*Bump*

Some people have gotten confused by my initial explanation so I finally came up with a way to best illustrate it. Here's a standard LA format:


Additional Notes:
*With regards to training, you can also put the teacher (if he or she is REALLY famous) in the middle column and the school in the far right column in place of geographical location.

*In Theatre, the second column is the character's name or occupation. The third column is interchageable with either director or theatre location (depending on who's more prestigious).

*DON'T put extra work on it.

*Print and modeling gigs go on a MODELING resume.

*If you meet with meet with a commercial agent, be sure to bring a list of the commercial you worked on AND the Casting Director involved in case he or she asks for it.

quote:

Originally posted by ELDORADO59:

*With regards to training, you can also put the teacher (if he or she is REALLY famous) in the middle column and the school in the far right column in place of geographical location.

Hey Eldorado,

I thought that it was standard to do it that way in the first place, but maybe that's just here in NY?

In LA, is it more common to put Class - School - Location instead of Class - Teacher - School?

I kind of thought it was nice to have the teacher's name down, because I've been taught by a couple of people who aren't FAMOUS, but have done a lot of work.

For theatrical, you should leave off;
hair
eyes
height
weight

Usually those items are only listed by actors with less experience, because they think it's what they're supposed to do. It's not.
Listing those items is not required (or expected) and, quite frankly, it gives casting directors reasons to say your wrong for a role before you have a chance to blow them away with an amazing reading. If needed for a character, you can always dye your hair, wear contacts (or heels or lifts), or gain/lose weight. You just don't want to give them something to say "no" to before you get your foot in the door of that audition room. Plus I've had clients whose appearance was not what the casting director initially had in mind (or how the role was originally described/written), but who gave such a great readings (and interesting takes on the characters) that they got hired and the roles were changed for them. Whenever I signed a new client who listed the H/E/H/W, I'd immediately remove it from their resumes and no casting director ever even mentioned it.

quote:

Originally posted by SparklingAriel:

quote:

Originally posted by ELDORADO59:

*With regards to training, you can also put the teacher (if he or she is REALLY famous) in the middle column and the school in the far right column in place of geographical location.

Hey Eldorado,

I thought that it was standard to do it that way in the first place, but maybe that's just here in NY?

In LA, is it more common to put Class - School - Location instead of Class - Teacher - School?

I kind of thought it was nice to have the teacher's name down, because I've been taught by a couple of people who aren't FAMOUS, but have done a lot of work.

I think it becomes a personal preference.

If you went to the Beverly Hills Playhouse and actually studied with the late and legendary Milton Katselas you could do either:

Scene Study/Milton Katselas/Beverly Hills Playhouse

or

Scene Study/Beverly Hills Playhouse (Milton Katselas)/LA,CA

The latter is more common if the school is better known than the teacher. Like Larry Moss Studios. Larry doesn't really teach there, but to say that you went to a name school can help.

Or it's like the Strasberg Institute. In L.A. it's a total joke that banks on the dead guy's name and a factory for immigrants to get their visas. In N.Y., it's more respected as some of Lee's disciples still teach there. So making it known that your studies at the Straberg Institute was in NY and NOT in L.A. is very important.

quote:

Originally posted by Ms.Manager:
For theatrical, you should leave off;
hair
eyes
height
weight

Usually those items are only listed by actors with less experience, because they think it's what they're supposed to do. It's not.
Listing those items is not required (or expected) and, quite frankly, it gives casting directors reasons to say your wrong for a role before you have a chance to blow them away with an amazing reading. If needed for a character, you can always dye your hair, wear contacts (or heels or lifts), or gain/lose weight. You just don't want to give them something to say "no" to before you get your foot in the door of that audition room. Plus I've had clients whose appearance was not what the casting director initially had in mind (or how the role was originally described/written), but who gave such a great readings (and interesting takes on the characters) that they got hired and the roles were changed for them. Whenever I signed a new client who listed the H/E/H/W, I'd immediately remove it from their resumes and no casting director ever even mentioned it.

Interesting point. I've never heard this before. Thanks for sharing this new information.

My example is a more global all around example for in commercials, they usually want to know your height and weight. Also, headshots don't always tell the truth. For example, a girl could look skinny from waist up but be a fat-bottomed girl.

Nice example, EL59!

SparklingAriel, from my POV, thankfully, resumes are not set in stone, so listing your training can be listed several ways, depending on personal preference, just as along as it gets to job done.

Don't worry so much about NY or LA. Hundreds of actors work both coasts and don't change their resumes according to cities, only according to whether they are auditioning for theatre or TV/film. In that case, whichever the audition is for, goes on top, regardless of the city. As long as it is easy to read and understand while also looking professional, it's fine.

