Running head: PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATIONS OF AN ACTRESS 1 Professional Communications of an Actress Cathleen Mason Weber State University MPC Project MPC 6950 Kathy Edwards PhD April 6, 2014 PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATIONS OF AN ACTRESS 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Project Overview…………………………………………………………p.3 2. Goals and Objectives……………………………………………………..p.4 3. Audience Analysis………………………………………………………..p.5 4. Explanation……………………………………………………………….p.9 5. Conclusion………………………………………………………………..p.14 6. References………………………………………………………………..p.15 7. Appendices A…………………………………………………………….p.17 PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATIONS OF AN ACTRESS 3 Professional Communications of an Actress Project Overview This project was an opportunity to create a marketing communication plan to use assets I have to promote my film acting and voice over (VO) work. I consolidated this material into one accessible medium. Prior to this time, most of my material was scattered in various places, including the International Movie Data Base (IMDB), Broadway Talent/Shielia Erickson Management website, YouTube & voices.com. I also had material that was not yet on the web that I included for a comprehensive synopsis of my skills. This material consists of stories, pictures, video clips and VO reels. I can manage this material, add what I want, share stories and communicate with my audience. I have set up my own business website for this medium. In doing so, I had a number of unforeseen formatting issues which took longer than I had anticipated. Even so, the final product is easy to navigate and use. My project consisted of building a professional website, completing my IMDB page, creating a logo and adding it to my business card and website and organizing my YouTube and LinkedIn account. I believe targeting these sites has reached my audience beyond the traditional audition. With communication and technology changing and growing, I believe this project is a wise and professional choice for the promotion of my acting career and for communicating all that I am as an actress in a comprehensive format. My target audience for this project is film casting directors and film directors. The rationale for this is as follows: 1. View all my work on one site. Sometimes in the film/VO industry actors are not taken seriously unless they have professional material to show. Having my material all together has made it easy to access and more appealing to the director. 2. Get to know me as a professional actress. Having a biography section has fleshed out who I am. Having an easy way to get to know me can make the difference between being cast or not. The more professional material is available to this audience, the more likely a film actor will be cast in a movie project. 3. To demonstrate to my target audience I am a consistent, dedicated actor and that they can depend on me to deliver what they need in a film and what they saw in my audition. 4. I made the material I put on my website easy to obtain, download or print. There are approximately twenty four films, nine made for television films, five commercials and one internet project I have to share. Of these films, there are twelve feature length films, fourteen short films, five episodes for TV and five commercials. I have five demo reels that comprise a few of these projects and I have approximately five film clips or a copy of the short film I can post on the website. Otherwise I have shared experiences, photos and documented what I have done on my resume. I have five VO projects completed. These are of local Utah radio commercial spots. I have approximately four VO demo reels with a plan to add more to my VO section. On my biography page I described how I got into the film experience. At this time I have posted five blog posts for this page that include pictures. Once a month on my news and events PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATIONS OF AN ACTRESS 4 page I plan to update the film experience with personal pictures with famous actors and not so famous actors and my description of my experience. This is the material and essence of my experiences as an actress and VO artist that I have posted onto a website. I have fleshed out this task by updating and organizing my IMDB page, YouTube channel, LinkedIn account and business card. I have reached a wider audience as well as my targeted audience of directors and casting directors. This wider audience consists of fellow actors and industry professionals in general. Making connections and networking is the essence of the film community and therefore an important business move to promote my career as an actress. