HOW TO WRITE A COVER LETTER FOR ACTING –THE COMPLETE GUIDE

An acting cover letter is written in almost the same way the typical cover letter is written. But because acting comes with a number of necessities –enrolling in the right classes, connecting with acting agents, updating your headshots, etc. –there’s always a need to understand the peculiarities of the acting cover letter.

If you seem clueless on how to write an acting cover letter that stands out from the stack, rest assured that the guide in this post will furnish you with the steps and tips for getting a “killer” acting cover letter off the ground.

Steps to Write an Acting Cover Letter

Various acting agents do have their preferences, and one of the clever ways a prospect can win over an agent’s attention is to learn about these preferences.

Beyond learning about what an acting agent expects from you, there’s a need to acquaint yourself with the essential components that make your cover letter professional. This means that before you can really put an excellent cover letter together for an acting position, you need to have a clear idea of the steps that let you achieve this feat.

We’ll reel out the steps for writing an acting cover letter one after the other.

Step I: Do a Background Check about the Acting Agent

This is an essential step you shouldn’t undermine if you really want to gain insight about what might interest an acting agent. In general, the internet is a key tool for running a background check about the agent. It’s up to you to leverage social media –Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. –for finding out important information about acting agents.

If your preferred acting agent seems to have garnered recognition, there’s a high likelihood that you’ll find them on popular social media platforms. For prospects who do not seem to know somebody –such as a friend or relation –who is personally connected to an acting agent, chances of getting the agent’s attention aren’t really high. This is partly because acting agents are, more often than not, occupied with trips, meetings, and other schedules.

As a prospect who doesn’t seem to have a link to a personal connection, social media could be your best bet for gaining initial access to an acting agent or learning about how to get the agent’s attention. Some agents run active social media handles via which they regularly update followers about workshops, acting classes, etc. If you’re really keen to meet an agent through such avenues, it’s up to you to find out the social media the agent uses, and then zero in on the one(s) they use most as they’ll most likely announce the dates of their upcoming classes or workshops therein.

Your background check about an acting agent should further zoom in on specific things that you both have in common. Reading through the social media (or other online) profiles of the agent should equip you with hints if there’s anything common to you both. If you peradventure find out that you and the agent have the same hobbies, or share certain unique attributes, you could leverage these to stimulate the interest of the agent on your first physical meeting with them. While attempting to establish rapport with an agent, it’s a good thing to be able to convince them that you both have something interesting in common.

Step II: Endeavor to Establish Rapport with the Agent

After a thorough background check about an acting agent, you’ll likely have an idea of how best to approach the agent. If your background check reveals that the agent is going to have a workshop for prospective actors soon, such a workshop could be the perfect opportunity for you to meet the agent in person.

To make the most of this opportunity, ensure you establish a good rapport with them. As we pointed out earlier, it’s a good thing to be able to convince an acting agent that you both have something in common. This way, the agent might be stimulated to give you the privilege of further communicating (your intention) with them.

Step III: Find out the Right Medium or Channel for Further Communication

If, after your first meeting, an acting agent gives you their contact details such as phone number and email address, along with the permission to contact them, this might mean you’ve made some progress. But if you don’t get this opportunity on your first meeting with the agent, you should be ready to find out the right channel for further communication.

The right channel is the medium where there’s a high chance that the acting agent will give you feedback after receiving your message. Every acting agent seems to have the medium(s) they find ideal for giving feedback to prospects. If you’re able to find the agent’s contact details –email address, phone number, etc. –directly in the agent’s social media profile or website, this might mean that they find it ideal to connect with prospects via the provided channels.

Step IV: Keep on Writing to the Agent

Your background check must have equipped you with a wealth of information about an acting agent, their preferences, expectations, hobbies, etc. Such information should give you a head start while putting together your cover letter.

Your background check must have also given you the conviction that you possess skills or characteristics that interest a particular acting agent. With such conviction, you should be able to muster the courage to write a cover letter that clearly spells out what you’re up to, and why you’re the right fit for the agent.

If the agent doesn’t give you any feedback with regard to your first letter, you shouldn’t see this as a hint of disapproval. Remember that acting agents, more often than not, get so busy that they might not have time to promptly reply DMs or read through a series of emails.

Advisably, you should continue following the social media pages or handles of your preferred acting agent. This could hint you about the right time to send in a new cover letter, as some agents tend to share updates about upcoming events via their social media handles. While putting together your new cover letter, you shouldn’t only add a new headshot or reveal what new acting role(s) you can fit in, you should also be able to convince the agent that you’re a perfect fit for them. It’s pretty important to update your new cover letter with essential information that’s missing in the previous cover letter.

Clever Tips to Make Your Acting Cover Letter Stand Out

So far, you’ve learnt about the steps involved in putting together an acting cover letter. But these steps alone may not be enough for anyone to come out with an acting cover letter that stands out from the pack. Therefore, you should be ready to follow some clever tips while writing the cover letter.

