Acting : Looking for advise by Gina Phillips

I would recommend networking with Weesam Keesh, Zedrick Restauro and Chris Connell for some advice, and hopefully more people will weigh in here for you, too :)

Hi Julie, I appreciate your advise. I am curious why you chose those three young male film actors to mentor a middle aged female Chicago stage actor who is starting over after raising children. Why do you think they would have the insight to help me with my resume? With all respect, they do no seem to have any similarities to my current situation, but maybe you see something I am not aware of! Thanks so much, Gina

Hi Gina! She probably recommended me because I teach actors about how to get into acting (and I'm a working actor). And as you might imagine, I teach people of all ages. Here is a video from my paid course that I have made available for free here on how to properly format a resume. This should help. http://actorbasics.com/how-to-format-your-acting-resume-la/ Let me know if there's anything else I can help with! - Chris

Ah, ok, makes a little more sense now! Thanks so much, Chris! I need a little boost right now!

All good. We all gotta start and re-start somewhere. Glad to see you're in action. If you have any specific resume questions after watching that video feel free the throw them up here! Plenty of people happy to help I'm sure.

Hi Gina, great seeing you taking the initiative to get started again. Definitely watch Chris's video, the advice and instructions he gives are fantastic, being a working actor myself I can vouch for them. My current work is primarily on-camera so the advice I give you will be geared towards TV/film casting. It's great you're a trained stage actor, a lot of tv/film casting directors love theater and go to theater, so your experiences are already a plus. I firmly believe actors that have theater background/training are a better breed of actors, and many CD's do as well. ;) If you have an extensive list of theater credits and feel you have to omit some so your resume doesn't end up looking too cluttered, definitely omit the lesser known ones, unless they're work that you had a significant lead role in or work that you're very proud of, then definitely keep it there, so if they start a conversation with you about it, it would be something you're naturally engaged in and passionate about when you discuss it. CD's sometimes like to start a conversation with you based on stuff you have on your resume to gauge your personality and get a sense of you, to see if you're someone that wouldn't be a problem working on set with. If you haven't already yet, do take an on-camera class so you aren't rusty on your on-camera technique. Since the majority of your experience is theater, some CD's may look at your resume and be wary that you're "too theater" and if you can "tone it down" (unless it's for Disney or Nickelodeon, they love their auditions not toned down). Seeing you have on-camera training and of course, showing your on-camera technique on the audition, should assuage their concerns. Also take improv, CD's also love seeing it on the resume (agents and managers too if you haven't got one yet), especially from established schools like Second City, Groundlings and UCB. Not sure if the latter 2 exist there in Chicago. Hope this helps. Feel free to message me whenever for any questions.

Thanks so much for your insightful advise, gentlemen. The big problem right now is that the work that I have done is so outdated, it does not currently reflect the roles that I can play. I am not an ingenue anymore, as cute as I may hear that I am! I want my experience to be highlighted, but will someone look at that and say "so what? She can't play Beauty anymore, why is that on her resume? But I am proud of that, it ran for 9 months, the original play, not the Disney musical, at some very well known theaters in Chicago. Also, I did Shakespeare repertory for two summers, and played some great roles, but again, they were ingenue roles. But I did them, so I have that experience, and I want to display that fact. I am registered to take a 10 week improv class at a local improv club, just to get back up on stage and work out the cobwebs. After that I am planning on taking classes as Vagabond Performing Arts school here in Chicago, it's a school for working actors, and has everything from on-camera and theatre, taught by professionals in the field. I am trying to find new monologues and songs for auditions that reflect my current age range. I am a college mom x 2 now, so...broke, just like I was as a struggling young actor! So I have to be smart about what I invest in. I feel so glad that I discovered this site, it is bringing the industry to me. I apologize for questioning if you gentlemen would be able to understand my situation, that was an incorrect assumption. You have both been very helpful! Thank you! Gina

Hi Gina, I recommend looking into networking with Claire Winters https://www.stage32.com/profile/145375/claire-winters she specializes in writing fantastic bios and shaping actors' resumes.

Thank you Shannon, I just sent her a request!