Professional headshots are the most important thing you can start your acting career in Hong Kong with along with your resume. This is your calling card and the easiest way to market yourself or make it easier for your agent to market you in Hong Kong. Your headshots are a way to present your appearance to casting directors so they can decide if you should be brought in for an audition or if they need to move on to the next candidate in line. It may seem a little unfair, but if they are casting specifically for a character that is Asian they will not consider you if you are not Asian. This is one point where race can be discriminated against in the entertainment industry, but it is not to make someone feel bad, but to fit the role they are trying to cast a part for.
Production companies in Hong Kong hire casting directors with the goal that the casting director will be able to find the right actor for the parts that they are currently casting for. This can involve having them sift through thousands of headshots per day until they find the actors or actor that will be the best fit for the parts that they are casting for and then the casting director will then bring them in to audition to see if that person will be the right fit for sure and if they fit the vision that the director has in mind for that character. Which is why it is important that you learn how to make a great impression everytime you walk into the audition room and this may even open you up for other parts too.
Casting directors have developed skills in how to take a look at a headshot and determine if that person has the experience they are looking for and can fit the part they are casting for in Hong Kong. They can also get a sense of whether you can even act, they can see this by just noting your expression. There is so much they can learn from a headshot including your training, brand and the type you fit into. This is why it is important to have solid headshots and footage showing your ability (demo reels) along with your resume, that lists your training and credits. Without having these things in Hong Kong it can make getting booked for a role much harder and you are making things more difficult for yourself without even trying at that point.
So the question now is what should an actor's headshot look like in Hong Kong? To put it simply, an actor’s headshot needs to show you clearly, have a good expression and look like you spent some money on it. Low budget, unprofessional headshots tend to perform poorly because casting directors (who look at thousands of these a day) can tell right away if you spent money on it and shot it with a dedicated headshot photographer. Their thinking goes, “If an actor has a low-budget headshot (one that doesn’t look expensive”, they probably won't take their career seriously and won’t be worth bringing in.”
Headshots should be stapled to the back of your acting resume in Hong Kong. Resumes should be cut down to size or printed on matching 8 x 10 inch paper. You should staple your headshot to your resume on all four corners, with the staples positioned a quarter of an inch away from the photo’s edges. Staple them together with the headshot facing up, so that the staple’s pincers are visible only on the resume side.
Alternatively, you can opt to have your resume printed directly on the back of your headshot. Some casting directors discourage this, however, as they prefer to separate your headshot and resume for filing. Printing your acting resume directly on the back of your headshot can also make it more complicated to update your resume. It is important to keep your resume up to date in Hong Kong. Having an up to date resume can ensure that you are noticed and will get more auditions in Hong Kong because casting directors will be able to clearly understand what experience you already have and the skills that you have as well without having to ask too many questions before setting up the audition.
