6 Awesome Websites for Actors
This is a list I find myself repeating a lot lately, so I thought perhaps many of you would find it useful as well–
6 Awesome Websites for Career-Minded Actors
Casting About – Lists every union film and TV project that casts in Los Angeles and every union TV, film and theater project in New York. You’ll also see the production status and complete casting staff for each. Different people do different things with this info. Here are some way you can use it to your advantage. From the Casting About website:
RESEARCH: Find which shows are actively casting today, see all the shows cast by one particular person, check out all the shows on a specific network, learn the premise of a new show, or link to a show’s official website.
MAILING LABELS: Select the names you want and click PRINT. Done. Labels addressed only to the people you want, when you want them.
AUDITION (OR WORKSHOP) PREP: Brush up on the names of all the other people in the office before you go in to meet someone. Know everything you can about their show. Knowledge is power.
Showfax – When you have a showfax.com subscription you have access to the actual current audition material for many projects that are currently casting. When done strategically, I have seen many actors get themselves big jobs and job opportunities by taping themselves and submitting on roles they are really right for. It’s also a great place to find sides (audition material) to practice your audition skills. When you subscribe to Showfax, you also get free actor project submission on Actors Access.
The Workshop Guru – Many actors have a target list of casting directors they are working to turn into fans. I have seen many actors use casting workshops to build relationships with their target list which have led directly to big bookings from day player and co-star roles to leads and series regulars. The Workshop Guru is a fabulous site because it allows actors to search their entire database of casting directors to find where their target list is workshopping and compare the pricing and quality of the workshop service. Actors can post and browse reviews of the CDs and of the workshop companies, helping them find the best fit for their individual goals.
IMDb Pro – This is the paid version of IMDb, an incredible research tool and probably the most essential paid website subscription for every professional actor. The site lists the credits, background info and often times contact information of industrywide TV and film professionals. There are many, many great ways to use this site to help you reach your goals, but IMDb Pro is especially fantastic when looking for representation. By researching the type of role you are looking to book next, you can look up actors who are booking those roles (guest stars, recurring, etc), see who their reps are and check to see who if they have other clients like you. This is a great way to build your representation target list.
hootsuite – The strategic use of social media can be very powerful for actors. But unfortunately, many actors give up when they discover that sites like Facebook and Twitter are more effective when used consistently and frequently. I get it, it can be totally overwhelming to remember to post something every day. This is why hootsuite is so cool. It allows you to schedule your posts for several different social media accounts as far in advance as you like. Such a great tool!
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