Here are four excellent tips that should guide the writing of an acting cover letter:

Tell the Agent Why You Are a Perfect Fit for Them

While looking through the cover letters of prospects, acting agents, just like other agents, are keen to see what makes a particular prospect the perfect fit for them. This is why your acting cover letter should clearly indicate your personality, with respect to how you’d fit into the acting profession. Your statement herein should define who you are (probably as a prospective actor or an up-and-coming actor), and what you seek to achieve with a career in acting. Without a clear statement of this in your cover letter, odds are that an acting agent wouldn’t know how they can help you.

Generally, a clear statement of objectives, artistic talent, etc., could be the passport for winning over the interest of an acting agent reviewing your cover letter.

Give Them the Hint That You’re a “Working Actor”

Clearly stating your artistic talent and your objectives is just one step toward winning the heart of an acting agent. While you need to take more steps going forward, one of these steps is to indicate in your cover letter that you’re a “working actor.”

By “working actor”, you’re expected to project yourself as a prospect (or an up-and-coming actor) who is doing something relevant or has done something relevant recently. That relevant thing could be a series of performances, which you pulled in the last three months, and which clearly demonstrate your acting skills. It could also be a movie project where you were lucky to showcase your skills in a particular scene.

Telling an acting agent about something relevant you did recently will likely create the impression that you’re a “working actor” that is worth being given the chance to work with them.

Don’t Go “Overboard”

It’s very important to keep your cover letter professional, irrespective of what position you seek to achieve with the letter. While putting together an acting cover letter, it’s important to spell out what you’re up to and what you can achieve with an acting career. But you shouldn’t make this an avenue for deviating from your artistic life into narrating your life story.

Inasmuch as your cover letter isn’t expected to contain irrelevant stories, you should endeavor to keep it professional. An acting agent may have to review the cover letters of several prospects, and as such, they barely have time to read through irrelevant elements.

Besides focusing strictly on your artistic life and why you think you’re a fit for an acting agent, one interesting way you can keep your cover letter professional is to avoid statements that unnecessarily narrate your dreams.

Don’t Get Too Formal with Your Address

Although there are cover letters, wherein the owners address agents using words like “Dear sir” etc., you don’t necessarily have to be too formal with your own address.

In writing an acting cover letter, you can relax your formality a bit by addressing the acting agent by name. If you do this the right way, chances are that the agent may begin to feel personally connected to you.

FAQs

What Are the Steps for Writing an Acting Cover Letter?

Earlier in this post, we discussed the steps for writing an acting cover letter. While all of the steps discussed are considered vital for the success of the cover letter, the foremost step is to do a background check about the acting agent you’d like to write the letter to. After that, you can proceed to the other steps which are as follows:

• Endeavor to establish rapport with the agent.
• Find out the right medium or channel for further communication.
• Keep on writing to the agent.

What Should I Bear in Mind While Writing an Acting Cover Letter?

When putting together a cover letter for an acting position, you need to bear several important things in mind. Earlier in this cover letter writing guide, we spelt out these important things as the clever tips to make your acting cover letter stand out. These tips are as follows:

• Tell the agent why you are a perfect fit for them.
• Give them the hint that you are a “working actor.”
• Don’t go “overboard.”
• Don’t get too formal with your address.

What Should I Do If I Don’t Get a Response to My Acting Cover Letter?

More often than not, acting agents get so busy that they might not have time to promptly reply DMs or read through a series of emails. So, if an agent doesn’t give you any feedback with regard to your first cover letter, you shouldn’t see this as a hint of disapproval.

You should instead continue to follow the social media handles of the agent, because doing this could hint you about the right time to send in a new cover letter. Note also that it’s very important to update your new cover letter with essential information that’s missing in the previous cover letter. While putting together your new cover letter, you shouldn’t only add a new headshot or reveal what new acting role(s) you can fit in, you should also be able to convince the agent that you’re a perfect fit for them.

Why Is It Important to Run a Background Check on an Acting Agent?

A background check on an acting agent involves using the internet, or most probably social media, in generating prior information about the agent. This is important because as a prospect who doesn’t have a link to a personal connection, social media could be your best bet for gaining initial access to an acting agent or learning about how to get the agent’s attention.

Some agents run active social media handles via which they regularly update followers about workshops, acting classes, etc. If you’re bent meeting an agent through such avenues, it’s up to you to find out the social media the agent uses, and then zero in on the one(s) they use most as they’ll most likely announce the dates of their upcoming classes or workshops therein.

Conclusion

Your acting cover letter is as important as all the other essentials you’re putting together toward landing an acting career. If you must come out with an excellent acting cover letter, you should be ready to invest a lot of resources in the writing of the letter.

Reference:

https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/how-to-write-cover-letter-acting-agents-75123/