Hi Bonnie,
I had a quick question to ask you. I am trying to get myself an audition for Shrek the Musical, and I’ve sent in a submission to the casting director (Tara Rubin) and I have a bunch of people spreading my name to the creative team.
I haven’t heard about an audition yet, and the sides just became available on Showfax. Does that generally mean that the submission auditions have already been scheduled or that they are still possibly scheduling them? I’ve only ever done an open call before, as I didn’t have an agent when I lived in New York.
I know I type perfectly for the role, and they’re doing this awkward casting ploy where anyone can send in a video audition. I feel weird about doing that, especially as a union member.
Do you have a little time to advise me about this?
Adam
Hi Adam. I’m going to ask any of our Equity auditioning pros out there to write in with their thoughts on the union side of your questions (because I’ve only ever cast AEA 99-Seat Agreement theatre, so I don’t really know how the world of EPAs works). But with that qualifier in place, here are my thoughts.
Yes, I would imagine once you see sides up on Showfax.com for the project (and role), casting meetings are being set. At least that’s how it works for me. I’ll roll out audition appointments right after the sides go “live” at Showfax, so actors can immediately download their material and confirm their appointments.
That said, auditions can happen for weeks after that first session! Some CDs will audition hundreds of candidates for each role, stretching out sessions for weeks. Others — especially in the time-intensive realm of episodic TV casting or commercial casting — will have the role cast within hours of the sides becoming available.
Now, as for the “awkward casting ploy” thing, I have to let you know that I’ve become a huge fan of using YouTube.com for prereads. When I cast LilyDidIt.com last year (which launched this week; go check it out), we did all of our prereads via the Cricket Feet Casting YouTube Group. Actors were given their choice of five sets of sides to download from Showfax.com, and then they taped their auditions, uploaded them to YouTube.com, and we scheduled our callbacks from there. I know at least one of the actors we ended up casting came from the YouTube prereads.
One of the two films I’m casting right now is going straight to callbacks on at least one role (the rest have been cast via direct offers) and a good half-dozen of the actors we’ll see next week at callbacks are coming from YouTube prereads. It’s a great way to allow us to watch actors doing the material and to allow actors who otherwise might not be high on our list (especially if we’re going straight to callbacks, selecting our top contenders from previous experience or “nameyness”) to have a shot at getting seen. There are absolutely two actors in the mix currently who wouldn’t have been asked in straight to callbacks, but now will be, due to their YouTube audition footage.
Some actors complain that this reduction in holding physical prereads is lazy. I’ll say that it’s efficient. On this particular film, I have a producer in Canada, another in Louisiana, and then two of us on the team are here in LA. We all need to weigh in on who’s coming to callbacks, and this system allows us to open the field to more actors than would be on our collective lists just based on watching actor demo reels and considering our previous experiences with the actors. Since getting everyone on the crew in the same place at the same time to hold prereads became impractical based on how many roles went out via offers, this YouTube option helped us all. And, since the film is shooting in Baton Rouge, we’re able to consider local hires via YouTube without having to travel to do local casting for just one role.
Efficient. And inclusive. One actor who uploaded audition footage used her cell phone’s camera capabilities for cryin’ out loud! Video production technology is now so inexpensive that the playing field is definitely leveled somewhat. So, if you otherwise might not get invited into the room for an audition, why not take the time to get a better shot at being seen? Especially when you’re so sure you’re the right fit for the role. Share that truth with the CD using the option you’ve been provided.
And that brings me back to the timing of the sides going out on Showfax.com. With YouTube.com auditions happening, it’s possible that it’s still a few weeks or so before in-person sessions are being held, and the sides are simply available so that YouTube.com-auditioning actors have the material they’ll need to show their stuff! You never know!
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Originally published by Actors Access at http://more.showfax.com/columns/avoice/archives/000827.html. Please support the many wonderful resources provided by the Breakdown Services family. This posting is the author’s personal archive.