Q: Who are you?
Anthony Holmes is an established specialist editor of actors’ reels, with over 25 years’ experience editing showreels & demo reels, working directly with actors, talent management agencies and casting directors around the world. He has a proven track record of producing successful showreels that help actors get more work. Anthony is an expert in the field; he is a published author, having written articles about reels in The Actors & Performers’ Yearbook and on multiple talent agency websites, has teamed up with casting directors for Q&A sessions at industry events, and he is a guest tutor at RADA advising on showreels. Whether you’re a recent graduate, or an established name, we can help focus your career with a successful showreel.
Q: What is a showreel, and why do I need one?
A showreel, also known as a demo reel, or simply as an acting reel, is an essential marketing tool for all actors, television broadcasters & hosts; a short edited video showcase helping them get called in for a casting, or getting that foot in the door with a new agent.
Q: What are individual character reels or scene clips, and should I have them?
Alongside a traditional reel, many actors now use character reels – edited compilations highlighting a single character or type of performance – or individual scene clips, focusing on a single scene that can be lightly reworked to make you fully lead the moment. Both formats give your performance more space to shine than a standard main reel, letting your range show and making your strengths clear. Even if you haven’t considered them before, these clips are increasingly valued by casting directors and can help set you apart.
Q: Why should I use a specialist showreel editor, and not edit the reel myself / get a friend to edit / use an all-in-one service provider?
With over 25 years experience editing reels, and an extensive network of talent managers, agents, and casting directors, Anthony knows what makes an effective and successful showreel.
We provide a personalized service, and our aim is to build up a successful ongoing working relationship where we help you to get more work, and work again together on future updates. Many of our current clients have been with us for years, and we continue to help them get more work.
An actor’s life isn’t 9-5, and we’re there to support you any time. Need an urgent re-edit for a casting at 9am tomorrow morning, or need your reel to be uploaded at midnight for a US casting director? Just give us a call!
We provide an honest and truthful service; if we don’t believe a shot works for any reason, we’ll let you know – clients often comment that our advice has been invaluable.
We can re-edit the narrative of scenes to give you and your character more screen time and more of a focus in the scene, and of course use only the material most likely to help get the type of roles you’re looking for. We can edit alternate versions of your showreel for specific purposes; in addition to a main drama showreel, we can create a separate ‘comedy reel’ or ‘continental/US reels’ to assist you getting more specialist work or work overseas.
We have a good working relationship with many managers and agents, and are happy to liaise with your agent to produce a showreel they will be proud to promote as a showcase for your skills.
Q: My footage is in a range of formats…can you use it?
Yes! Whether your material is in online (all formats from YouTube to Netflix), a digital file (.mov, .mp4, .flv, .avi – or any other format) or on DVD (or even VHS!) we can use it in your showreel.
Q: I’ve got work on television or a streaming platform but don’t have a copy – can you get the footage?
Yes! In most cases we can record or download footage in HD or 4K where available. Just let us know when your programme is airing or released, and we can obtain it and keep it ready for your next reel update.
Q: I don’t have copies of all of my material – can you source it for me? Some of my material is online at Netflix/Hulu/YouTube/Vimeo/iPlayer, etc.
Yes, depending on the platform and availability, we can record, download or extract material from television, streaming services and online platforms. Simply obtaining the footage does not necessarily add editing time, but any additional work needed to review, select, prepare, clip, convert or otherwise work with the material could be billable depending on what’s involved.
Q: I’ve got work on television or a streaming platform but don’t have a copy – can you get the footage?
Yes! We provide an aircheck service for clients, recording in HD high definition or 4k where possible, allowing for a much better technical quality than recording onto DVD. Just let us know when you’re next on tv, and we’ll record it and add to your folder so it’s ready whenever you are to next update your reel.
Q: Where are you? I’m in London/LA/NY/Australia/Europe.
