Acting Reel: How Long Should It Be?
An actor’s reel is ideally about 2 minutes long. Any shorter, they don’t get to see what you can do. Any longer, the attention span is shot — unless you’re the next Meryl Streep. And let’s face it — your probably aren’t. No offense! You may — and hopefully will — get there one day.
As a rule of thumb: Think of casting directors and agents as beta fish on crack. They flitter about in tiny confined spaces all day, are brilliantly hyperactive, and have a nearly negative attention span. They will stare you blankly in the face, and hardly ever remember who you are.
A great example of an actor’s reel can be found here. This is a great up-and-coming actress named Erika Smith (represented by Maude Kaplan Management and ElectricAvePR), and what she has had put together is simply brilliant. One of the creatures we like to call a Real Actor (versus the Wannabe Actor, or the Abercrombie Actor — see Actor Talent-Level Definitions here), Smith has a slew of training (including a B.A. from Hunter), has guest starred on multiple episodics, and is signed to a strong boutique management company in New York.
Notice that Erika’s reel is about four minutes long, double the length of a reel we’d usually suggest. However, Erika has various “clips” and “versions” on her website — and she likely gives out different reels (some are longer, some are shorter) to different casting directors and agents.
An agent really interested in Erika might want to see more. Erika has the “long reel” ready.
Erika’s focus is obviously comedy, so that’s what she plays up. She has everything on her website, uploaded to YouTube, and on Facebook. She’s easy to find, has everything put together professionally — and most important? She’s a damn good actor.
The moral of the article: If you have a 12 minute reel, cut it down. If you have a 30 second reel — add some stuff on top or learn how to Produce Your Own Reel to obtain some additional footage.
If Your Focus is Comedic, use comedic material
If Your Focus Is Dramtic: use dramatic material
If You’re both: use both.
Not rocket science, really. The most important part of this (beside the acting), is the editing and quality of the material.
Good luck!
Read More About:
– Acting Reel: How To Edit It Yourself (video tutorial)
– Acting Reel: How Long Should It Be?
– Acting Reel: Reel Editor Directory
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