How to Prepare Your Audition Materials: What to Send and How

Headshots: current, natural, and unfiltered

Whoever looks at your photos wants to see you exactly as you are today, so looking natural counts for more than production value. These framings are enough:

• Close-up of your face, looking into the camera.
• Three-quarter shot, from the knees up.
• Full-length, facing the camera.
• Profile.
• A photo of you smiling naturally.

Use a plain background, even light (a window in daytime or a ring light), plain clothes with no logos, and natural makeup, and avoid filters. Renew your photos every time you change your look: if you arrive at the audition looking different from how you showed yourself, you lose trust. If a notice asks for just one photo, send your close-up headshot.

Well-done homemade headshots are enough to start. In the guide to taking headshots at home you’ll find the step-by-step.

Acting resume: one page

Your acting resume is your professional file. Unlike a regular resume, it comes with your headshot and your stats, and it leaves out jobs that aren’t acting. It includes:

• Name, union status, and contact: your phone, an email address with your name, and the link to your reel, or your agent’s details if you have representation.
• Stats: height, hair color, and eye color.
• Credits: grouped by Film, Television, Theater, and Commercial, each with the project, your role, and the director, network, or theater. Student shorts, independent plays, and class showings count.
• Training: classes, schools, and workshops, from the most recent to the oldest, with the teacher or school.
• Special skills: languages at your real level, instruments, sports, dance, singing, and a driver’s license.

Export it as a PDF for email and as a JPG for text messages, and check that the link to your reel works inside the PDF. If you print it, trim it to 8×10 so it matches the back of your headshot. The guide to making your acting resume has examples for every section.

Reel: short, with your best work first

The reel is a video of one to three minutes with your best scenes. Start with the strongest one, with no long introductions, and put your name at the beginning or at the end.

If you don’t have footage from sets yet, record two or three scenes or monologues in different registers, horizontally and with good audio. Upload the reel to YouTube as an “unlisted” video (it can be watched with the link, without showing up in searches), or to Vimeo or Drive with access for anyone who has the link. Avoid the “private” option: whoever opens the link will see that the video isn’t available.

The guide to making an acting reel has the whole process, including how to build one from scratch with no experience.

Intro video: one minute of being yourself

The intro video, or slate, shows who you are outside of a character: your energy, your voice, and your ease on camera. It lasts about a minute and usually includes your name, city, training, and recent experience, or what you’re working on if you’re just starting out.

• Record horizontally, in a medium shot or close-up.
• Look into the lens, not at the screen.
• Talk without reading, as if you were chatting with someone.
• If the call asks for something specific, like saying your height or showing your profiles, follow those instructions to the letter.

Self-tape: the audition you record at home

A self-tape is recorded for one specific audition, with the scene and the instructions they send you. Before you turn on the camera, read the instructions in full: framing, length, whether to slate at the start, how to name the file, and the deadline. If you have never recorded one, the guide to recording a self-tape takes you step by step, from the home setup to sending it.

• Plain background, even front light, and audio with no echo.
• Phone horizontal, steady, and at eye level.
• A person off camera who reads the other lines at a lower volume than yours.
• Several takes, so you can send the best one or the ones they ask for.

How to name your files

Whoever receives materials collects files from a lot of people, and a file called IMG_4587.jpg or Resume final 2.pdf gets lost right away. With your name and what each file is, they can find you fast:

• FirstName_LastName_Resume.pdf
• FirstName_LastName_CloseUp.jpg, FirstName_LastName_FullLength.jpg, and FirstName_LastName_Profile.jpg
• FirstName_LastName_Slate.mp4
• FirstName_LastName_Role_Project.mp4 for a self-tape, unless the call indicates another name.

Avoid accents, special characters, and spaces in the names, because some programs display them with strange characters. Give your Drive folder an equally clear name and choose the option that lets anyone with the link view it. Then test the link in an incognito window: if it asks you for permission, it will ask whoever opens it too.

What to send by email, and how to write it

Read the casting notice twice: what they ask for, at what address, with what subject line, and until when. What it says outranks any general advice. If there are no instructions, this structure works:

1. Subject line: the role or the search and your name, for example “Submission for the role of Lucy | First Last.”
2. Short body: a greeting, what you’re applying for, two or three lines about you, your availability, and your contact details.
3. Links: reel, intro video, and folder, pasted in full so they open with one click.
4. Attachments: your resume as a PDF and two or three light photos. Videos go as links.
5. Final check: open every link, check the attachments, and reread your name and the name of the project.

An example email, to adapt:

Hello, I hope you’re well. I’m submitting for the role of [character] in [project]. I’m [first and last name], based in [city]. I train at [class or school] and recently acted in [latest project]. My resume and current headshots are attached. Reel: [link]. Intro video: [link]. I’m available [days and times] and my phone is [number]. Thank you for the opportunity. [Name]

If you apply through a form or a text message, the same rule holds: what they ask for, the way they ask for it, and links that open. And if you use casting websites, load this same kit into your profile before you apply from the platform.

Mistakes worth avoiding

• Old or heavily retouched photos.
• Vertical videos, unless the call asks for them that way.
• Submissions for roles that don’t match your profile.
• Submissions after the deadline, or without reading what they asked for.

A legitimate casting call may ask you for a video of you acting, singing, or dancing. If they ask for intimate photos instead, or for a payment to move to the next stage, stop and review these signs to spot a fake casting call.

Frequently asked questions

What materials do I send to an audition?

The basics are a one-page acting resume, current headshots with the main framings, and the link to your reel. Many calls also ask for a one-minute intro video or a self-tape with a scene. Always send what the call asks for, in the format it indicates.

Can I apply if I don’t have a reel yet?

Yes. Send your headshots and resume, and add an intro video or a scene recorded at home so they can see how you move and how you talk on camera. In the meantime, start collecting scenes to build your reel.

Do the photos go attached or as a link?

It depends on what the call says. If it says nothing, attach two or three light photos (close-up, three-quarter shot, and full-length) and add the link to a folder with the rest, so whoever opens the email sees you without downloading anything heavy.

How do I name the files I send to an audition?

With your first and last name and what each file is, for example FirstName_LastName_Resume.pdf or FirstName_LastName_CloseUp.jpg, with no accents, special characters, or spaces. If the call indicates how to name them, follow that instruction.