How to run a Successful Student Film Casting Call.

So, you wanna host a casting call eh?

First off, know what you’re getting into. Running a successful casting call in Michigan (Especially a Student-film Casting call) is like trying to…well, um…basically it’s just a lot of hard work. Don’t just think because your film has an awesome title thralls of actors are going to rush to your audition location by the Craiglist posting they found.

It doesn’t work that way. At least, not here. It honestly is “hit or miss” sometimes, but these tips will hopefully make it more of a “hit.”

What you need to know and what you need to do to have a successful Casting Call:

• STEP 1. Decide who is going to be in charge of the casting process and create an E-mail address for this short film. You don’t want to use your personal E-mail addy. In this case our E-mail address will be: billysgoldfishthefilm@gmail.com. Check this E-mail OFTEN and respond to EVERY email inquiry about the short film (But make sure it’s ONE person who’s doing the responding). Be professional and use correct grammar and spelling. Even if someone sends and E-mail that says “Hey I herd about this movie at Craigslist here is my picture, I want to be billy.” – THIS COULD BE YOUR BILLY, so don’t you dare not E-mail him back. Or worse, don’t you dare not E-mail him back professionally. Make sure you start it out with “Thank you for your interest in auditioning for Cornerstone University’s short film “Billy’s Goldfish.” And then go on to answer any questions or give more details. Etc.

• STEP 2. Secondly, create a universal posting that you can submit through E-mail, online and to casting directors. It should sound something like this:

Cornerstone University is hosting a Casting Call, APRIL 2nd 7-9pm (come anytime) for “Billy’s Goldfish”- a Short film about a young boy and his magical fish.

(Basically, state the important stuff first and then give a catchy brief description of the film- in this case, it’s about a boy and his magical fish. I mean, COME ONE, who wouldn’t want to audition for this short film!!)  Next, tell them who you’re looking for and any physical description you have for that character!  

They’re actively seeking actors for these cast members:

BILLY- (7-14)- “Billy” is a carefree young boy with a love for nature and animals. His best friend is his magical fish and together they go on adventures. Must have proportional height and weight for age and RED hair.  

GOLDFISH- (any goldfish will do)- “Goldfish” is a goldfish that swims in his tank…Must be able to swim with glee.   

GRANDMA- (60 +) “Grandma” is a sweet looking older woman with a genuine disposition and graying hair. Must be able to lift 80 IBS and run 20+ mph.

EXTRAS- No need to come to the audition if you just want to be an extra. Simply send Headshots/photograph and experience to:  billysgoldfishthefilm@gmail.com

Got it? Good. Moving on. Now, (this is very important) tell them where to go for the Casting call. And I do mean, tell them in GREAT detail. If you’re hosting the casting call upstairs in FABER- you better not only give them the address for the campus, but tell them exactly where to turn, what building it is, how far to walk, where the elevator is and what classroom it will be held in. You can never give enough details, someone still will get lost...I guarantee it.

Cornerstone University, WARREN FABER building 2nd Floor.

  

1001 E Beltline Ave NE

Grand Rapids, MI 49525

  

Enter the University's campus from the main entrance off the E. Beltline and the first building on the right is the Warren FABER building. Walk through the entrance past the Switchboard desk and the elevator is on the Right. We're holding the auditions on the second floor.

Now that they know where to go for the casting call, you probably should tell them what days they need to be available for the filming of your film. However, put this near the bottom and don’t give too much detail… you don’t want to have Jim look over the casting call and not come simple because his dog, Mr. Fluffy, has a vet appointment on one of the days that you are tentatively  shooting on. Simply say something like this:

Please come to the audition with availability for the week of April 10th.

Sneaky? Absolutely. Lastly, re-state the casting call time, give any other information they might need and thank them for the time they spent reading your casting call post:

Hope to see you at the casting call APRIL 2nd 7-9pm!

If you are unable to make it to the auditions, please send inquiries, headshot, and experience to:

billysgoldfishthefilm@gmail.com.

Don’t hesitate to contact for more information.

Thanks for your interest!

  

- The “Billy’s Goldfish” film crew

billysgoldfishthefilm@gmail.com

• STEP 3. Yay! You’ve written your first Casting Call post. Good for you. But don’t get too excited. Now comes the hard part- getting this sucker out across the inter-web and into the hands of your actors. There are a lot of wonderful places to post your casting call information, but the trick is to post it in MULTIPLE places, so that way your actors have a greater chance of seeing it.

