I have worked with professional actors as well as non actors in several short films and music videos as a director, and this is the first time I am making a feature. I’m also going to be casting actors, and I have not been a part of many auditions prior to this. I have mainly come in contact with the people I wanted to work with for the short films. And I have only been to a few auditions myself as an actor. I wanted to ask you guys how I should to the audition? - I know all actors are different and prefer different things. So what should I think about when hosting auditions? Should there be physical, self-tape or the option to choose? How long should the script for the audition be? Should there be different auditions for all the different characters? Some productions have audition where there is mainly a improv that is the same for all people auditioning, just to see who they want to go further with. I hope I am making myself clear. Auditions may be second nature for some of you, but maybe you have some do and don’ts tips for a first time casting director, which is also the director :)
I’m looking for a few 10 minute scenes from contemporary plays (post 2000) that would be interesting to work on for 2-3 actors. Gender doesn’t matter and we are all about 20 years old but could play up to mid 30s and nothing younger than 14/15.
We’ve all must’ve seen by now, the videos of AI recreating voices with tremendous efficiency, from Obama and Trump playing video games together, to Kanye singing Bieber’s songs. My question is, as this technology is relatively new yet still showcases amazing potential, do you think that within 10 years time, studios will opt out to rather buy one of these AI’s who can replicate any voice they want them to, rather than buy the services of voice actors?
If you’ve uploaded “clips” to AA vs. your entire reel, what have you found is the best number of clips to include with your submissions to roles? I really struggle with figuring this out. Pros of sending fewer: you can be more targeted in which ones you send (if possible) and, therefore, they are more likely to see the most relevant ones Cons of sending fewer: could seem like you lack good experience Pros of sending more: shows you have more experience, generally Cons of sending more: less likely they will see the relevant ones, since you can’t reorder the videos to put different ones first based on the role Has anyone figured out what seems to be the Goldilocks strategy here?
I saw a casting director say on instagram that they liked the idea of listing the commercial directors that you've worked with on an acting resume rather than just putting "conflicts available upon request". This really intrigued me because I have a lot of commercial acting experience and virtually no theatrical experience (literally have 1 credit on my IMDB from when I was a child). I'm currently trying to branch out to TV/Film so would love to be able to put SOMEthing down on my actors access resume. Has anyone done this personally? Anyone have any ideas as to how to actually list these credits without revealing the project? Thanks for your input!
Are they able to just forward one, or if I submit two will they be stuck sending both to casting? I did it in two very different ways and one could either be really good or terrible lol
I’m pivoting from 10+ years of full-time YouTubing to wanting to become an actor. With YouTube you can pretty much do it from anywhere, so I decided to stay in a smaller cheaper city. But now I’m looking for local in-person acting classes and not finding any. Are there any I can take online? Or YouTube channels I can learn from? Or do I just need to start planning a move to one of the major cities for acting?
hello there everyone im new to this group im a voice actor who mainly works in redubs i have 2 years of experience from voice acting and my microphone is Samson Q2U and i record using Audacity
I’m very interested in getting into voice acting, I’ve already read Dee Bradley Baker’s “I want to be a voice actor”, and now I’m considering my next move in terms of education. From what I’ve looked into, Joe Zieja’s voice acting academy seems to be the perfect place, the only problem being the price. It’s pretty expensive and I want to be sure it’d be my money’s worth. Taking a community college class on acting is a cheaper alternative, but I know I won’t learn as much, and I’m in the dark of it’s quality as well. That said, I wanted to see if I could get any additional thoughts here.
He had almost no credits before GTA V but then became a pretty successful character actor after it was released. Is he the first one to do this?
Hello I am a 15 year old actor based out in central Illinois. I’ve been able to get my headshot but not my demo reel. So I’ve been looking on Backstage and I can’t find any. Please give any advice you can. Thank you.
Any Colorado Actors on this sub? I’m newish to the Denver area and I’m looking for acting classes, I’m hearing different things though. What are some of the best in person classes here? Coming from Atlanta they just don’t seem the same so I’m wondering if I’m better off doing online. I really want to network with other actors here though. Any help is much is appreciated.
I can’t give too many details but I need to tell someone about this. I just don’t know what to do with all of the overwhelming happiness and fulfillment that I’m feeling right now so I thought I’d write about it. Last weekend I went to an anime convention. At this convention an industry guest, who I can’t name obviously, held a mock audition panel. Just pick a character and read for everyone and then get some critique. I went up and did my thing and he said that he really liked my voice. After the panel, I went over his booth and we had a conversation about voice over. ‘How long have you been doing this, what’s your set up like, have you gotten any work, etc’. After a little while, I asked if he wouldn’t mind listening to my demo reel since he didn’t have a line. He listened and gave me more critique. Afterward, he said that he was casting a visual novel and asked if he could send me an audition. When I tell you. I. Was. STUNNED. He sent me the audition yesterday and I recorded and sent it in tonight. I don’t know if I’ll get it. Considering how competitive this industry is and my little knowledge as an audio engineer I probably won’t but that’s not the point. I got my first professional audition from a pro voice actor who saw potential in me. He didn’t need to do that. He didn’t owe me anything. He didn’t even need to listen to my demo reel but he saw a kid who wanted to do this and helped them. If I ever manage to go pro, that’s exactly who I want to be to young actors. Thanks for reading. I’m just so happy.
