Career Support
Dedicated to Helping You Achieve Your Goals
VADA wants to ensure you give yourself the best chance possible to get signed by a talent agent. We assist our students in understanding how to put together their professional actor’s package to make the best impression possible.
For all of our 6-Month Dramatic Arts Certificate and 1-Year Dramatic Arts Diploma graduates, we provide professional headshots, demo reels and assistance with creating cover letters and actor resumes and guidance as to which agencies you may wish to send your professional package.{“type”:”elementor”,”siteurl”:”https://vadastudios.com/wp-json/”,”elements”:[{“id”:”eae48ed”,”elType”:”widget”,”isInner”:false,”isLocked”:false,”settings”:{“editor”:”<p>VADA wants to ensure you give yourself the best chance possible to get signed by a talent agent. We assist our students in understanding how to put together their professional actor’s package to make the best impression possible.</p><p>For all of our <strong>6-Month Dramatic Arts Certificate</strong> and <strong>1-Year Dramatic Arts Diploma</strong> graduates, we provide professional headshots, demo reels and assistance with creating cover letters and actor resumes and guidance as to which agencies you may wish to send your professional package.
6-Month Dramatic Arts Certificate II graduates are not provided with professional headshot or demo reels; however they do receive assistance with putting together their professional actor packages; guidance as to which agencies they may want to apply and a 4-day Hollywood Field Trip.
Learn more about “Getting an Agent Getting an Agent
Your Professional Package
Before you approach an agent for consideration, you will need to put together your professional actors package. This will include a cover letter, actor resume, headshots and demo clips.
The Cover Letter: This should be properly formatted and not simply repeat what the agent can see in your resume. It should be similar to a bio; help peak the agent’s interest about the real you (where you were born, why you love acting, and why do you want to be represented by that particular agency) and make sure to get the name of the agent correct. Referrals are often given priority, so if you met one of their actors on set, include who referred you. Lastly, don’t make it too long or they won’t read it, make it brief and interesting, like a skirt – short enough to be interesting, but long enough to cover the subject.
Actor Resume: This should also be properly formatted and will include your name and contact info, height, weight, eye colour and hair colour. It should have separate categories for TV, Film and Theatre work you have done and list the name of any productions, roles you played (Lead, Supporting, Actor) and production type (student film, feature film, Independent, short film). Do not including background or Extra work.
It should also list Training you have completed (course name, school name and instructor) and include a separate category for Specialty Skills and your ability with each (beginner, intermediate, advance) as well as any languages and level you can speak them.
Headshots: These should be actor headshots NOT portraits, and if you don’t know the difference, check give us a call before wasting hundreds of dollars. Many professional portrait photographers are unaware of the difference, if you do not see an “Actor Headshot” link on their website, it is highly unlikely they understand what casting is looking for.
Demo Clips: Your demo clips should consist of two contrasting scenes to show your acting range (e.g. one dramatic and one more lighted-hearted) and be of a high production quality using a video recorder or a cell phone. They should be no more than about a minute to a minute in a half in length. Agents will not have the time (nor the will) to watch much longer than that.
The reality is a lot of your success in getting an agent and breaking into the industry is going to come down to you; your type, what you have to offer, your level of training and persistence not to give up. The most important role a school can perform in that process is to ensure you are adequately trained; have an understanding of how to create your professional package; and that you are prepared to meet with an agent (and not before).