• 1. Craigslist (in the talent section)

• 2. Post your casting call through local websites (Grnow.com etc., michiganacting.com, grandrapids.backpage.com, mlive.com, michiganfilmoffice.com ) 

• 3. Next cat (Not only post a universal job posting, but personally message it to actors who fit your description. Better yet…do a little digging and find their personal E-mail addresses and personally E-mail it to them)

• 4.  Facebook- Post a short version in your status and message this baby to all of your friends. Chances are your Aunt Debby Jo might know of somebody who fits your description.

• 5. Send your casting call information to local organizations like amateur theatres, acting schools or modeling schools that may have members interested in the audition. (Civic theater, Cornerstone University Theater, Muskegon theater, Home-school Performing Arts. Etc.)

• 6. Post your casting call to national casting websites and get in touch with local casting call directors. (Simply do a google search for local casting agencies and give um’ a ring to tell them you need some actors! They’ll pass on the info to their actors.) 

• 7. Tell anybody and everybody about this opportunity. The more word of mouth- the better off you will be.

• STEP 4. Now comes the waiting game. Interested people will E-mail you and it’s your job to respond accurately and in a timely fashion. Hopefully you started advertising your Casting Call a couple of weeks in advance so that way it has some time to generate local interest. The better job at advertising it, the more E-mails you will get. If you’re finding that you’re only getting 1 or 2 E-mails a day…Go back and re-post everything everywhere. And then, post it new places.

Other Things to know:

- You’ll always get more Children actors than you will adult actors. Parents want their kids to be in movies, so you’ll almost always get a better turn out of children than of adults.

- There has been a decline in people wanting to come to Casting Calls, because of the time it takes and the distance some of the actors are driving from. If you’re finding that you’re not getting the interest you thought you would…consider allowing actors to submit “video auditions.”

• STEP 5. The day of the Casting Call. Yay! It’s finally here. You’ve done all of the hard work and now you get to reap the benefits! 

Some things to know for the day of the Casting Call:

•  Be professional (This includes your personal appearance and the way you talk.)
•  Be prepared (Know the answers to questions and keep things moving)
• Have assigned Crew members arrive to set up for the casting call, at least an hour before it starts. Give these people ONE job and have them stick with it the whole night.
• You’re going to need a release form. (E-mail Christi Praniewicz for an example)
• You’re going to need a sign in sheet (This way you can keep track of who is next, have this include an E-mail address section)
• You’re going to need A LOT of pens
• You’re going to need someone to take head-shots (Even if they come with a head-shot, it’s always nice to have another one. The easiest way to do this is to take a picture next to a white-board with their name scribbled on it)
• You’re going to need one or two people to direct the flow of traffic and keep people happy by small-talking and smiling.
•  You’re going to need at least 3 people in the audition room. 1. The director 2. A second opinion 3. Someone to film the auditions
• You’re going to need copies of the scripts, or sections of the scripts for people to read over
• You’re going to need stuff to keep kids happy while they wait (if you’re auditioning kids). Coloring books and crayons will do.
• It’s nice to set out some magazines and waterbottles
• Keep auditions to around 7 minutes. More or less depending on how many people are waiting.
• Make sure your director is prepared and knows what section of the script they are going to be auditioning from
• It’s nice to have walkie-talkies for the Director to tell the Crew members when to send in the next auditionee.
• HAVE FUN!
• Lastly, DO NOT, and I repeat, DO NOT tell anyone they got the part at the casting call.

• STEP 6. Now that you have auditioned your cast members (and have hopefully found everyone you need) send out an E-mail to everyone who came to the audition but didn’t get cast (this is where the sign in sheet with the E-mail address section comes in handy) to thank them for auditioning and to tell them to come to the next one!

• STEP 7. Personally call the people who you cast. This is a really nice thing to do.

Ok, that’s all the information that I have for now. If ya’ll have any more questions…let me know. Hopefully we can continue the legacy of awesome casting calls at Cornerstone!

  

Ps. If you've found that you've followed all of these steps and still had a bad outcome...pray to Jesus and cold-call actors who have their numbers posted on Nextcat.

- Christi