College Theatrical Resume

College Majors Musical Theater Major
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<p>Almost every headshot and resume that I receive in professional auditions has the resume stapled to the back. My friend who works professionally in LA still staples her resume to the back of her headshots, as do most of my firends who are working professionally in NY. However, I do not think it really matters one way or another. It sounds as if the market in which Tarhut works the custom is different, and most people run their 8x10 through their printer to print the resume on the back of the photo. This makes sense if you want to have the resume right on the back. I would not suggest having 100 headshots printed with the resume on the back, because your resume will (hopefully) change before you get through 100 headshots :) </p>

<p>I actually prefer resumes stapled on the back when I am casting, because I can remove the bottom staples and make notes on the back of the resume while still keeping it attached to the headshot.... but if someone walked into an audition with the resume printed on the back of the photo I would get over it ;)</p>

<p>Reproductions is very good for reprints. I also suggest checking out the Precision Photos site... a little less expensive than Reproductions without much of a downgrade in quality.</p>

<p>Alliesmom - you would list an obscure play (or a new play) like any other credit. If it is a new play she might want to write (lead) next to the character name.</p>

62

<p>Thanks for your input Kat. I was starting to think my D was unusual for not having her resume printed on the back based on the posts I was reading but it seems like what she does (staples) is quite typical for professional auditions. Also, I believe Reproductions is well regarded in the industry for head shot reprints. Thanks for suggesting to members a less expensive reprint company. </p>

<p>Also, I am glad to read your input on Alliesmom's question. What you wrote has been my inclination in the past as I have seen the same dilemma Alliesmom brings up. When my D was younger, and I helped do the theater resume, we put "lead" in ( ) after the role when the play was not one that most would have known and left that off for better known shows. I don't think she has any like that on her resume right now. However, for example, this just came up the other night and my husband was commenting on one of my D's new roles which is the lead in the mainstage musical at her university, but the musical is brand new and it is the premiere. Nobody is going to have heard of it or have any idea that "Wendy" is the lead role. And I was wondering if we should go back to what we used to do in the past in such a situation (those old credits have since gone off the resume as new credits replace them), and put (lead) after the role. So, I am interested to read, given the work that you do, that that is an accepted practice for either obscure or new productions.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
I actually prefer resumes stapled on the back when I am casting, because I can remove the bottom staples and make notes on the back of the resume while still keeping it attached to the headshot.... but if someone walked into an audition with the resume printed on the back of the photo I would get over it

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Kat, I find that bizarre. It's the rare audition I attend that doesn't require one to fill out some sort of audition sheet that gets stapled to the resume. Why not write on that? </p>

<p>Once again, I find the practice of physically stapling a sheet of paper to the back of a resume a bit antediluvian in an age when it's so easy to print a fresh resume on the back and not have to risk having the paper become attached.</p>

<p>Heck, I thought I was a curmudgeon these days for sticking with B&W when so many around me are going to color photos. I had no idea that parts of the country are still in Luddite mode. ;-)</p>

<p>What's next? Requiring the resume to be done on a manual typewriter? Stamping your agent's logo instead of printing it?</p>

<p>I am happy for this thread, because it tells me that I need to advise local children who are headed for auditions back East that they'll need to forget they live in the 21st century to avoid annoying faculty.</p>

<p>Wow. Just wow.</p>

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<p>Tarhunt, I am sure that printed resumes on the back are just fine at professional auditions, let alone college auditions. However, some are saying that it is ALSO fine if they are attached in four corners by staple or glued to the back. ALL those methods seem to be used by actors. </p>

<p>I'm not so sure there is a cover audition sheet at theatrical auditions. Further, if you have an agent, she submits headshots and resumes, and not a cover sheet/form for each person, to the casting office. She submits several head shots and resumes for a part. Each doesn't come with a cover sheet per actor. I've been to quite a few auditions and most required head shot and resume only. You may be in different markets, different levels of work, or more TV/Film, not sure.</p>

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<p>soozie:</p>

<p>Heck, I agree that just about anything that works should be fine, but Kat said that she would "get over it" if there wasn't a paper resume stapled to the back of the photo. That suggests that it's really NOT OK to print the thing on the back, which I find just ... ridiculous.</p>

<p>When I was a professional actor, only, I worked at Alabama Shakes, the Alaska Rep, the Seattle Rep, ACT, the Aoslo, the Guthrie, the Milwaukee Rep, and a bunch of other LORTs. You'll note that a number of those are LORT A or B+ theaters. In those days, the size of the paper wasnt an issue (or didn't appear to be). But it was all done on paper, nevertheless.</p>

