You finished your training and received your diploma. What’s next? Some lucky ones have already been discovered during their last year of training and have been committed to theaters by directors. However, most of them are empty handed but full of dreams. To start your career one thing is absolutely necessary: socializing with people and collecting information. StagePool is one of the most important contact points for at this stage of your career. Through StagePool you’ll find numerous job offers as well as open audition dates and castings. More than 40% of all members receive engagements through StagePool within the first 6 months. You can also be a part of that! You shouldn’t rely on StagePool solely though. We are able to support you, but you also need to be proactive. The more people you know, who will remember you when they are casting, the better. Socialize and merchandise yourself well. As an artist you are your own brand.
A neat and clearly arranged CV and professional pictures of you are very important parts of you application documents. Never ever send in pictures of your last vacation or of your brother’s birthday party to a caster or director. A professional photo shooting is not cheap, but it’s an investment worthwhile making for your career. The partner-photographers of StagePool offer you a 20% discount for their services. A good show reel and – as a singer or musical performer, a demo tape should also be part of your application. You should again pay close attention to a professional quality. Lots of professional artists make their show reels available to watch on their websites. Look around and you will get an impression of what a professional show reel should look like (and what it shouldn’t look like!). Don’t worry about not having enough material yet. A good possibility to collect material for your show reel is to participate in no-budget movies. Film students are often looking for actors who are willing to star in their movies without getting paid and you will definitely receive a copy for your show reel. Be creative! With a regular video camera, a couple of friends and a good idea you can also tape a couple of scenes by yourself. It is important however that your recordings appear reputable and as professional as possible.
It is always good to have a printed copy and CD version of your application material. But these days that is not enough. Create a website through which you can introduce yourself to everyone on the internet. Here you can not only publish your CV, but also upload pictures, videos and audio files. Tell the world about yourself and give colleagues and fans (which you WILL have someday!) the opportunity to leave their feedback in your guest book. Nowadays creating websites is very easy; but it still makes more sense to have it created professionally so that it will make you appear professional – because this is the way you want to appear, right? Good web designers create websites for a couple of hundred Euros already – depending on the amount of work. Here again: partners of StagePool offer you a 20% discount for their services.
You received your diploma, got all of your application material together and have paid for your StagePool membership? Now is the time to venture out and to leave a good impression at castings and auditions. Read more about that in the next part of our guide!
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