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES My goals and objectives are to showcase my talent by consolidating all my professional creative avenues into one central location to be easily accessed and used. These avenues include film acting and VO reels, headshots, resume and a biography. I accomplished this by setting up a professional website. As I have all the pieces of my showcase up on the website, all I need to do now is keep it updated. I feel I have accomplished this goal. • To advertise my professional services. These professional services include film and VO acting. I have accomplished this on a professional website, a business card, YouTube, IMDB and LinkedIn. On a business card I advertised my website and my contact information so it is easily assessable. I have successfully completed a design with logo and printed off a business card. On my YouTube channel I have added my acting reels and successfully organized my YouTube channel. Now I can add, delete and categorize what I have in my personal files and what I have currently on my YouTube channel. Before, my YouTube channel appeared random and I had no control of what was displayed. On my IMDB page I can keep my resume updated along with my acting reels. I can also advertise by adding director’s comments, awards and news reports. A completed look will be the addition of director’s comments, awards and news reports to my already existing catalog. I have also completed and fleshed out my LinkedIn page. I have completed my bio on my LinkedIn page, which was my end goal. • I have shared my experiences now and over the many years I have been working as a professional talent. I have done this in the bio and news and events sections on my website. I began in my bio section with a history of the beginnings of my acting career. In news and events I added new experiences as they came along. I have run stories and pictures to share these experiences. Successfully posting these stories in a complete and professional way on my website has made this goal complete. PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATIONS OF AN ACTRESS 5 AUDIENCE ANALYSIS The target audience for my website, IMDB page and business card consists of: 1) Directors/movie/film/stage 2) Casting Directors/movie/film/stage The target audience for my LinkedIn account, YouTube channel and business card consists of: 1) General industry professionals 2) Fellow actors Directors know how to direct, but they don’t always know what they want until they are filming. My job with my website is to showcase my talent so they are familiar with it, so I can assist them with creative ideas and demonstrate they can depend on me to deliver consistently and professionally. They would be interested in my website because it will be a place to “look me up” and “check me out” before they take the effort to see me in an audition or when they are deciding whether or not to cast me after an audition. Casting Directors are looking for the best possible choice for a character. Their good name is on the line if they are referring an actor to a director. My job is to show them strong character choices, variety, commitment and availability. By having my headshots and resume easy to access, print and share on the Internet, I show professionalism and accessibility. Casting directors would be interested in my website because it can give them a “heads up” as to what my talent can provide and can help them make a decision on whether or not to ask me in for an audition. Having my headshots and resume easily assessable is a plus they can appreciate. General industry professionals include but are not limited to producers, crew, media personnel, writers, managers, agents and more. This group is mainly interested in networking and building alliances with others to strengthen their profession and keep it growing. Having good connections keeps the industry strong and those involved often hire others that are in their circle or network. With my LinkedIn and YouTube account I can connect with them and give them a medium to connect with me. LinkedIn is easy and accessible as an online professional networking system. YouTube is a familiar and easy channel to share with them my talent without them feeling “obligated” to look at my website. It’s less of a commitment to watch a YouTube link than opening up someone’s website. So sharing my YouTube link is a good foot in the door with this audience who may not want to commit to see my full website. A business card gives them my contact information, which is a vital tool in networking. Fellow actors are curious, social and desire to connect. LinkedIn is a good way to easily do that as well, I will add, is Facebook. I already have a Facebook account where I connect on a daily basis with my fellow local industry professionals and fellow actors. Aside from that, a YouTube channel is a fun and delightful way to share with my peers my acting talents and fun clips from the film set. This is a good networking tool as fellow actors will often recommend to an undecided director someone they would like to act with or who they feel would fit the role well. Many