4 Casting Websites You Need to Bookmark

As an actor, chances are you’re already either thinking about booking jobs, searching for jobs to book or actually booking jobs.

Regardless of which stage you are in the process, we’ve rounded up 4 websites that you need to keep in your bookmarked folders at all times.

These websites list free casting calls that you can come along to without necessarily needing agent representation.

And whilst, yes, that means there might be some stiff competition – it’s nothing you can’t handle.

So let’s dive in shall we?

1. Spotlight

Membership: £150 a year

A list of casting websites wouldn’t be complete without Spotlight holding the Number 1 spot.

Generally speaking to book jobs in the UK you need to be a member of either Equity, the actor’s union, or Spotlight. It’s not a pre-requisite, but it’ll certainly get you taken more seriously when you’re giving it your best to the casting director.

Spotlight is the home of casting in the UK. Big productions like Episodes and House of Cards used Spotlight to book their talent.

So keep that in your number 1 spot.

2. Backstage

Membership: £100 a year (6 months free here)

Backstage requires you to be a member, but it posts casting calls from all over the world. You can, of course, narrow your fields down (unless you’re willing to hop a flight to LA as and when) and it also boasts “over 6,000 industry jobs” for you to take a gander at.

Create your talent profile, network with fellow professionals, get email updates about upcoming roles and auditions and apply to casting calls quickly, all through their online portal.

3. Mandy Actors (UK)

(Free registration, paid memberships too)

Mandy Actors (formerly CastingCall Pro) is a leading casting website in the UK . Find and apply for acting jobs, create your own portfolio; showcase your skills and get noticed!

Just like the others you’ll receive casting notifications to your inbox, but you can also create your own website through the website (which includes hosting) which is pretty cool!

4. The Stage

(Free registration)

The Stage features the latest film, TV and theatre auditions. The Stage Castings is packed with auditions and casting opportunities for anyone looking for acting, singing, dancing or presenter jobs.

The great thing about The Stage is you can access all their job vacancies and casting adverts for free (and read up to 5 articles!) without opting for the paying membership.

Happy booking! 🙂 And let us know if you think we’re missing a gem in our list 😉

---

Penguin in the Room @prartsmarketing is a group of creatives with an arts marketing dream: penguin stepping our way into the arts industry and helping other creatives flourish! Specialising in online marketing, social media, branding, copy writing, media coaching and web design for actors, artists, casting directors, agents, production companies, theatre companies and creative individuals.

Contact us any time for penguin chats via email:info@penguinintheroom.com or Facebook.com/penguinintheroom or waddle over to our website: www.penguinintheroom.com

Advertisement

Perform with Tangled Feet in Leeds!

Photo from Tangled Feet show One Million

by Nathan Curry

Being a volunteer performer in a large-scale outdoor theatre production, performing to thousands of local people, in the heart of the city where you live is an exhilarating experience. People often describe these moments as ‘a once in a lifetime experience’ but there are now more opportunities than ever to be involved in large-scale mass participation events. A very brilliant production manager I once worked with gave some excellent advice to a young production placement student “life is better when you join in” – and it’s completely true – it is. As a people we yearn for opportunities to be part of a community, to meet, to celebrate, to connect; and the performing arts is the perfect place to do all of these things. We’ve been making up stories and playing in groups since we could learn to talk and move – why should it stop once we grow up?

Tangled Feet have made a number of shows featuring performers who aren’t trained working alongside young performers in training and professional performers to create theatre that is truly unique. Our show All That is Solid Melts into Air featured a flash mob of 50 young people for the finale scene and One Million featured 100 young people authoring the entire show. For our next mass participation performance we are looking for 300 performers, of all ages, in Leeds and the surrounding areas.

Our new show, Collective Endeavour, commissioned by Dep Arts and Leeds City Council to celebrate the arrival of the Rugby World Cup in Leeds will be an epic celebration of the power of community; of strength in numbers and of the idea that great things can be achieved when you work as a team. Echoing these sporting themes, the show places community at its heart as volunteer performers will help create a giant structure in front of the audience’s eyes. Volunteers perform simple movements evoking the physicality of rugby as well as ensemble work to create images and atmosphere en-masse.

Being a volunteer performer isn’t just about making big images. There is something fundamentally important and exhilarating about a regular, local person performing a story that resonates with them with and for their local community. It is about embedding art at the very heart of the community – made, performed and watched by a group local people. And brilliant. We want Collective Endeavour to be brilliant, highly accomplished and memorable for all.

