I’ve just been watching some actors’ showreels on YouTube and there are loads that don’t have any dialogue in them at all (just awful loud music over the top), or if they do, the dialogue doesn’t start until almost 40 seconds in. So many reels start with a montage too.
No Casting Director is going to get that far. You have one chance and one chance only to impress a CD with your reel and if it doesn’t POP right from the get-go then you’re sunk without a trace. You have, at best, a minute to make an impression on the watcher so why would you fill up your precious seconds with stuff that doesn’t show you off in your best light?
Get rid of all the fancy graphics at the start. Get rid of the montages. Get rid of the name of the editor/editing company at the start.
A reel should start with the name of the actor and BAM, straight into your best scene. Don’t leave the best to last; put the best up front. If you do have music, please don’t use copyrighted music and keep the volume level low.
There is no wonder that some actors are just desperate for anyt acting roles if they are going to sabotage their own chances by having an appalling reel. What’s more, a badly edited reel makes you look like an amateur and in the world of professional actors, amateurs fall by the wayside day after day.
If you are an actor, watch some other reels on YouTube, find an editing company whose work you like, get more scenes shot if you need them and present yourself in the best, most professional way you can. If you don’t, you only have yourself to blame…
Damien Gerard 