Film resume is similar to what you would find for other industries, but your new boss doesn’t need to know everything about you. He will look at everything but will focus his attention on some specific points.  Here’s what people want to see:

• Production credits (AKA Does he know the job)
• References (AKA Was he good at the job)
• Education and training (AKA Did he learn to do the job correctly)
• If you belong to any unions (AKA Can I Hire Him)

(I’ll be covering these points later.)

No one really care that you worked in a corner store. It’s all about your experience to do that job, or even to learn to do the job.

The Header Section

Name and contact informations

This is probably the most basic thing that you can imagine putting in a resume. But people don’t always have an idea of what other will need to look at. The most important goal of this is that people know who you are and can/want to get in touch with you. So I recommend that you put the following 4:

1. Name
2. Current job (or the one you apply for)
3. Contact number
4. Email

Whatever what, your resume should include that information.

• Name
  So obviously you know what I mean by your name (first, middle if you have one, and last). Some people prefer to go with the name they use for their credits, which is quite a good idea since people will look you up, that’s totally up to you.
• Current Position
  Your current position or the one you’re applying for is what you’re currently doing or the job you’re applying for, in the industry. I would suggest that you don’t try to sell yourself for something that you’re not. If you’re new in the “film world” you shouldn’t try to sell yourself as a director, or any other position that you don’t have any real experience in. It’s not because you directed a film in film school that you are a director, for commercial films. Anyone can direct a short, so you’re not Special.
  
• Contact Number
  So you have your name, now you want people to be able to contact you. Some people will put their home and cellphone number, I personally only put my cellphone. People don’t need to know everything about you in a resume. If they want to call you they can do it on your cellphone. It’s also better since you’re not always home to answer anyway.
• Email
  I personally like to have my email in my CV since some people will want to email you instead of calling, it’s happening more and more, and they might simply need it for later. I wouldn’t put something like: matchoman69@whatever.com. It’s your professional resume, not something that you send to your friends. Use an email that is simple and clean. Something like: Johndoe@whatever.com.

Examples:

Before you start, here’s some visual help for you from using an image that I’ve found on Google Images.

You can see that there are some difficulties with this header.

• The name can be hard to read.
• No idea of the job that person does
• Hopefully she emailed her resume and they have her email.

Here’s one that I think can be simpler, easier and more effective.

No confusion about any of the details and its all readable. Guaranteed it’s not your artistic resume, but that’s not what people are looking for.

Optional:
You do not Have to include the following, but some people, depending of their situation, might want to.

• Address
  Some people will put their address some won’t. This is a personal decision. I personally don’t because I know I’ll probably have to fill a start package later on and be requested to add it there. It all depends of how you feel about it.

• Website
  Another thing that you can decide to include or not. If you have a website with more information on you, go ahead, it doesn’t hurt. Again, be professional with your website if you have one. If the person you sent your CV to wants to know more, they might want to go on your website.

• Agent
  This is only for some jobs in the industry, so if you don’t have one, don’t worry. Actors, writers and few other should include their agent contact informations.

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