Some of you may have noticed that we’ve been a little quieter on the blogs recently.

That’s because our Community Manager has been prioritising the Profile Clinic instead of the Advice Centre. Thousands of Supporting Artistes signed up when we launched the clinic, and each profile takes several minutes to comb over and ensure everything is uploaded and filled out the best it can be. 

This week, our Community Manager details the most common mistakes and overlooked features on your profile, as well as the most frequently asked profile queries.

Mistake #01: You have an old or incorrect postcode on your profile’s address, or are missing one altogether.

The Entertainment Partners platform uses postcodes to find people who live in a certain radius to the filming locations. Without a postcode on your profile, you will appear in almost none of our bookers’ searches.

Mistake #02: You’re a driver but you’ve failed to list this on your profile.

Towards the bottom of the “Key Information” tab, there’s a box to confirm if you have a vehicle.
THIS is how you tell us that you can drive to a location without relying on public transport.

You may not have confirmed this before because you didn’t own a vehicle when you first made a profile. Now is a good chance to double check that you’ve updated this to let us know that you’re now a driver.

Only inform us that you are a driver if you definitely have access to the vehicle 100% of the time.
We don’t want to find out on the day of the booking that actually your spouse or parents are using the shared family car and now you can’t make it to set.

Mistake #03: You haven’t filled in all your measurements.

We often search for artistes using measurement parameters.

If you have some key measurements missing, you simply will not appear in many of our searches.

Without key measurements, our bookers cannot consider you for period costumes, special outfits, body double roles and Stand-In opportunities!

This is especially painful if you’ve uploaded most of your measurements but are missing just one or two key ones.

Look, we know a couple of the measurements are quite obscure; your sleeve measurement is unlikely to make or break a booking. But this shouldn’t stop you from trying to complete every measurement as best you can.

Men: How to Measure Yourself

Women: How to Measure Yourself

For men, key measurements include Height, Collar, Chest, Waist, Trouser Waist, Inside Leg and Shoe size.

For women, key measurements include Height, Bust, Cup, Waist, Hip, Dress Size, and Shoe size.

Doubles and Stand-Ins need to match the principal’s measurements by half an inch on every measurement in order to be considered.

All of the measurements are in inches.

Use this opportunity to double-check now that all your measurements are accurate and complete.

Tip for Men: Your waist is the smallest circumference around your torso - just above the navel. Your trouser waist is the size you buy your trousers in. It’s common for these measurements to not be exactly the same, but if the difference is considerable, it’s likely you’ve recorded these incorrectly.

Extra Tip: Costume PAs will often measure you at the start of fittings. Use this opportunity to double check your sizes and update your profile accordingly.

Mistake #04: You’re hyper-focused on your Main / Face photos.

Don’t get us wrong, the Main and Face photos are key for first impressions. But your Current Look photos are always your most important photo category - they're the photos most often sent to productions. Many profiles are missing photos with Current Look tags entirely.

You should have a full set of Current Look photos uploaded onto your profile (Full Length, Front, Side & Back).

When we ask for updated photos, Current Look is the category we’re talking about.

These photos should be updated around once every 8 weeks. Your photos have the date-of-upload visible in the lookbooks that we send to productions and Hair & Make-Up departments don’t like photos older than 3 months.

These don't have to be professional headshots - simple passport-style selfies will do.

If you have Professional Headshots, they’re better suited for the Main & Face slots.

Tip: If your Main or Face photos are locked, you are looking at your Entertainment Partners profile, not your Extra People profile. To contact Entertainment Partners for issues concerning your Entertainment Partners profile, the support email you need is ukartistsupport@ep.com

Notice the date of upload at the bottom of each photo. 

Try to keep your expression, wardrobe and make-up neutral, with your hair down naturally so productions have a great idea of what you look like and what length and style your hair currently is. Don’t tie your hair into a bun! Don’t wear hats or sunglasses.

Tip: For the Current Look photos, only the Full Length needs to be full length - the others should be much closer to your face so we can clearly see what your current hair length and style is.

Mistake #05: You haven’t uploaded a DBS or updated your old one.

A DBS Certificate isn’t compulsory, but we do handle a few productions a year that require all Supporting Artistes to have a valid DBS uploaded to their profile - in British Film & TV, a Basic Disclosure certificate remains valid for 18 months from the date of issue.

You can obtain a DBS certificate through the government website. They cost £18 and take about two weeks to arrive through the post.

Tip: If you use the DBS Update service, uploading a screenshot of your online DBS portal will suffice. You will need to supply a new screenshot every 18 months.

