Prospectors with Headshots

Hello my actor friends--

You've got your headshot and resume, demo clip on the web, maybe represented, so you contact me, a film director in the hopes of being cast.  Maybe you facebook me, or find my email out there somewhere.  Then you send the nice email submitting your headshot/resume.

Though I'm never one to say anything's a waste of time, there's a couple of things I feel you should know.  A director between projects probably doesn't have a good system for storing resumes.  I know I don't.  And I get a ton of headshots emailed to me.

So what's your best strategy?  Send them to Casting Directors.  Find out who the CD is for the director you're targeting.  The CD usually has a system for storing and filing headshots and resumes, grouping by type and all that.

But you say you want to stand out.  Well, honestly, sending out headshots between projects, there's not a lot you can do to stand out.  Timing's everything.  Join any groups or website that the director has and watch for when he or she announces a new project with auditions in the works.

The long/short of it is that regardless of whether you made a mark, and you stand out like a beaming flag, if you're not the "look" for the part/character, it probably doesn't matter.  That's the first level of selecting roles in movies.  If it calls for a 17 year old black male, and you're a 35 year old white woman, it's probably a waste to go for that one.  Yes, casting is one of the last bastions for prejudice.  There are the rare cases where the casting people will take the most highly talented and build characters around them (tv's LOST), but most of the time, the story has already been written and pretty much locked.

I think it's fine to reach out and say hi every now and then to a director via facebook or email.  But beware of sending out too much.  I had one actress sending me weekly updates and then sending an email asking why in the world I haven't cast her yet.  She was real pushy.  I added her email to the blocked list.

Anyway, I do wish all you actors the best.  It's a tough, tough road.