<p>Since I've been faculty, I've been able to work professionally in theater only in some summers, a very few years off, and at semi-pro theaters where rehearsals occur in the evenings. In addition, my former Equity membership often gets in the way. So, since the days of total immersion in theater, I have worked some summer shows at Oregon Shakes, Utah Shakes, Alabama Shakes, and done a season at ACT. I've also done quite a bit of semi-pro work, locally, when there was a role I really wanted to play, and I do a fair amount of VO and on-camera work.</p>

<p>My resume has changed over that time from the simple photo (reproduced as a photographic process) with accompanying sheet of paper to photo stapled with an 8 x 10 resume to professionally printed photo with smaller photos on the back and printing directly onto the back. I have never had any comment at all from directors except, "Wow. That's neat." when my current resume approach was still somewhat new. Now, it goes unremarked.</p>

<p>As for filling out audition sheets, I don't recall ever going to a LORT audition where this wasn't required. Same with on-camera. My agent sends a photo in advance, but I'm required to bring an additional one to the audition. VO doesn't care, of course. I have no idea what colleges require in that way.</p>

<p>Heck, Suzie, the best resume I ever saw was done in a four-page, folder format with headshot on the front, performance photos inside along with quotes from critics, a resume secured to the inside right with hardware, and space for notes on the back. The person who did that is still recognized as one of the finest actors ever to take the American stage, and there is an internship named for him at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.</p>

<p>I guess my point is (and I haven't always expressed it well) that it shouldn't matter as long as the "package" looks like you know what you're doing, and the information is all there. The idea that there would be something WRONG with printing on the back is, to me, absurd.</p>

<p>Next time, I'll hand print on vellum. Maybe that would be better.</p>

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<p>The point I was making earlier is that you seemed to be saying that printed resumes on the back of a head shot was THE way to go and that staples are antiquated. So, just like I see nothing wrong with printing it on the back, I was saying it also should be OK to attach the resume. I THINK you are now agreeing that either would be OK. That was my point all along when you seemed to imply that attaching it wasn't so great. Just as I think attaching it is normal, I also think printing it on the back is fine. My D has an agent in NYC and she has never had her resume printed on the back. New head shots are sent from time to time or updated resumes as well. The resume needs to be updated fairly often and so I don't know how she'd submit a pile of head shots with resumes on the back to her agent, since the resume is ever changing. </p>

<p>I also have not seen other photos printed on the back but apparently based on what you are saying, you do it and see it often. </p>

<p>So, we can agree that it doesn't matter as long as you follow some basic guidelines to include certain information on your resume, present that with a head shot, attach or print it in some way, and keep it to the standard size. Likewise, you can have black and white or color head shots. While black and white was more typical for years, now color is the trend. While staples were the norm for years, maybe printing on the back is coming into a trend. I hadn't thought to run the head shot through a printer and so you presented me with something new. The main thing is that either way is acceptable. </p>

<p>I'm not Kat but I think she was saying that she is USED to attached resumes and prefers them as that is what she is used to. I'm sure if someone gave her a head shot with a printed resume on the back, she'd be OK with it even though she got used to the other method for years. She never said it was "wrong."</p>

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<p>I rarely filled out an audition form at professional AEA audition in NY. Simply gave them my headshot and resume.</p>

<p>I was simply indicating my prefereence... I also do not like writing on photopaper when a resume is printed on the back, either.. again my personal preference. And, I certainly would not hold it against an actor who had their resume printed on the back. Basically, I think what you could advise the kids in your local community is that there is no standard, and that each of them should do what they feel comfortable with.</p>

<p>I do not think that anyone is suggesting using a manual typewriter... does anyone even own one these days... :) </p>

<p>I also personally like the trend towards color headshots... but, would not hold it against an actor with a B&W ones.</p>

<p>I have talked to my friends who work at agencies, and many submissions are indeed handled electronically (making the question of whether to staple, print, glue, sometimes moot), so the east coast is not as antediluvian as you may hav feared ;)</p>

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<p>Thanks so much for the responses regarding an obscure play on the resume. We have changed my D's resume to reflect some new works she has been in. Now, what do we do about some more obscure plays/musicals that have been around a long time? For example, she was a lead in a High School production of Neil Simon's Forty-Five Seconds From Broadway -- a little known show by a great playwright that actually played on Broadway about 20 years ago. I don't want to insult the reader by putting "(lead)", but how many people would know it? Or, how about a community theater production of Will Rogers Follies? My daughter played the little girl in that show. Alot of people don't know the show and I have gone back and forth on what to do. Again, I don't want to insult the reader.</p>