We make theatre that places volunteers are the heart of something excellent, epic and hugely exciting. If you are reading this and think you’d like to be involved, grab a friend and sign up. Here is a video to tell you more…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cQifoz8uPw

More details and sign up here….

http://www.departsltd.com/projectproduction/tangled-feet-collective-endeavour/

Social Media for Casting Directors (Film/TV/Commercial)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

photo credit: vancouverfilmschool via photopin cc

So you are a Casting Director in Film/TV/Commericals and you are interested in social media, you might even have a Facebook or twitter profile but what social media channels should you be using?

You should be present on these 4 : Twitter, Facebook, Vimeo and LinkedIn

1. Twitter – over 500 million members and the one every one is obsessed with. Great for people on the go – you can tweet anywhere if you have a smart phone. Perfect for finding opportunities,  networking with potential clients, promoting your work and sharing those casting calls that are a little bit harder to find.

2. Facebook – over a billion members! The Facebook membership is getting older so you will find more and more industry folk on there. Great for connecting, keeping tabs on your connections, finding opportunities and promoting your work. Images work better than text on Facebook so make each post visual (think of all those stills you can use from your projects)!

3. Vimeo – very popular in the industry particularly with film-makers so lots of networking possibilities. Vimeo also enables you to password protect your videos (YouTube doesn’t) so the public can’t see them – upload videos of your auditions and send the link and password to your director/client if they can’t be with you. Much better than downloads!

4. LinkedIn – widely known as the biggest lead generating social media network, which means that people get the most work from this one. Great for keeping tabs on your connections and promoting your CV. Take a look at What is LinkedIn? A Straightforward Guide for more info.

If thats not enough social media time for you then it’s definitely worth checking out Pinterest and popping your reel on Youtube – it’s the second biggest search engine after google don’t you know!

Penguin in the Room @prartsmarketing is one penguin with an arts marketing dream: penguin stepping my way into the arts industry and helping creatives flourish! Specialising in online marketing, social media, branding, copy writing, media coaching and web design for actors, artists, casting directors, agents, production companies, theatre companies and creative individuals.

Contact me any time for penguin chats via email: info@penguinintheroom.com or Facebook.com/penguinintheroom or waddle over to my website: www.penguinintheroom.com

 

Penguin chats with … Casting Director Shakyra Dowling

Casting Director and Penguin in the Room client Shakyra Dowling visited the penguin pool this week to answer some casting and online marketing related questions.

Follow Shakyra on twitter @ShakyraDowling

Whats the biggest misconception about casting directors?

Probably that we are scary people! We want actors to do well, we only bring you in because we think you are PERFECT for the job.

What are you up to at the moment?

Casting 2 feature films – one British Independent and the other a Danish/US co-production

Top casting tips for actors?

– Always learn the sides sent to you.

– Find out who is going to be at the meeting and check them out on IMDB.

– If you can watch some of their previous work on VOD then do so.

You are on twitter and Facebook, do you post castings?

Twitter – especially for those hard to find role!

Do you think it’s important for actors to be aware of their online presence?

Yes, producers always want to know how much publicity they can get out via their cast. So if you have a large following, they are impressed.

Do you chat to actors on twitter?

Sometimes, usually ones I know personally or have cast in the past.

Do you think actors should be on youtube?

If they have a body of work online (trailers for films, online ads, shorts) then its good to have it all in one place on a youtube channel. Showreels should be on spotlight or vimeo as they are more industry tools.

Penguin in the Room @prartsmarketing is one penguin with an arts marketing dream: penguin stepping my way into the arts industry and helping creatives flourish! Specialising in online marketing, social media, branding, copy writing, media coaching and web design for actors, artists, casting directors, agents, production companies, theatre companies and creative individuals.