I saw on a different thread that many agents have agent only profiles and that when some actors let their personal profiles expire because they already had excellent pics and reels set up, it was still fine because their agents just submitted them through their agent profile. Is that possible only with Casting Networks or does that also hold true for Actors Access and Casting Frontier?
**Friday, April 07 - Thursday, April 13** ###Interesting | score | comments | title & link | |--|--|--| | 114 | [7 comments](/r/VoiceActing/comments/12jntjm/threevoice_acting_legends_talk_about_the/) | `[interesting Link
Hey everyone! I LOVE Sailor Venus! She has been my favorite straight from the beginning! And I am SOO sad that Codename: Sailor V, never got an anime. So I am starting work, on a comic dub, and I need voice actors! And all kind of crap! If you are interested, let me know! Or share the link around! https://discord.gg/TCScwujk
I recently discovered some information about actor representation and management in the United States and Canada. Established actors in the United States typically have both an agent, who secures auditions for them and charges a 10% commission, and a manager, who is in charge of managing their overall career who charge 10-15% commission. However, I've heard that in Canada, actors do not typically have managers as part of their professional development. Can anyone confirm the veracity of this statement, and if so, explain the differences in the acting industries in these two countries? If Canadian actors have managers, what commission rates do they charge? Any information or personal experiences are greatly appreciated.
For example think of films directed by Luca Guadagnino, Wes Anderson, Robert Eggers, Christopher Nolan, Greta Gerwig... Does it have to be done through an agent? Or is there a way for the actor to get an audition by themselves?
How do you guys manage your personal life what with traveling/being away from people for extended periods of time?
Hello! First time poster here. I just recently went down to visit Atlanta to check out the city and the acting scene. I really can see myself there, but I wanted to see what other thought about this. Are there projects/auditions in Atlanta for queer/gay/non-binary actors? I would be moving down to expand my opportunities, but would the Atlanta market be able to offer that for me? I know that New York and LA generally have more LGBT centered projects, but the cost of living and competition is too much for me to consider right now. I'm currently in the Cincinnati market and don't see myself being able to gain much traction here. Let me know your thoughts or if there are any other markets that I should be considering. Thanks!
It was recently announced that Glenn Powell will lead the new Twister film. I know a few people who auditioned for the role and spent a lot of time and money on their self-tapes. I know how Hollywood works and there is no way this casting wasn't already planned for a while with how studios package clients and I doubt casting even watched the auditions for this role. They completely wasted the time of these actors and gave them false hope. I know a few other roles like this and it convinces me that a lot of these castings are fake. There is no way casting can watch all these tapes or do. I know they don't because I've had friends work for offices... I'm just so disillusioned by the business and how it really works.
Hey everyone, I used to work at a call center job where just about everyone would come up to me and tell me I should be a voice actor. I didn't really think much of it - just sort of took the compliment and moved on - but now that I'm in college and dirt poor, I feel like I should at least try to put my talent to good use. As mentioned before, my call center job involved me working for hours on end with thousands of customers in tough financial situations with nothing but my voice over the phone to help show them the way forward. Routinely, I was one of the best at the company I worked for, thanks in no small part to my voice. How can I make the most of this talent I have? I have a good computer, a quiet room in my apartment all to myself, and I know I'll obviously have to purchase a solid microphone. Beyond that, I don't exactly know where to go. I don't have lots of experience with audio editing, which I feel might be my Achilles heel here. What software is good for beginners? What exactly goes into editing something like an audiobook? Would you recommend I start doing auidobooks for free? What is the going rate for beginners who do start charging? I definitely have other questions but I can't exactly think of all of them as I type this. Is this something I can really do part-time? I'm in college and am on an airline pilot career path that has nothing to do with voice acting (well except maybe for telling passengers to look out their window at the Grand Canyon), but that does currently take up a good chunk of my time. Thanks for all your help!
If you work on a project that’s “SAG American Film Institute Short-Form Film Agreement” does that make the actor SAG Eligible after?
Hello! Im a new(ish) voice actress and have just finished renovating my studio, new equipment will be here in about a week or two, depends on when I place the order. Im very worried about my voice being sampled and used in AI. How do I deter people from stealing my voice for their AI’s? Can I put something at the end of my demo or on my website? What legal ways can I protect my voice and my work? Thank you!
