help with my cover letter? is it good? Sending it to agencies. :]?

Question

ok so i'm going to send my resume, headshot, and cover letter to to some agencies and try to get an agent.

i'm 13 and what to become an actress.

can you tell me if this is good for a cover letter?

tell me what to take out or what to add too pelase :]
i'd really appreciate it.

Dear AGENCY,
i have always loved to act ever since i can remember. since i love acting so much, i've decided to take the next step and find an agent. i'm hoping that you'd be that agency to help me.

i'm very dedicated to what i do when it comes to acting. i know that i'm worth the time because i've taken acting and commercial classes. not to mention that i sing and act in school.

if you are intersted, please give me a call at ----------. thank you for your time.

jasmin

i found the agencies on SAG.org

Answer 1

Hi,

a couple of things.

1) find out who the person is that you want to send it to and address the letter to that person. That's important! It shows that you at least took the time to find out. That get's you points! How do you find out? If you are in a big city like NY or LA, there are industry publications like Ross Reports or NY/LA Agencies that have a complete listing of all the talent agencies and all the people/associate agents that work in their offices.

2) You say that "since I love acting...I've decided to take the next step..." The next step after loving acting is not to get an agent. You go on to say that you took classes later on. That part should come right after your expression of love for acting.

3) In the second paragraph, I would make reference to your resume and where you've studied as well. Hopefully it will have been in a reputable institution. That is something that I have learned over the last year and a half. Where you study and with whom you study is often important to agents and casting directors, especially if you don't have much acting experience.

3) I would also indicate what you think your type is and what kind of roles you think you would be right for and why you think that. If you can do that at 13, you will probably gain some more points! It will show that you are serious.

4) Yes, correct the spelling errors.

5) Yes, keep your parents involved in what you are doing at all times!

6) In the last part, instead of saying "please give me a call...", I learned a tip from someone a couple of years ago, that gives you permission to call. You simply write something like: "I'm looking forward to meeting with you. I will contact you by phone by/on (such and such a date). That way it gives you permission to follow up with a phone call. Leave your e-mail address, so that if they don't want you to call, they will send you a mail and tell you not to or to tell you to come in and meet with them. This forces them to respond. Does it work all the time? No. But if you just write, "please call me" and at the same time, you have an air of inexperience, you may never hear from them again. Just make sure you give them enough time to open all their mail and to process and sort it all. If it’s a big agency, it could take a couple of weeks. Don’t waste that phone call too soon, because then they will tell you that “They will call you back!”

7) Leave your phone number as well and check your messages frequently! If you don't, you might miss an opportunity. That is another opportunity for you to show that you are responsible.

8) OH YES! I don't know what your e-mail address is, but please make sure that it is something professional! I have seen so many e-mail address of teenagers like: [e-mail] or [e-mail] or [e-mail]. If you want to project a professional image, you have to cure all the details. They can make a difference!

Jasmin, if you ask 10 different people this question, you might very well get different answers. The things I'm telling you are what worked for me. You have to take all this information, talk to your parents and come up with what works for you. Some of it will be trial and error.

What's important is to try and put yourself in the shoes of the person reading the letter. They are busy. They get thousands of letters. As a matter of fact, many of the casting agents don't even read all their letters personally. Their assistants do. So you have to get past them first!
Think about what you can do to be different and stand out from the rest. You will want to project an image of professionalism, honesty, reliability, someone who is prepared and has done her homework.

Make sure your headshot and resume are up to speed. That's a whole 'nother story!

If you need some advice about resumes and cover letters, an excellent book is Acting As A Business: Strategies For Success by Brian O'Neil. He has several examples of both in his book.

And don't forget to KEEP STUDYING! Don't stop. Get into a good class and stay there.

To finish off, I'll send you to two resources I have created:
1) a free ebooklet called: What It Takes To Become An Actor. Just go to the link here below my name, sign in on the right-hand side of the screen and you can have access to the document and save it to your computer.

2) here is a page that will tell you what to do after you have the cover letter, resume and headshot packages together: http://www.actingcareerstartup.com/how_to_get_an_agent.html

Hope that helps Jasmin! Good luck to you!

Tony
ceo
http://www.actingcareerstartup.com/acs-blog.html

Answer 2

Follow Tony's advice to the letter and give him the best answer now. Nothing more can be said as long as your parents know what going on. You're letter really should sound a bit more professional and it is full of typos. Even one of the other answerers made suggestions full of typos! Oy!!!

Good luck to you though. I hope things work out well for you. And if you found the agent on SAG's website, they are most certainly LEGIT!

Answer 3

First thing, to impress your desired agent prospects, you need to pay attention to detail - no misspellings or errors in grammar. Second, you need to stick to the point of your cover letter. In a cover letter, you need to specifically introduce the "whys" that are beyond the presentation of your resume. Discuss things like availability, desired pay, or desired locale, or other working conditions, either restrictions or options. The cover letter is where you can bring up more forcefully WHY they should be considering you (I was selected in an amateur tryout from over 200 applicants for a role as ..., my role as ... in ... received extremely positive reviews in 6 different publications... and so on). Hope this helps?

Answer 4

It has a nice personable quality.

However, instead of saying "...because I've taken" classes, consider something like "...because I've done very well in" classes. You don't need to specify that you've taken classes -- they should be listed on your resume.

Also, you have some typos, including capitalization problems. First letters of sentences are always capitalized.

And it's great that your letter is nice and brief -- a lot of people go on and on in their cover letters.

Good luck!

Answer 5

I would ad a vid of you acting in my map. That would help them evaluate you. I would also include a cv with the major schols and plays I had.
As for the letter I would rather go like:
Dear Agency ......
I would like to become one of your actors. Therefore I sent you my resume, headshot and a video of me acting. Please consider it seriosly becouse its my dream to be a professional actor and I am hundred percent into it.

If you dont need my servises now please save my letter for future considerations. Youre also free to send info on me to other agencys/production companys that want me.

Any tips on classes, auditions and production companys/agents i my region would be helpfull.

Please respond by phone to .........
Thanks in advance, Jasmin.

Something like that maybe. Its more straightforward and open up a lot off doors. Johan

Answer 6

I think it's good but just make sure the agency in legit!just 2 b on the safe syde.good luck

Answer 7

Show it to your parents so they know what you are up to!

How do you know the agencies are legitimate?