For many actors in our industry, the very existence of a showreel represents a monumental achievement: the end of a long and difficult battle to get the thing researched, compiled, rehearsed and shot. And it is significant, especially when you think about how many actors balk at the task and leave themselves woefully underrepresented in their field. However, the completion of a showreel is only the first step. You need to update your showreel—and regularly—to best reflect your growth as an actor.
Update your showreel at regular intervals in your career to ensure it reflects your current acting abilities, passions and the kinds of roles you are hoping to pursue. The best way to update your showreel is to set regular deadlines so that refreshing it becomes an ingrained part of your practice. You may also wish to update the showreel as you feel taken by inspiration: perhaps upon the discovery of a new scene, or after an influential job. If possible, try to avoid updates immediately prior to important events, such as meeting with an agent. Instead, plan ahead for these possibilities so that your focus isn’t split at a crucial time in your career.
Our focus today will be on the “when” of showreel updates, less than the “why” or “how”. But before we dive into our topic, let’s take a second to remember how good it can feel to freshen up your industry-facing materials. It’s a lovely way to reinvigorate yourself in quiet career spells, and to remind you that the thing you love the most is something you do well.
Showreel vs. Sizzle Reel
Before we leap into the specifics of when you should update your showreel, let’s start by making an important distinction. In this article, we’re talking about a showreel as a collection of self-tape clips, rather than examples of your existing work from film and television. We’ll instead identify this as a ’sizzle reel’.
The popularity of sizzle reels is still widespread in the industry; many actors view them as helpful calling cards that show off a mixture of their acting ability as well as their most impressive screen credits.
However, their usefulness is waning in an age when actors have more agency than ever to capture performances with cameras in the comfort of their own homes. Furthermore, the ability to film one’s own tapes means the work an actor puts out there isn’t limited to previous castings (or the competency of the filmmaker behind the camera.)
If you’ve yet to film a showreel made of self-tapes, we’d suggest making that a number-one career priority. It’s a chance to show potential employers a direct, unfiltered look at your talents.
Update Your Showreel Regularly
Your showreel needs regular updates—much like your headshots and your CV. If that’s the case (and it certainly is), why not just schedule regular updates for your showreel throughout the year?
You could work towards a quarterly review of your material, choosing to swap out the ‘weakest’ of your self-tapes with a freshly-shot replacement. It’s a great chance for you to do an honest check-in on how you present to the industry.
Throughout the year, keep yourself on the lookout for material. Build a folder of potential scenes; have them ready to rehearse and shoot as the need takes you. With a little planning and a dash of diligence, you may even be able to have the choice of a few shot scenes to pick from.
Regular updates to your showreel have numerous benefits. We’ve already spoken a bit about the chance to reflect on your current abilities; if it’s been a year since your last update, odds are you’ve spent a year growing and developing your skills as an actor. Let your reel reflect that growth!
An updated reel is also a useful conversation starter. It’s a chance to reach out to casting directors, potential agents—even the agent you’re currently with who might have gone quiet of late. It allows you to declare that you’re still working, still improving, still growing.
Update Your Showreel When Inspired
This option is, arguably, the dream scenario. Whenever the mood takes you, film a scene you’ve stumbled across and add it to your reel!
It’s a great way to keep you receptive to the wealth of suitable material out there in the world, be it from scenes you’ve performed in an acting class, read in a play or seen in a film or television series. And if the material itself is what inspires you, it’s likely to be aligned to your brand—the kinds of roles you’re hoping to book.
The trick with this tactic is to keep yourself regularly inspired—and to hold yourself accountable to do something about it. If this describes you, then scheduling regular updates to your showreel might be a moot point.
But if you lack that kind of drive, or your life lacks the kind of flexibility to allow spontaneous tapings, you might need to seek out alternative methods. There’s no shame to this: honesty in this area is going to pay off in the long-term.
Update Your Showreel for an Occasion
So this option is a tricky one. If we define “occasion” in this context as a milestone in your career such as an important meeting, a big audition or bagging yourself a good agent, you most definitely want your showreel reflecting your best acting work.
The question is: do you have enough time to get your showreel into fighting shape before it needs to rep you out there in the industry?
Of course, the answer to that question varies. When looking for an agent, actors should give themselves ample time to research their options and prepare their actor’s toolkit. The showreel is an important part of this (perhaps the most important part) and therefore should be in excellent shape before proceeding.
But when opportunities presented to you in your career are spontaneous, you may not have the desired lead-in time. Picture this: at a halloween party, you meet a hotshot film director who (after bonding over a mutual love of your terrible costumes) asks you to send her your reel for their next low-budget feature.
Is your current showreel at its best? Would you feel adequately an accurately represented by what they saw?
The Purpose of a Showreel
Sometimes you’ll have a clear understanding of the reason to update your showreel. Other times, you might be feeling unsure of your toolkit and branding, or perhaps bit stagnant in your career.
Regardless of the occasion, take a moment to remind yourself as to the purpose of a showreel. Often, it feels like showreels are so talked up as important to an actor’s career (which is not untrue) that we can lose sight of their actual purpose—what it is they do so well.
A showreel is a snapshot of your abilities as an actor: right here, right now. In the same way that a headshot introduces an agent/casting director to your face, and a CV your past credits and training, a showreel is about your skills. It says: “If you hire me today, this is what I’ll bring on set tomorrow.”
The problem is, a lot of actors forget this purpose. They panic, feeling the need to fill a showreel with all the information under the sun to snare a potential job or rep. But that’s not what a good showreel does.
And if this describes your attitude towards showreels, take this as a signal to cut it back: cut it back to let yourself grow. Get rid of your headshot at the top of the reel—as if we won’t see enough of your face in the three minutes to follow. Get rid of those clips you did on a short film three years ago (see above for all things ‘sizzle reel’.)
Let your showreel speak to your talents and passion for performance. And how much people are missing out if they don’t book you ASAP.
Conclusion
So there you have it: the StageMilk-hive-brain lowdown on when to update your showreel! And if you’ll permit us to reinforce our preferred option just once more: regular improvements to your reel keep you ready for any unexpected jobs or opportunities, as well as normalise the practice of checking in with your own skills.
One final point before we wrap up. Never forget that the labour you invest in the process of updating your showreel still counts towards improving your acting. It’s practice; a chance to grow. Sure, it might feel like a drag at times to put in all that effort, and for something you’re only going to replace six months-or-so down the line. But remind yourself that it’s a chance to perform—and to court exciting career adventures in the future.
Good luck!
