Welcome to Acting Smarter now. We are talking about materials that you need to book. So I uh uh brought it down to five essential pieces of material that you need in order to book a role, right? So let's talk about professional headshots. I have encountered some actors who took selfies and used those as headshots, and they were horrible. What kind of role is it that you want to book and why are you using a selfie instead of going to a professional headshot photographer? Not just any photographer, but somebody who can nail what it is that you do. So let's talk about the professional headshot. The headshot that is your calling card, it's the first thing that casting directors see. So in order to have a stellar headshot, it needs to communicate a few things. Your type, your personality, your brand, and your casting range. When your cast when the casting director looks at your picture, it should tell them they are perfect for this job or not for this part, but there's another part that I see that they're right for. It can't be a pretty picture. A lot of times actors just want pretty pictures. We want to look good. And and that's nice if you want to post it on social media, but if you want to get cast, you want that photo to sell your brand. What is it that you as an actor sells that nobody else can do? You know, if they're looking for a mom and you're the mom type, how specific are you in your in your photo as the mom type? You know, are you a a very gentle mom? Are you the tough love mom? Are you the mom who goes to all the PTA meetings? Do you coordinate stuff with the schools? What kind of mom are you? That headshot should tell us what it is that you do. And it should be authentic. You know, a lot of times um actors want to act in the in the shot, you know, but they really want to see who you are. You have to trust that you're taking the picture that's gonna represent who you are and what you sell authentically, not what you think you can sell, but what is it that just oozes out of you? All right, and so let me give you uh a couple of things to pay attention to. So there are different types of headshots, and we want to be clear on am I taking headshots for commercial um casting? Do I want to book commercials? Because a commercial headshot is so different from a theatrical headshot. And um, am I having natural lighting um when they're taking the photo? Is it uh studio lighting? You want to know what you're gonna deal with. You know, if it's if it's commercials, a lot of times they're looking more at natural lighting. So, and if it's theatrical, sometimes you get more intense lighting, more dramatic lighting. You want the photographer that you choose, the headphot the you want the headshot photographer that you use to be able to capture what it is that you want to sell in uh commercials or in in in theater, theatrical, uh film, television. You want them to be able to capture you. Sometimes um there are a lot of headshot photographers out there that are good. I'm not I'm not knocking them, but they have a style and they're trying to fit the actors into their style. You want a headshot, you want a headshot photographer who captures you, not how they set up a shop, but they capture you. So when you're looking at the headshot photographers' work, look look at those actors that that they have up on maybe Instagram or on their website and go, yes, I'm looking at these actors and they all sell something different, as opposed to I'm looking at these actors, and all of these shots are very colorful, they're very upbeat, but I can't tell who the actors are. Really important for you to be able to distinguish the photographer's look as opposed to what it is that that actor is selling. That's gonna help you a lot when you're looking for a headshot photographer. And to be really honest and go, they do really like there's some headshot photographers that are amazing with men, but not so much with women. There are certain headshot photographers that are great with people of color, but not necessarily Caucasian people. There are headshot photographers that are great with women but cannot shoot men to save their lives, and so you want to know who these photographers are able to capture best, all right? So the first piece of material you need to ensure you're being able to compete to book a role is the right headshot. Then we go into your acting reel. You want to have a strong demo reel that is anywhere between 60 seconds and 90 seconds. You don't want it too long, you just want them to see that hey, you look good on camera, you you um you can say your lines and and you're believable. That's really what we want. We want uh to see that you're authentic in your presentation, that you can listen when the other actor is talking to you, the other character is speaking to you, you're really in it, you're really listening. We want to see your emotional range, we want to see that you have a presence on screen. So that's what we want. And and if you don't have uh, you know, a TV show or a film that you can pull as one of your uh pieces of footage to share your uh for your demo reel, then um go to a place where they do self-tapes professionally and pick a scene that you nail, that you this this scene represents you, not a scene you really liked, or I really like doing that. No, it's gotta be a scene that says this person does this. I'm not gonna go and do, I'm not gonna go and pick a scene uh from uh some movie that I cannot do. If you know, I might like the role, but I can't do it. It's a different thing. We want to show our work as what it is we can do and be authentic in it. And and when they see us, it is believable. We gotta be believable. Don't act in the part. If if you're new and you're trying to put together your self tape, do something that's not too heavy-handed, but that shows you, shows who you are, how you know your energy. Are you likable? Are you a villain type? Are