HOW MANY HEADSHOTS SHOULD YOU HAVE?

This question may seem simple, but knowing the answer can make all the difference in your career. What’s most important to know is that there are lots of variables to consider when making your decision. After all, it is your decision and your career that will be affected. There is not necessarily a right or wrong answer to this question because it depends on what it is that you want out of your career.

If you want to do all on camera corporate narration, one headshot may be fine for you. Though you may only need one headshot, it must still be the right kind for the job/market.

For instance, let’s say that you are in the Mid-Atlantic area, you will find that there will be an abundance of corporate industrials. These will be for the government as well as private industry. If you are in the Mid-Atlantic area and you don’t have a headshot with that "corporate look," you may be making a huge mistake. This is a different story if you don’t want to do corporate industrial film. If you are full-time talent and this is your only source of income, you may be hard pressed to make a living without doing industrials in this area of the country. It doesn’t mean that you can’t survive without industrials, but it does mean that you had better have a nice niche that will provide a decent income.

If you are in the New York market, you may want to have a more casual headshot and or a composite since there is a lot more print and modeling work in these areas. This is true for the LA market as well. However, this is not the only difference that you will find with headshots as you go from market to market. Though it appears to be changing, the headshot on the East Coast has been the more traditional headshot that essentially shows the head and shoulders.

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The style for LA, which is also slowly becoming the style for NY and other markets, is the ¾ headshot. It appears that casting agents want to see more of what you really look like and not just your head. This does not mean that you can’t use your traditional headshot. In most places it will still get you work. The fact is, when more of you can be seen, it can make all the difference in the world in you getting cast for a gig.

In the LA market in particular, the ¾ headshot is a must. This ¾ headshot is particularly important for actors. Think in terms of what the job calls for. If most of your body is going to be shown at some point, the casting director will want to see more of your body. Having a ¾ headshot of potential talent helps the casting director from making the mistake of bringing someone in for an audition only to find that they really aren’t the type for the part. On the other hand, if the job is for a commercial that doesn’t require a specific size, the traditional headshot may do just fine.

Finally, the idea is to give the decision-makers what they want. This is why it is not a bad idea to have a number of headshots if you can afford it. In fact some agents require you to have a couple of different shots that show you as the corporate, casual, sexy, younger or older type. If your headshot looks like a news anchor, it may not be the best representation if you are being submitted for the role of a leading man who is sexy with a real sense of humor. If your headshot is in a seductive dress with a glamorous hairstyle, it may not be the best shot to submit for the role of schoolteacher.

It depends on what you want to do and how far you are willing to go to make it happen. This is a business where the less you leave to chance the better. If you are able to tailor yourself for the job, it might just be the edge that you need to land the gig. Here’s to your next big gig.

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