Keeping Showreels Up to Date

You wouldn't even begin to consider drinking a pint of milk if it was out of date... So why would a casting director consider you for a role if your showreel is about 10 years behind where you are currently at as an actor? (TERRIBLE comparison... but you get the message...). We change constantly, both physically and ability wise, year by year. I have found it to be essential to keep my acting showreel up to date - using Windows MovieMaker to add or take away clips from my showreel. It is constantly a work in progress. You must add the best footage from recent filming you have done. Be selective. I have found myself tempted to stick sections of self-tapes in my showreel - but then I have realised quality is better than quantity. Ideally, a showreel doesn't have to be anything above 2 & 1/2 mins. I found myself flicking ahead quite a bit in my showreel - this is a sure indicator to me that less is in fact more when it comes to clips. I recently updated my showreel and uploaded the newest version onto my Spotlight as well as my agent's website. From now on, any professional footage I get I will add on to my showreel - I will continue editing and taking away / cropping clips to strive to keep it as professional and concise as I can.