you a comedian? Uh, you know, are you a comedy person? Are you very dramatic? Show that part of you that is authentic and you can nail. We want to start with things that I call low-hanging fruit. Like um, when I started acting, the roles that I nailed and I got right away were um teenagers. I was I wasn't a teenager anymore, but I could do teenage roles. I looked like I was a teenager, and so I made sure that I was doing those types of um uh scenes that I could present to to casting to see, oh, okay, she she can do a teen. And let me tell you, I played a teen until I was 35. When I did the movie Stand and Deliver, I was 28 years old playing a 16-year-old, 17-year-old high school student. And I stopped at 35 because I said, I don't want to be that kid no mass. So, but you have to decide what it is that you can do, and I was really great at it. You know, I I I played a thug kid. I played, then I moved up to the maid and the prostitute and this and that, but I knew what it was that I could nail, and that's what I went for. Not stuff I wanted to do. I I thought, oh, I could do that. No, I went for stuff that I knew I could book, and if I couldn't book it, I knew that I would be their first or second choice afterwards. So you want to be real clear of creating your acting demo reel. Again, that's 60 to 90 seconds long. So maybe two scenes, two short scenes of you in your element doing what you do best: drama, comedy, uh, suspense, whatever that is. You know, maybe you you play a cop, uh a great cop, the the cop with the heart of gold, or the cop who is corrupt. Whatever that is, that should be represented in your footage, in your scenes, in your tape. That should be what you do. Again, you want to be authentic, you want to come off as an actor who is listening, that you're really listening to what they're saying and you're reacting um honestly from it. And you want to have a bit of an emotional range. Doesn't mean you have to cry and and act out, but but you you should have uh you should be able to have a couple of gears in you that you can show the casting director, okay? Again, if you don't have um professional uh scenes, do student films, get get some pieces from student films you do that represents you. And I'm gonna say this. I hear actors all the time. I just want to book something, I just want to book something. No, you don't. You want to book the right something. You don't want to just book something. I just want to get a part. No, you don't, because you can just get part, but if if the parts don't align with what you do, it they're random. You you can't take that clip and use it somewhere to get you another role. It doesn't, you want, you want to build your career. Okay, so your footage and your clips should be something that you're using to build your career. So if you are good at playing the sexy, uh, the sexy woman or or the uh the femme fatale, then that's what your clips should represent. You as the femme fatale. It shouldn't show you as the secretary, it shouldn't show you as the bystander, it should show you playing the femme fatale. If you are a uh if you're very uh uh you you bring authority in your stuff, then we should see you as a a lawyer, a judge, a doctor who's very um determined. We shouldn't see you as anything else. So I just want you to really pay attention to what kind of clips you're putting out there that represent you and is it something that you do? You know, sometimes you get cast in a student film, um, but it's not really what you do. Don't don't share that clip with um casting because then they're gonna see you as a certain type of actor. You want to have them see you as what it is that you do. And I'm telling you this from experience, I'm telling you this because I've made those mistakes. Everything that I'm sharing is what I learned from mistakes that I made. I want to help you so that you don't make those mistakes, okay? So we've discussed a headshot that sells your brand, your clips, your demo reel that sells your brand, what it is that you do, not just to say, I got footage, I've got clips from this and this. If it doesn't sell your brand, do not share it. Find a scene that really sells your brand and go to a professional um uh place that does self-tapes. Find another actor who can um do the scene with you. The focus isn't on them, it should be on you and the scene that you choose. It should center around you. We don't need to see the other actor. We need to see how you respond to the other actor, but we don't need to see the other actor. And sometimes uh what actors do is they get a they get on a film or they get on a TV show and they have a scene opposite the lead of the movie or the lead of the TV show. Do not show the leads entire um uh uh dialogue. It's it it's show one real quick uh clip of them and let's go back to you. This is your real people know who um Eddie Murphy is, they know who um uh Damine Moore is, they need to know who you are, okay? That is so important and so crucial. They need to know who you are, so so really be uh very clear about the footage, the clip that you're showing, the demo that you're showing. It should focus on you, not on any celebrity, not on any famous person, unless you're having a banter with them and it is so good, and how it's cut is so good. But most of the time, you're not getting a lot of uh uh camera time like the lead is. So focus on you in your clips, edit it in a way, have the ed have an editor edit it in a way that it focuses on you. So uh we go from your headshot to your clips, and now we move to your resume. Your resume tells casting where you fit professionally. So um your film roles, your TV roles, don't put, do not put extra work on that. Your theater, your training, your special skills, and who represents you if anybody does or if they don't, put put away they can contact you. You should have a separate email just for casting. You should have a phone that is