Welcome to Actingland.com, the world's leading online talent community. We offer so many great tools and services that it is often difficult to know where to start. This Getting Started Tutorial provides a step by step list of instructions that will help you navigate the member's area, get started and get the most out of your membership with us.

Profiles, Résumé & Descriptive Materials

Your personal profiles are web pages that display your description, contact information, list of skills, photographs, documents, your blog and even your full acting résumé. Create personal profile web pages so that others can find you and hire you for work.

Even if you don't have previous acting experience, you should still create personal profile web pages so you can list your description and contact info. Then talent agents and casting directors can locate you using our sophisticated search engine.

It is vital that you keep your contact information up to date and list your accurate and current biography. You'll also want to keep updating your work history and résumé as you go about your acting career. Your account is accessible 24/7 so that you can easily and conveniently update and modify your personal profile web pages as needed and as often as you like.

	Create a Public Profile Web Page Let casting professionals find you by creating a Public Profile web page. Keep in mind that your Public Profile web page is available to the general public. Anyone visiting our site may search for and view your Public Profile web page. Therefore, you should be selective on what personal information you post and what you feel comfortable listing online. For instance, you might not want to include your home address, personal telephone number(s) and your primary email address. Instead, you might list the address of your business or P.O. Box and list a secondary telephone number or call forwarding service. You might also want to use a secondary email address so you are not flooded with spam. Your Public Profile web page can be found using our search page and is also accessible via your own unique web address. Share your web address with others and they will be able to view your Public Profile web page online. You might even want to print your web address on your résumé or business cards.
	Upload Photographs Pictures are an important part of your personal profile web pages. Talent agents and casting directors often want to see what you look like before they grant you an audition. Don't worry if you do not have professional photos yet. Almost any picture is better than nothing. And you can always replace your pictures if you have better ones taken down the road. Also keep in mind, not all actors are beautiful, tall and thin. Actors come in all shapes and sizes. There are plenty of acting jobs for actors of all types. So please be proud of who you are and post your picture.
	Upload Documents Just like uploading photographs, text files and documents can be uploaded, too. If you've already written a résumé and cover letter or have other descriptive documents you want to share with others, you can easily attach them to your personal profile web pages.
	Create Your Résumé Our Résumé Builder tool helps you easily and conveniently create a perfectly formatted acting résumé. Just plug your information into the defined fields and click the button. Instantly, a PDF file is generated. You can print the PDF, save it to your computer and include it on your personal profile web pages. Once attached to your personal profile web page, you can click on the PDF link to open the document in a new browser window. Additionally, you can integrate your complete résumé into your personal profile web pages for easy viewing.
	Get Blogging Create and publish your own personal online journal/diary/scrapbook... or whatever. Our blog (web log) builder removes the technical barriers usually associated with Internet publication. Our powerful, yet easy to use, interface makes it easy for almost anyone, even people with little or no technical background, to update and maintain their blog. Our blogging software utilizes a newly developed rich text editor that allows you to format your messages to your liking. Simply type or cut and paste your message into the text area to post your message. Your new blog entry then appears online instantly.

Guides & Advice

As most beginning actors quickly learn, the hardest information to come by is the inside tips and tricks that are needed to launch or further your acting career. If you follow and apply the information we've provided, not only will you find a greater understanding and appreciation of the film and television industries, but you will learn what is expected of you as you start out in this most exciting of businesses.

	Read our Articles, Interviews Guides & Instructions If you are new to acting, start by reading our Beginner Guides. Through these guides, we can help you understand the casting process and which filmmakers are involved. We can teach you about getting headshots, creating an acting résumé and even choosing acting schools, colleges and classes. You'll also find we've provided articles for our more advanced actors. Our articles are written by successful actors, agents, casting directors and producers. If you take the time to read our articles and browse our advice columns you will gain a considerable amount of acting knowledge.
	Review Your Showbiz Vocabulary Filmmakers have their own very specialized vocabulary. You'll hear all kinds of crazy words and phrases on set and on location. It is important, as an actor, that you can communicate with others on the job. Therefore, you should brush up on your showbiz terminology. What's a Gaffer? Who's the Best Boy? If you don't know a movie making term, look it up in our massive showbiz glossary.

Messaging & Communications

In show business it's often not what you know, it's who you know. Networking is a vital part of the acting career pursuit. After you have completed your personal profile web pages, created your résumé and have read our many great acting guides and instructional articles, you can begin to utilize our career networking tools to meet and communicate with actors like yourself.