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<p>Hi Tarhut -- cross posted -- In response to my "get over it" phrasing... that is an example of email not having tone... I meant it is not really a big deal, so is not something that would affect my decision either way... I just have found that when it is stapled on the back... which in my expereience in both educational and professional audition settings, that I often will write notes on the underside of the resume. </p>

<p>Another example of email having no tone is the fact that your emails sound angry and adversarial, when I do not think (or at least hope) that is the intent. I certainly had no inetntion of causing someone to become angry by expressing my personal opinion. </p>

<p>My comments are simply examples of my personal likes and dislikes... everyone for whom you audition will have a different like or dislike. You cannot waste time worrying about pleasing everyone, nor should anyone do so. I would not hold it against anyone who presented something in a way that may not be my preference (I hope no one would) .... how are they even supposed to know anyones particular preference, unless it is posted on a school website or as part of the audition notice?</p>

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<p>KatMT,</p>

<p>I am embarrassed to say that I have one of those very antique mannual typewriters right beside me here at work!! Not to type letters however, thank goodness, but for a card catalog system we keep for the mega files we maintain.</p>

<p>I have been reading with earnest this "debate"...I would imagine there is more than one right way, but have to say the stapled aligned/fitted resume (on heavier-weight paper) to the back of the headshot makes so much sense. Especially with the point made regarding the changing/growing resume.</p>

<p>SUE</p>

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<p>soozie:</p>

<p>First, a technical issue. I supply my agent with printed resumes that are blank on the back except for the additional photos. I then send him several electronic files organized by type of work and date, so that he can always use the appropriate one and the latest one. Assuming he doesn't submit them electronically, or that a client hasn't downloaded my photo off the website, he prints them out there, which he feels is much easier than keeping filing cabinets full of alternate resumes and then hand stapling them.</p>

<p>So, you can see that it's not necessary to have hand-stapled resumes in order to have variable resumes.</p>

<p>Now, I find this quote of your surprising.</p>

<p>
[quote]
The point I was making earlier is that you seemed to be saying that printed resumes on the back of a head shot was THE way to go and that staples are antiquated.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I went back over what I’d posted and I don’t know where you got this.</p>

<p>Here’s my original post:</p>

<p>
[quote]
I use a printed, 8 x 11 (sic) headshot with, on the back, six smaller photos of me in various guises. I print directly onto the back of the resume photo. Everyone I know does the same thing. I have never had any professional director complain.</p>

<p>Having said that, we're not talking about professionals here. We're talking about college theater departments. I'd ask Kat or Coach if I were you.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Here’s another:</p>

<p>
[quote]
Now that you can print on the back of an 8 x 10 photo, this (having the paper fall off) is no longer even a consideration as far as I'm concerned. You can do away with the paper altogether.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Hardly sounds like I’m saying there’s only one way to do it. Sounds to me like I’m just saying that there are advantages to printing.</p>

<p>Here’s another:</p>

<p>
[quote]
Truthfully, I don't know of anyone who attaches a paper resume to the back of a photo anymore. I did talk to some people from New York who said that some directors like to write on the paper, but it seems as easy to me to write on the back of the photo.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Sounds to me like I said I don’t know anyone who attaches paper to the back of a photo anymore (and I don’t) but that I’d heard from New York actors that it’s done there, at least sometimes.</p>

<p>Here’s another quote:</p>

<p>
[quote]
I don't think there's any problem stapling a resume to the back of a head shot. It's just a bit old-fashioned.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Seems to me like I said, very clearly, that there’s nothing wrong with stapling. It doesn’t seem to me that I was saying “that’s the only way to do it.”</p>

<p>Here’s another quote:</p>

<p>
[quote]
As I said, it's best to talk to her agent about what's most appropriate for New York.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I seem to have made a statement like this many times. I just don’t see how that’s the same as saying I had THE way. Do you?</p>

<p>Then, I said this:</p>

<p>
[quote]
What's really odd about this is that New York seems to be stuck in the 80s. I wonder if it's because Reproductions has been around so long, and very few places like it were available elsewhere. So, the rest of us adopted new technology and New York didn't?</p>

<p>Seriously, if someone from where I live were to use a photo process resume photo and staple a resume to the back, it would look very, very quaint.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>All I was saying was that it’s odd to be using old tech and wondered if it had to do with the fact that everyone there is used to using a single vendor that didn’t adopt new tech as fast as it was adopted other places. Doesn’t seem like I was saying I had THE way, to me.</p>

