The Fishes Tit

My showreel and some thoughts on why have one?

September 13, 2010 David E Robertson Leave a comment

Ah, showreels love ‘em or hate ‘em its seems they are a necessity these days. It took me a couple of years to actually get the material I was happy to include in a showreel. Unless you have done a lot of quality screen time then the options are to wait until you get it, or go to company that will produce the reel with footage they shoot themselves.

But why bother? Do they make any difference to you working as an actor? I would say that if you want to get more film and TV work, then it’s an option worth considering. I would however issue a note of caution. Whilst it is true that casting in the USA pretty much demands actors to have a showreel, it isn’t quite the case in GB – yet. However we are moving in that direction. So my advice is don’t rush to get one done.

I have seen countless reels that market actors who have taken note that showreels are becoming more of the norm and having one can increase the chances of getting auditions. It is true that good material should increase the odds in our frustrating acting game of chance, but beware because whatever showreel you put out there is a powerful advertisement for you as an actor. Subsequently, like any marketing tool, get it wrong and it could actually harm your career chances rather than improve them. It’s a harsh thing to say but a high percentage of actors showreels either don’t help or do more harm than good.

Unfortunately, I remain largely unconvinced by those companies that do offer an all-in-one package. They film you, edit and produce your showreel for a cost that couldn’t be described as cheap. I have rarely seen many kinds of these type of reels that compete with actual production footage. I have seen a couple but they are few and far between. So if you do want to go down this route then choose carefully and research them as much as you can.

The point to remember is that however you want to get your showreel material together, a bad showreel will only show you in a bad light. If you have to wait a while to get footage your happy with then be patient and don’t sell yourself short.

Once you’re in a position to get your own reel together, next come the questions of what material to include? How you want to come across? And how it should be edited? But that is a whole other can of worms and opinions.