Acting Auditions :
How to Find New Auditions

Welcome to our complete guide to acting auditions. You'll learn where to find new auditions, (theater, film, TV and commercial auditions), how to submit to casting directors the way talent agencies do and how to prepare for open casting calls and scheduled auditions, along with plenty of acting tips to help you get acting jobs.

It can be frustrating to come out of acting school ready to put your acting talent to the test only to find you can't get an audition.

If you haven't already done so, follow these steps to find an acting agencies or managers, but don't wait to have representation before you start looking for theater, film, TV and commercial auditions. Even if you do have an agent or manager, you should still be looking for new auditions on your own.

So how do you find acting auditions? By doing the same thing talent agencies do!

A talent agency submits to casting notices...

Legit agents submit their clients through "Breakdown Services" every day. The Breakdowns are a list of casting notices for upcoming auditions acting agencies pay for. Of course, most of these notices are only available to agents, but Breakdown Services also has a website where free acting audition notices are posted everyday for actors to view directly. The website is called Actors Access and lists casting calls in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, as well as Texas, Florida and other regions throughout the country. You can even access auditions in Canada. All you need to do is to create a profile. Best of all, it's free! You only pay to submit online!
Actors Access is not the only actors' access to new auditions. Backstage newspaper has tons of New York and Los Angeles casting calls every week and you can find acting auditions everyday by subscribing on their website for a monthly fee. Another good acting audition website is Now Casting. For commercial auditions, the leading website is Casting Networks, known in Los Angeles as LA Casting. These sites allow you to submit to auditions online for a monthly fee.
If you are interested in theater auditions, check the Actors' Equity website for open casting calls. Even non-union actors can audition at times.

There are many scams out there to lure beginning actors who dream of making it big. Be very selective before paying for membership into a website that promises acting audition listings. No one can promise you auditions and you should never pay for a membership to a talent website because of such a promise. A good acting audition website should post several quality casting calls everyday (legit movie auditions, theater & TV auditions and commercial auditions). A site that only has a few open casting calls for extras each week is not worth spending your money on!

A talent agency networks to find work for their clients...

An agent builds relationships with casting directors so that they will let him know about upcoming acting jobs and audition his clients.

And so should you!

Sign up for casting director workshops. These workshops usually start with a Q&A session with the casting director. After that, actors in the workshop are paired up to perform scenes. This is a great way to start building relationships with casting directors and to get feedback you wouldn't get normally in an acting audition. Plus, if you're right for a project the casting director is working on, you may get a call for an acting audition.

Another great way to get acting auditions is to intern at a casting director's office. Get a copy of Call Sheet by Backstage and start making a list of casting directors and production companies to contact. By offering to work for free for a day or two a week, you'll also learn tons about the business of acting and the do's and don'ts of auditioning. For example, nothing will teach you about commercial auditions as well as working for busy commercial audition casting director. See if you can become a reader (the one who reads audition scenes with the actors during acting auditions). Interning at a theater or a film company is also a great way to network, learn the business and get auditions.

A talent agency stays ahead of the game...

How? By reading the trade papers and keeping up to date with who's producing what.

Although casting websites are a great resource, many acting roles out there are never advertised. As an actor, you also won't have access to a lot of casting notices that are reserved for agents' eyes only.

Yet you too can get acting jobs by staying ahead of the game:

Get a copy of the October issue of American Theatre Magazine (you can order a back issue anytime). Their season preview section lists the production schedules of every main theater in the country. You can also visit the magazine's website and search theaters in your area. When there is an acting role that is right for you in a theater's upcoming season, find out who is in charge of casting (by calling or browsing through the theater's website) and submit your acting headshot and resume for the role you want.
Find out which films are in development. You can get a list from the Screen Actors Guild if you're a member or from a resource directory like Backstage's Call Sheet. You can also read the trade papers like Variety and the Hollywood Reporter. Listings of films in development usually include the contact information for the casting office. If you feel there may be an acting role for you in the film, go ahead and submit your acting picture and resume.
If you're starting an acting career, drop off your actor headshot and resume at every film school in the area. They will put in on file for student filmmakers to browse through when casting their short films.

Always make sure you label the envelope you submit your headshot and resume in with the name of the project and acting role you're submitting for. Always label your headshot with the same information (you can use a post-it or address label). Casting directors get a lot of submissions and don't have time for guessing work. Read on for more information on submitting for a role.

Now you know how to find acting auditions, ready for the next step?

Click here for how to submit to talent auditions.

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