Why?

Since 2016, PACT (Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television) have required all artistes working on productions commissioned by the BBC, Channel 4, Channel 5, ITV and Sky to have a DBS which shows that the artiste has no unspent convictions for sex offences.

Without a DBS uploaded onto your profile, you cannot be considered for any of these productions.

If you want to upload a copy of your DBS certificate you can upload this as an image in (.jpeg or .png) format in the ID Documents section at the bottom of your profile.

Mistake #06: You haven’t listed all the counties you’re willing to travel to.

In the first tab of your profile - Key Information - there is a dropdown list titled “Counties You Are Available In”. This is the best way to inform us of all the counties you are willing to travel to for Supporting Artiste work. 

Tip: This should include the county you live in!

Frustratingly, the Entertainment Partners platform doesn’t let profiles list more than one home address on your profile, so this Counties tab is the best way to inform us of where your second address is or where your friends/relatives’ addresses are.

Note: Be truthful. Don’t just include every county in the UK. Only mention the counties that you genuinely wouldn’t have an issue travelling to for a one-day job. We don’t want to contact you for roles in Glasgow when you’re actually not willing to travel further north than Merseyside.

Profile FAQ #01: Do I need Professional Headshots?

Photos taken with a camera phone, as long as they are well-lit, well framed and in focus, are perfectly suitable for landing Supporting Artiste work. 

If you do have Professional Headshots, they are more suitable for your Main/Face slots, not your Current Look slots. Professional Headshots could have been taken years ago, and so some productions are suspicious of them.

Profile FAQ #02: I don’t look like my age - how can I inform you of my playing age?

Our bookers always use their casting eye to judge everyone’s playing age. This is yet another important reason to have great, clear photos on your face on your profile.

What’s more, the age boundaries that bookers use for each role is generous to make sure we don’t miss anyone who looks older or younger than their actual age. For example, if the brief wants 60 year olds, we’ll be looking at SA’s between 50-75.

Profile FAQ #03: How do I land more featured roles?

We’re a background agency - we predominantly cast for background roles. Featured roles are few and far between, and when we cast for featured roles, we use the same casting criteria that we do for background roles (looks, measurements, location, relevant skills). We don’t have a special list of artistes that we only approach for featured work.

Moreover, many Supporting Artistes land their features by chance on the day by being picked out by lead Designers, the 1st AD or the Director - they weren’t cast as a Featured SA but got it by being in the right place at the right time. Often we don't know which roles are going to be featured until the Crowd 2nd AD lets us know how you were used afterwards.

As such, there is no ‘method’ to get more featured roles except to make sure all of your details are up-to-date and the photos are the best they can be.

Having said that, some featured roles will require candidates to submit a self-tape of them performing a line of dialogue or two, so making sure that you have the technology and the space to record a good-quality video is a decent way to prepare for featured roles. Similarly, putting any qualifications and skills under the “Casting Information” tab on your profile, including acting, will help to differentiate you when we approach artistes for more demanding roles. Be truthful when detailing your skills and qualifications. Artistes that have lied about their expertise to land work have been struck off the books.

We’ve added a Bio Box to your profile!

Many Crowd 2nd ADs love to know a little bit more about the Supporting Artistes that they want to book. What’s their life experience? What’s their career? What’s their main talent?

And we’d love to be able to tell them! So within the Casting Information tab, you will now find a text box for you to discuss yourself in depth. Let us know more about you!

Don’t know where to start? Start with your Film & TV experience and expertise:

Are you a full-time Supporting Artiste?
Have you done many featured, core & dialogue roles?
Have a link to an acting showreel or voice-over demo?
Have prosthetics & physical performance experience?
Have you ever worked as crew? If so, which departments?
Are you an experienced Stand-In/Body Double for a big-name star?
Done loads of filming days but just haven’t done any through Extra People yet?

Tell us here!

We hoped this blog has given you a better idea of how to improve your profile.

The email address to use for any profile-related issue is epcommunity@extra-people.com

If you have any pay queries please contact artistsupport@wegotpop.com

If you have any booking enquiries please contact the booker you were contacted by on their email address, or reply to the last email concerning that project. Your email will go to a dedicated email for that production.

If you have general enquiries that are not pay or booking related, please contact team@extra-people.com

The Advice Centre blogs will now return to a more common schedule now that the Profile Clinic backlog has become manageable. 

If you haven’t already, be sure to sign up to the Advice Centre newsletter to be notified when we release new blogs.

All the best,
Extra People.