I noticed a lot of open calls that don't have sides and just require the actor to speak about their past experiences, sometimes going as far as asking the actor to recount trauma. I fail to see how asking these questions helps casting offices choose their actor? I get that they want non-actors to feel they can approach the open call, but it promotes a misguided idea of what acting is......
3 years ago at the beginning of the pandemic I was freaking out like most of us about how I was going to live and came on here to get some advice and ask about coaching. The only thing I knew at the time was what I learned in my 11 years of struggling to be an actor, so that’s what taught. Everything I’d learned. I did it every week for almost 2 months for free with a number of actors from here and had no idea it would eventually lead to me starting a business, [The Working Actor](https://www.theworkingactor.xyz). So just wanted to say thanks [r/acting](https://www.reddit.com/r/acting/) and all the actors I've been coaching over the last few years that played a huge part in coming up with this. It took far longer than I thought to release it (in part because these past few years have been pretty amazing acting wise) but I'm launching the site today! Feel free to check it out and Let me know if you have any questions and if anyone is interested in coaching and you came from this post DM me for a discounted price on privates. Thanks again and good luck on your acting journey! Hans Also feel free to ask me anything below! I'll do my best to answer any questions you might have! here's the site! =) [www.theworkingactor.xyz](https://www.theworkingactor.xyz/) ​ https://preview.redd.it/2ipsi480pxta1.png?width=1280&format=png&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=45dc65f1d8026d033adcf87c5e74426d6e950cb3
Hi all (new Reddit-er here) Let me start this post by saying that I am incredibly hesitant to share this existential crisis with a community of strangers who do not know me personally, but I am too scared to talk in-depth about this with anyone I know, so here I am! Ever since I was a child, I had dreams of being an actress. I thought acting was the coolest thing in the world, and the most fun. I was CONVINCED that was my life goal. I loved playing make believe, building worlds with my imagination, etc. I continued this dream through middle school and acted in plays, wrote video skits with my friends, and began writing songs, stories, poems... anything where I could storytell. Improv was especially my favorite thing to do in middle school drama class. A shift in my personality happened when I went to high school... anxiety became dehabiliting for me. I was anxious as a child, but hitting puberty really set something off within me. I also switched from private school to public school, and became way more quiet and reserved; in middle school, my school was small and I was openly a jokester and performer. My anxiety and the massive size of my high school made me more fearful to behave in such a way. As high school went on, I still kept my dream of being an actress, but kept it a secret; I was on a sports team, and hung out with athletes only. I had taken theater by freshmen year, but the theater kids were not very accepting of me for whatever reason, and I gravitated more towards my friends on my sports team. However, being around the sports kids 24/7, I was afraid to make any mention of acting desires. I was afraid to mention it to anybody because I was the only one, as far as I knew, who found acting/theater/film interesting. Looking back, I regret not being myself around my friends, but being an immature teenager, I felt more at peace "fitting in" than expressing myself. However, I secretly still wrote many stories and song wrote consistently. My battle with anxiety really got bad my senior year. My life pretty much revolved around doing the safe thing and being as comfortable as I could. I started therapy but I didn't really have any success managing the debilitating physical symptoms of anxiety. My dream was to go to New York and attend NYU while also taking improv classes at comedy clubs in New York. However... I didn't get any scholarships to New York, so I couldn't afford to do any of that without an incredible amount of student loans, and also, the idea of moving to New York without anyone I knew made my anxiety even worse. This led to me deciding to attend college in my hometown, playing for the soccer team there to pay for my school. I fell into the same self-conforming patterns in college, probably even more extreme than I did in high school. My anxiety got worse as well, to the point where I was missing school and physically ill most of the time. The entire time, I wished I had gone to New York and could be an actress. But my anxiety was so bad, I told myself that I wasn't "built for it". In my mind, there was no way I could do all the things I would need to do in order to live my dreams, because I was too anxious of a person and unable to get it under control. This was devastating, but I blocked out that feeling by telling myself I would do what most every girl from my hometown did: become a wife and a mom (no shade, that was just my thought process at the time). I was also around a lot of religious people and that was what everyone around me was doing, that it felt like it was what I SHOULD do. So, I graduated college. Got a full-time job. Did the normal thing. The entire time having so much resentment, guilt, and self-hatred towards myself because I had this huge dream, always, and wasn't good enough for it. I continued to write stories, even writing two books (still unpublished), and had this little voice in my head that I could still be an actress, but I fought that idea. Fast forward to age 24. The pandemic hits and I get laid off. I get out of a relationship around the same time. With truly nothing to lose, and nothing to look forward too, I had a wake-up call moment. I decided to take improv classes online through a very reputable improv institution in New York... and I thrived. I met so many people like me. For the first time in my life, I wasn't embarrassed to talk to people about my dreams, and my interests... talking about film, poetry, writing, comedy and more with a group of like-minded people truly saved me at times. This was the happiest period of my life thus far. I truly felt like my dream of being an actress was possible. I decided that I wanted to do the thing...but, I had no money. I had no one who needed a roommate in New York or Los Angeles. I was in student debt and credit card debt from being unemployed with no income. I didn't know what to do. So, I took the first job I could get where I was, because