Picture this – you’re scrolling through audition notices and you see a listing for a role you just know you’re perfect for. Pretty exciting, right? Maybe even the chance of a lifetime. But wait….the audition is next week! Yikes! It’s fine, though, because you have your up-to-date headshot all ready to submit, right? No? Read on.
Recently a local LORT theatre that typically casts out of New York announced rarely-held open auditions – slots for local actors were scheduled for a Thursday and Friday. Between Monday and Wednesday of that week, I received TEN calls from people needing headshots for those auditions. Ten actors who tried to scramble for a headshot at the very last minute – ten actors, at least, who missed their chance to be seen because they weren’t prepared.
At the time I am writing this, fifty-three projects have been approved by the Kentucky Film Office to receive the tax incentive. A local talent agent has been posting that she is receiving scripts from productions looking for talent on a VERY regular basis. Film and TV projects are casting constantly, often with very little notice.
The moral of the story is there is A LOT happening for actors in the greater Louisville area right now. Not to mention the number of local actors who have been getting paid work for TV in Chicago and Atlanta. The fact of the matter is you need to have your headshots ready NOW. If you don’t have a current headshot, both print and a digital copy, ready to send, you are missing opportunities.
Can you afford not to? What is more expensive? Paying for a headshot session or missing paying job after paying job because you don’t have one? Remember, many times the first time a casting director sees your face is on your headshot. If you are submitting for a role with an iPhone photo, or an image your friend took for you or a headshot that’s years out of date, and a majority of the other people going for the role submitted professional headshots, who do you think is more likely to get the job? That first impression is made in an instant.
A truth to any business, and you absolutely do have to think of yourself as a business, if you want it bad enough, you will do whatever it takes to make it happen. Make a plan right now to get yourself the best headshots, now, BEFORE you need them. You won’t be sorry you invested in yourself.
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