When you want to include the instructor as well as the city the columns could be:
Scene Study/Joe Teacher/Joe's Acting School, LA
Commercial/Mike Pointer/Hey I Saw Your Commercial, LA

It also depends if you need to consolidate your credits, due to lack of space, due to increase of credits. When 3 columns and each class and instructor take up a lot of space, the instructors or schools can be listed next to the type of class, creating only 2 columns i.e.:


Scene Study: Joe Teacher, LA
Improv: The Second City, NY; The Groundlings/Advanced, LA
Commercial: Michael Donovan, LA; Michael Pointer, LA; TVI, NY
Voice: Mary Smith, NY; Mitzi Nesbitt, LA
or
Michael Donovan: On-camera Commercial Technique, Private Coaching
Larry Moss: Scene Study, Improv, Audition Technique, Private Coaching

And in LA or NY, sometimes you only need to list the instructor, because their name is well known and the name of the school isn't necessary.

Go to a book store and look at the books that are suggested throughout this thread, to see the various formats. Not all are exactly the same, but they all work for LA and NY.

Here's another great column on resumes by Bonnie Gillespie. http://more.showfax.com/columns/avoice/archives/2008_10_06.html

Thanks guys =] !

quote:

Originally posted by Ms.Manager:
For theatrical, you should leave off;
hair
eyes
height
weight

Usually those items are only listed by actors with less experience, because they think it's what they're supposed to do. It's not.
Listing those items is not required (or expected) and, quite frankly, it gives casting directors reasons to say your wrong for a role before you have a chance to blow them away with an amazing reading. If needed for a character, you can always dye your hair, wear contacts (or heels or lifts), or gain/lose weight. You just don't want to give them something to say "no" to before you get your foot in the door of that audition room. Plus I've had clients whose appearance was not what the casting director initially had in mind (or how the role was originally described/written), but who gave such a great readings (and interesting takes on the characters) that they got hired and the roles were changed for them. Whenever I signed a new client who listed the H/E/H/W, I'd immediately remove it from their resumes and no casting director ever even mentioned it.

This is a very good point and I agree with this, especially if the actor has a body of work for which they are recognized.

I can see the actors adding their stats if they are not known, but their stats are a perfect fit for the description of the character/s they want to audition for, which might help them at least get called in because of fitting the description.

I can also see using the stats for commercials that cast quickly and don't have time to change their characters.

Hmmm, this is good to think about. It would be nice to have other agents/managers/CDs chime in on this. Hey SecretAgentMan, are you out there?

the height/weight thing really interests me.

Mominbiz - would the "rules" be different for children? Tween-aged kids can be all over the map size wise and it wouldn't be easy to tell from a headshot whether a 12 year old girl is 53" (clearly in the range for kid broadway roles) or 60" (clearly not).

Thoughts on height/weight for child actors?

quote:

Originally posted by Fluff:
the height/weight thing really interests me.

Mominbiz - would the "rules" be different for children? Tween-aged kids can be all over the map size wise and it wouldn't be easy to tell from a headshot whether a 12 year old girl is 53" (clearly in the range for kid broadway roles) or 60" (clearly not).

Thoughts on height/weight for child actors?

When my DS was still under 18, we were always told by agents on both coasts to include the height and weight on his resume. And in his case it was very important, because a few of his theatre contracts included height requirements. Casting would not have asked him to audition without an idea of his size, or if he did he would have been cut right away, had he not been the right height.

Bottom line for kids, IMO and other professionals we've worked with, is that the stats should be listed. And you're right, Fluff, you really can't tell the size of a child from their headshot. Even in a 3/4 shot, you can't really tell the child's actual size unless they are standing next to something to compare them against.

*Bump*

quote:

Originally posted by ELDORADO59:

quote:

Originally posted by Ms.Manager:
For theatrical, you should leave off;
hair
eyes
height
weight

Usually those items are only listed by actors with less experience, because they think it's what they're supposed to do. It's not.
Listing those items is not required (or expected) and, quite frankly, it gives casting directors reasons to say your wrong for a role before you have a chance to blow them away with an amazing reading. If needed for a character, you can always dye your hair, wear contacts (or heels or lifts), or gain/lose weight. You just don't want to give them something to say "no" to before you get your foot in the door of that audition room. Plus I've had clients whose appearance was not what the casting director initially had in mind (or how the role was originally described/written), but who gave such a great readings (and interesting takes on the characters) that they got hired and the roles were changed for them. Whenever I signed a new client who listed the H/E/H/W, I'd immediately remove it from their resumes and no casting director ever even mentioned it.

Interesting point. I've never heard this before. Thanks for sharing this new information.

My example is a more global all around example for in commercials, they usually want to know your height and weight. Also, headshots don't always tell the truth. For example, a girl could look skinny from waist up but be a fat-bottomed girl.

That is sooo true! I knew a girl who was about 130 from the face to the shoulders and OVER 400 the rest of the way down. Looks can be deceiving LOL.

*Bump*

Cover letters for the younger set. Babies, toddlers and young children. http://bbs.backstage.com/eve/f...=117106891#117106891