I will take 2 small blogs to talk about the differences between commercial and theatrical headshots.
Commercial headshots are used by your commercial agents to submit you for… well… commercials. Commercial submissions are done very quickly, so your agent will never send a hardcopy of your headshot to a casting director. They will submit you on-line only. This is really easy for them. In fact, it’s so easy that there are many more submissions for one commercial spot now than ever before. This means your commercial photo has to stand out better than ever.
So… what makes it commercial? Well, commercials are seen nationally and internationally, so your commercial headshot can’t be too edgy or sexy. You have to appeal to a bigger audience than just Los Angeles or New York. It should also be warm, kind, agreeable, sweet, straightforward and accessible.
That sounds easy enough, but trends are changing. A top Los Angeles casting director recently told me they wanted their client’s commercial headshots with NONE of the following:
leaning
turning
hunching
profiling
peeking into the shot
over layering their clothing.
They want their actors to be looking straight ahead, warm and approachable. That’s what makes a great commercial headshot today, in the age of internet submissions with hundreds of other actors competing for one role. Granted, that is only one agency, however, it makes a lot of sense that the actor needs to clearly come through the headshot and it’s really never about the photographer.
Next, I will talk about what a “Theatrical headshot” is.
