This is not meant to be an exhaustive list, but if you can fill this in on an editorless actor or crew member you'll have a good chance of adopting the person or just learn a heck of a lot of information. Some of this can be brought into the biography or grouped into a single entry so please first follow TV.com guidelines on your subs.
WHAT TO GATHER
Credited Aliases – In fact, look around FIRST in case you have a Duplicate so you are not wasting your time filling in the wrong guide.
Debuts (first starring role, first feature film, first producer/director role)
Schools (degrees, years graduated, places attended and graduated, majors in school, clubs and organizations)
Jobs held, job titles, military ranks
Family information (marital status, children, pets, parents' roles growing up, siblings, ethnic heritage, religious or political affiliation if significant, nationality if not self-evident)
Places of residence (growing up, current home, vacation homes)
Music (album list, concert tours, major singles, instruments played, bands)
Appearances (convention schedule of years past, charity events, festivals)
Hobbies and Sports
Favorites (roles, music, books, movies, tv shows, console games, food, colors, cars, clothing, etc.)
Commercials and Voice-Over roles (national, some local, spokesperson-level)
Console Games participated, especially for major characters or narration.
Theatre Plays and Musicals Written/Participated
Books Published
Awards nominated and won
Actor Profile (the main four are height, weight, eye color, hair color) and misc info where appropriate (left-handed, shoe size, blood type (Japanese VA's), women's measurements, dress size, well known tattoos, hair color and major hair styLe changes).
Trademarked or Popular Catchphrases and Gimmicks (e.g. Paris Hilton's "That's Hot", Larry the Cable Guy's "Git-R-Done")
WHERE TO GATHER
Official Website.
Resume from talent agency.
Actor's Public Blog (e.g. MySpace, LiveJournal, Facebook) or autobiography.
Actor profiles from companies, plays, and event appearances.
Actor's actual event appearance. You paid big bucks to meet the person and hear him talk about himself; why not learn something on the way?
Newspaper and magazine articles.
Alumni notes.
Interviews are helpful, but contain exclusive information that should be handled with care. If you can confirm the info from another independent interview or news article, then the information is non-exclusive.
Official fan groups and forums that the person participates in.
Wikipedia and other databases like IMDB can be good as a launching point but are considered secondary sources.
Major music sites and stores.
Unofficial web sites (fansites) quality may vary.
Copyright.gov for publications
DON'T SUBMIT
Bio: John Doe was born on December 2, 1984. Being born isn't what got them on TV.
Trivia: The person is an actor, singer, director, and/or writer. Duh. You could integrate that into the bio as a leadoff statement.
Trivia: Appearances that will be covered by a guide in the near future. – Submit that as the user-submitted news, blog or forums.
Trivia: Movie roles, if there isn't anything special about them, just delete it, unless someone had to go above and beyond the job on their role.
Trivia: Tryouts that they didn't get unless the rejection was particularly interesting or influential. It is a given that ALL actors and crew audition for all sorts of roles.
Trivia: Speculations from dirt sheets and gossip columns.
Trivia: Personal info garnered from forums and groups not for the general public. We don't need to know who the person dated, health issues, or personal care habits.
Trivia: Sexual orientation. Focus on what the actor has done or advocates instead of who the actor prefers.
MORE TIPS
See TV.com's article on Star Trivia
See also Mackymacaspac's Person Guide Trivia Submission Tips for some more ideas and tips.
OTHER TIPS
If you see a statement like "He is married to Melinda Gates." or "She has a degree in biology," you can definitely add content by including the event date and specific details on the event. If the actor has founded or sponsored many charity events, you can write up trivia bits on those.
Spelling fixes go a long way.
Remove opinions from the bio like "He is a great actor."
If you can get in touch with the actor or the actor's family, they can confirm many of the trivia items. I had an actor's mom review and correct all the items for her daughter, and that guide is one of the ones I am most proud of editing.
Edited on 08/27/2008 7:01pm
Edited 10 total times.
Edited 10 total times.
