demoreels

I offer Demo Reel editing for actors and other professionals.

The work is done on my system and I guarantee all work performed.

For a standard Demo Reel my rate is a flat $150.

My philosophy on an Actor's demo reel is this: Keep it simple. Your demo should have an understated style, letting the work speak for itself. The editing should not be the star of the demo, you should. That’s why people are watching it. You won’t get hired because you spent two weeks and thousands of dollars on your demo.

Some of the ads for demos get you in the door with a great looking price or fancy website, then you find out that you may not have the creative freedom you wanted (changes), or maybe you don't get an Editor to help you, or maybe the price goes up every hour you work. Well, that's not how I work.

I've made Actor demo reels for a local management company for their clients. This has allowed me to get this work down to a fast, yet very clean and elegant look and feel, for a good price. Of course, if you're looking for the mother of all demo reels, then I can accommodate you there as well.

My rate is $150 - flat. For this you get:

1. Editor, AVID system, storage, and suite for ½ day.

2. Broadcast resolution, titles & effects, music, professional look.

3. Master to VHS, DVD, or MiniDV (you must provide MiniDV deck or camera), and Quicktime.

4. FREE duplication!

Please see details below.

DETAILS ON DEMO REEL WORK

Know how you want to build your demo before you arrive. Try to previsualize it. Normally, the demos I make begin with a title over black for your name (other text is up to you) with or without music underneath, then go into a series of scenes or clips, then end with name over black with maybe a headshot and music. Usually, this takes up almost the entire time allotted. Remember, the more things you want cut together, the more changes to the existing footage, and the more complex editing you want, the more time it will take. Please plan ahead.

If you want your headshot in the video, please bring it on a CD-ROM or USB2 jump drive, or you can email it to me.. It should be a good high resolution image, in common files such as .PCT, .JPG, .TIF, etc. Or I can scan it for you, but this will cut into your time in the editing room. I would definitely recommend you having a professionally scanned version of your headshot in the first place, so you should do that ahead of time.

Your clips should be cued up if on tape. The best source is DVD. Digitizing from VHS, though it can be done, rarely turns out great because VHS, especially if recorded from another VHS or from TV, is not a great source. If you have sources on MiniDV or some other tape format, you must bring in a camera or player, with cables, so we can digitize that material. If you want your VHS tapes digitized Imust first bump them up to DVD. I can do this for you, but it will take up your editing time. I'd recommend taking all the VHS sources you want to keep for future use and dubbing them to DVD prfessionally.

If you have a number of clips, you should make a list before coming in so that no clip is missed.

Bring a couple of music CDs with songs you would like to add to your demo, almost like a theme. Please narrow the choices down to no more than 3 songs that you would like to try. Try to bring the original CD instead of compiling them on a CD that you recorded on. Not all recordable CDs, recording programs, drives, and software are compatible.

One suggestion for your demo is do not try to make a "theme demo," one that runs super long and has footage from movies you weren't even in, or try to "tell a story" or "make a statement" with the demo. Just put down several good clips in a neat, understandable, and classy manner. These make the best demos. You can't go wrong with this method and you will always be happy with it. The more flashy and "creative" your demo is, the more likely you are to change your mind on the whole thing a month later.

Payment must be made in cash at the end of the session. No master tapes/copies will be turned over without payment in full. Masters and copies can be held for a short time until payment is received.

DETAILS REGARDING ITEMS LISTED ON THE FLYERS AND WEB ADS

"Editor, Avid system, storage, and suite for 1/2 day." One-half day is equal to 5 hours of total work. This includes all digitizing, editing, titling, rendering, output to tape/DVD, and copies. Editing must be finished in time to reserve for audio level mixing and output to tape, which can be more than an hour (see #4 below).

"Broadcast resolution, titles & effects, music, professional look." This Avid system is equipped with 1:1 uncompressed resolution. And I can incorporate the most desired and useful video effects, generate titles, and cut in music of your choice. And the way I will build your demo will give it a professional look and feel. The more complicated effects, though, take time to build. This will work against your session time, and will not impress anyone.

"Mastering to VHS, 3/4", DVD, or MiniDV." My system has VHS and DVD decks, my 3/4" U-Matic deck is no longer operational. If you want to master to MiniDV you must bring your own MiniDV camera and cables. It is best if the camera has in/out jacks compatible with a standard TV or VHS recorder. Audio level monitoring on the camera is a big plus. Please let me know if you have questions.

"FREE duplication!" Output to tape/disk is free, but you must provide you own blank tapes/disks. I can provide them for you if you want, but the cost will be added to your bill. Also, there is a limit as to how many outputs I can make under this agreement. I will give you up to one tape-hour of outputs for free. One tape-hour is equal to one hour's worth of playback of your demo sequence on VHS or DVD. For example, if your demo is 6 minutes long, one tape-hour is equal to 10 outputs to tape (6min x 10tapes = 60min). More copies can be made, but will be at additional charge. For DVD it is a little different. A DVD and it's contents need to be prepared. For a professional submission the disc title & program title need to be assigned. And lastly, the disc itself needs to be "finalized" for playback. This takes time. So I would have to add 7min. per disc to the playback time value in calculating the "tape-hour" of the output. This will, of course, lessen the number of DVDs I can make for you in the time allotted. Of course, if you need to make more tapes or DVDs than our time allows, I can always do that for you, either at the end of our session or at another time. These will be charged at a flat rate of $25 per studio hour. I also offer Quicktime files as an option. I offer a small, low res one for posting online, and a larger, high res version for archive and copying. These also take time to export, sometimes up to an hour.