Comments on: The Truth About Demo Reels

By: Putting together your Demo Reel | Russ Pond

Putting together your Demo Reel | Russ Pond — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 15:36:06 +0000

[...] Putting together your Demo Reel March 24, 2010 By Russ Pond Leave a Comment Some more great information from Phil Cooke’s Blog [...]

By: Mary Hutchinson

Mary Hutchinson — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I had the same thing happen to me on the print side — a clown I worked with years ago sent his resume and samples to me looking for freelance work. Funny thing, I had married and had a new last name and he had no clue who he was mailing it to. His resume claimed to have had my job; and the samples from that part of his life were all mine.

I could not help but call the guy up….

By: Jay

Jay — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Item #3 – You can send the hot tub stuff to me…

By: CDF

CDF — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

#3 is very important, i.e., APPROPRIATE STUFF. Don’t send a producer your SPORTS interviews if you’re up for a COMMERCIAL, or GIFT OFFERS if you’re being considered for REALITY. It’s confusing, and won’t get you the gig.

One of the beauties of Vimeo is one can create “Albums” of one’s different clips based on genres. I have 8 Albums, ranging from commercials to fundraising to travel. I send a link to the proper album based on what the producer or show execs are looking for genre-wise. If it’s a travel show, they get the travel album. Period.

By: CForrest

CForrest — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Also, if possible, have in your deal memo (you DO have a deal memo, right?) that you have access to a dubbing master or Quicktime file for demo reel purposes. Be specific, ask nicely. Sometimes a project is proprietary – especially for corporations. Understood. But try to get samples of your work soon after a show or project is done. That means follow-up. If you wait too long, people tend to scatter and no one remembers you or your participation a year later. And NEVER inflate your role on the project. Phil’s right, it’ll come back to bite you.

By: Gene Bailey

Gene Bailey — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Good post Phil. I always hated seeing a reel with no idea what someone did on the project...even if the reel was good they would inevitably land on the bottom of the pile.

And when it comes to the resume part too... remember you got seconds to make an impression not minutes.

This is still a pretty small community when it comes to media. One thing to remember is people know other people that know those people. So tell the truth.

By: Emilio Espinosa

Emilio Espinosa — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

What about length? I can see that you want to see completed, well-documented work. But, just how much time are you willing to invest in watching a reel? Even just a handful of examples of complete work can take a while to watch. How long can I count on you watching before you move on?

By: Gary Dowd

Gary Dowd — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Another important note to remember: If you are delivering a physical copy of your demo reel, say on DVD, make the label look professional also. A handwritten title with Magic Marker is going to send a message and not a good one.

By: ChURcHwORlD 2.0

ChURcHwORlD 2.0 — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

X2!!!

By: Paul A Rose Jr

Paul A Rose Jr — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Emilio… It all comes down to content and appropriateness. Make sure whatever you send is something that you’ve done that is as close as possible to what the person you’re sending it to is looking for. If it’s a general opening or a lengthy reel, make sure you’re VERY best stuff is up front, regardless of age.

If you have quality work, they will watch for as long as they need to to make their decision. That is not to say you should put your 28 minute short up first and hope they get the gist of your storytelling. You have to make it manageable. There’s no hard and fast rule, but remember people, especially people who work in media who think in terms of frames or fields, not seconds, are impatient. Make an impact early on.

When I worked in News, I assisted the News Director, watching demo reels for new reporters. Most tapes (it was a while back) were ejected within 3 SECONDS

You want to *really* impress a producer you’re trying to get a job with, do a silent short. 3-7 minutes, where you tell the story solely with visuals (and I don’t mean just throw your copy up on grfx through the piece). And if you can’t tell the story like that, work on it on your own time until you can – trust me, you will benefit from it, your storytelling skills will escalate if you are willing to make the time to learn and do it right.

Here is a great example, visuals so strong they break through the language barrier: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dadPWhEhVk&feature=player_embedded

“Fede Alvarez scored his million-dollar deal based on the heat generated by “Ataque de panico!” (Panic Attack), a four-minute, 48-second short about an apocalyptic robot attack Alvarez directed through his commercial production house for less than $500.”