	Browse our Message Boards Use our message boards to communicate with others. Introduce yourself and share your acting experiences with us. The most current messages are always posted at the top of the page. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to compose a new message. One note, your messages are not anonymous. Your name and a link to your Public Profile web page will accompany your message. This way you can easily see and meet the author of every message.
	Network with Friends We make it easy for you to locate and communicate with other members. Add members with similar interests and values to your friends lists. Then start building career relationships by communicating with members of your friends list. Friends lists allow you to group members with similar interests so you can easily share experiences, advice and acting tips.
	Compose & Read Internal Messages My Messages is our own simple messaging system. My Messages works just like any other web based email program. My Messages makes it easy to send messages to other actors/extras and it provides a great way to communicate with agents and casting directors. Our registered industry members can contact you through this internal messaging system which helps you keep relevant acting messages separate from your regular email.
	Schedule Appointments Schedule and save all of your appointments, interviews and audition dates in one convenient location using your personal calendar. Our calendar utility is pretty simple. You might already be using a more advanced calendar, but this is still a handy feature and allows you to keep your acting specific dates and times together with your other acting information.

Agents & Agencies

If you are willing to do a little work on your own, you can greatly increase your chances of being cast. Almost all actors will at some time or another send their headshot and résumé through the mail to an agent or casting director. This is an easy way to get noticed by the people casting films and television shows.

	Locate Extras Casting Directors and Agencies Looking for an easy way to get working and gain some valuable experience at the same time? Start as a movie extra. Working as an extra is a great way to get your feet wet and start meeting the people who can help you move on to other exciting acting opportunities. We've provided the addresses of several popular extras talent agents and agencies so that you may introduce yourself to them by mailing a photograph and short cover letter describing your acting ambitions and goals.
	Contact Your Local SAG/AFTRA Talent Agent Provided is a comprehensive listing of Screen Actors Guild (SAG/AFTRA) franchised talent agents in the United States. Use this information to send your headshot and résumé to a couple agents near you. The more exposure you get, the more likely you are to get work. However, before you begin contacting talent agents, please visit our Acting Guides and Instructions area to make certain your materials are properly formatted and in order. Unprepared actors who send incomplete, sloppy or unprofessional materials are unlikely to get work and are simply wasting an agent's valuable time.

Resources & Tools

At some point in time you might want to locate an acting school or coach and find yourself a professional photographer. You might even want to contact your local film commission to inquire about upcoming productions around your home town. To assist you, we've provided contact information for this very purpose.

	Find Acting Schools & Coaches Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned pro, you can dramatically increase your skill level in just a few short weeks by attending an acting class or acting school. We provide an extensive list of acting schools and coaches. Our lists are broken down by state and province so you can narrow your search to areas around your hometown.
	Identify Local Photographers & Photo Studios As an actor, your headshot will be one of your principal marketing tools. Therefore, choose your photographer carefully. Along with an extensive list of qualified photographers, we provide instructions on what to look for and how to choose a photographer in your area.
	Contact Your Local Film Commission Film commissions provide a wealth of information on current and upcoming film and television projects. When movie crews leave the studios to shoot on location, film commissions provide a range of services and contribute by scouting locations, providing research assistance and acting as a liaison between the filmmakers and the local governmental agencies. Just as the film commissions help the production companies, they can help you. You can contact your local film commission to obtain information on current and upcoming productions.

Account Information

Your account information is what we use internally to identify our members. Should we need to contact you, we will do so using the contact information you provide on your Account Information page. This information is kept separate from your profile data. Therefore, you may display a different name and completely different contact information on your personal profile web pages.

	Distribute Your Web Address / URL Your unique web address / URL is a direct link to your Public Profile web page. This provides an easy way for others to view your profile and résumé. Share your web address with your friends, family, co-workers / classmates, acting coach and everyone else to gain maximum exposure. You might even want to print it on your résumé and your business cards. To protect the identity of minors, only members who are 13 years old or older can display their public profile web page. Therefore, you MUST enter your date of birth when creating or editing your public profile web page. If you omit your date of birth, our software will assume you are under the age 13 and will display an error page rather than your profile web page.
	Update Account Information It is vital that your account information is accurate and up to date. We understand that you might move or have to change your email address. When you do so, please remember to login and update your contact information. Should you ever forget your username and password we will gladly email the information to the email address on file. If you can no longer access the email address that we have on file, it will delay our password retrieval efforts as we must first verify your identity.

There you have it. That's an overview of the member's area and the tools and services we offer. As you can see, you have at your fingertips, the essential information that can help you launch or further your acting career. If you faithfully use these tools and services and you read our acting guides and advice columns you will be successful in your acting endeavors.