Casting Calls.

Today I wanted to talk to you about having a routine for checking out new gigs online & self submission.

If you already have an agent or even if you do have an agent, it is still a good idea to keep your eyes and ears open for new casting calls on the internet.  There are several places where you can find casting calls and information.

Casting Calls on Social Media

Facebook Groups

You can go on Facebook and join groups like Texas Crew and Casting Calls, Central TX Actors Group, and Austin Actors. (Or you can search for whatever state/city you are in.) Some are closed groups and you have to request for membership to be able to participate.  They'll go over your profile and see if if you're legit.

Once you are in, anybody that posts a notice about casting or other related relevant information, you'll get a Facebook notification to let you know that somebody posted on that group.

This is a good way to always be in the know whether you're on your phone, tablet, your laptop.  You'll always want to have notifications when something comes up because it is always better to submit your information as soon as casting notices come out.

You don't want to wait a day or two, that can be too late, I'm not saying if it's a two day old notice to just ignore it, go ahead and apply it but the sooner the better.

Craigslist Gigs

You can go to Craigslist and look at Gigs and scroll through that section.  I don't like to go straight to the 'Talent' link because sometimes things are posted under different categories and you'll probably miss out if you only go to the talent link.

What I like to do when I go on Craigslist is type "-model, -models, -nude, -adult" on the search bar, that way it brings up casting calls that have nothing to do with modeling, nudity or adult films.  You might still see some of those notices but that helps remove all the junk that you don't need.

Always be careful when answering ads on Craigslist, if something raises a red flag in your gut about an ad, then flag it and move on.

Short Film Texas

Another place I like to look for casting notices is Short Film Texas.  That's a blog where they post notices for student films, short films, commercials.  They have notices for the Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio market.

That is www.ShortFilmTexas.com.

Yahoo! Groups

You can also join this Yahoo group list that was started by Dan Eggleston.  People post casting calls, workshops, classes, free trials, things that are relevant to you as an actor.

You can sign up to receive the daily digest once you enroll to get notification, but sometimes by the time you get the e-mail with the daily digest it's too late.  You might get emails from casting calls that were posted at over 24 hours ago.

What I like to do is set mine to get emails as they come in.  So if somebody sends a casting call notice I get a notification on my phone immediately and I can reply.

The link is groups.yahoo.com/group/AustinFilmCasting, you will need a Yahoo! account.

Submitting On-the-Go

When you're on the go it's not always easy to have your resume and headshot accessible but you don't want to just leave those casting notices for later because you might forget.

What I do to help me when I'm on the go is keep a template on my gmail account. I sent myself an e-mail with an introduction, my demo reel link and my headshot & resume attached to that e-mail.

When I received the e-mail I moved it to one of my folders.  Now when I get a casting notice I copy their e-mail address, forward my template e-mail to that e-mail address after I fill in the blanks like the name of the character I want to audition for etc. then I send it out to them.  This way I don't have to wait later to send my submission e-mail to them.

Casting Calls - Tips

When you're starting out you want to do as much as you can even if it's unpaid or a short film, student film, commercials because you want the exposure. You want the experience.

Even if you go audition and you don't get cast, you are still putting yourself out there. That casting director or director might hang on to your information for another future project they may have. Also, the more auditions you do they more comfortable you'll be in the future.

Check for Casting Calls Regularly

It's a really good idea to set up a reminder to yourself to check these websites on a daily basis.  This can happen when you are drinking your coffee in the morning, on your way to work if you ride the bus or train.   Or even during your lunch break.

Alternatively to make things easier you can set yourself up to receive automatic e-mail notifications to get casting notices from the Yahoo! group, Shortfilmtexas.com and even Craigslist. There is a way for you to get notifications from Craigslist and I will show you that in a different blog. If you can't wait for the blog to come then send me a message or leave a comment below.

Thanks for reading everybody!  If you know of any other places where we can look for casting notices let me know so I can add that to the blog and help other newbies out there.

Hope this blog helped you out,  I know it's not a complete list of resources but you'll get a complete and detailed list on my upcoming e-book soon!

See you soon I hope and have fun out there!