Actor Showreels · Liverpool
Make them want to watch the next scene.
Professional showreel filming in Liverpool, shot and edited by a working actor and filmmaker. Real scenes, real acting — footage that shows agents and casting directors what you actually do on camera.
Filmed On Location
Every Location Tells a Different Story
Showreels are always filmed on location — that’s what gives a scene a real, filmic backdrop. Liverpool has genuine variety to work with, chosen together based on what your scene needs.
Locations are yours to arrange — a hotel room or an Airbnb works well for interiors, your own place is fine if it’s local, and a café, bar or independent shop will often say yes if you ask in advance. I can suggest spots that film well and talk through what suits your scene, but the booking and the permission are down to you.
Urban & Street
City Energy
Architecture, movement and a bit of grit — for scenes that need real energy behind them.
Quiet & Intimate
Character-Led Corners
Softer light and quieter backdrops — for grounded, listening-and-reacting scene work.
Need headshots too? I can plan them with your showreel and quote the two together.
Showreel Examples
See the Work in Motion
New client reels are being added here regularly — in the meantime, get in touch and I’m happy to share recent work directly.
What’s Included
Everything That Goes Into Your Showreel
One process, one price — on-location filming, direction on the day and a full professional edit, delivered ready for Spotlight, Mandy, IMDb and agent submissions.
Filmed on real Liverpool locations, with direction on the day
Every showreel scene is shot on location around Liverpool and the wider North West rather than against a studio backdrop. Waterfront architecture, Georgian streets, a quiet interior, a café corner — the setting is chosen with you in advance so the backdrop supports the scene instead of competing with it, and so the finished footage reads as a piece of drama rather than an audition tape.
You are directed throughout by someone who works on both sides of the camera. That means real coverage — a wide to establish, a clean single for the performance, inserts for rhythm — and adjustments made in the moment for pacing, eyeline and where the emotional beat actually lands, instead of one locked-off camera left running while you get through the pages.
A full edit, colour grade and sound mix — not just the raw footage
Selects, the cut, colour correction and a cinematic grade are all included as standard, along with a proper sound mix so dialogue sits clean and level. What you get back is a finished, professional-standard showreel scene delivered in high resolution and correctly formatted for Spotlight and Mandy, ready to send straight to agents and casting directors.
Need stills as well? Showreel filming and actor headshots can be packaged into a single Liverpool session, so your reel and your headshots share the same look, grade and casting type across your whole profile. Mention it when you get in touch and I will quote the two together.
- On-location filming across Liverpool & the North West
- Direction from a working actor & filmmaker
- Professional camera, lighting & sound
- Full edit, colour grade & sound mix
- Monologues, two-handers or bespoke scenes
- Spotlight, Mandy & IMDb ready delivery
Why It Matters
Why Actors Need a Showreel
A showreel earns its place alongside your headshots and CV — it does not replace either. It is the only part of your Spotlight profile that shows a casting director how you actually work on camera.
What casting directors are actually watching for
A headshot proves what you look like. A showreel proves what you do with it — how you hold a frame, how you listen, and what your instincts are when the other actor changes something on the take. Screen presence and truth on camera are what get noticed, not volume, and both of those are almost impossible to judge from a still.
Range matters too, but range within your casting type. The strongest reels go deeper rather than bigger: listening and reacting, building toward an emotion instead of starting there, letting one grounded scene do more work than three loud ones. That is usually the difference between footage that gets skipped after four seconds and footage that turns into a self-tape request.
And it shows the things a photograph physically cannot — pacing, stillness, how you move through a space, and what your voice does when the scene puts you under pressure.
Where your showreel actually does the work
Your reel sits on your Spotlight profile, your Mandy and Casting Networks listings, your IMDb page and your own website — the places agents and casting directors look first when a role comes up and a long list has to become a short one.
It is also what you attach to agent submissions and open casting calls, what supports drama school and postgraduate applications, and what you post to Instagram or TikTok when you would rather the work spoke for itself than write another caption about it.
Plenty of actors across Liverpool, Merseyside and the North West are chasing the same self-tape requests with similar headshots and similar credits. A current, well-shot reel is often the only thing separating two comparable profiles at the shortlist stage.
The Difference
What Makes My Showreels Different
Experience as Both an Actor & Film Maker
An actor’s eye, a filmmaker’s craft. Most showreels are made either by a videographer who has never had to act a scene, or by an actor who has never had to grade one. I do both, and the reel is better for it.
Directed by someone who acts
I’m a working actor as well as a filmmaker, so direction on the day is about what reads on camera, not just what looks nice through a lens. If a choice isn’t landing, we change it there and then. I’ll make sure we hit every beat the scene needs, and I’ll flag anything before we roll rather than after you’ve paid for the edit. Planning the shots around your performance, and knowing how to get the best out of you in a short scene, matters more to me than a pretty shot.
