What is a Stage Management Portfolio?
A Stage Manager’s Portfolio website serves as a supplement to their SM Resume which is a bit different than a normal resume. The portfolio provides more detail about the Stage Manager’s previous experience, and allows the hiring team to see a preview of the Stage Manager’s paperwork.
The website should be clean and professional, and reflect your style as a Stage Manager. Some SM’s choose to keep their site fairly minimal with only the necessary elements, while others include more details and visuals into their site.
Why is a website important for a Stage Manager?
Although it may seem unnecessary, The site provides a bit of extra personality into your resume which is by nature a fairly dry document. Your cover letter will help impart some of that, but the website serves a window into who you will be as an SM.
After looking at my analytics from the last year, I have only had one job I applied to which didn’t at least view my website. Most hiring managers still look at websites even for candidates they aren’t considering just based off their resume, just to see if they overlooked something which might make them a good fit.
What should your site look like?
Before writing this article I personally reviewed 50 different Stage Manager Portfolio websites from beginning SM’s to Broadway Professionals. While the look of your site is 100% personal preference, I can provide a bit of insight into the common themes among other sites.
background and header Color
One major decision to make early is the background color, and whether to build the site with a light or dark theme. Of the sites I have viewed, 55% opted for a lighter background, with the other 45% opting for a dark background.
Either option is acceptable in the SM world, and neither seems to have an advantage over the other in terms of getting a response (so hard not to say callback). Choose whichever you prefer, but check some examples first so you don’t spend time redoing work to choose new colors.
As long as your header and footer colors are easily distinguished from the background and content, the color will depend on the background you choose.
Try not to clutter the page
Although it’s tempting to include as much info in as little space as possible, it makes the page feel too full. If you choose to include lots of pictures all at once, make them evenly spaced and sized to present a more polished look.
The home page on Travis Blackwell’s Portfolio Site is a great example of including photos in a simple and elegant way.
Be Sure Your Site Is Mobile Friendly
Half of all webpage viewers are on mobile devices. Make sure that no matter what device you pull the page up on it will look presentable. When designing elements on the screen, try to stick with screen percentage when resizing instead of pixels if your platform allows it.
When using percentages, the look remains similar between all devices regardless of size, where using exact pixels locks that element into a certain size on all devices.
Choosing the right web hosting platform
Every website builder takes some time to get acquainted with, but I will give you a few quick reviews of my favorite. Keep in mind that this is in no particular order, just a few major ones listed.
Bluehost
Bluehost is the hosting provider I currently use since they are cheapest and offer WordPress site builder support. They also offer 1 year of domain registration included, meaning you can get a custom domain name for free.
WordPress allows for much more customization than other basic builders, but definitely takes some time to learn. If lowering cost is most important to you then Bluehost with WordPress is likely among the cheapest reliable options you will find.
Check out Bluehost using this link to get a discounted rate for the first 3 years. If you purchase a plan after clicking my link I may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you, so please consider using our link if possible before signing up to help us keep the lights on here at Everything Backstage.
Wix
Wix is slightly more expensive than Bluehost, but more user friendly. I used Wix to build my portfolio initially and stayed with them for the first 3 years. Eventually Bluehost became the cheaper option since I had multiple websites, so I swapped.
Wix has decent drag and drop building which is user friendly and usually works well enough for most basic sites. Wix has a free website builder to try if you are interested, but adding your custom domain costs extra. If time is limited and you don’t mind paying a bit more, I recommend sticking with Wix.
Go to Wix Home Page here to create a free account to test the platform.
What to put in your Portfolio Website
Now that you have hosting out of the way, let’s look at what should go on your site. Every website reviewed had a few common items, and they organized them fairly similar between each site.
Here is the most common layout among those 50 sites:
Home Page
This is the first thing people will see when entering your site. The two most common types of pages were the Landing Page and the true Home Page.
The “Landing Page” sites open with a fullscreen photo, and a call to action to enter the site. There are no navigation options on this landing page other than the button to view the rest of the site.
The “Home Page” has the normal navigation menu at the top, and most had additional navigation options included on the main part of the page.
Of the landing page sites, about 75% opened with headshot or photo of the person featured. The other 25% of these sites opened with a production photo instead of a headshot.