times a director will follow their advice. A business card gives them a tool to pass on to the director or casting director. It gives them vital contact information. Adding them as a PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATIONS OF AN ACTRESS 6 friend on Facebook is a stronger source of connection with this group but as I have stated earlier this is a medium I have already set up. I plan on sharing some of my stories from my website on my Facebook page for networking purposes. CURRENT ATTITUDES: I surveyed a few of my professional acting friends on Facebook and found that not only do they support a professional acting website, they encourage it. I looked up a few of their websites and they vary quite a bit in design and structure. I also researched Backstage Magazine, a Los Angeles based professional tool for actors. I found a number of references in the magazine to actors’ websites. Media or communication preference: “Go where discovery happens: If you want the important people to find you, you’re going to have to put yourself in their field of vision. They’re more likely to be in L.A. or New York so you’ll probably need to be there. Beyond that, these important decision-makers go to plays you could be in, they use social media where a funny video you were in might get posted, they sit in on acting classes you might be taking, they see you in workshops, shorts, student films, etc. Make it easy for them. Get in front of them Do exceptional work” (Garcia & Braun, 2013). PROFESSIONAL MARKETING: “The best way to continually market your brand is through a dedicated business website. Its domain name should be your name followed by .com. Part of your brand is your name, and name awareness is a crucial component of building a career and a brand. Monitor Your Brand: Through online services such as Google Alerts or Yahoo! Alerts, create a free alert to monitor your own name. Whenever your name is detected on a website, you will receive an email informing you that someone has posted something that may be about you. In a global marketplace, this is a great way to keep on top of news about you and your brand” (Lemack, 2010). “Approaching branding as an ongoing campaign helps you avoid the common mistake of trying to communicate everything about yourself all at once. Your marketing piece--a postcard, a one-sheet, a website—can be conceptually authentic yet crammed so full of visuals and text that it overwhelms your intended audience and they ignore the whole thing. Consistency in delivering your branding messages frees you to make those messages concise. Serve people portions they can quickly and easily digest” (Oller, 2011). Once the new voice over business is established, organization for action would be the next step. Hence, “Initiate a communication process to present the issue, explain its significance to the public, and present your organization’s opinion or intended action” (Smith, 2009, p. 72). PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATIONS OF AN ACTRESS 7 With this preliminary survey in mind I searched literature that supported these findings. The information is organized into six categories discussed below. These categories are 1) Starting a website 2) Website design 3) Search engine optimization (SEO) 4) YouTube and Vlog 5) LinkedIn 6) Business card. 1. Starting a website. These articles provided step-by-step instructions on how to start a website. They included: “Domain name, signing your web pages, testing your website, collecting credit card information, making money, getting your site noticed” (Heng, 2013, p. 1-7). Creating a simple, consistent and easy to navigate design is best practice for website building. Websites should be tested on different formats and web browsers before they are launched. If a site is offering services, set up a way to collect money on the site. “Register a domain name, choose a web host, start building” (Irby, 2013, p. 1-7). This article focused on different types of websites. Having a dynamic website over an HTML is more useful because information can be pulled from a database. Word Press is also highly recommended for Blog site content. Staying away from free website hosting is best practice. 2. Website design. These articles discussed the mechanics of website building and what to put in a website. The articles stressed the importance of knowing the target audience, ease of navigation in different countries and keeping the website maintained (Al-Badi & Mayhew, 2010). It is important to maximize a sites’ visibility by using strong descriptive headings on each page. If looking to promote the website, tracking the visitor activity is highly recommended (Vrontis, Ktoridou, & Melanthiou, 2007). Adding demos, promotional coupons, registering for an event, a questionnaire, keeping contact information from visitor comments and encouraging visitors to refer the website to a friend are other options. Good navigation and usability is essential to marketing a website. It is also important to link the website to other websites (Vrontis et al., 2007). Using Word Press is easily accessible and universal in nature; it is “12% of all websites in the world” (Richards, 2011). Using Word Press therefore, could be a good choice to reach a wide range of viewers. There are two articles specifically on actor’s websites. Both of these articles are from “backstage” online magazine. These articles discussed the five mistakes an actor can make on a website. 