The Secret to Getting Copies of Your Acting and Modeling Work

Hi, I'm Aaron Marcus, and welcome to another week of my acting and modeling information. One of the questions that seems to come up a lot for me in my workshops, whether they're private, you know, online coaching sessions or in-person workshops, is people asking, how can I get copies of my work? And let me just tell you, I do spend a lot of time discussing this. In my workshops, but let me give you a shorter version right now. One of the things that's going to depend on the type of work that you did. I can also tell you that typically in the commercial modeling world, sometimes it's more difficult getting a copy of your ad than actually booking the job. It seems like for films and television, it's a little bit easier. So really quickly, if it's a print ad, a commercial modeling ad, You should know exactly where it is running. And so I would always just send an email to either the art or creative director from the ad agency if they were on the set, or to the photographer. Ask for a copy. Just ask for a JPEG if they would mail it to you. If you don't get any kind of response— certainly you don't want to start fighting with these people— so you're going to know exactly where the ad ran because that's one of the questions you will have asked your agent ahead of time. Or if you booked it directly, you'll be asking the photographer. And you can always go out and get a copy, you know, if it's a magazine or a newspaper. Or if it's for a specific company, you can always call the company headquarters, tell them you're the model in the ad, see if they would email you a JPEG. If it's a film or TV show, then Typically, you're going to have to wait till it airs and then you'll go out. You can always ask for a copy, you know, depending on the importance of your role, or you just might have to go out and buy it. I did once have an agent— and look, everybody has different ideas— suggest that you ask someone on the set to, you know, give them a flash drive when they're looking at dailies, have them download your part and send it to you. Honestly, I can't imagine anybody ever doing that. So if somebody mentions that to you, I wouldn't necessarily advise going that route. Nobody's going to be giving out information and, you know, your scenes before the movie comes out or before the TV show airs. So that one I wouldn't do. So typically I just wait, you know, for it to air. If it is on TV, you know, if you have some kind of recording device, try to make a copy. Sometimes you can you know, buy it when it comes out on DVD and then just edit it yourself. So those are the things, but the key thing is you have got to get those copies. That's how you build up your portfolio. That's how you create a great acting reel, by putting very, very short clips there. So the thing to remember, you always want to get a copy of your work. It's really, really important for you. So, anyhow, I hope that was helpful to you. As always, if you have any questions, just go to my facebook.com/howtomodel page. If it's something that's more personal, you can always email me at aaron@howtomodel.com. And also, for those of you who are interested in having a private coaching session with me, just go to howtomodel.com/coaching. You can read all about it. And maybe we can work online together. Okay, I look forward to talking with you again next week. I'm Aaron Marcus.