How to make a good showreel is entirely subjective. What will work perfectly for one role or casting agency, will turn others off. However, there are a few key elements in creating a showreel which will ensure you have the best possible chance of securing that next dream part.

In today’s blog we break down the essentials needed to make a showreel that showcases your talents, gets casting agents on board and keeps your portfolio professional.

What makes the perfect showreel?

Make it short and snappy

All casting agencies and teams will endure a mountain of unsolicited reels as well as anticipated showreels for specific roles and agents. Whether yours is spontaneous or expected, you should ensure that it captures the attention of your audience by providing a short and succinct reel. A briefer run time will make viewing it more appealing and will be able to hold the attention of the viewer for its full run time. 

So how long should a showreel be, we hear you say? Between 1 minute 30 and 2 minutes. Any longer and you run the risk of boring the recipient and looking unprofessional in your ability to edit correctly. Which leads well to our next point on content.

Display variety but…

…only if it adds quality. You want your reel to show your best work, and for many open casting situations you will want to show more than just one situation or style. If you can utilise a good scene which has a myriad of emotional stages then this one scene should be sufficient. If you need to include two short scenes or pieces of scenes, they should show different parts of your emotional range. There is no need to include everything you have done, only show the best of your acting talents.

Keep it up-to-date

One of the most important things to include in a showreel is work that is recent. If your showreel has work from five years ago, then a casting director is not going to consider it as worthwhile as another actor with scenes from this year. Keeping your showreel up-to-date is an ongoing task throughout your career and should never stop. A good bit of housekeeping is to make sure you add any work to your showreel as soon as you’ve finished the latest job (if it’s worth showing that is).

If you haven’t secured any paid positions recently or maybe you were not 100% happy with the outcome, the onus is on you to fill that gap in your CV. Make the effort to do your own scripted scenes, which you can write and film yourself or get a showreel production company like Isaac Who to produce them.

This not only gives you content for your reel but also shows your willingness to work on your career, even when not employed in the field. 

Make your role clear

Once you have your video in front of the right people and they have agreed to watch it, you need to sell yourself like a product. The scene or scenes you include should show you performing a character that has a vocal part and has strong direction and obvious characteristics. This is not only about showcasing your talent, it’s about reinforcing that you are the actor applying for the position, not your co-stars. The performance given is important but just the simple basics of being visually different from your co-actors is essential. If you star opposite an actor of the same gender, it can sometimes be difficult for casting director to notice who the tape is all about. Even worse is to also feature someone of the same gender who looks similar to you, specifically; hair colour, skin tone and body shape. The viewer may have your headshot but we don’t want any extra barriers adding to your opportunity.

Keep it relevant

Relevance is going to come down to whether this is an application for general or specific casting. If it is for a general casting call, then showcasing your experience and range is as important, as it gives the casting company options. If you are applying for a specific role, then try to use scenes that have a similar tone to the prospective production. If you don’t have a scene that matches the genre, use your most powerful scene that shows you at your best. 

Another small but important thing to note: do not include work where you have been a background artist. They are going to select you based on your acting ability, which may well be in the subtleties of your movement, but this should go hand in hand with a speaking part…not just the side of your head. 

Make sure all is above board

Now to mention some of the dull yet vital parts of your showreel. If you are including paid work scenes, then make sure you have the permission to use this footage.  This information is likely laid out in your contract or you can ask the casting team for copies. If they allow this, it can be particularly good to include any deleted scenes which may have been wonderful performances but edited out of the final production.

You need to also confirm you can utilise the music/sound played within a footage. Copyright applies to both the visuals of a film/programme as well as the music. You will need to seek permission from the composer of the music, and likely actors, director, producers and any production companies that made the scene.

This should also be considered when you or a production company create a custom showreel scene. Have you produced the music yourself, or gained permission from the composer/publisher? Though this may seem overkill, copyright breaches can land you in hot water with fines or prosecution, so they are not to be taken lightly. 

The last technical thing we’d like to point out is to make sure the quality of your showreel’s visuals and sound is excellent. This is especially important if you are filming it yourself, or you get a production company to create tailored scenes. You want clear, crisp sound and footage that is well focused and preferably HD too. Any grainy footage, muffled sound or incorrect sound volumes, will really put off any serious casting officer. Like any work environment, casting directors want their employees to be professional, organised and well prepared for the job in hand.

Send it in the right format

One last essential message, send your showreel and any accompanying CV and cover letter in the format requested by the agency. If this is via post, through an online portal or sending it via email, do what they ask. Failure to follow this simple instruction can really be the difference between winning that next part over everyone else.

Get Help

Thank you for reading our article on how to make a showreel. If you would like help producing your own reel or need an extra scene to add to an existing showreel, then please get in touch with Isaac. We offer a full bespoke service, taking care of scripts, actors, equipment, crew and editing. Use the form below to get in touch