just for casting so that people can reach that. And I believe you can go and get a Google phone number, or um, there are places now that you can get a special phone number, and that could be your number that you give out to keep you safe. Also, the email have a specific email for casting, for uh professional stuff, so they can go there so it doesn't get lost if they're trying to reach you. You know exactly that I only give this email to people who are considering me for a job, all right? So our resume should have that. And if you don't have a lot of credits as far as film or television, put your theater stuff, put your training. The most important thing when you're starting out is your theater training and your special kit skills. What are your special skills? What can you do that really, really, really, really helps you? Um, because if you speak a certain language and and not a lot of people speak that language, you better put that on your on your resume. If you know how to do sign language, put that down. If you are uh if you do stand-up, put that down. If you are an incredible dancer, maybe you do flamenco or you do tap or jazz, put that down. All those skills are always needed in projects, and a lot of times you'll get a job based on your skills, your special skills, not so much on your acting. We want you to get it on your acting, but a lot of times they're looking at do they have the special skills? We need somebody who's gonna be able to do the tango with Tom Cruise. Can you do the tango really, really well? Then then you need to submit for that. Okay, so as I'm talking again, the five uh essential pieces of material you need as an actor are an excellent headshot. Not that you look fabulous, but that sells your brand. What is it that you are selling? The second thing is what clips are you posting up on casting sites and does those and do those clips um accompany your headshot, what you sell. Again, if you're selling um a if you're selling a uh the president of a company and your headshot looks like you are a cheerleader, and then your your clips look like you are a um a nurse, that's not gonna sell you as the president of a company. We want to align everything together, start thinking about how do I package my material for my acting career in a way that really represents me. Um, and I'm gonna come back to I I want to say something else, but I'm gonna come back to it because I I don't want to miss the flow here. Okay, and so for your resume, it's important to put who trained you. If you've studied with, let's say, I've been Ivana Chubic Studios or Larry Moss, you need to put that in, make that prominent instead of putting, you know, I took six weeks with um the bar, the bar comedy troupe. If we don't know who the bar comedy troupe is, don't put that. You know, if you if you did improv with Second City or you did improv with um uh The Groundlings, that should be on your resume because the industry knows those names. We want to put places you've trained, um, if you have trained with names that are recognizable in the industry, because that says to the industry, oh, they work with these people so we can trust them. I can also tell you there were many times that I booked jobs without auditioning based on my training. I I have studied with Stella Adler for four years, and I went up for an audition, and um the director said, I studied with Stella, so I know you'll be fine. I never read, I just got the job on site. That was it. So who you train with is important. And um, you know, again, the set skill. You gotta put down your skills that you you are are masters in. Don't, you know, put them all down. If you are a juggler, put that stuff down. You know, if you're a um double dutch, uh uh if if you do double dutch, put that down. Number four is your self-tape setup. You want to have a really, excuse me, my nose is just itching today. If you want to um look professional, your self-tape setup should be um, it should look professional, you know. Don't put those fake, uh, horrible um uh virtual things behind you is awful. Just get like maybe a nice blue sheet, dark, like a like a rich royal blue sheet behind you, or or a rich gray sheet, and and make sure you iron it so it's not all wrinkly, and then just put it up on your wall. If you can't, um if you can't paint the wall, put it up on your wall and tack it down. Um, but have a space that you can do yourself tapes so the setup is there. You know, you go there and you shoot, and that it has good lighting. Make sure you have a um a lighting package and which you can get um on Amazon. You could get like a soft box. Be careful with the ring lights because sometimes they don't it's not the best. If you can get like soft boxes, that's perfect. Um, that way you it it it diffuses the light enough um so it's not too harsh on you. Um, soft lighting is important, a good microphone, and you can get a good mic. That you could connect to your cell phone, um, which will help a lot. Make sure you have a good stable tripod for your either your phone or your camera, and and make sure that your eye line is slightly off camera. So don't look like this, look just a little off, all right? So uh because that's that's a little bit um jarring, so be careful. And and what casting, and then once you have that good setup, what casting is evaluating is your acting ability, your listening ability, and your technical ability. You know, uh when you're doing a scene, are you really in it or are you just giving the lines? A lot of times actors just they've they're just giving the lines, but there's nothing there, there's no soul um connected to the lines. You don't have a moment before, you don't have a moment after. When you're doing self-tape, you want to come in with a moment before. What just happened before you started this dialogue? Maybe you need to give yourself a sentence or something before that you can clip, you can edit out, and