How to Label Acting Clips on Your Casting Profiles

Whether you’re sending footage to an agent, or looking to impress a casting director, it’s important to have footage of your acting you can easily share around. This might be a showreel, or a series of short clips of your acting that showcase your talent. Typically, this footage will be available on your casting profile (whether that’s Actors Access, Showcast, or Spotlight).

When it comes to making an impression, the way you organise your clip library is a small but vital part of nailing your casting profile.

But what should you title the footage of you acting, and how can you make it more likely for people to watch your work? We’re diving into several options for labelling and organising your footage below, to help you keep your acting profiles looking slick and professional.

How to Label Self Tape Acting Clips

Firstly, a word of caution. Here we are specifically talking about clips that you are going to use as either work samples on a casting profile, or as supplementary material for your agent to send to casting to support a submission. If you want to know how to label your audition files, we cover that briefly below.

How to Label an Audition Clip

If you are submitting work for an audition to send directly to casting, this is not the same as labelling the clips on your casting profile. Labelling an audition tape is a different matter entirely. 

For an audition clip, make sure your clearly label:

• Your name
• The role you’re auditioning for
• The scene & take (if applicable)

It might look something like this:

FirstNameLastName_ROLE_Scene1_Take1

This will help casting to easily select their favourites, and to avoid creating extra work for them when they are preparing clips to send to producers and directors. It’s an easy way to respect their time and energy. Also, it helps you keep your own acting files organised! Win-win.

How to Label Clips on Your Actors Access (or other casting profile)

No matter what casting profile you’re uploading footage to, clearly labelling it helps people viewing your profile decide what content to watch and gets them excited about seeing your acting!

Before we dive in, let me emphasise that there is no ‘one right way’ to label acting clips.

Just as the days of ‘the showreel’ being one single thing are long gone, so is the idea that there is one right way to present it. Now, your ‘showreel’ can be anything from an edited single video file of professional footage to a series of short self tapes uploaded separately. Or even a combination of the two!

At the end of the day, it’s all about making your footage serve you and increase your opportunities as an actor. With this in mind, the way you label your footage should have exactly the same goal.

“As a talent manager, I can tell you that the more specific message these can send to casting, the more auditions it will get you.” – Wendy Alaine Wright, Manager

Read on to see some examples of how you can label your footage, and advice on which labelling techniques to use, when.

How to Title and Label your Showreel

If you are an actor who is using one single video as your showreel, it’s a pretty simple task to label it. The name of the game here is keeping things super clear, concise, and relevant.

FirstName LastName Showreel 2026

While it’s not necessary to include the year, it can help signal to casting that the footage is relevant and up to date. Never a bad thing!

How To Title Professional Acting Clips

For professional footage of your acting, it’s best to keep the labelling clear and direct. Make it easy for casting to see what the footage is before they begin watching. There are a few formats in which you can do this.

Show Name (Network/Format) | Character Name

ex. The Last of Us (HBO) | Dina

ex. Project Hail Mary (Film) | Ryland

This format clearly states what the footage is from and your involvement in the project.

Genre (Role Size) 

ex. Medical Procedural (Co-Star)

ex. Family Sitcom (Recurring)

This format highlights the genre, and can also indicate the role size in the title of your clip, to help give context to the types of roles you’ve played.

How to Label Self Tape Footage

Using self tape scenes to help support your casting profiles and give an indication of the type of work you can do. Even if you haven’t yet been cast in that kind of role! Typically these scenes will be from 45-90 seconds and give a taste of what you can do in a variety of different roles.

“That should be at my disposal. Give them what they need to help them get you what you want.” – Jason Lockhart, Agent

This type of footage can really help demonstrate your skills. Also, if you or your agent are looking to support a submission for an audition, or an existing audition tape, this footage can be incredibly useful as further evidence.

ACCENT (if using) Genre + Character Type

ex. Sitcom – Feisty Mom

ex. Drama – Crime Victim

ex. UK Comedy – Quirky Love Interest

This keeps it very clear, concise, and easy for casting to look through. But, if using an accent that’s not your own, be sure to label it! The typical convention for this is to use all caps, and an abbreviation of the accent region: AUS, US, UK, etc.

Some genre examples you may wish to use: Comedy, Drama, Mockumentary, Procedural, Sitcom, Dramedy, Romantic Comedy, Action, Crime Drama, Legal Drama, + plenty more!

Character Type

ex. Sassy Cashier

ex. Young Lawyer

ex. Emotional Father

You may also choose to just focus on the type of character you’re portraying, especially if the tape is mainly for supplementary purposes.

Storytelling Title

This last format can be a little more ‘out there’ but in the right circumstances can really work to spark interest! Here are a few options for you to try out, with examples:

[Archetype] + [Strong Verb] + [Situation or Circumstances]

Gives an indication of the type of character and the power dynamic in the scene.

ex. Vengeful Boss Shuts Down New Employee

[Surprise or Unexpected Twist]

Shows a subversion of expectations

ex. Quiet Student Finally Speaks Up

[Character or Job Title] + [Trait or Behaviour]

ex. CEO Under Pressure

ex. Cop with a Heart of Gold

These storytelling titles are best for generating curiosity and giving a preview of the content of the scene. Pick and choose the time to use these ones. But, they can be super fun!

The Best Way to Title Your Acting Clips

In the end, the best way to title your clips is highly subjective. Here we’ve laid out lots of options to help you find the best fit for whatever footage you’re looking to share! Remember that the best title is one that helps your work be seen and appreciated, and in different contexts that may change.

If you’re ever in doubt, err on the side of simplicity and trust your own judgment. The title of the clip is not, in the end of the day, the thing that’s going to book you the job or not! But by being intentional about how you present your work to the world you reaffirm your professionalism as an actor and add value to the casting process.