How to Promote Yourself to Entertainment Industry Professionals

At talent marketing centers,
industry professionals in the
entertainment business require
their aspiring actors, and
models have some important
tools before beginning their career. In order to properly
promote a talent, they have to
have composite cards, and an
active resume. Models should
have a modeling portfolio and
tear sheets, and actors should have a demo reel.

Promoting yourself to industry
professionals is not extremely
difficult with these tools, but
they should be done
professionally, and properly
represent you to talent agencies. Consider each and
every industry professional to
be a hiring manager. On an
interview, you would usually
come prepared with
background information on the company, a detailed
resume, dressed appropriately,
and positivity should emanate
from your personality. This
works the same for actors,
models, and singers that are trying to gain some notice.

An aspiring actor should have
their acting resume, head
shots, a demo reel. A demo
reel is a video and audio
presentation that shows off the
actors' skills and experience. This is an important marketing
tool for an actor, and it helps
with landing roles. Casting
directors come across many of
these demo reels, so it is
important to make this first impression a lasting
impression. A demo reel
should be no longer than 3-5
minutes. Begin the video with
your name and nothing more,
and then continue the video with your strongest scenes and
the actor should be clearly
identified. Consider making a
montage of close-up scenes or
monologues that will captivate
the director. The actors' job is to create an emotional
connection because this reel
will be one of many that are
played to casting directors. Be
selective about the material
and try to select the most interesting scenes. The demo
reel is not a short film, so do
not draw out the reel. It
should be a polished,
professional, and concise
example of your acting range.