I needed money in order to survive. It's been two years, and I'm still stuck in the same place. I couldn't afford to keep taking improv classes and travel to see my improv friends. I am stuck working the same 9-5 job and hating it. I've gotten so depressed and told myself that my dreams are clearly not meant to be. I make "OK" money, enough to be comfortable, but I still have debt. The idea of moving to LA with no savings makes me incredibly anxious and feels like I would be setting myself up for failure. The few people I've told my dream to have told me that "everyone has big dreams as a kid but they aren't realistic" or "maybe it's time for a new dream" and I'm convincing myself it's true. But the idea of grieving that dream... accepting that I will never be an actress... makes me feel so sad that I can't begin to describe. It truly is devastating. I think about it constantly, and fear resenting myself forever if I don't at least try... and also fear feeling like a failure if I do try, and it doesn't happen. This is where I'm confused. Do I need to accept that I'm just a phony? If I was really meant to be an actress, wouldn't I have dropped everything, moved to NYC or LA with no money, and made it happen? The fact that I have chosen to be comfortable instead of risk it all tells me that I don't have what it takes, right? Maybe I'm not meant for it. Also... I'm 26. Seems pretty late to start a new career in the entertainment industry. I feel like I have two choices: either decide that my dream is unrealistic, not meant for me, and find a way to accept being where I am now and a different dream, OR I need to f\*cking make the move to LA and NYC and go for it, because if I don't, I will live with resentment my whole life. So Reddit, I want to know... what do I do?
First, Im not an actor..my day job is director/cinematographer. But i thought id check out this room to bring this up.. I just discovered the fake reality show "jury duty" and i find the acting incredible.. im sure some parts are scripted, especially the scenes where the non actor dude isnt in the scene.. but i dunno... it feels real and the characters they came up with are funny. I love james marsdens character he plays (which is suppose to be himself, but its clearly a character that he probably developed off some other actors he knows) Anyways, Just wanted to write a blog because the blue dream just kicked in hard Z
Hi everyone! I’m an aspiring actor and this sub has really been helping me navigate so if anyone has any advice I’d love to hear it. I’m a young female (based in nyc, over 18 with a 15-25 age range.) I’ve been acting theatrically since I was maybe 5 but only started seriously pursuing screen acting in 2021. Considering that I started after covid started, I know the industry has been a bit different pre and post covid, but I wanted to share my progress and see if anyone has any ideas how I can perhaps further my progress. In my two years, I have been auditioning for many roles via actors access/casting networks (and even gotten callbacks for a couple cool things), have taken quite a few acting classes, and have submitted to agents. Until this past November, I had not gotten a speaking role in anything, but since November I’ve had 6 leads and 1 supporting in student films (yay!!!). Now that I am starting to have enough to build a reel and my craft is definitely improving, I’m wondering what else I can do at this point that I have control in and would possibly progress me into non-student film roles, and what would make me seem like a considerable client to an agent/manager. Managers and agents have shown interest in me, but when we spoke I hadn’t had a single speaking role so I didn’t really have enough experience at that point. Any ideas? (Sidenote: I’m a british citizen as well so I’m able to work in the uk)
I've been in Atlanta for over ten years now, and I'm from Georgia originally. I've been in three SAG productions as a principal and was an extra in a SAG industrial for which production provided a Taft Hartley. I checked the website recently and I'm now eligible to join SAG-AFTRA. Georgia is a "Right to Work" state and you can do as many SAG projects as you want without having to join, since workers here can't be compelled to join a Union. But at this point I can't think of any reason why I *shouldn't* join. I've always had career ambitions for acting, having majored in it in college. I'm in my mid-30s now and I'd like to go ahead and start working on and putting money toward benefits and a pension plan for retirement. I understand that in order to access those benefits you have to log so many hours in a year on set. I joined a new agency last year and the overwhelming majority of the auditions I've received have been for SAG productions. So far I've only booked one, but it was a recurring so I got a good amount of hours. We're often told in the Southeast to put off Union membership as long as possible in order to be able to audition for non-Union commercials. In the ten years I've been here I've booked four, none of them paid much (the biggest one was $2000, but it's been as low as $500), and there are no residuals. It hardly seems worth it, and I can't imagine my agency is thrilled with one time payments of $50-$200 checks. I don't think I'd be cutting out much if I stopped doing them altogether. I already stopped doing student films and there isn't much of an indie scene in Atlanta. Nor am I really interested in non-Union tv, which is usually low paid true crime shows. Been there, done that. On the other hand, commercials have made up the lion's share of my auditions this spring since theatrical stuff has been down, due to the impending writers strike. But film and tv are starting to cast again, and I can only assume my numbers will be back up in the fall once negotiations are done. Which has me again leaning more towards joining. Is there something I'm missing? It'd be fewer opportunities, technically, but it'd also be BETTER opportunities. I currently average 1-3 auditions a week, but I've done that many in a month with my old agent, so it's something I could handle. Plus eventually I'd like to seek out representation in other markets, and I know already being a Union member can help in that endeavor. I'm a character actor and I'm beginning to find out my casting skews toward middle age, so my best years are ahead of me as I age into that. Joining SAG seems like the path beyond costars to eventually playing guest stars and series regulars in my 40s as I expand to other markets. If you've worked mainly in the Southeast and joined SAG-AFTRA, has it been worth it? Has it led to better opportunities? Have you worked enough to reap the benefits?
