Insider Acting Tips #7

By Tony Nation

It’s film festival season! Sundance just rapped and the Tribeca Film Festival will be here before you know it! So how should you promote yourself as an actor at film festivals?  There are actually two ways to approach these events as an actor.

First, as the actor in a film that is being shown. Of course it’s the position that every actor wants to be in: having hundreds, maybe thousands of people seeing your work and a lot of that being the industry at a film festival. The opportunities are rampant from film Q&A’s with directors and stars, nominations for your work, awards, being seen by directors and producers to maybe having your film picked up by distribution companies in a movie packaging deal.

Make sure that you bring business cards with a photo on it and then have a picture and resume on hand in case it is asked for as well as a film/TV demo. I recommend photo business cards first as it’s a little awkward to be giving out headshots and resumes and then expecting the industry you’re meeting to schlep around with it for the whole evening. A business card is easy to put into a pocket or purse and then they can reach out from there.