13+ years behind the camera
Over a decade filming, editing and colour grading across commercial work, artist content and actor showreels. That experience is what keeps a shoot day moving instead of stalling, and it is what makes the finished grade and sound mix hold up when your reel is playing next to commercially produced footage.
Proper cinematography and coverage
Scenes are lit and blocked, then covered from more than one angle so the edit has somewhere to go. A wide to establish the world, a clean single that carries the performance, and inserts to control rhythm. It is the difference between a scene that has been filmed and a scene that has merely been recorded.
A real collaboration, not a fixed package
Every showreel starts as a conversation about you: the roles you’re being seen for or want to be seen for, and what your current reel isn’t doing for you. Bring your own scene or build one with me. Don’t be afraid to send messy drafts. Writing is new to most actors, so if the story is strong, send it over and we’ll get the dialogue working together. Monologue, two-hander, ensemble or a short scene written for you, nothing here is one size fits all. I’ll give you honest feedback on what you send and help you get it ready to shoot.
The Process
How the Shoot Works
Four steps from first message to a finished reel sitting on your Spotlight profile.
- 01
Tell me about your scenes and your goals
Send over the scene you want to shoot, or just tell me your casting type and the roles you are going for and we will find one that fits. I will talk through what suits you — a monologue, a two-hander or a short bespoke scene — help you pick a Liverpool location that films well, and put you in touch with a scene partner if you need one. Booking the location and getting permission stays with you, but you will not be doing it blind.
- 02
Shoot day
Camera, lighting, sound and direction, all aimed at the shots your scene actually needs. We rehearse before anything rolls, then run each setup enough times to give the edit real options without turning the day into a marathon. You will get notes between takes, and if something is working better than planned we follow it.
- 03
Edit, grade and delivery
Selects, the cut, colour correction and a cinematic grade, finished with a clean sound mix and delivered in high resolution. Turnaround depends on the size of the job — how many scenes there are and how much coverage there is to work through — and you will have a realistic date before we shoot rather than after.
- 04
Get it seen
Upload it to Spotlight, add it to Mandy and IMDb, send it to your agent, cut a shorter version for Instagram or TikTok. The files are yours to use wherever you need them, and if you want the individual scenes supplied separately as well as the full reel, just ask.
Actor Showreel Pricing in Liverpool
£150–£300+
Actor Showreel Pricing
Full shoot, tailored to what you need — priced on scene length and complexity. Send me what you have in mind and I’ll give you my best price for what the shoot and the edit will actually require.
- Filming on locationLocations chosen together to suit the scene.
- Direction throughoutDirected on the day by a working actor.
- Camera, lighting & soundCinema and broadcast-quality capture.
- Full edit, colour & gradeCut, corrected and graded in DaVinci Resolve.
- High-resolution deliveryFinished scenes delivered in 4K.
- Ready to submitFormatted for Spotlight, IMDb and agent submissions.
What affects the price
- How many scenes you want, and how long they run.
- Movement and fast action. They need more setups, more filming and more editing.
- Keeping costs down? Choose simple, performance-led scenes. Calm, character-led scenes cost less than busy, fast ones.
- Headshots too? I can plan your reel and headshots together under one price, shot on separate days.
Stronger Together
Your headshot shows them what you look like. Your showreel shows them what you can do.
Also due an update on your headshots? Ask about packaging the two together — they run as separate sessions, but planned together so your headshots and reel feel like one consistent, current casting profile.
Voice Reels
Voice Reels in Liverpool Your voice reel lets them hear what you can do.
A voice reel is how agents, casting directors and voiceover clients hear you before they ever meet you. Recorded, directed and produced by a working actor, built around your natural voice and the work you actually want to book.
What goes on your reelStudio session
- 01
- 02
- 03
- 04
- 05
- 06
Pick the styles that fit your casting – most reels focus on a few done brilliantly rather than all six done quickly.
Directed like a performance, not just recorded
Most voice reels fall down on the read, not the microphone. Every script is chosen or written around your natural age, accent and casting, then directed line by line – pace, warmth, intent and where the smile sits – so each clip sounds like a real job rather than someone reading aloud.
If you have a natural regional accent, it belongs on your reel. Plenty of commercial, radio, audiobook and games work is cast for exactly that sound, alongside anything you do in a neutral voice.
Produced, mixed and ready to send
Script selection, recording, editing, and music and sound design where a clip needs it, finished with a clean, balanced mix. You get the full reel plus every clip as its own file, so you can send a casting director the exact read they are asking for.