1) Amateur design 2) Writing in third person 3) Overly pompous language 4) Using flash 5) Not updating the website. The articles also included the five essentials on having a website. 1) Business email 2) Embedded reels 3) Promotional and or behind the scenes photos 4) Social media links 5) Biography (Southern, 2012). Another article listed seven things an acting website must have: 1) Welcome page 2) Headshots 3) Resume 4) Biography 5) sizzle reels 6) Blog 7) Phot gallery. A sizzle reel is a short one minute trailer of acting film clips and TV series that is fast paced and promotional (Gilliss, 2013). Basically an acting website should focus on the casting director as the audience. Sometimes a director may look at the website, but the main audience would be casting directors. These casting directors need access to downloading a headshot, a PDF version of a resume, a voice over PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATIONS OF AN ACTRESS 8 (VO) MP3 demo or use a Quick Time version of an acting reel. This material needs to be one click away and easily assessable (Lawrence XVII, 2011). Upon review, two acting websites stood out; one, a fellow actor Tye Nelson (Nelson, 2013) and the other, a professional VO artist John Taylor (Taylor). These websites demonstrate professionalism, easy access and organization. 3. SEO. Caution is needed if hiring someone to do website SEO. It is important to know them and their plans for website marketing. Some SEO companies may link the website to undesirable sites which promote the SEO Company through the website they were hired to work on. Good SEO needs to be simple, easy to understand and have descriptive page headings (Google Webmaster Tools). 4. A LinkedIn article proposed a profile picture on the site and a frequently updated page. There are over 2 million groups on LinkedIn. Viewership can be optimized by using slide share where videos, graphics and presentations are added (Lytle, 2013). 5. YouTube account and videos. One idea is a Vlog which is video embedded into a blog site. This gives a variety of material on the blog site and can be used via YouTube or Google Video. Google video does not have unwanted links to other YouTube videos on the blog site (Branzburg, 2007). The YouTube channel has step-by-step tutorial videos that teach how to navigate and manage an account as well as change a profile picture, tagging videos, monetizing, marketing, using tags, getting liked by larger channels and more (Shervington, 2013). YouTube is not only about professionalism, but also about posting good content. A channel can be maintained by keeping track of progress, using insight which graphs the video’s attention rates. This means how long someone will watch a video. The longer they watch, the better the video is (Static, 2011). 6. Actors’ business card. A headshot is first and foremost on an actors’ business card. A name clearly written as well as contact information like a phone number and email address are also important. Never put a home address on a business card for security reasons. Lastly a website address should be on the card to showcase work ("Zazzle Actor Business cards," 2013). These articles are not only a great tutorial and insight to professional acting promotion; they reinforce what I learned in the Master of Professional Communication program at Weber State University. PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATIONS OF AN ACTRESS 9 EXPLANATION The WEBSITE: www.cathleenmason.com includes but is not limited to: The front page with my headshot and handwritten name with my logo: Content labeled as navigation tabs at the top of the site: 1. Head Shots 2. Resume 3. Acting Reels 4. Voice Over Demos 5. Biography 6. News and Events 7. Contact 8. Links to my YouTube channel, IMDB page, LinkedIn page, Google Plus, Facebook Fan page and Broadway Talent Shielia Erickson Management (my agent) website. A professional website has accomplished my goals as it made my talent easily accessible to my audience wherever they live and at any time of day or night. Here are a few of the highlights: My logo: It is my signature with a heartbeat. This signifies not only my nursing credentials in “code” it also signifies my ability to “ignite imagination.”PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATIONS OF AN ACTRESS 10 Headshots: My headshots down load easily and can be copy/saved and printed off. Resume: This