All of our fantastic performers that are coming out to our in-person meetup here in LA tonight, be sure to check out today's great blog by Stage 32's founder and CEO, Richard "RB" Botto, sharing great advice on networking for introverts! www.stage32.com/blog/advice-on-networking-for-introverts-3332
Use this thread to post your headshots for feedback, get info on your age range/type, find good headshot photographers, ask any questions you may have about headshots. If you are posting a DIY headshot for feedback, and not just a snapshot in order to get feedback on your age range/type/etc, it is advised that you do at least some basic research on what actor headshots look like--composition, framing, lighting. You will find a Google Image search for "actor headshots" to be very helpful for this. Non-professional shots are fine for age/typecasting; please keep in mind that one picture is a difficult way to go about this. Video of you moving and speaking would be ideal, but understandably more difficult to post. ​ For what it's worth, the branding workshop at SAG-AFTRA recommends a five-year age range. That's inclusive, so for example 19-23, 25-29, 34-38, etc.
Hello, I have recently made a short film and on the final shoot day our actress had a bag stolen from a tent we were using to store belongings. She is now attempting to claim the costs from the company. I am of the mind that it is her bag, and thus her responsibility, therefore there is no liability on the part of the company. However, this was a small budget, amateur film, and no contract was signed. What is the best step forward? Any help massively appreciated.
Hey All, I'm a film director in Austin woeking on a couple documentaries and scripts at the moment. Please DM me or comment if you'd like soke extra work. All The Best, Kyle
Hi Reddit, so I'm not even really an actor, but my boss recommended me for a commercial shoot for a Chinese company and they agreed. My issue is that I only speak basic Chinese, so I do not understand most of the script. I now have a roughly 2 page script that I barely understand and have to memorize until Monday. Are there any tips on how to tackle the memorization?
Hi i wanna become a new actor. But i love in Belgium. Someone know free acting lessons online? Ore have any tips. Let it know Thx.
Hi everyone! So I’m on Backstage.com and Actors Access (I haven’t uploaded a demo reel or really applied to anything yet on AA because of money) but I use Backstage A LOT. I got 2 self-tape auditions this weekend for low budget feature films which I’m super excited about! However, my only professional acting experience is being BG in a Hulu show that I found through Roman Candle Casting on Backstage. It was a great experience. But that was in early March and I haven’t booked any other BG work since. I’ve applied a lot through Grant Wilfrey, both through the website and directly emailing the projects with the exact format it says to. I’m just confused I guess as to why it’s seeming to be so hard to get simple BG work again. I’m nervous I may have made a bad impression but I can’t think of how or why I would’ve. I wasn’t rude to anyone, didn’t complain and I was on time. I understand getting auditions for speaking roles and not getting booked. That’s mostly based on talent, but I was really looking forward to more BG work at least. Notes for context: I am 22F, petite. I can play 16-24 years old. Im NYC/NJ/PA based. Non-Union I have professional headshots and two monologues but no demo reel. Any advice about what sites to be on/not to be on (Casting Workbook, Casting Networks, Backstage, etc) or anyone’s experiences with Grant Wilfrey or BG or anything really would be so appreciated. Note on AA: I’m planning to utilize it to its full ability once I’ve been in more student films/ short films and have a solid demo reel. Thank u so much!
