Greetings fellow EAP fans! First, a confession, sometimes you have to tell me things a dozen times before they sink in. Roz and Darbi constantly talk about making your own opportunities on the Podcast. We've all heard them tell us not to wait for opportunity to find you over and over. I recently took a workshop for working actors and they drove that same point across, so a few of us got together and started our own theatre company. First, though, thanks Roz and Darbi for hammering that point home!

So this morning, I deleted my online cover letters on Actors Access and here on Backstage, and here's why. We've started casting for our company members and some upcoming productions, but we have a very specific mission and niche that we want to fill in the community. We've been overwhelmed with responses. When they first started to trickle in, I personally responded to every one. Now they are flooding in and let me tell you what a world of difference the little two line e-mail cover letter makes!

If you ever get an opportunity to hear Betsy Capes speak about cover letters, leap at it. She talks about knowing who you are writing to, what you want from them, what they have done, and what you can do for them before you start writing your letter. Well, even with 150+ responses to our ad in less than a week, those e-mails that say "I visited your web site, I can relate to your mission, here's my story, and here's what I can offer" are STILL getting personal responses from me. The blanket, "Attached are my headshot and resume, please consider me for your next production" letters are going into a neutral folder to be scheduled only if there's time after the people who made an effort to do their homework.

I realized that the best responses to audition requests that I have submitted for have been from those that I made a similar personal connection to; "I saw your production of X last year and it moved me", etc. I realized also that the 'generic' cover letter I have been using on Actors Access and here on Backstage could be a liability so... if I care enough about a project to submit for it, I'm going to write a brief, personal cover letter. If it's worth taking time off from work to head uptown to audition, it's worth 15 minutes to research who I am going to see and say something to them that may get me that audition. I may submit less but I expect better results. Backstage is still the best resource in my arsenal, but I'm going to use it responsibly and intelligently. No more 'click, fire, and forget' submissions for me.

What do you guys think?

I totally agree. The main thing to remember is that you should treat the hunt for acting work with the same level of professionalism you would apply to attempting to find a job in corporate America.

I always hit the highlights of what they're looking for (what they said in the ad) and how I fit their needs. And mentioning some previous work surely doesn't hurt! Great advice, Joe!