is on a Google doc’s document and I can easily update it at any time. It can also be printed and shared. Acting Reels: I have all of my acting reels on this page. This is an advantage since the main IMDB page directors go to I can only have four at the most. I have put three tabs under this topic. Acting reels, short films and commercials I have been in. Voice Over Demos: I can put as many as I want here. Biography: I am creative here. I have put in a bio blog, which is a memoir of my acting experiences. I have also added an acting biography with links to movie projects and famous people I have worked on and with: http://cathleenmason.com/category/blog/ http://cathleenmason.com/acting-bio/ News and Events: On this page I have placed my calendar of events, which includes all my acting and VO experiences. It is on a Google doc and it is easy to update and share: As you can see on this page to the right I have added my film acting Agent and contact information. This contact is in a widget which shows up on most of my pages on my website. If you click on the auditions or whatever I have up, I have a detailed description PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATIONS OF AN ACTRESS 11 of the event. I have further added to this tab with interviews and awards each on separate pages. The last tab is a contact page where I can be contacted for comments. IMDB page: Adding on to what is already there with new professional headshots and on set pictures. I have also added a contact to my website. An updated and complete IMDB page is an essential tool for every professional actor. This page is an industry standard and most all industry professionals use this site. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0962571/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1 YOUTUBE CHANNEL: Organize my channel I had my son help me with my YouTube channel. It was so confusing and mixed up. I found out that I actually had two channels that were intermixing with each other. Organizing my channel became the task of deleting one channel and placing all my material in another. I now have one clear channel I can easily use and simplify. Anyone coming to my channel can see the videos I have to offer. It is simple and clear. I have also connected my website, LinkedIn, Google Plus and IMDB page to my YouTube channel. I added that I was a professional film actress to the channel so anyone visiting it would get a sense of why I have the type of videos I have on my channel. An organized and entertaining YouTube channel can get my talents noticed far beyond my imagination if I have good consistent and entertaining content. PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATIONS OF AN ACTRESS 12 https://www.youtube.com/user/catheenmason BUSINESS CARD: I created a business card with: 1. Headshot 2. Name with logo 3. Actress/VO Artist 4. Phone number 5. Email Address 6. Website URL PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATIONS OF AN ACTRESS 13 A business card is very useful. When I am at events or meetings it is always customary for a client to ask for my card. Having an updated and professional card is a must for networking in the film industry. LINKEDIN: I completed my biography on my LinkedIn site. I have linked my website to my LinkedIn site where they can obtain further information about me and my talent and contact me for services. Just in doing that alone I generated quite a bit of activity. More people are friending me and I have had others check out my website and contact me with questions about acting. PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATIONS OF AN ACTRESS 14 CONCLUSION In reviewing the effectiveness of my project, the highest response so far has been with my LinkedIn account, which is a surprise. It seems that there is more activity on this site than I had anticipated. I have had a few reviews on my website, via my website email and noticing on the website monitoring system. I have not noticed a change in my IMDB or my YouTube channel. Despite these low results I am confident that having these channels running properly and having a professional website will bring me added attention and professionalism in the future. As an added bonus, having my business card match my website is a plus. I have had positive and enthusiastic comments about my website and my business card. I feel confident that because of this project, I have a professional portfolio of my acting talents and VO abilities. This is an example of what I have learned in the Master of Professional Communication (MPC) program at Weber State University. I am thrilled to have this opportunity to learn and pull together all my material from over the years. I have greatly enjoyed soliciting my two daughters and my son to help. It has and will be a great family and professional project, one to keep and share for years to come. PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATIONS OF AN ACTRESS 15 References Actor business cards. