7 Huge Demo Reel Mistakes That Make Casting Directors Click Away

Hey, do you have an acting reel? And an acting reel that really works? If you don't, or if you want to learn more about acting reels, you've got to watch this video. I'm going to be sharing with you everything from do you really need an acting reel, what information, what things should be in an acting reel, what should never be in an acting reel. And watch us towards the end, and I'm going to also share with you how to get content even if you've never done any work before. Okay, let's get started. Hi, I'm Aaron Marcus, and look, when I first started, I didn't have an actor's reel. I didn't have anything, and I wasn't— and actually, I have to say, at that time period, acting reels really weren't nearly as important as they are now. And it is really— it's essential that everybody have an acting reel. Look, can you get work without one? Absolutely. Can you get an agent without one? Absolutely. Can you have success without one? Yeah, you can, but you have a much better chance of getting more bookings if you have an acting reel. And let me just quickly explain to you why. It's kind of like Like if you're a painter, okay, and you want to sell some of your artwork or have it placed in a museum for a show, people are going to want to see some of your work in order for them to decide, hey, is this, you know, is this the kind of art that's going to work in our, you know, our museum? And it's the same thing for actors. And so casting directors, agents, directors, they want to see some of your work. So the very first thing that you have to keep in mind is you don't want to just have a monologue or shoot something from a play that you were in because the people who are going to be watching this, they want to see the kind of work that you do that they're working in. So if it's film, television, commercials, that's what they actually want to see. Something else is that they want to see something where you are in a scene with someone else. And the reason why that's so important is because not only are they looking at your read, they also want to see your reactions to the other actor in the scene. And, and that's— I know I'm kind of jumping a little bit, but it just popped in my head. That's another reason why Sometimes when people are holding the sides in their hand during an audition and they say their lines and then they're looking at the sides waiting for the other person's lines to be finished so they can see when it ends and then they could— you never want to do that because quite often it's the other person's lines that have such a major impact on you. And that's what people want to see. So it's the same thing when you're creating a reel. Make sure not only are they able to see and hear your lines, but they want to see your reaction. Typically, the length of a really effective reel is going to be 1 minute long. It can be shorter, but you don't want it to be 2 minutes, 3 minutes. Casting directors, agents, they're busy. They don't have time, and they can get a really good feel for what you're able to do in a very short time period. Full disclosure, mine's a minute 29. I tried cutting it back. I have a lot of different things in there, and I just feel it's important to have it in. And the other thing too is a lot of times people will say don't have anything that's old, things where, you know, it was decades ago and you look so different. Once again, I'm kind of breaking my own rules here. I do have some older things, things from like Law Order: Criminal Intent, things from, you know, maybe 10 years ago. And the only reason why I do have it in, because these are well-known projects and I just want people to see that I'm in them, and I do have things that are up to date so that way they can see exactly what I look like today. Typically, in, in, in your clips, you don't want them to be long. You don't want them dragging on. People— unless there's a scene where your character makes a lot of changes Normally it's going to be 20 seconds. If you only have a couple pieces to put in there, okay, 20, 30 seconds, which is fine. But you don't want the scene lasting too long unless something big happens that's interesting to watch. And remember, this is all about you, so don't linger too long on the other actor in the scene. Now, like for instance, for me, I do have on my reel— and, and I'll share the link in the description so you can, you can see my current TV and film reel. I do have separate, separate reels, and I'll tell you about that shortly. But in, in House of Cards, I have a scene— one of the scenes I, I have with Ellen Burstyn It, it does have her and she's talking, and then I'm reacting to her and talking to her. And I was really thinking a lot about that, and I needed her in there. Otherwise, what I had to say was meaningless. It just didn't make much sense. So yeah, I did focus on her for a couple of seconds, and then I come in and respond to her. So, you know, in those cases Yeah, absolutely, it's helpful, but you don't want to have so much time on the other actor. Let me see what else. Oh, this is also really important. You don't want to make this— make your reel a fancy, highly edited kind of project. Look, it should be basic. You don't want to add music in there. You don't want these intricate fades. You don't want graphics. You don't want animations. Let people see your acting work. You're not trying to sell yourself as an editor or producer. Just let them see your work, because for people who do add in all these extra things and flashy things, it's distracting. From what you're really trying to get out of the reel. Now, when I first started and I started having content, then I, I just had everything in one reel. I had some TV commercials, I had some training films, and a couple of TV and film things in there, all in one. I just didn't have that much. And so when you first get started, that's fine. And you can always change things. That's the nice thing about these reels. You can do some basic editing and update them whenever you need to. And then I got to a point where I had enough of each individual category. So now I do have a film and TV reel. As a matter of fact, you know what I'll do? I'll send you the link. It's on my website. It says About Aaron, and that way you can see all the reels. And so I got the film and TV. I have a TV commercial. I have a training film. I have a radio spot. I have narration reels. And so I separated them all, and that way I can use them depending on what I am auditioning for. Now, if you don't have anything, look, I guess having a monologue would be better than absolutely nothing, but here's something you can do. Maybe you can get a few people, some fellow acting friends. Maybe you know somebody who can shoot, maybe light something, make sure the sound's okay, edit it. Just take a really short scene and shoot it. And that way, even if you have 20, 30 seconds just from one scene where there's really things going on and you're reacting to other people, then use that. Maybe you can go to Facebook, find some independent filmmakers in your area, and try to audition for some of their projects. Maybe, maybe you can go to some universities and find out who's teaching film classes and find the ones, the classes where students have to shoot short films for the class, and maybe you can get to a student film. The important thing is, look, you might get something that's great, you might get something that's horrible that you can't use, but in either case, it would be a good experience. But that is another way of trying to get just some footage that you can use and start a reel. I completely forgot to mention this, something else you absolutely have to do You need contact information. I like to put it at the very end. I'm going to have my name, I will have an email address, or if you want your agent's information, still have your name, your— the name of the agency, and their contact information. But you need to have some kind of information so people know who you are and how to contact you. Hey, if you have ever put together a reel, please share the process with us. You know, how did you get— you know, how did you get the material? Did you edit it? What kind of editing program did you use? By the way, I just use iMovie for everything because it's just really simple. But yeah, share your experience with us. Have you updated things? That would be really, really helpful. And And the very last thing is, if you haven't done this yet, don't forget, subscribe to the channel, uh, click the notification bell so you always know when a new video has been uploaded. If you like it, give it a thumbs up, that's great, and share the link with your fellow actors so we can all learn from each other and help each other as well. I'm Aaron Marcus, and I can't wait to talk with you again soon. See ya.