<p>
[quote]
Once again, I find the practice of physically stapling a sheet of paper to the back of a resume a bit antediluvian in an age when it's so easy to print a fresh resume on the back and not have to risk having the paper become attached.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>And I DO find this practice bizarre. But that doesn’t mean it’s not the common way some places, as I have already said, or that other ways don’t work. I just don’t get why one would want to send messages by carrier pigeon when there’s a telephone available. But, everyone should suit themselves.</p>

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<p>Kat:</p>

<p>I don't understand this sentence:</p>

<p>
[quote]
I also do not like writing on photopaper when a resume is printed on the back, either.. again my personal preference.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>No one is talking about writing on photographic paper. My agency insists that resumes be printed on cover stock or card stock by offset presses. The back of photographic paper would smudge inkjet printer ink. Of course I would not do such a thing.</p>

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<p>I would stress much more over the audition -- if it's memorable enough, the powers that be won't be very concerned over the headshot/resume. :)</p>

<p>I also think the tone in some of these posts (both directions) comes off a trifle pedantic. Lighten up a bit!</p>

<p>And, I agree that there is more than one way which is acceptable and it becomes a matter of personal preference. MY personal preference is that identifying a role as (lead) should NEVER happen. I personally dislike the mindset that makes that an issue that matters. If the auditors don't know the show, they may ask questions about it, and about the role. Also, to me, that seems more like a "mama" thing to put on a resume, instead of an actor thing. I think high school seniors should be designing their own resumes. (parental secretarial support, if appropriate - but the student should decide content)</p>

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<p>Hey Sue:</p>

<p>I don't completely understand this comment of yours:</p>

<p>
[quote]
I would imagine there is more than one right way, but have to say the stapled aligned/fitted resume (on heavier-weight paper) to the back of the headshot makes so much sense. Especially with the point made regarding the changing/growing resume.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>To me, it's a whole lot easier to just maintain alternate resumes, both by the kind of work being sought and to update work done, electronically. My agent also does it that way. He can post new resumes to the website electronically and, when needed, print the appropriate resume directly onto my headshot much faster than someone can search paper files, find the appropriate resume, then physically staple it to a photo. I suppose he also doesn't have to worry about resumes getting mutilated in the files on occasion, but I've never talked to him about that.</p>

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<p>Tarhunt,</p>

<p>Please leave me out of this one. I stated my opinion and did not intend to argue with you. There is always more than one way...certainly as an artist you must "get" that. Anyway, I am not going to post more on this topic...I'm not a confrontational person, period. Peace.</p>

<p>SUE</p>

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<p>Sue:</p>

<p>Not sure why you got upset. Nothing I wrote seems the least confrontational to me.</p>

<p>Listen all, I suspect that, one day in the not-so-distant future, a director will see an auditioner with an electronic tablet in hand. She'll call up the person's headshot and resume, and will browse additiona head shots, if necessary. She'll look at what the person has done and, with the touch of a stylus, call up the name of the director if she likes, whether a role is a lead, principal, featured, etc., if she likes, and the year the production was done.</p>

<p>If she sees a director she knows, she might shoot him a message asking how a particular actor did in that production. Maybe she even gets an answer while the actor is still there.</p>

<p>And I'll probably still be using printed headshots with an inkjet printed resume on the back ;-).</p>

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<p>Tarhunt, </p>

<p>As some others have posted, they do not wish the tone of the thread to be adversarial, confrontational, or argumentative. I think all of us, yourself included, are sharing information, experiences, and trying to help others. </p>

<p>You posted:

[quote]
Now, I find this quote of your surprising.</p>

<p>
[quote]
The point I was making earlier is that you seemed to be saying that printed resumes on the back of a head shot was THE way to go and that staples are antiquated.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I went back over what I’d posted and I don’t know where you got this.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>As I said, I did get the impression from some of your posts that you felt that printing a resume on the back was preferrable and I also got the impression from some earlier posts that you felt stapling the resume was uncommon and not a good way to do it and old fashioned. I started to think that maybe my kid was the odd one who attaches a resume and asked what others do. I never put down printing it on the back and think that is a cool idea as well and mentioned I haven't thought to run a headshot through the printer. Just as I thought your preferred way was fine, I was trying to suggest that the way my D and others I see doing it with staples or glue sticks is also fine and acceptable, as I thought you were initially saying it was a bad or quaint idea. However, then you came back and said both way are fine and I wrote that we agree, therefore, now that both ways or variations work. </p>

<p>The reason I got the idea that you thought printed resumes on the back was the right way was due to drawing inferences from some of your statements like these:</p>

