about carol

Carol Todd is a professional actor, video editor, web designer and media coach based in Manhattan. She works remotely with private clients across multiple markets throughout the world; from Vancouver to New York, from L.A. to the U.K., from Atlanta and NOLA to Rome and Shanghai. Carol currently serves as the resident media mentor for the 2% Collective, an intensive 3-6 month marketing and business-coaching program for professional actors.

www.caroltoddactress.com.

FAQ

reel-editing f.a.q.

I DON'T HAVE ANY FOOTAGE. CAN YOU SHOOT SCENES FOR ME?

No. Carol Todd Media Services edits reels and trailers for actors, directors, performers and producers, but we don't shoot the footage for you. We can highly recommend scene creation companies in many different markets if you need one. Just reach out.

I DON'T HAVE A DIGITAL DOWNLOAD OF MY FOOTAGE, BUT THE PROJECT IS STREAMING ONLINE. CAN YOU GET IT FOR ME?

Yes, we can, for an additional fee. See information on our Screen Capture services here.

HOW LONG SHOULD MY REEL BE?

The industry standard for actor demo reels varies from market to market, and sometimes from rep to rep. But generally speaking, an actor reel can be as short as a one-minute sizzle or as long as a three-minute guest star reel. Most reels are comfortably in-between. Two to two and a half minutes seems to be the sweet spot. The rare unicorn is longer than three minutes, but this is highly discouraged, unless you are a very prolific, established actor working on network tv and studio film at a guest star level or above. And even then, it's not ideal. Performance reels and director reels vary wildly in length, but are often between three and five minutes. Film and TV trailers can range from one to three minutes depending on the project length and genre.

HOW DO I DELIVER MY FOOTAGE TO YOU?

WeTransfer, Google Drive, and Vimeo are highly-preferred. Please do not send footage as a standard attachment to an email. It's ideal to work from original finished footage, rather than from edited clips, rough-cuts or existing reels for many different reasons, so make sure that once you get your hands on that full episode or film, you store it somewhere safe that you can always find it. If you are cutting scenes from a project to send to us, please make sure to leave ample cutting room for transitions on either end of the in-and-out time codes, don't embed fade-to-blacks or titles, and don't do any internal cuts. We'll take care of that for you!

If you are sending raw footage from a scene creation company for a scene recut from raw footage service, it's best to just forward the client link that the scene creation company sent to you.

WHAT IS YOUR TURNAROUND TIME FOR REEL EDITS?

Once you've made your payment in full and sent us all of your relevant footage, your editing project enters the work queue. From that point, maximum turnaround time for delivery of the initial reel proposal is 7-10 days. Expedited packages are possible contingent upon availability and incur an add-on fee of $25 for a 4-5 day guaranteed turnaround or $50 for a 2-3 day guaranteed turnaround. Expedited guaranteed turnarounds are not available for director reels or trailers.

HOW MUCH DOES A REEL EDIT COST?

It depends. You can find everything you need to know about rates on our demo reels page.

WHAT FORMS OF PAYMENT DO YOU TAKE FOR REEL EDITING?

Venmo, PayPal, Zelle and Apple Cash. We'll send you more information once you've reached out to book our services.

website design f.a.q.

CAN I HAVE YOU DESIGN MY WEBSITE ON SQUARESPACE, WEEBLY OR WORDPRESS?

No. We design exclusively on the Wix platform, and Carol Todd is a Wix Partner at the highest Legend level. Having explored many other website hosting platforms, we find Wix not only to be the most intuitive and flexible of them all, but also the only one which truly allows for optimization and independent manipulation of the oh-so-important mobile view.

DO YOU ONLY DESIGN WEBSITES FOR ACTORS?

We have recently designed websites for actors, playwrights, authors, therapists, intuitive healers, college-bound students, non-profits, theatrical productions, liquor stores, attorneys, musicians and more. You can see a wide range of samples of our designs here.

HOW MUCH DO YOU CHARGE FOR WEBSITE DESIGN?

It depends on the number of pages or sections requested, and the estimated amount of content. Once we have a consultation about your specific needs, we'll be able to generate a definitive quote.

DO YOU OFFER GRAPHIC DESIGN SERVICES?

We often create simple custom graphics as needed to complement your site as part of the design process. Comprehensive Logo-Design, deliverable in multiple formats, is also available, but charged separately. Find more information about logo design here.

HOW DO YOU HANDLE FUTURE CONTENT UPDATES OR LAYOUT CHANGES AFTER MY NEW WEBSITE GOES LIVE?

Simple content updates for returning clients are handled quickly via email and incur a nominal fee of $25 for a half-hour work session. Any simple content update (involving updated resumes, new photo gallery items, new video, new contact information, etc.) can be easily done within this time frame. Layout and color-palette changes for returning clients are quoted on a case-by-case basis, and are usually triggered by new primary photography.

I ALREADY HAVE A WIX WEBSITE THAT I DESIGNED MYSELF; CAN'T I JUST HIRE YOU TO FIX THAT ONE?

Generally, no. For first-time web design clients, we don't distinguish between designing and re-designing. We design websites from the bottom up on our own Wix account, and then transfer ownership of the new site to you; transferring your domain name over from your old site to the new site. We often find that clients just looking for a 'quick fix', tend to have highly problematic website layouts and underestimate the work involved in undoing a faulty design.

IS A DOMAIN NAME AND A HOSTING PLATFORM SUBSCRIPTION INCLUDED IN YOUR FEE?

No. Wix charges its own hosting fees and you are required to pay those fees directly to Wix. HOWEVER, if you don't already have a Wix Premium Subscription, hold off on setting that up! Once you've approved your beta testing site design, we'll help you create your own Wix account and transfer ownership of the new site to you. At that point, we should be able to assist you in securing the deep discount on the first year of hosting that Wix typically offers to new customers. Domain name hosting for the first year is also included with any Wix Premium Subscription.

HOW DO I GET YOU MY CONTENT?

Photo, video and written content should be delivered in carefully-labelled emails to caroltoddmedia@gmail.com. Please send one email for each page of the website, clearly labeled in the subject line, for search-ability, with the name of the page the content is intended for (i.e. home, about, resume, gallery, media, contact, etc.).

WHAT FORMS OF PAYMENT DO YOU TAKE FOR WEB DESIGN?

Venmo, PayPal, Zelle and Apple Cash. We'll send you more information once you've reached out to book our services.

CAN WE START THE DESIGN PROCESS WITH JUST A DEPOSIT?

We work very quickly, so we generally collect payment in full before adding your project to the work queue. However, if you prefer to pay half up front and half upon delivery of the beta testing site link (generally sent within two weeks of start of work), it can be arranged, incurring a financing charge of $100 on top of the base design fee.