have like at the end, hold that beat of whatever it was that just happened for a couple of seconds before you cut off the tape. So we see you in action, okay? Um a lot of times actors lose auditions because their tapes look very amateurish. So be aware of that. Um really important. And number five is online casting profiles. You have to make sure that first of all you're signed up with all the casting sites to make sure that you're with actors access, uh, casting uh networks, backstage, IMDb. Everybody should have an IMDB Pro account because that's where the industry goes. You should have one. And if you are a union, if you're in the in SAG, IMDB has a discount for you. Just saying. But you definitely need to have an IMDB Pro account. You need to have your um your profile should be updated every maybe four to six months, especially if you're working. Make sure that your stuff is updated. It should have your headshot, it should have your reel, your clips, it should have your resume. These are all the casting sites. They should have slate shots. And so let me give you a little uh a little tip about your slate shots. When you are uh taking headshots, right as you change into whatever outfit you're wearing and you get back in front of the photographer, have somebody with you who can record your slate in that outfit. And the slate doesn't have to have much, it just is your name. Hi, I'm Lydia Nicole. That's it. Hi, I'm Lydia Nicole. Friendly, or if you're if you're playing a villain, hi, I'm Lydia Nicole. That wasn't a good villain, but you know what I'm saying. Do a slate shot as you are cat as you are taking your shots. So every time you're changing into a different outfit, when you're getting your headshots, take a moment and do a slate shot so you can upload that with your pictures onto the casting sites. Um so and in your casting updates, your profile, make sure you have your age range, not the real age you are, but your age range. Like I said before, um, I used to play teenagers up until I was 35. So my age range, and then I I slowly started creeping it up. So I went from like 16 to 18, then I went from uh 18 to 22, and then I went from 22 to 26, and and I would say a good age range is uh about four years. So it it you know, if you're let's say in your 70s, but you play uh late 50s, then go from 56 to 60. But give us a range, a range of your age, not your actual age, because some people look older than they are, and some people look younger than they are. We want to stay in what people see us. How do they see us? When they look at you, do they go, um, you look this many years, or you look this many years. How is that? So make sure you have your age range in your uh casting profile, your ethnicity, your skills. Um, again, what are your special skills? You should put it out, and your location. Where are you based? Um, unless, and and I would be very careful about putting down, you know, uh one of the things they always ask is they're looking for locals for hire. Well, if you're gonna put that down, you got to make sure that wherever you're saying you're a local for hire, that you have access to get there quickly. Because if they call you and somebody dropped out, which happens a lot, they have an actor, the actor drops out, and you may be in their top three to call. And they call and say, Hey, um, we want to cast you where you know, we need you on set tomorrow. If if it's East Coast and you're West Coast, you may not make, you may not be able to book a ticket to get there in time. So you want to be as honest as possible. And if you get there, where are you gonna stay? Because they're saying locals for hire, they're not gonna pay for your hotel. So, do you have some place you you're gonna stay? And are you sure that they're gonna let you stay there? It's really important. You don't wanna be um out in the street, you you got a job, but now you have nowhere to stay, and whatever it is that they're paying you is not enough to put you in a hotel. So be mindful when you say you are a local for hire. If you are not uh and you don't have that kind of money to, you know, to spend on a plane ticket or hotel accommodate accommodations, think about it again. All right, so um I just gave you the five uh essential materials you need. One is your headshot, the second one are your clips or your demo reel. The third one is your resume, the fourth one is your um self-tape setup. Make sure that you have an area, and it doesn't have to be a big area, but just enough where it can shoot you from a good angle and that your, you know, your your stuff looks professional. And the last one is your casting profiles. Now, um, I want to give you a couple of bonuses that I recommend. I know a lot of actors just like to have their um social media platforms, you know, where you put your stuff up. I really recommend a website, just maybe one page that has access to your demo reel, your headshots, your resume, and your contact information. The reason why I am really big on a um website is because a lot of times uh social media platforms go out of business real quick. They're here, then they're gone. And you had all your stuff on that social media platform and now you don't, and you don't have access to the material because you trusted somebody else's platform to take care of you. And I've heard stories of actors who got booted off of certain um social media sites and they couldn't get their following back, they couldn't. So if you have a website, you can offer uh your fans, your subscribers, your followers to come and sign up uh to get put on your email list. And then now you have access to them without having to be on a platform. So if anything happens with that platform, you are still good. Now, I want to talk about um when you are going up for stuff, things to really think about because we want you to succeed, I want you to succeed. That's why I do uh acting smarter now because I want