Hi all! I noticed that recently there have been a lot of posts from people who have asked if they will be able to 'apply' for roles in big movies and TV shows that have just been announced (the Harry Potter one has been the most common recently), or are rumoured to be underway. As someone who is a working actor and producer with my own company (and I often sit in on casting) I wanted to make a post to explain to people who might be newer to the industry how the casting process works for big projects like this, to hopefully empower you and help you understand better. Remember this is SUPER simplified, and any stage of this can get very complicated. Also, my experience is largely in UK-based productions (although I've worked on a couple of US productions too), so there may be a slight difference depending on where you're based. For clarity, I worked my way up from a production assistant, then producer's assistant, now I produce my own work, so I've seen a lot of levels of this. This post is LONG, so strap in. I didn't want to leave anything out! Anyway - let's start from the very beginning, and pretend that I'm a big important executive from a network or studio who wants to make a prestige TV show like Harry Potter/Rings of Power/House of The Dragon, etc. How does it work? >**1)** I will approach my network/studio and pitch the idea to my boss, say I've convinced the author to sign over all rights to the work, and ask for approx $200million to make it. If I've done a good job and the idea seems solid, my boss might say yes, and authorise me to use some of the $200million to find my core team and come up with some basics. >>**2)** The first thing I need to do is find a **showrunner** (the person who will be head writer and steer the project from beginning to end). The process of finding them and getting them contracted could take me anywhere from months to years. >>**3)** Once I have my showrunner, they will go out and find a group of **writers** to come up with an **outline** for the first series, and write a **pilot script**. This process could take anywhere from a few months to a year (or more...) >>**4)** I'll go back to the studio, show them the script and outline, and ask for the 'green light' to begin pre-production. They might say yes right away (sometimes you might see this being called 'ordering' episodes), or they might offer notes and tell me to go back to the writers and implement those notes - which might take months. ^((At this point, since I first put the idea to my boss, a period of a year to even five or ten years may have passed, depending on how many other projects my studio has going on - this is called being stuck in 'development hell' if it drags on for years.)) >>**5)** If they say yes right away, I will get the **'green light' to start pre-production**, which is the time before filming where the production team and director do all the necessary prep work: **casting**, finding and booking locations, finding crew, making/buying costumes, building sets. Casting usually comes first, because any further financing and crew acquisitions will depend on which big famous person we convince to sign on. >>**6)** From the scripts that we have, the casting director we hire will start to make **character breakdowns**, which tell us how many roles we need to cast from leads to one-liners, and what they will be like (age, race, accent, height, personality, etc). These breakdowns will go out to the various agents in the next steps. >>**7)** The first roles to be cast will always be the leads and pivotal supporting roles, because they are crucial to the idea - for adult roles, we will likely have a "wishlist" of 10 - 30 known/name actors per role. Many of these actors will be 'offer only', meaning they have gotten to a point in their careers where they will no longer audition, and will only consider roles if they are offered to them directly. >>So: the first thing that will be done is **sending the script to each of them in a hierarchical order** \- and believe me, the politics on this one are painfully intricate. You can't send it out to multiple A-listers simultaneously, it has to be one at a time. Agents will sometimes refuse to offer a script if someone else has been offered it first, I've heard it with my own ears (for instance something like "Nicole won't read this if Charlize has already turned it down" or "this needs to go to Reese before it goes to Rachel"). But in general it goes: \- Oscar winners, true living legends, permanent A listers \- Emmy/SAG/BAFTA etc winners and reliably bankable stars \- 'known' actors who may not have an award but do have name recognition \- trendy promising up-and-comers >>Each of these actors will have a certain amount of 'reading' time they require in which to read the script and discuss the role with their team, which can take from weeks to months depending on how busy they are - the **average is 4-6 weeks for A-listers**. You can imagine the math on this: the first person takes 4 weeks to read and then says no, the second person takes another 4 weeks and says no, and so and on and so on until you hopefully find someone who says yes and isn't too far down the list. So let's call this step a further 3-6 months. >>**8)** Once the lead roles have been cast, the supporting roles will be cast. The casting director will generally go hierarchically here as well, so they'll ask for submissions from all the top agencies in the country they're shooting in or approach specific people they have an eye on globally. Then they'll work their way down to boutique agencies, start ups, and so on and so forth. By the time they reach boutique agencies, 99% of the time, they'll have found what they need and won't need to go any further down their list, but in case they haven't, they might go out to big agencies in an adjacent market (for example US/Canada, US/UK, UK/Europe, UK/Australia/New Zealand) and then work their way down their agent list hierarchy in that country as well. 99.999999% of the time, at this point, we will be fully cast for speaking roles. ^((Side note - Do I agree with this hierarchy? No, not necessarily - but it is the reality, and I want you to know about it!)) >>**9) L**et's say one of the supporting roles is a very specific type of person. Maybe we need a Farsi speaking amputee, or a long-haired 6'5" Viking-looking man who can do a headstand on horseback, or a 95 year old Thai woman who can tap dance flawlessly. At that point, an open call would be put