- Scripts chosen or written for your casting
- Direction from a working actor
- Professional microphone, edit & mix
- Music & sound design where it helps
- Full reel plus individual clips
- Ready for Spotlight, Mandy & agent submissions
Voice reels are quoted on how many clips and styles you need – and like headshots, they can be planned together with your showreel.
Filming something other than a casting reel? Performance films, dance and technique reels, music videos and live show filming for musicians, dancers and performers sit on my artist photography and videography page. Full shows, showcases and stage productions are on my dance and theatre show filming page.
Guides For Actors
Short, practical guides from an actor who works both sides of the camera.
What Casting Directors Want From A Showreel
Best work first, a minute or two long, clean sound and scenes that match your casting.
How To Make A Showreel With No Credits
Three ways to build a reel from nothing, and what material to choose.
How Long Should A Showreel Be?
What casting directors and Spotlight say, and the ideal length at each career stage.
Self Tape Audition Tips
Framing, background, light, sound, your reader and how to name and send the file.
Spotlight Headshot Requirements
The minimum size, file limits, how many photos, credits and what casting wants from your main photo.
How To Prepare For Your Actor Headshot Shoot
What to wear, hair and makeup, the night before and choosing your shots for Spotlight.
Showreel Scenes When You Have No Footage
Where footage comes from, choosing the right scene and what a filmed scene should include.
Self Tape Slates
What to say, how to frame it and the slate mistakes that make casting skip ahead.
How To Get An Acting Agent In The UK
What agents look for, what to send and how to write the email that gets a reply.
Setting Up Your Spotlight Profile
Main photo, gallery looks, skills and clips that make casting click on you.
Acting In Liverpool
The screen and theatre scene, where castings come from and how to get ready for them.
Questions
Actor Showreel FAQs
What is an actor showreel, and why do I need one?
It’s a short video of you performing on camera, used alongside your headshot and CV so agents and casting directors can see how you actually act, rather than just how you look.
Do I need my scene or script ready before I get in touch?
Not necessarily — the more you can tell me up front, the more accurately I can quote and plan the day. Let me know whether you’ve chosen material or need help picking something, how many scenes you want, and whether you’re filming solo or with a scene partner.
Where do you film the showreel?
Showreels are always filmed on location — that gives a scene a real, filmic backdrop rather than a studio look, and Liverpool has plenty of variety to work with. We’ll choose the right spot together. (If you’re after studio portraits, that’s the headshots session.)
How are the scenes and shots planned?
We plan them together at the consultation stage, based on your casting type and what you bring to that conversation.
How long should an acting showreel be?
As a general guide, most working showreels run around one to three minutes — long enough to show range within your type, short enough that every second earns its place. We’ll talk through what’s right for you at the consultation.
Can the showreel be used for Spotlight and other casting platforms?
Yes — the finished, high-resolution file is yours to upload to Spotlight, IMDb, your agent’s books, or anywhere else you need it.
How often should I update my showreel?
Similar to headshots — most actors revisit their showreel every year or two, or sooner after a significant change in look, casting type, or the roles they’re being seen for.
Should I book a showreel and headshots together?
Plenty of actors do, and I can package the two together at a discount — but they run as separate sessions, not one visit, since getting camera-ready and getting into character are different kinds of preparation. Book them close together for a consistent, current casting profile.
Do you record voice reels as well as showreels?
Yes. Voice reels are recorded, directed and produced here in Liverpool, with scripts chosen or written around your natural voice and casting – commercial, corporate narration, character, audiobook or radio drama. You get the finished reel plus each clip as a separate file, ready for Spotlight, Mandy and agent submissions, and it can be planned alongside your showreel and headshots.
How long should a voice reel be?
As a general guide, a voice reel runs about a minute to ninety seconds, made up of short clips that each show a different read. Many actors keep separate reels for different kinds of work – commercial and narration, for example – so a casting director hears exactly what they need. We will plan the right shape for your reel at the start.
How much editing is included, and can I ask for changes?
Every quote includes a full edit — selects, colour correction and grading — cut into your finished reel. Once you’ve seen the first cut, reasonable adjustments are part of the process, not an extra charge.
Do you work with actors outside Liverpool?
Yes — while most sessions are with Liverpool and Merseyside-based actors, people also travel in from Manchester, the wider North West and further afield.
How do I check availability and book a showreel shoot?
Get in touch with your casting type, how many scenes you need, and whether you’re filming solo or with a scene partner — I’ll confirm availability and a straight quote from there.
What Actors Say
Testimonial
Great session with Captured By Luke Media filming my monologue. Luke was a great presence and got the best out of me with his creativity.
Luke Richards
Ready to film your showreel?
Tell me your casting type, how many scenes you need, and whether you’re filming solo or with a scene partner — I’ll take it from there.