my fellow actors to succeed, not not to wish you could work, but actually be working and working at stuff that you really are right for. So um when you are submitting yourself for a role, think about three things. Do you look right for the role? First of all, can you deliver it, right? You look right for it now. Can you deliver that role? Are you professional and easy to cast? And the other thing is, are you a team player? I I say this a lot, but it really is true. Um, years ago, I saw uh Shonda Rhimes talking, and um, I think it was with Oprah, and she said she learned the hard way to vet everybody that she worked with. She wasn't concerned with them being the best, she was more concerned with them being team players. So you want to be a good team player, you want people to not only like you, but want to work with you again and again and again. And if you show up prof, you know, if you show up, you're professional, you get there on time. Really, if you get there a little early, is is better. Um, if you, you know, come prepared, you've memorized your lines, you're ready uh to do what you need to do in front of the camera, and you are there to service the peace, people will want to work with you. I've booked jobs and I've gotten repeat jobs because people liked working with me. We, you know, it it speaks about you. If, you know, I've been on set with really talented actors, and when they were they finished, I heard, you know, the makeup person, the hair person, people on set uh talk about themselves. I never want to work with that actor again. It was so difficult. He was so, you know, we don't want that kind of reputation. We want people to say, wow, I really enjoyed working with so and so. They were so easy to get along with, they made my job so easy. Um, and that's something I had to work on because in the beginning I had a little attitude, like I thought, you yeah, you gotta do this. And then I realized, wait, I'm they're not there for me, I'm there for them. I'm there to serve the production. The production's not there to serve me. And so when you understand that you are there to serve the production, oh my goodness, everything goes so well because they see that you're there for them and then they want to help you. So here we go again. Make sure that I'm giving you the top five again. Make sure you got professional headshots that really sell what it is that you do. Make sure you have a strong acting reel, and you don't have to have 20 pieces. If you have two really good pieces of of what it is that you do, and and you're sizzling in them, that's all you need. You have to have one clean resume page. Don't let your resume go two, three pages. Nobody cares. Real real quick, what are the and if you've done a lot of work, just list the latest um films you did, the latest TV projects you did, um, your your um your training, your skill set, one page, and how people can contact you. If you don't have representation, how can they contact you? What is the email? What is the phone number that they can reach you at? Again, I really suggest, strongly suggest you have a separate phone number that they can reach you at, because sometimes you know, somebody can grab your phone number and they have nefarious reasons for calling you. We don't want those people calling us, all right. So be mindful of that. Um and and that is uh, I think that is what I want to talk to you today about. I want to remind you that you know if if if all those things I talk to you about are things you are not uh ready with, here's your opportunity to start working it out so you can get ready. Um, a lot of times people don't get work, not because they're not talented, it's because they're not castable yet. The truth is a lot of actors think that it's easy, you know, or it should be easy. So they they don't invest in really good headshots. They they put up scenes that are so amateur uh that it it it really hurts them. They have no strategy, they have no branding uh for themselves and what they sell, they have no support system, and the materials that scream, the materials they have scream like beginner, beginner, these are uh beginners. We don't want that. We want people to see you as a professional. So um that is what I have for you. And if you need more help, I highly suggest you join Acting Smarter Circle, where we help you get your together. We help you get your materials together, we help you get your branding together, we help you to be the professional that you need to be in order to start booking the work that you are right for, not just booking work, but booking work you're right for. It's not enough to get booked on something. You want to get booked on something that from that job you can move up a little bit, move up a little bit, move up a little bit, and continue to move up. This business is a marathon, it's not a sprint. I know a lot of actors, I just want to book work. I said it again. No, you don't want to just book work, you want to book work that's right for you. Okay, so that is what I have for you today. I am so excited for you. I can't wait to hear your story. Please share with me if any of this has helped you, or if you have any kind of um thoughts and go, well, that's not true. I can do it, blah, blah, blah. I want to hear what you have to say because if it's something I don't believe in, I'm gonna call you out on it. And if it's something I do believe in, or you're giving me something I didn't even think about, I would appreciate it very much. So that is what I have to share with you today. I can't wait to talk to you next time. And if you need help, you can also go to my YouTube channel, Lydia Nicole Live, where I have over a thousand videos to help you with your acting career from interviews to tips to advice to prayers. I got some prayers for you that will help you immensely. That's all I have for you today. Don't go anywhere because I got something else for you.