The Modern Performer
What I discovered is extremely important for today's performers is the acquisition of technological skills. Castings can now happen over Skype, phone calls, tape, videos and much more...
Being in the theatrical industry puts you in a very fast racing environment as the business is in fact evolving and becoming everyday more interactive.
An example is how now headshot and cv's can be sent more and more via email rather than the old way via post which is time consuming, a waste of paper and especially money. Also color headshot are starting to be accepted in the British performing industry, something that had long time ago started in the US. Casting directors are everyday more using casting websites like Spotlight in order to find performers to contact for their productions, even agents now accept new talents only over material reviewed, such as head shots, showreels, videos of performances and personal websites. Therefore it's vital for an emerging performer to be up to date on the use of the latest social sites such as LinkedIn (I've here shared my own LinkedIn profile if you want to have a look and contact me) Spotlight and other useful casting websites like Casting Call Pro. They all offer you a valid and legit way to get casted as, in order to be registered, they all ask you for a recognized qualification or professional experience...basically not anyone that like to sing and dance can join so that the performer's authenticity and professionalism is safeguarded as well as your credibility among others professionals.
LinkedIn = workspace
Twitter = water cooler (gossiping)
Google + (not well known yet) = the canteen
Facebook = the bar
It's good you, as a performer, embrace these social networks and make the most out of them, each for a different area of work of private life. Networking can always come handy! So network network and network more!!! With this having said, it's important to make sure NOT to hassle people and also to be active on building good and long lasting relationships. Networking is a great fundamental for this business. Things like controlling and separating your personal life to your professional one over the internet (personal Facebook profile for instance) I learnt is almost crucial for a performer and can sometimes result counterproductive if not managed accurately. I learnt how a simple Google search could lead a possible employer into the wrong material, so it’s important to take control on it.
Being in the theatrical industry puts you in a very fast racing environment as the business is in fact evolving and becoming everyday more interactive.
An example is how now headshot and cv's can be sent more and more via email rather than the old way via post which is time consuming, a waste of paper and especially money. Also color headshot are starting to be accepted in the British performing industry, something that had long time ago started in the US. Casting directors are everyday more using casting websites like Spotlight in order to find performers to contact for their productions, even agents now accept new talents only over material reviewed, such as head shots, showreels, videos of performances and personal websites. Therefore it's vital for an emerging performer to be up to date on the use of the latest social sites such as LinkedIn (I've here shared my own LinkedIn profile if you want to have a look and contact me) Spotlight and other useful casting websites like Casting Call Pro. They all offer you a valid and legit way to get casted as, in order to be registered, they all ask you for a recognized qualification or professional experience...basically not anyone that like to sing and dance can join so that the performer's authenticity and professionalism is safeguarded as well as your credibility among others professionals.
LinkedIn = workspace
Twitter = water cooler (gossiping)
Google + (not well known yet) = the canteen
Facebook = the bar
It's good you, as a performer, embrace these social networks and make the most out of them, each for a different area of work of private life. Networking can always come handy! So network network and network more!!! With this having said, it's important to make sure NOT to hassle people and also to be active on building good and long lasting relationships. Networking is a great fundamental for this business. Things like controlling and separating your personal life to your professional one over the internet (personal Facebook profile for instance) I learnt is almost crucial for a performer and can sometimes result counterproductive if not managed accurately. I learnt how a simple Google search could lead a possible employer into the wrong material, so it’s important to take control on it.
Networking is all about building meaningful and long lasting relationships and what you do with those business cards.
( Allen, 2011)
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Also it's relevant not to connect with people that won't do any good for your network. Be selective! Fewer and deep is better than a database of contacts you don't keep up with.“Be real and do what work for you” (Cole, 2012).
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