Best Faces Forward – survey on Actors Headshots in 2011

Headshots are a decades-old casting tool, but how are they being used in 2011? A survey of nearly 1000 actors with Casting Call Pro shows:

• Colour overtaking B&W,
  
• E-Copy defeating Hardcopy
  
• The Online Portfolio dealing a death blow to the ‘Killer Shot.’

Back in August 2010, I wrote a piece for The Stage about the history and future of the headshot (read it here), surveying 100+ casting directors.

A whopping 96% said the headshot will remain central to the casting process, with a roughly 50-50 split when it came to preference on B&W vs Colour – figures that made me argue it was up to actors and agents to take the lead and choose colour headshots if they want.

But this is only one side of the coin. Eight months on, I thought it would make an interesting comparison see how actors – those on the casting flip side – are using headshots.

Helping me out, the kind folk at Casting Call Pro put a survey to their members and very nearly 1000 responded, which gives some real statistical weight to what follows.

So, what did we find?  Well, the full results are below, but it’s worth teasing out some of the implications.

Colour vs B&W

Every professional actor has at least one B&W headshot, but 52% of those surveyed have colour as well as B&W, against 48% with B&W alone.

Anecdotally, I increasingly have headshot clients whose mainstream agents choose only colour, and these figures reflect the ongoing change in the industry’s attitude towards colour.

Part of that change is a growing perception that colour headshots are a necessary part of the casting process.

Asked whether it feels like you need a colour headshot in 2011, 22% of actors said ‘a lot’, 23% ‘somewhat’, 20 % ‘a little, 19% ‘it’s personal preference’ and 16% ‘not at all. Or viewed another way: 45% of actors feel you need a colour headshot ‘a lot or somewhat’, 39% a ‘little or personal preference’ and just 16% ‘not at all’.

So, colour might not be driving B&W out of town, but this does reflect significant change.

Five years ago it would have been very unusual to have a colour headshot – today they are a standard facet of many actors’ online portfolios and actively available as a choice if an actor feels colour offers a compelling market advantage.

In a business that generally moves slowly to embrace change, that’s quick work.

• What to do: as a photographer, I’d advise having at least one colour shot from your next headshot session online.

Hardcopy vs E-copy:

Thanks to email, Spotlight Link and CCP, the mechanics of the casting process – most things bar the auditon itself – are handled online. So it shouldn’t be a surprise, but in 2011 the headshot is very clearly an electronic document first and foremost, and a physical print second.

Michael Wharley Headshot Photography

64% of actors said that in an average month they are not asked to submit a hardcopy headshot for any breakdown at all. And of the remainder, the vast majority – 29% -  said they’ll be asked to apply with hardcopy just 2-5 times a month.

What’s more – look at castings made online where a physical photo is subsequently requested at audition: 46% of actors will be asked to take hardcopy only 1-2 times a month. 38% never. Only 10% said most auditions request it.

But is the hardcopy 10×8 print dead? Well, probably not quite yet.

When it comes to approaching casting directors or directors personally, 40% of actors said they’d use email and jpeg, against 18% hardcopy and 35% a mixture of both, reflecting an awareness that tailoring your approach is the best bet. 71% said it “just depends on the person,” whether hardcopy or e-copy gets a better response.

Clearly, there’s still taste for hardcopy in the industry, but what these figures can’t show is which version different areas of casting or different casting director demographics favour.

We can broadly speculate that theatre casting directors, big theatres and older casting directors might still like hard copy, whereas fast-paced ad casting agencies and the younger end of the casting profession might be more comfortable online. But we just don’t know.

This does constitute a huge change in the industry, given what comparable stats would have looked looked like as recently as 5 years ago.

As an actor, this means saving considerable money on relatively expensive physical repros. True, some costs are incurred elsewhere by fees for sites like CCP, but the functonality of such resources far exceeds those of a simple photo.  It also means the classic necessity of carrying a headshot and CV everywhere will disappear – why do it when you can bump iPhones to exchange cards or email an online portfolio in seconds?

• What to do: the obvious, and what you probably already do, reduce your outlay on repros and carefully judge, based on your knowledge of casting individuals where a hardcopy, and where an email approach ad where a hardcopy approach will work best.
  

The Portfolio vs the ‘Killer Shot’:

We asked actors to tell us how many photos they have on their online portfolios (be it Spotlight, CCP or other): just 29% had one photo, while 71% had 2 or more.

Most strikingly, 49% have 4 or more photos. It’s a massive change from the print-only days where the Spotlight book photo was – barring a few alternate shots – what an actor hung his or her marketing on.

Reflecting this print-only heritage, it’s long been an accepted truth that actors need a ‘killer shot,’ the one photo that defines their casting and is all things to all casting directors.

But this is now a redundant concept. I’ve been arguing for some time that what actors need in the online age is a portfolio of killer shots that capture the full range of their casting – each truthful and accurate, but genuinely varied. The ability to submit a specific photo for a specific breakdown on CCP or Spotlight makes such an approach a real no-brainer.

• What to do: add a number of photos to your online portfolio, but make sure they capture the range of your casting, rather than being a series of minute variations on the same shot. Brief your photographer before your next session, to ensure you get genuine variety of looks and feels.

Thanks for reading and any feedback welcome. If you’re interested, you can learn about my headshot photography work at www.michaelwharley.co.uk.

MW 07/03/2011

Full stats below the break

The Stats.

1 How many photos do you have on your CCP portfolios

1        29%
2        10%
3        12%
4 or more        49%

2 Do you have headshots and performance photos/film stills on your online portfolios, or just headshots?

Headshots    63%
Both        37%

3 Do you have colour and B&W shots, or just B&W?

Colour        52%
B&W        48%

4 On the basis of your experience of the casting process, how much do you feel like you need a colour headshot in 2011?

A Lot        22%
Somewhat        23%
A Little        20%
Not at all        16%
It’s just personal preference        19%

5 How often do the casting breakdowns you apply to require hardcopy headshots?

0        64%
2-5 times a month        31%
5-10 times a month    27    3%
10+ times a month        2%

6 If you’ve applied for a job by email or online, how often are you asked to take hard copy headshots to the audition itself?

1-2 a month    46%
2-5 a month    6%
5-10 a month    1%
Most auditions    9%
Never        38%

7 When you personally write to casting director or director, do you email a jpeg or send a hardcopy letter and photo?

Mostly hardcopy        18%
Mostly email    40%
A mixture of the two    35%
Only hardcopy for very special occassions    8%

8 Which do you feel gets a better response?

Hard copy    12%
Email    16%
Just depends on the person    71%

9 Do you you have your hardcopy repros printed at a print house like Visualeyes or do them yourself at home?

Print shop        78%
Do them myself        22%