How to submit my actress submission to the ross agency correctly?

[LittleWhiteFastGirl]

This is what it says to do on the website:

Requirements for Actors and Talent Submissions:

For Theatrical Representation, please include a link to your Actors Access profile with reel. For
Commercial Representation, please include a link to your LA Casting (or Casting Networks, please
specify) profile. You can also include links to Facebook, personal website, Model Mayhem, Casting
Frontier, Now Casting, Voicebank, TPN or any other online profiles for submissions. Please
submit online and email a variety of pictures. Be sure to include both headshots that show a close
up of your face and smile, as well as body shots. Please specify your Union Affiliations (if any),
resume, age, stats and be sure to include your contact information as well as location.

My questions are: What's an Actors Access profile with reel and how do i get one? What's my Union Affiliations, resume (I think i know what a resume is (the video of you professionally acting)) Thanks!

[Act]

Hello,

The following should answer your questions.

1) "What is Actors Access profile with reel and how do I get one?"

An acting reel is a video generally not more than 2-3 minutes (this time varies) which contains footage of your acting and what you have done. This is needed to present to agents or agencies in deciding whether or not to work with you. You can receive credit and a copy should the production you are casted in provide that as payment. I suggest you get the unedited footage for your reel, this will allow you to work with more.
Do not pay for reel services many of these are charged at a high price with low quality work, the best thing to do is have your footage from work you have booked.

Actors Access is an online casting site and tool used to submit for work from casting directors and to display your relevant information such as your headshot, websites, resume and reel. It is free to join.
Actors Access houses your basic profile which contains your headshots (up to 2) your resume, reel & other information all in one package which is easier for someone to review then mailing in a demo and headshot/resume. They do charge a small fee each time you submit for work, to post more headshots and to host your Reel. You can reduce your fee by subscribing to their services.

2) "What's my Union Affiliations?"

This is your Union or Non Union status. This lets the agency or casting director know if you are in one of the major unions or have yet to join. Generally it is stated at the top of your resume:
SAG/AFTRA
Non Union

You will need to work multiple union jobs before you can join in the union. Being apart of an agency and union will allow you to book higher level auditions for higher level work. However you will need to have the experience as well.

3) "What is a Resume?"

An Actors Resume entails your information such as:
- Name
- Contact Info
- Union or Non Union
- Agency Info
- Stats:
Height
Weight
Hair
Eyes
Measurements

- Experience
- Credits
- Training
- Special Skills


Visit these websites for further information:
http://www.sagaftra.org
http://www.backstage.com

All the best,

- A

[Katrina E.]

The fact that you don't know these things indicates that you might want to consider learning more about the business end of the acting industry before you submit to an agency. Professional acting is a business. You have to understand the industry so you can make good decisions about your career and to avoid scams and rip offs. An agency does NOT run you career for you. They submit you for audition - you (or your parents if you're a minor) have to make the business decisions for your career. But to give you a brief over view:

Casting directors are hired to help cast projects. They're the ones who invite actors to audition. One way they find actors is by writing a "breakdown" which is a description of the project and the roles to be cast. They then release the breakdown through an online communication network to talent agents. Agents review the breakdowns and then submit their clients for work which means they send (often electronically) the actors head shot, resume and acting reel. The acting reel is a video of the actor's previous screen work. So it would show scenes from any films they made (including things like short films, student films or independent films) or TV work they did (like a guest spot on a TV show). It's put together by the actor (or by a professional company paid for by the actor) so that the scenes edited down to show the best stuff. If you don't have any screen work, then you really don't have an acting reel.

Then the casting director reviews the actor's submission and if they're interested in the actor they'll contact the agent and give them the audition information.

So one of the main online casting services networks used by casting directors and talent agents is Breakdown Services which owns Actors Access. About 80% of all THEATRICAL breakdowns (ones for things like TV shows are movies) are listed through Breakdown Services/Actor Access (most of the good ones are only accessible by the talent agents and not the actors directly). But actors can store their head shot, resume and acting reel on Actors Access. Doing so would make it easier for the talent agent to then submit the actor for theatrical roles.

Casting Networks is similar to Actors Access except it's used more to cast commercials. About 90% of the commercials in Los Angeles are listed here and only licensed talent agents have access to them.
Casting Networks is divided by regions so there' LA Casting, SF Casting, NY Casting, Miami Casting and the like. But again, actors can store their head shot and resume here which can make it easier for agents to submit them for work.

So to get those profiles you would go to the website and set them up - there are some fees involved.

Union affiliation is asking what actor union you belong to. SAG-AFTRA is the main screen actors union. They have agreements with production companies to ensure actors receive a fair wage. Productions with union agreements (which is most main stream productions and even some independent movies) generally give preference to union actors over non-union actors. For more details about the union see my answer to this question - http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?...726AAVLgdx

You can't just pay money and join the union - it's for professional actors only. You have to have a specific type of experience to be eligible to join the union. An agent needs to know you union affiliation because while non-union actors can submit and audition for union work (and non-union work), union actors can only submit and audition for union work. (But remember, union productions do have a preference for union actors and may have to pay a fee to the union if they cast a non-union actor instead of a union actor.)

So they want to know if you're a SAG actor, SAG-eligible, AEA (the union for stage actors), or some other performance union or if you're non-union.

Your resume is a list of your acting training, experience and special skills (it's not a video). There's a specific format for acting resumes and how things are listed, so you'll want to do an internet search and find examples and find details about how to do that correctly.

Again - I really recommend that you do more research and learn more about the acting industry. Read industry trades and websites like http://www.backstage.com/actor101/ . Read books about how to manage a professional career. This is a business and apparently this agency is looking more for professional actors who understand how things work.

Good luck.