Since we’re taking a break from the headshot series this week, I thought I’d choose a Your Turn about headshots to at least keep the theme going somewhat. Enjoy!

Cool stuff Bonnie. Great info. The question is, once the photos are cropped for the thumbnail, do you ever click on them to see the larger size? Thanks.

Ever? Of course. Always? Absolutely not. Most of the time? Not by a long shot. I’d estimate that I click on about 20% of the thumbnail headshots in order to see anything else (larger headshots, resumé, notes left by actor). I’ll click on all of the submissions that come in for a role with very specific requirements (such as proficiency with stunts, foreign language fluency, use of a wheelchair, etc.) because I need to be sure the resumés measure up with what I’ve asked of candidates for those roles. Or, if I’m looking for someone 18 TPY, I’ll open up the resumé and profile pages of an actor’s submission in order to verify date of birth or existence of a successfully-passed CHSPE.

But for most of the electronic submissions that come in, I will never click on anything. Yeah, I could lie to you and tell you that I spend hours poring over your carefully-crafted resumé and witty special skills section, but it’s just not true. I don’t have that kind of time. No one does. This is why that NOTES section can be so very important. This is why that thumbnail headshot needs to make us want to click to see more. This is why having some sort of demo reel footage stored in your profile is essential.

Looking at a breakdown I released last year, I received around 8000 submissions and kept about 2000 of those around to “see more of” (whether or not I clicked to see more, they were still kept in the mix). Submissions with demo reels definitely got a further click. (Why? For the same reason I’ve said before: A demo reel answers questions that your headshot and resumé alone cannot.) Now, only 250 actors were scheduled for auditions, but that has almost nothing to do with whether or not I clicked on an actor’s thumbnail. Many appointments go to actors who are pitched by agents and/or managers or to actors whose work I already know. So, I guess the bottom line is simple: Like everything in this business, it’s not the one thing you do. It’s all the things you do. And trying to weigh which “thing” has more value is actor mind taffy.

Have a good thumbnail. Don’t worry about whether or not we click on it. You probably don’t really want to know how often your materials are actually reviewed to the extent you hope they are.

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/000679.html. Please support the many wonderful resources provided by the Breakdown Services family. This posting is the author’s personal archive.