How to Break Into Acting
Entering the realm of child acting requires a structured approach. Here’s a practical guide to help your child get started:
- Get headshots: Professional photos are crucial for casting calls. They should capture your child’s personality and versatility.
- Make a demo reel: While not mandatory, a demo reel can showcase your child’s acting abilities to casting directors.
- Build a resume: Even if your child is new to acting, a resume can highlight their skills beyond acting, like sports or music.
- Audition: This is where the action happens. With the right preparation, your child can shine in auditions and land roles.
Before delving into these steps, consider enrolling your child in acting classes. Here’s why:
- Learning to emote: Acting classes help kids express different emotions convincingly.
- Understanding scripts: From memorizing lines to interpreting characters, classes teach essential script skills.
- Improvisation: Quick thinking is critical in acting; improv exercises help develop this skill.
- Camera confidence: Acting classes help kids feel comfortable in front of the camera.
- Behind-the-scenes insight: Understanding the production process enhances your child’s appreciation for acting.
Acting classes also help kids develop life skills like problem-solving and confidence. They provide a supportive environment for shy children to break out of their shells.
At Creative Veins, we offer professional classes where learning is enjoyable. Our experienced coaches guide students through skill development. We prepare students for auditions and offer additional growth opportunities like workshops and student productions.
Ready to get started? Learn more about our kids’ acting classes and enroll today! Got questions? Reach out – we’re here to help make your child’s acting dreams a reality!
Apart from learning to be an actor, acting classes can help your child build life skills even if they choose another path. Acting and improv classes can help your child learn to solve problems, communicate effectively, foster meaningful relationships, build confidence, and articulate their thoughts clearly. If you have a shy or reserved child, acting classes are one of the best ways to help them break out of their shells.
At Creative Veins, we ensure that our studio is a welcoming environment that makes students feel at ease as soon as they enter the door. The great thing about our acting classes is that they feel more like “fun” than “work,” so most children quickly come out of their shells.
It’s essential to ensure your child is fully ready to handle the pressures of auditioning at a casting call before you put them out there so they don’t get discouraged. We have found that getting there typically takes between 4 to 6 sessions. Our highly trained, professional acting coaches can give you feedback as your child progresses.
Headshots
Having recent professional headshots of your child is an integral part of the process. It is the casting director’s first impression of your child. Get a good photographer to take multiple headshots of your child expressing emotions. This will help the casting team appreciate the range of your child’s acting skills. You can also choose pictures that emulate a role a production company is looking for.
Demo Reels
While demo reels are not essential for child actors, they can help your child stand out. These tapes are typically short clips, a total of two minutes, of your child’s work. They help a casting director see your child at work.
Naturally, your child may not have any professional work to include while starting. However, we ensure all our students participate in taped mock audition performances at the end of their sessions and receive a copy to use. You can keep adding to this as your child’s acting career grows.
Build a Resume
As with the demo reels, your child may not have any professional work to show immediately. However, a resume is a great place to discuss your child’s strengths and what makes them unique. For example, if your child plays a musical instrument or is great at skateboarding, are all things you want to include in the resume?
Participating in amateur dramatics, such as school plays or community theatre, can help you add acting credits to your child’s resume.
Preparing for the Audition
At Creative Veins, we make sure that all our students are audition-ready by ensuring they know the following:
- How to work with others in an ensemble
- How to read, dissect, and memorize a script
- How to develop characters & bring a story to life
- How to create an audition slate
- How to film an on-camera TV commercial, scene, or monologue
- How to audition and proper auditioning etiquette
Once you (and your child) have put in the legwork necessary to audition, it’s time to start looking for those casting calls. A talent agent should be able to help you with those. A word of caution, though: no legitimate booking agent will ask you for money upfront. They typically work on a commission basis, so they get paid only when your child does. So, do your research before settling for one.
At Creative Veins, we ensure the learning doesn’t stop after your sessions. We offer MANY opportunities for students to continuously grow and work on their craft outside of classes, including workshops, student projects/productions, taping services and audition help/prep, private lessons, guest speakers, professional development lectures, industry guest speakers, monthly workshops with professional actors, coaches, agents, and casting directors (many from the Atlanta market), and studio productions including short films, live shows, and other media projects.
Additionally, we can leverage our reputation to help our students succeed in the Southeast Region, including North Florida, Orlando, Atlanta, and more. Learn about our kids acting classes and how to sign up here or contact us, and we’ll be happy to answer any questions.