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.zazzle.com/actor+businesscards Al-Badi, A. H., & Mayhew, P. J. (2010). A framework for designing usable localized business websites. Communications of the IBIMA, 2010. Retrieved from http://www.ibimapublishing.com/journals/CIBIMA/cibima.html Branzburg, J. (2007, Jan). Ready for your close-up? Technology & Learning, 27(6), 26. Retrieved from http;//web.ebscohost.com.hal.weber.edu:2200/ehost/delivery?sid=ca0c523f-6e57-48cd-befd Garcia, R. B., & Braun, S. (2013, September 10). 5 Easy Ways to Get Discovered. Back Stage Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.backstage.com Gilliss, G. (2013). 7 items for a successful actor website. Retrieved from http://www.backstage.com/advice-for-actors/backstage-experts/7-items-successful-actor-website/ Google Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide. (). Retrieved from https://static.googleusercontent.com/external_content/untrusted_dlcp/www.google.com/en/us/webmasters/docs/search-engine-optimization-starter-gide.pdf Heng, C. (2013). How to start / create your own website: The beginner’s A-Z guide. Retrieved from http://www.thesitewizard.com/gettingstarted/startwebsite.shtml Irby, L. (2013). Free website creation tutorial for beginners. Retrieved from http://www.2createawebsite.com Lawrence XVII, D. H. (2011). Creating the Ultimate Actor Website. Retrieved from http://www.backstage.com/advice-for-actors/tech/creating-the-ultimate-actor-website/ Lemack, B. (2010, November 18). Create An Action Plan. backstage. Retrieved from http://www.backstage.com/advice-for-actors/business-of-acting/create-an-action-plan/ Lytle, R. (2013). 4 ways entrepreneurs can amplify content on LinkedIn. Retrieved from http://mashable.com/2013/10/18/entrepreneurs-linkedin/ Nelson, T. (2013). Tye Nelson. Retrieved from http://www.tyenelson.com/ Oller, K. (2011, Feb. 16). Don’t Career Through Your Career. backstage. Retrieved from http://www.backstage.com/advice-for-actors/business-of-acting/dont-career-through-your-career/ Richards, A. (2011). Building a better website. Retrieved from www.blackenterprise.com PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATIONS OF AN ACTRESS 16 Shervington, M. (2013). What is a YouTube channel?..and a complete overview how to use it! Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8UsqfWbqIo Smith, R. D. (2009). Strategic Planning for Public Relations (third Ed.). New York, New York: Tayor & Francis. Southern, T. (2012, June 12). The actor’s website: Dos and don’ts. backstage. Retrieved from http://www.backstage.com/advice-for-actors/first-person/the-actors-website-dos-and-donts Static (2011). YouTube tutorial-How to Grow a Successful channel. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKzRT2hZR8o Taylor, J. (). John Taylor voice actor producer. Retrieved from http://www.johntaylorvo.com/#93a/youtube Vrontis, D., Ktoridou, D., & Melanthiou, Y. (2007). Website design and development as an effective and efficient promotional tool: A case study in the hotel industry in Cyprus. Journal of Website Promotion, 2(3/4). http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15533610802174995 PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATIONS OF AN ACTRESS 17 APPENDICES A TIMELINE & BUDGET 9/18/13-Initial Proposal completed. Presentation of Initial Proposal 9/25/13-Webhosting set up/main page design explored/Literature review begins 10/02/13-Revision to Proposal completed website main page decided/Lit. review cont. 10/16/13-Literature review completed 10/23/13-Presintation/Progress report of lit. review, webhosting, main page design 10/30/13-Work on writing and completing proposal and literature review 11/06/13-Full Proposal and Literature Review complete 11/13- write up resume, revision of main page website design 11/20/13-Presentation of resume and main page website design 11/27/13- complete tabs for Demo reels 12/04/13-complete news and events/pictures/contact tabs 01/09/14- work on Blog content 01/16/14-work on Blog content 01/23/14-Presentation of website 01/30/14-Revise website and business cards 02/06/14-Revise website 02/13/14-IMDB page 02/20/14-YouTube channel 02/27/14-Presentation: Final Project 03/03/14-Complete ProjectPROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATIONS OF AN ACTRESS 18 03/17/14-Final paper due includes Proposal and summary 03/31/14-Revisions of final paper. Summit final version of project to the library RESOURCES AND BUDGET My oldest daughter Natalie is the host for my website as well as a website consultant. My youngest daughter Nicole set up my website and has helped me navigate it. I developed my IMDB page, YouTube Channel, LinkedIn site and my business cards. My youngest son Nathan helped me with my YouTube Channel configuration. Website hosting $6 a month Domain name $13 a year Website set up $400 IMDB account $16 a month Business cards $35 Total $470