onto reputable online casting platforms for those very specific people, and the casting director and their team would start to think outside the box - maybe street casting? Maybe models? Maybe athletes and stunt people? Maybe they'll go out into community organisations? >>**10)** Or maybe a lot of the roles are for children, like Matilda The Musical. In the UK, the casting director would generally go out directly to major youth organisations (like the National Youth Theatre), drama schools/university drama and theatre departments to target 18-20 year olds who look younger, children's acting schools, and then finally high schools in general - they will organise carefully controlled and managed open calls at each high school. If they still haven't found anyone, they'll put an open call online. >>**11)** At that point, 100% of the time, we are 100% cast for all speaking roles. Extras and background will be hired on a rolling basis throughout principal photography through the appropriate agencies that are local to the shoot. >>>>^(A caveat to all of this:) >>^(Once in a blue moon, a studio will demand a "true" unknown for a lead role in a blockbuster film. This is more common in indie film, but) *^(occasionally)* ^(happens for a big project. The most recent memory I have of one of these is from the new Star Wars trilogy. A worldwide search was conducted for the roles of Rey and Finn. HOWEVER - although thousands of people who are unrepresented self-submitted and sent in tapes, a casting director was simultaneously following their usual hierarchy and going to agents looking for someone, and it's worth noting that both Daisy Ridley and John Boyega were already represented and had some small professional and indie roles under their belts. I generally mistrust studios when they ask for a "true" unknown - they don't usually want someone who is completely new, they want a skilled, proven actor who is a new face to THEM and to the wider industry. Keep that in mind and keep a healthy skepticism when seeing these open calls.) So I suppose the answer to the FAQ "how can I apply for a role in (huge thing)?" is - you can't. The reality (however unpleasant you feel it is) is that a lot of very experienced people work very hard to make sure casting for big projects is a **controlled, closed process.** There are a lot of reasons for this, but the number one reason is time and money. Imagine that we put an open call online for a new prestige TV show - how many *millions* of self submissions would we get worldwide? We would have to pay a small army of casting assistants to sort through them and respond and organise and watch self-tapes - it could take years. Nobody in the industry has that kind of time or cash available to them: not even the biggest, most expensive projects. The best advice I was given in my early career was to **always blend in as a professional, rather than stick out as an amateur.** Meaning - don't delude yourself into thinking you can be the exception to the rule, and start to pull silly stunts to try and get noticed. \- If you email your resume to a random person who's connected to the project but isn't in casting, I can guarantee they'll just roll their eyes and delete it and maybe block your email for good measure. \- If you DM someone involved with the project on social media, they either won't see it, or they'll delete/block there too. \- If you put a video on TikTok saying how perfect you are for a role, or film a self tape unsolicited and put it online and ask people to tag creators in it, you'll likely be laughed at. I've seen all of those things happen before, and it's not pretty. I - and my colleagues - still remember the names and faces of actors who have done stuff like this, and *trust me when I tell you that you don't want to be remembered for that*. So what *can* you do, if you're unknown, to get a role in your favourite project? Honestly - nothing. I'm sorry if that feels brutal to hear. **BUT:** \- If you have an agent, you could let them know that you're really keen on the project for when it comes around. You could also ask them if there's a possibility of them setting you up with a **general with the studio's head of casting**, or the casting director who's on the project when their name is announced. \- If you know anyone from your network you suspect might be involved directly, it can't hurt to send them a catch up email - be casual, and don't ask for favours. Meet them for coffee, show genuine enthusiasm about what they're doing and tell them what you've been doing. Hopefully seeing you will jog their memory if there's a role you might be suitable to read for. If not, no harm done, you've had a fun catch up with a friend and colleague. \- If you don't have an agent, you can keep up all the usual stuff like training and self-submitting, and make sure you are registered with your local online casting portal or any directory/youth group/drama department that is relevant and available to you, and that your profile is up to date and that you have good head shots. \- If you have very unique physical attributes, see if you can find an 'alternative' modelling agent or similar - they will also be a great port of call for casting when they're searching for people with very specific looks that are harder to find in the general acting population. ​ I really sincerely hope this helps, and I'm happy to answer as many questions as I can! :)
I just moved to Midtown East, NYC a month ago, and am interested in signing up for an in-person acting class. Preferably with a curriculum of 1 night/week. Price isn’t a huge concern, but something not-terribly-expensive is encouraged (will settle for paying a higher price if you have found the class to be well worth the money). I have years of acting experience from middle/high school and have starred in 3 short films in the past year, so a more intermediate course would be ideal. Ultimately looking to refine my acting skills, as well as connect with other up-and-coming actors in the city. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thank you in advance!
Working on a feature script, and my team and I would love to attach an actor for one of the characters. The only issue is - their on-screen role is very minimum and would only be in a scene or two. I know actors have been part of films as cameo roles (i.e Matt Damon in UNSANE) which are smaller, but what is the best approach to getting them attached? Do you even explain it as a cameo in the film?