Of the (relatively small) sample in my review, the sites created for the people who were both Actors AND Stage Managers all used the “Landing Page” except for one. The sites for exclusively Stage Managers/technicians all skipped the landing page and went straight to the home page.
Both options are acceptable, and it is totally up to you which path you choose.
About Me Page
Much like a bio in a program, your About Me page should be written in third person and begin with some broad info to answer any business related questions the hiring team may have.
Include your name, pronouns, what city you are based out of, the words “freelance SM” (if you are), and a mention of Equity if you are a member. Also include a headshot or nice photo of yourself so it is visible when the page loads.
This first paragraph is likely all that will be read by the team when you submit a cold application, and should serve to make you look professional, well organized, and ensure they know where you are located and that you are hirable.
The second half of this page is meant for hiring teams taking a second look at you, or anyone researching before they interview you, so feel free to include more personal info here.
After the intro you should include basic information about who you are as a person and how you got into theatre. Imagine an interviewer asking you to tell them a bit about you, and write basically that same answer. Things like how long you have been stage managing, places you have worked, and anything else along those lines.
Lastly, you can include some photos of you at opening parties, or doing other shenanigans around the theatre to help you seem more personable.
Portfolio Pages
Most SM Websites include a landing page here with links to three separate pages which are sub categories of the portfolio. In the main navigation these are often in a drop down menu under a main menu option of “Portfolio”. These will be:
Productions (or Shows)
Simply put, this is a more visually appealing version of the SM experience listed on your resume. It’s meant to help the person hiring you understand a bit more about your previous experiences, not meant to be a list of the standard SM responsibilities.
You should include some variation of the following information:
- Show title
- Production Photos
- Job Title
- Director
- Venue/Producing Company
- Notable production elements which made the production unique
Notable production elements may include things like the production being in an outdoor venue, a touring production, a corporate event, or even an exceptionally large cast with over 30 cast members.
When applying for new shows, research a bit about the theatre you are applying for and be sure you have listed notable elements which might be relevant. If you have experience on multiple outdoor productions and are applying to an outdoor production company, they need to know that.
Documents
This is your time to show off your hours of time spent on paperwork. Pick some of the best looking documents you have created for previous productions and include them on this page. I find it best to include mostly documents that the people hiring you will see and understand no matter their background.
Often at smaller theaters you will be hired by someone who knows what an SM does, but might have a hard time understanding your revolve tracking paperwork out of context. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t include things like this, but keep in mind your audience.
The person viewing this is glancing through to see that you check all the boxes of what might make a good SM, not studying documents in depth. This means they should be the documents that look best at first glance and are easy to understand.
Related Experience
This section will include any other technical theatre experience you have outside of Stage Management. Any and all lighting, sound, automation, flys, stage crew, props, projections, or supervisory positions in any of the above fields should be listed with a few small pictures when possible. These show you have a working knowledge of each department and will be an asset, not a source of confusion.
Based on my own Portfolio site statistics, this is one of the least viewed pages out of the main ones here. If it is viewed, it is usually skimmed for basic info. I believe it is still important, but don’t fret too much on this page.
Resume Page
Include an up to date photo or PDF of your resume. I use a screenshot of my resume because most site builders handle photos better than PDFs both in formatting, and in loading time.
SIDE NOTE: Redact your references on the version you post on your site for their privacy. Replace their info with a “Please reach out for references” line instead. If someone wants to hire you from the site, they either have the full version of the resume already, or will be happy to reach out to you for references.
Contact Page
Include a contact page where there is a form to fill out for people who want to connect you after viewing your site. You will VERY rarely be reached out to through this form, but I still believe this is important.
Don’t anticipate getting jobs handed to you through this form since most people who find your site came to it by receiving your resume in the first place.
Custom Stage Management Portfolio Built for you
If you are interested in having your own custom site built for you, we offer in house portfolio design here at Everything Backstage. Because each portfolio requires a different amount of work, we quote projects individually.
Generally costs include a Design Fee, Web Hosting (Paid to the hosting company on your end), and Domain Name Registration (paid to registrar on your end). For a discount on initial design fees, ask about our complete build and maintenance package with all in one billing (includes Hosting, Domain Registration, and Site Maintenance).
Our turnaround time is usually 2 weeks from receiving the deposit and all documents. If you are on a time crunch and require an expedited timeline, please reach out to us for more info.
