Actor credits.
The Credits
It is sometimes hard to know if the project you are doing ‘counts’ on your resume. Let me tell you right now that everything you do on camera and everything you do in an acting class counts as a credit towards your resume.
Every play in theater and every scene in film you do counts. Even student films count towards your resume.
Credits you can add days or weeks from today:
- Theater plays. Do as many as you can.
- Student films. These types of projects help you learn about working on a film set even as a student film setting.
- Short films. Short films generally end up in film festivals and your work will be exposed to others.
- Web Series/Webisodes.
- Any training. Take as many acting and business classes as you can to gain experience.
Your responsibility as an actor is to build your resume and experience. By this point you are learning, gaining experience and exposure, in turn that experience is a credit which you should list on your resume.
No Credits
But I don’t have any credits to add to my resume, what do I do?
If you have no credits or any training yet, you can do your own web series on YouTube. You can contact other newbies or seasoned actors to see if they want to be a guest star on one of your web series. You’ll at least have that to start with to submit along with your resume.
You can also include any work you did in high school theater; church plays or other performances you have given. Just make sure to replace these credits with professional credits as soon as you start getting some parts.
When I say professional credits, I mean plays and even student films. Also to be more discoverable, you should perform in showcases.
There are many opportunities for an actor to showcase their talent. It is up to you if you want to include these showcases in your resume.
These aren’t usually included in the resume. I say, when you are new, any experience goes (within reason).
Make a list of things you want to start adding to your resume. Look for casting notices, workshops and more. Networking is a great way to meet someone who has a project coming up or knows someone who does.
Get out there and start building your resume today.