<p>
[quote]
Seriously, if someone from where I live were to use a photo process resume photo and staple a resume to the back, it would look very, very quaint.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>
[quote]
Kat, I find that bizarre. It's the rare audition I attend that doesn't require one to fill out some sort of audition sheet that gets stapled to the resume.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>
[quote]
Once again, I find the practice of physically stapling a sheet of paper to the back of a resume a bit antediluvian in an age when it's so easy to print a fresh resume on the back and not have to risk having the paper become attached.......
What's next? Requiring the resume to be done on a manual typewriter? Stamping your agent's logo instead of printing it?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>
[quote]
I am happy for this thread, because it tells me that I need to advise local children who are headed for auditions back East that they'll need to forget they live in the 21st century to avoid annoying faculty.</p>

<p>Wow. Just wow.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>So, forgive me if I misinterpretted you when I said that:

[quote]
you seemed to be saying that printed resumes on the back of a head shot was THE way to go and that staples are antiquated.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>When you use words like "quaint," "bizarre," "antediluvian," "what's next?," "forget they live in the 21st Century," or "Wow. Just wow," it did draw me to conclude that you thought that printing on the back was the right way and that staples were not a good idea. </p>

<p>Once you clarified that both ways were fine....I posted that it seems we then agree. </p>

<p>However, I feel you did put down Kat when you posted:

[quote]
That suggests that it's really NOT OK to print the thing on the back, which I find just ... ridiculous.
The idea that there would be something WRONG with printing on the back is, to me, absurd.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>You were referring to her ideas as "ridiculous" and "absurd." At the same time, she NEVER said that printing on the back was WRONG. She only mentioned what she preferred (attached resumes) or what she was used to. In reverse, it appeared that you were saying that it was ridiculous to attach a resume by staples in this day and age. She wasn't saying that printing on the back was ridiculous or "NOT OK." </p>

<p>So.....what I think is that tone is not conducive to sharing ideas and it makes me uncomfortable. I didn't see anyone putting down printing on the back. I saw people sharing what they do. I got a sense that you were putting down stapling but then you came back and clarified that there are many ways to go about it (and there are). </p>

<p>It is hardly worth arguing about. Share one's own opinions without judging others' opinions. </p>

<p>In this post, I tried to respond to you, Tarhunt, since you questioned where I got the idea that I thought you were suggesting that printed resumes on the back of head shots were the best or right way, to then explain why I had that arrived at that interprettation at first. </p>

<p>MusThCC....
I certainly think a high school kid should compose their own theater resume. However, often an adult might advise them with it, look it over, etc. The resume is theirs and they have ownership over the decisions. I don't think adults should create it for them. But adults can play a role as an advisor. I have discussed my D's resume with her when she makes changes. The decisions are all her own. I have helped with some formatting issues when we have had trouble with that on the computer and the way things line up, etc. I also help many college applicants with their theater resumes. I do not do their resumes FOR them, just like I never have for my own kid. I start with their draft and make suggestions for revisions. Young people starting out may benefit from advice, even though the piece is their creation and certainly THEIR decisions in terms of content and format.</p>

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<p>Tarhunt, I think you need also to recognize that the <em>student</em> actors who populate this list (well, the student actors and their parents, in many cases) are not yet quite at the level of professionalism at which they would easily maintain two or three different resumes and so on. As someone said way upthread (KatMt, it might've been you!:)) it is highly doubtful that most high school seniors who are getting their first headshot for college auditions and creating resumes for that purpose would want to have 100 or so headshots with resumes printed, because their resumes will (we hope) continue to change and change quickly ... in fact, the resumes likely will change more quickly than will the way they look (headshot). So for now and for most kids, the idea of affixing their resumes on the back of their headshots in some fashion (staples being the most obvious), at least for now, seems like a good, practical solution. Also, it might have been the word "antedeluvian" that stuck in some people's craws. ;)</p>

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<p>Tarhut -- That is good idea to use cardstock! the only resumes I have gotten printed on the back were on photopaper, which is difficult to write on. Is the card stock matte photopaper on picture side or no sheen cardstock?</p>

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<p>
[quote]
Tarhut -- That is good idea to use cardstock! the only resumes I have gotten printed on the back were on photopaper, which is difficult to write on. Is the card stock matte photopaper on picture side or no sheen cardstock?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>It can be either. Commercial papers come in all kinds of varieties. They're just like the brochures you might get from a number of sources. Some are glossy and some are matte. I use matte on both sides, but there are people who use papers that are glossy on one side and matte on the other. They tend to be people who are younger than I am and going for juvenile lead/ingenue roles, but it varies.</p>

<p>Writing on a glossy surface would probably be difficult to do, but I've never seen the back of one of these things be glossy. The matte finish is about the same as writing on a postcard, generally.</p>