Hi guys! First time poster here. I've been in the acting game for over a decade. I am now in my early 30s and finally have my agent, but honestly, been a lot of false starts in recent years with my career, which I'm sure many can relate to. I know that's just how this industry works, but my question is: how do you use your network to leverage your career fairly? Meaning, I have plenty of friends who are successful in TV, film and music, who I admire dearly. Thing is, I've always been wary to ask them for a little help introducing me to the right people, as I never want to make my friends feel that they are only there to help me up the ladder. But a part of me just wonders if maybe I've just been missing out on a lot of potential opportunities by being too timid and not bold enough to ask for guidance, mentorship, networking help from my friends. I'm talking people who are well known and have many film and TV credits. I'm thankful that I've gotten to do a lot of amazing networking on my own, but sometimes it just really takes someone else with a track record to introduce you to people. Should I keep networking and auditioning as is? Or should I reach out for a little help, and how? Look, I'm not looking for fame necessarily, what I'm looking for is financial stability and the opportunity to work in my field steadily (I know, an actor's dream!) Also, I live near LA, and am moving there again in the next few months. Feels like my close proximity hasn't deterred me too much, but I know I'm missing out on the face to face networking you get by simply living in the city. Thanks everyone! Happy auditioning.
Hi there! For my Black actors out there who wear protective styles, do you think it would be noticeable if I had a slightly different protective style than my headahot? For example, in my head, shot I have knotless braids. However if I took them out and put passion twists or marley twists in my hair and I did an auditon with that style do you think casting would notice or even care? I'm thinking this is something I might be able to get away with but I'm not too sure. Thanks!
Hello, I'm a newer actor currently choosing which acting class format to take and I need your advice! I'm a full time college student in LA so I go back to my hometown (not in SoCal) for three months in the summers and one month in the winter. I want to get solid training in the Meisner technique to improve as an actor and overcome my awkwardness and nervousness when talking to other people. The problem is that many Meisner technique studios offer two year in person programs that I can't attend consistently due to my summer and winter breaks. I looked around for classes both in LA and near my hometown and I am faced with two choices: 1. Take a three month in person introductory class in Hometown Acting Class this summer, and then continue my training at a different in person LA Acting Class when I get back to college next school year. 2. Take the zoom option for LA Acting Class this summer, and hopefully transfer to their in person acting classes when I return to college next school year. And just continue hopping back and forth between Zoom and in person (not sure if I can do that...) in the same studio until I complete their training. I just had a talk with Hometown Acting Class and the ball is in my court whether I want to move forward as an applicant and I'm going to have an interview with the LA Acting Class tomorrow. Do you think it's ok for me to jump between Meisner studios from the summer and school year in regards to training as an actor, or is it better to stay with one studio consistently? For the second choice, do you think it's better to take Zoom classes/in person classes with one studio, even though during the summers I won't have the benefit of in person classes? Thank you so much for taking the time to read and/or give advice. I am very grateful and wish you the best day/night. :)
Hi everyone! I have to perform a 7 minute scene in my acting class with my friend. We need to find a play that has 2 characters, 1 girl and 1 boy. Does anyone have any suggestions? I would prefer comedy but am open to anything. (I am not an actor so am very new to this) Thank you so much!
Thank you to everyone who gave me advice on nursing my voice and helping me out while I was sick. My voice is feeling much better (as am I). I was able to get an audition done for an indie game. My first character demo had to take a backseat, but it’s still in the works! Appreciate you all!
I'm so excited for Billy! I'm curious, if you could play any historical figure in their biopic, who would it be and why?https://deadline.com/2023/04/billy-porter-james-baldwin-biopic-byron-allen-1235322934/
What I mean is are there any of u guys that didn’t finish a degree for another subject? And is just working a minimum wage job? Reason I’m asking this is because, I don’t want to go get a certificate or go to college to complete another degree that isn’t acting. Don’t some actors go to university or get a certificate etc. to have a backup job just in case they can’t live off only acting as their jobs? Just curious
Hi, I am currently in college and want to go into acting when I finish up; however, I don't want my sole focus in college to be acting when you don't need a degree for it. I thought nursing might be a good choice, because you could work at a hospital, do 3 12's, and be done for the week; however, after doing some reading a little bit ago, maybe I'm not going about it the right way like I thought I was. ​ So actors who went to college, what did you do that helps you pay the bills and still have time to pursue acting (professionally)?
What is the better school to go to for beginners? I have found a few but I also don't have a lot of money
I just started acting again recently (30F) and am 8 months into classes. I recently started my intermediate level and was pretty confident but after seeing others I just feel like I am not progressing and growing as much as everyone else (or even as good). I’m hoping this class will give me the skills to grow this semester but I keep questioning whether I should continue. I am always so happy to hear other students successes but it does make me feel worse about myself. I get a good amount of auditions but not a lot of callbacks and I don’t book much and I know most of the time it has nothing to do with me and just a part of casting but it’s hard to not think I’m just not a great actor too. How does everyone deal with this? What are some things you do outside of class/work to help you grow your acting?
Weeee, you found me!
I'm your buddy Bottie, I was hiding behind the scenes, but now that you've found me I'd be happy to tell you what I'm doing.
I just wrote a few fun facts about Web For Actors
Would you like to take a look?
Click here to check them out. I hope it will cause involuntary audible response.
