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| The Resume By Richard Barela |
| There are many variations to the resume, each layout is different, depending on who you talk to. The following outline of a resume for the entertainment field is recommended, it seems to work. Your name and contact information (directly below your name) should be at the top. Top left, top right, top center doesn�t really matter. It appears to be a matter of personal taste. Your specifics, such as height, weight, eye and hair color along with your clothing sizes should be below your contact info if you are centering your contact info. If you are using the top left for your contact info then your specifics should be on the top right side. Clothing sizes are not a major issue here, however it can be helpful, and it can add an airof professionalism to your resume. It is not a requirement. However, try to avoid mentioning your age. Your appearance is what is being sought. Below this, begin with your credits, sub-categorized, as such; Film, Television, Theater, Commercials, Industrials, and Voiceovers. Place your most recent projects at the top down to your earliest ones. Each line of your credit should be set in the following manner; Name of the production, Name of the production company, and your character. The psychology behind this is simple. Anyone reading your resume first wants to see what projects you have done, then who the production company was, (this allows the reader to guesstimate the project's budget size), and what you specifically did. In that order. For example: Boo Hoo Huey Another Tearjerker Production Joe Smuckatelli the waiter A couple of things bear mentioning at this time. It is not necessary to list EACH and EVERY show you ever did! In fact, once you get several productions under your belt, it might be to your advantage to omit some of the lesser known shows. But be careful. Do NOT name drop! When listing your credits, avoid saying that such and such a producer or actor did the project you were in. For example: Boo Hoo Huey Dino DeLooser: Producer Joe the waiter (with Tom Hanks) Whatever you do, Do NOT list the following words as your character: EXTRA is something more than you already have, SUPPORTING is a kind of hosiery, GUEST is what you are at someone�s house, PRINCIPAL is that guy in your school when you were a kid (Please keep in mind - if you must use this word - spell it correctly!), BACKGROUND is where you usually hide your beer, this leads directly to ATMOSPHERE, which is the air we breathe, FEATURED is an opening to more bad jokes. If your work is as an extra, list you character with a name or a title, such as; townsperson, audience member, onlooker, passenger and so on. Avoid dating your character, for example; '30's gangster', or '1870 soldier', or '60's hippie'. Dating your character is irrelevant. If your character has a name, list it!. Another error commonly made is saying �Available upon request�. You made the resume for someone to see and hire you for a show and now you want them to play 20 questions with that line. This especially happens in the Film, Television and Theater credits. This mistake will cost you dearly. No one in the biz has the time to fool around with you. Your resume will quickly be filling up a landfill somewhere. After your credits, have a section labeled Special Skills. Here is where you list all the things you are able to do that can be visualized or placed on film and be specific. But this is where some terrible things happen too. If you can wrestle alligators, list it. That is something a film company might have a use for. However, do NOT list ambiguous things like you are mentally connected to the universe. Nor should you list a previous job, such as "Social services coordinator for the Unwed Orphans of Trieste, Bulgaria" or "Service technician for Black and Decker blenders". Avoid saying something like, "Can play most musical instruments", that says nothing. Whatever you do, do NOT elaborate on a special skill either. For instance; if you can use a pistol, do NOT say you learned to use a pistol while training to be a Mafia hitman in lower Hoboken. Lastly, do NOT list under your special skills or training section something like, "Currently singing, dancing, appearing with (insert name here) or showing feng shui, choke holds or whatever else at the local little theater or local night club. These errors will drive a CD to toss your resume in a heartbeat, although a CD may keep it just for laughs. Leave a section open entitled Training. This is a real help to you. List the type or name of the training and the name of the instructor. The location is secondary. Avoid dates on your resume. Dates on your resume have a tendency to do just that - they date you - and that could take you out of the running for a role. Lastly, be professional with your resume and do NOT LIE !!! If you are caught in a lie anywhere on your resume. YOU could have an early curtain call. |
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