Contact me any time for penguin chats via email: info@penguinintheroom.com or Facebook.com/penguinintheroom or waddle over to my website:www.penguinintheroom.com

Top 5 Facebook No No’s for Actors

So most of us are on Facebook but a lot of people ask me if they should be on there as an actor? Yes! Facebook is another great way to promote yourselves and network and there will be people on Facebook that aren’t on twitter, LinkedIn etc so don’t miss out on connecting with them. So the next question I get asked is what are the commons mistakes you should avoid? Well, I am glad you ask because here are my top 5 No No’s for Actors on Facebook…

1. Personal profiles – make sure your personal profile (profile through which you add and accept friends) is not visible in google search and update your privacy settings, you don’t want Directors seeing photos of the last hen night you went on do you! Create a page (which people can like) to be the public face of your acting brand. (You can create a personal acting profile but you are only allowed one profile on Facebook so Facebook could shut this profile down at any time)

2. Fan page – Facebook pages are often called fan pages and this makes actors feel insecure about having a page as they assume they have no fans and get caught up in the amount of likes they have. However, it is not about securing fans it’s about making connections and promoting your news – think quality not quantity – if 10 people are engaging with your page regularly that’s much better than 1000 people who never read or like anything you post.

3. Headers – Facebook’s new look timeline has header images (the long thin image across the top) and this is a great opportunity to promote yourselves. Please resist the urge to have a picture of a nice view or a stock theatre image and use this space to display a screen/theatre shot of yourself. Let prospective employers see you in action! You can even put a current production poster there to promote where your followers can see you next.

4. Twitter messages on Facebook – we all like to feel special and if I see that you have clearly posted a tweet on Facebook eg. the post contains hashtags and @tags, I don’t feel special. Your Facebook followers want to feel like you are posting interesting news for them on Facebook and not just posting any old thing because its easier. So, do not link your Facebook account to Twitter and remove twitter language before posting on Facebook. Also, it’s a good idea to post some messages on Facebook that don’t go on twitter and vice versa – make it interesting for people who follow you on both social media channels.

5. News – by all means promote yourself but don’t be a broken record. We do want to hear your news but not just a stream of you related information. Break things up with interesting articles, links etc that are useful for your followers.

So enjoy yourselves on Facebook and I hope you make some wonderful connections out of it! If you are on twitter you can also check out my Top 5 No No’s for Actors on Twitter too.

Penguin in the Room @prartsmarketing is one penguin with an arts marketing dream: penguin stepping my way into the arts industry and helping creatives flourish! Specialising in online marketing, social media, branding, copy writing, media coaching and web design for actors, artists, casting directors, agents, production companies, theatre companies and creative individuals.

Contact me any time for penguin chats via email:info@penguinintheroom.com or Facebook.com/penguinintheroom or waddle over to my website:www.penguinintheroom.com

Penguin chats with…. Casting Director Nicci Topping

Bubbly Casting Director and Penguin in the Room client Nicci Topping from Topps Casting visited the penguin pool this week to answer some casting and online marketing related questions.

Casting Director Nicci Topping

Follow Nicci on twitter @niccitopping and Facebook.

Whats the biggest misconception about casting directors?

That we give actors a hard time. But saying that, we are brutally honest!

Which do you prefer London or Manchester?

Both, as long as we are casting a great project it doesn’t matter where it is!

What are you up to at the moment?

Up to my eyes in scripts…

Top casting tips for actors?

• Make sure you listen to the casting director, and act accordingly to the direction thats been given
• Do not be late
• Dress appropriately
• Make sure you are fully aware about the part you are auditioning for
• Look pleased to be there
• Please don’t waste our time

What do you think of social media?

It’s a great tool if you can use it properly!

You are on twitter and Facebook, do you post castings?

It depends what I am looking for…… but yes sometimes!

Do you think it’s important for actors to be aware of their online presence?

Yes i do a lot of people in the business don’t realise how important it is nowadays.

Do you chat to actors on twitter?

Yes. You can find me @niccitopping

Do you google actors?

Yes always!

If you do google an actor and nothing comes up, what do you think?

Where are they?

What do you think about actor’s websites?

I think they are a great idea! Great additional PR. It makes them look professional.

Well there you have it some top tips from a lady in the know! See some of the awesome projects Nicci has cast at her website: www.toppscasting.co.uk

Penguin in the Room @prartsmarketing is one penguin with an arts marketing dream: penguin stepping my way into the arts industry and helping creatives flourish! Specialising in online marketing, social media, branding, copy writing, media coaching and web design for actors, artists, casting directors, agents, production companies, theatre companies and creative individuals.

Contact me any time for penguin chats via email: info@penguinintheroom.com orFacebook.com/penguinintheroom or waddle over to my website:www.penguinintheroom.com