few minutes” of our day.

Here’s what I recommend, to maximize the impact of your work in this short and get folks to be more excited to see it, should it cross their desks someday.

Take a still photo from the shoot and make a postcard from it. Include quotes from all of the great press the short has surely received, having won awards and played in many festivals. Especially use any quotes that highlight your performance in particular.

Mail the postcard to all of the CDs who cast cop shows (and to any CDs who cast shows that frequently include characters from the world of law enforcement in general). Get the word out that, when the need is there for “cop,” you’re the guy. Continue to use these postcards as reminders of performances you have coming up, appearances you have on other shows, or future screenings of this particular short. Send it to people who could benefit from knowing you’re available to them every time there’s a reason to send a postcard with an update. And every time you send out this postcard, mention that a copy of the short is available upon request. Let the CDs who know that they may have an upcoming need for someone of your type ask you to provide the goods. Then you know you’re dealing with someone who is much more likely to sit down and view the short film, once they get it. That’s far more gratifying than sending out a few dozen copies and never knowing whether anyone ever saw your work.

Be your own buzz-maker. Even if it’s years later when you meet a particular CD, she may say to you, “I see you have [title of short] on your resumé. I remember hearing about that! What role did you play?” And that’s when you remind her you’re the cop. “Of course!” She may not even remember that you postcarded her all the time, but she connects a film with buzz, your name, your face, and “cop,” and isn’t that what you wanted her to do?

Keep doing good work!

Bonnie Gillespie is living her dreams by helping others figure out how to live theirs. Wanna work with Bon? Start here. Thanks!

Originally published by Actors Access at http://more.showfax.com/columns/avoice/archives/000118.html. Please support the many wonderful resources provided by the Breakdown Services family. This posting is the author’s personal archive.