Finally, my new website is finished, up and running:
It took me a long time to make one – or get someone to make one for me – but now it looks like I’ve got myself a birthday present. Read more about my official actor’s website below.
I have been an actor all my life, but I still need to figure out how to get myself organized properly. Do you even NEED a website? There are so many platforms out there – for auditions, agents, video hosting… In my opinion, yes, you do need an official website for people to look you up. It keeps everything in one place and you have the opportunity to present yourself the way YOU want to be seen. Not what your agency thinks is right. Not what other platforms ask for. Just you.
So yes, I needed one. I didn’t know how to make a professional one though. What do you put up there? Do you stay true to your native language and home market or do you go all out and present yourself in every language you can speak? I chose a mixture between German and English – because eventually, I am still stationed in Austria and California. I wouldn’t mind to shoot a movie in Japan, Korea or China though. (As a fact, I’m now fluent in Chinese Call Sheets now).
RESUME
Still, it isn’t enough to just have different languages up. You do need different formats in your resume (or VITA, as we say in German). Different pictures. Austrian market, American market, commercial smile, … There are so many differences I’m still trying to comprehend. And I really need more help from my American Acting Coach.
Back to the resume: There are different ways to do it, but there is always one simple rule with your special skills – “Can I do it on the spot in front of people?”. If the answer is “no”, then you shouldn’t put it on your resume. I’ve heard horror stories of people lying in their resumes (just leave out the weight if you’re not comfortable with it), ranging from getting blacklisted in the industry to just being replaced on the spot.
DEMO REEL
A demo reel is something like a business card in my industry. You need one for people to see who you are. I was always self conscious about it, because mainly I’ve done stage plays and there wasn’t any footage of me that was good enough (=long enough, different enough, expressive enough,… you get the image). In the end, I came up with 4 different parts of footage which made me look comfortable without makeup, romantic, sad, energetic, speaking English, German and not at all, and basically me being me. Because in the end, people want to see you first, your acting second,…
I’ve tried uploading my reel on YouTube, but it kept telling me, that my video was against copyright law (even muting the sound during the New Year’s Concert part didn’t help because the image alone is protected as well. 20 seconds of an international broadcast and YouTube gets nervous…). Therefore, a shorter version of my reel is on YouTube and the longer version is on Vimeo – which is also the website my agency prefers, so take that YouTube!
I’m still uploading videos (on YouTube 😉 ) of other things I’ve done, just to give examples of my work. It is my own website after all.
PHOTOS
Choosing pictures for my website was probably the most difficult part; I love the pictures I’ve taken with Max Parovsky in Vienna, 2017. All of them are done with natural light and no photoshop, which gives an authentic picture of how I look in front of a camera. Choosing stils and behind the scenes pictures was less easy, because I have never done that. Which pictures are nice, which ones too much? I’m still updating, but I guess that’s also fun to do.
Also, I’m big on copyright, so I try to keep that all in order as well, but it gets confusing if more than one person was involved.
CRITICS
Well, this one is still under construction, but I am sending out messages to colleagues and I’m sure some of them will find some nice words to say about my professional work 😀
CONTACT
The title isn’t that accurate, it is more of a contacts and links site… But I hope that people will find all of my different platforms and social media anyway. My contact does not have to be my agency, but I think for professional requests it is still the best way to go. Also, it says in my contract that I have to show my affiliation with them – so this is what I do.
I guess that’s it. My website is online, I’m constantly updating – and a big thank you to Julia for making my website, and Jan for putting everything in order.
-Annalena
Setlife with Annalena 