We’re based in the UK and Los Angeles, and work with actors and talent representatives worldwide. We can take payment in most currencies. UK clients are welcome to visit the studio and be present while we edit, although most clients prefer to liaise by email or phone. We upload private draft edits for you and your agent to review and give feedback on before the reel is finalized.
Q: What are your rates?
Editing is at an hourly rate of £95 per hour ($125 US/hr). It usually takes anywhere between one and three hours to edit a typical reel, depending on your material…please contact us with details for a quote. If you have many scenes to work with, it may take a little longer than this, or if you have only a very small amount of material it may take less; please contact us and we’ll advise.
Q: How long will it take to edit my reel?
Every reel is different, but around two hours is often enough to create a strong reel when you have a shortlisted selection of scenes ready to work from. More involved projects may take closer to three hours, and on rare occasions longer, particularly when there are many more scenes to work through, full films or episodes need to be reviewed to identify the strongest material, or there are multiple rounds of revisions from you or your representatives.
Turnaround is usually a few business days, depending on the amount of material and how busy our schedule is at the time. If you have a genuine casting deadline, faster turnaround can often be arranged, including 24–48 hour or same-day priority work where availability allows.
Q: I’ve got a few pieces to include, but I don’t know which scenes to include…can you help?
Absolutely – we can watch your material and advise on best scenes and shots to include, as well as most effective running order. The amount of review time depends on how much footage there is to work with and what is contained within it, so larger volumes of material can add to the overall editing time and cost. Where appropriate, we’ll check in with you as the review progresses before undertaking substantially more work.
Q: I know what scenes I want to include. Can I have any input with the editing?
Yes, of course! We welcome input from both you and your agent. We will advise if we don’t think a scene works for any reason, and often suggest reworking scenes to give you more of a focus, but if you know exactly what you want to include, that’s fine. If you’d like to visit the studio while we edit, you’re welcome to do, or we can liaise over the phone or via email, with a draft work-in-progress edit uploaded to a private password-protected webpage for you and your agent to review.
Q: How long should my showreel be?
Each showreel is tailored to the material you have, crafted to target your desired audience of casting directors/producers. We usually advise around 3-4 minutes, but this depends on material, your intended audience, and the level at which you’re working. More established and high profile talent can often have the luxury of longer reels. As a general rule: Your showreel needs to be short, punchy and to the point, and show a character range appropriate for the roles you’re applying for.
Q: Do you also edit voice reels?
Yes! Our voicereel clients include such luminaries as Sir David Jason.
Depending on the nature of your voice work, as well a final audio reel, we can also provide a corresponding video giving context to the work; for example scenes from animated features or videogames. We can record footage from videogames.
Q: Can you edit material in other languages?
Yes. We regularly work with international clients and can edit material in a wide range of languages. Where dialogue needs to be assessed closely, we may ask you to provide a translation or subtitles so we can make the strongest editorial choices.
Q: Do you film showreels from scratch?
We don’t film showreels from scratch, although we can help clients with editing supplied self-tape or workshop material where appropriate.
Q: Why should I use you?
Don’t just take our word for it! See what others have said about our showreels on our Testimonials page, and follow us on Instagram or Facebook to see some recent success stories for clients!
Q: I’m a talent manager or agent. Can you help?
Yes, please contact us. We edit showreels directly for talent management agencies, and can incorporate your house style & branding on any video titles on your clients showreels, and can provide reels in formats suitable for upload to your website and to your clients’ preferred casting platforms (Spotlight, Actors Access, etc). Or we can upload reels to casting platforms or your website on your behalf. If you don’t currently feature your clients’ reels on your website and would like to do so, we can arrange for the videos to be uploaded here, and provide the code for your web designer to ’embed’ the videos so they play in a frame within your website.
Q: I’ve got some more questions not answered here. How can I find more about your showreel editing service, or make a booking?
Easy – contact us online here.
Click here to return to our main page, and view some more samples of showreels we’ve edited.