Continuing featuring the fab readers of The Actors Voice, remember back when I asked y’all to share, unabashedly, the marketing materials of which you are most proud? I mean, seriously, if you’re gonna send your stuff out to the masses, shouldn’t you really, really, really love ’em? Of course.
Here are some of the marketing tools some of you are most proud of. THANK YOU for sharing your toys, as always. Truly ninja, y’all!
“I love my resume!”
My tools are a work in progress (need a reel, cover letter, and still don’t have a smartphone!), especially as I continue to gain experience, but I’m proud of what I’ve got so far. Attached is my resume. I’ve enjoyed reading your articles so far, so thank you for all the useful info! — Kasi Adams
“I love my headshot!”
It’s always AMAZING when you offer to look at our stuff! I know it’s a lot of work for you and as actors we are super grateful! I am in process of re-editing reel to put new headshots on cover screen, but wanted to submit as early as possible because I know you will get a million responses to this! — Meagan Flynn
“I love my reel!”
Now, a disclaimer on this. 🙂 Once upon a time (when I did demo reel critiques), I was able to scrape reels and host ’em on my own website, so I could be sure — no matter when you were reading this article, say in the archives years later — the footage would be the same as when the article was posted.
These days, vid scraping technology is less Bon-friendly than it was once upon a time (and frankly, I somehow care less about being able to scrape vids than I did back then), so these links may lead to reels other than what were submitted in 2014 or they may lead to 404 (file not found) errors. Just a heads up that — as of this moment — these actors are thrilled with their goods and here they are, starting with someone whose clips are so ninjaly labeled that I asked him if I may use his work as THE example of what actors *must* do, to best serve the buyers who are “shopping” for very specific work, by an actor.
Yes! Of course! Part of me is going “woo hoo!” while another part is doing that “aw, shucks” thing where you look down, turn all red, and scuff one foot back and forth for no good reason. — Blair Hickey
- Blair Hickey (link — click “media”, image, image)
- Christa Martin (link)
- Einar Gunn (link)
- Lee Perkins (link)
- Meagan Flynn (link)
“I love my website!”
Another disclaimer. 😉 Once upon a time, I did screengrabs of websites to be sure you were always seeing exactly what was originally shared. These days… eh. You know websites change. One of the links below could, years from now, be something totally different than it is today. People rebrand. Just keep that in mind as you clickity-clack!
I love my website: it’s bright and fun and quirky, and it has a nod to my child actor days. It’s also got my demo reel and all my clips on it, which are pretty frakkin’ on point. I’m really happy with my resume there, especially since I get to add my festival selection! I also loooove the picture there. I’m due for new ones; I’m in the middle of test shoots with several photographers and am still finding my next “The One.” I’d send you a pitch package for my webseries, but I’m about two weeks out from my meetings so I’m still in research mode. Love! — Jacqueline Steiger (AKA Ninja CrackerJack)
- Douglas Olsson (link)
- Einar Gunn (link)
- Jacqueline Steiger (link)
- Jessica Leigh Smith (link)
- Kasi Adams (link)
- Meagan Flynn (link)
- Scott Ragle (link)
“I love my other promotional material!”
These goodies range from postcards to email banners to ads in the trades to outdoor billboards! Yes, really! 🙂
I use project banners in all my communications, and on Facebook and Stage 32. I would never send an email without some plug in it. They are normally linked to a trailer or scene from the job. These little easy peasy promo tools are so simple for actors to create for themselves, but I also make many for my design clients. 😉 Very reasonably priced. — Bobby Reed
- Bobby Reed (1, 2, 3 banner examples)
- Douglas Olsson (1, 2 billboard examples — including one on Ventura Blvd. in Studio City)
- Einar Gunn (3 postcard examples all in one PDF)
- Lee Perkins (1 full-page ad for the trades)
Y’all, I just have to say, this is sooo much fun for me. I love seeing what inspires YOU, and I love that you’re willing to share your toys, so very confident about what you’re putting out into the world. That’s good stuff, I tell ya! Keep it flowing! 🙂
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/001829.html. Please support the many wonderful resources provided by the Breakdown Services family. This posting is the author’s personal archive.