L&L TALENT: AUDITION NOTICES 101
How we work:
We receive project breakdowns throughout the day and submit appropriate actors. Casting directors choose who they want to see and send us audition notices which include details such as audition time, location, shoot dates, production info, etc.
When you get called in for an audition, we send out initial audition notices in the form of emails and/or texts.
For commercial auditions through LA Casting (and other commercial sites), we send an email and text with details sent from a castingnetworks.com email/text address. If we don't get a confirmation from you right away, then we send a personal text and/or email. If we do not hear back from you after an hour, we have to take time out from submitting to call you. If you do not confirm by then, we will cancel the audition.
Always check for sides for all LA Casting auditions, (whether or not the notice says "sides are posted") from the LA Casting homepage. If there are sides, they are usually attached to your audition notice that is sent from the castingnetworks email. Also check if they are posted - click on "sides" on the home page. Enter the name of the project, product or casting director in the search box. Unless the notice specifically says "sides are posted" don't worry if nothing comes up in the search. They will most likely have sides at the audition.
Please confirm online ASAP (no longer than 1/2 an hour later, but sooner is better and most of our rockstars confirm within seconds!) by logging into your LA Casting account or from the link in your email. If you don't have internet on your phone or access to a computer at the moment, please text us (commercials: Melody or Mandy) to confirm for you ASAP or let us know if you are having any issues.
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For Actors Access theatrical auditions, you will usually get a cmail directly from Actors Access (which contains basic information -- address and time). We send this cmail to you, so when you reply, know that your message is going to us and not the casting director. This is just a basic heads up message, and there are no sides attached to this CMAIL - we email sides and details to you directly. You will ALWAYS receive a "YOU HAVE AN AUDITION!" text directly from me (Lara) with a little more info telling you to check your email for details and to confirm ASAP!
IF the script is available to us, we will of course send that along as well. Sometimes CD's will provide the script code - this means that they do not provide the scripts to us but they are available for actors to purchase ($10) on screenplayonline.com.
Next, PLEASE BE ON THE LOOKOUT for the email from me with detailed audition info along with a copy of the breakdown. If there are sides available before the audition, I will get them for you and attach them to this email. I will also let you know if sides are not available. If you do not receive this email, text me immediately!
(Sometimes an NDA is required before casting will release sides to you and usually they insist that these be sent to the actor directly from casting. In this case I will give casting your email address immediately. Be on the lookout for the NDA and sign and return to casting ASAP. Do not wait until the last minute to check for this! Text me immediately if you do not receive this email.)
PLEASE READ EVERYTHING ON THIS EMAIL!!! This email will have your audition location and time as well as project information, character description and storyline, if available. It may include any special instructions you may need to know and any special equipment (or additional photos/resumes, etc.) or wardrobe you may need to bring! Do not rely solely on the cmail information! You may get the audition address and time, but that's about it.
Since you now have the the project information (usually includes director, producer, casting director, cast), DO YOUR RESEARCH! If you now know that John Smith is directing the project and Michael Jones is the casting director -- RUN, don't walk over to your computer and GOOGLE them and get to know their work!!! I can't even count how many times actors have texted me on the way to their audition to ask, "Do you know who's directing? Do you know what they've directed in the past?" Seriously, folks: READ all the details on your notice. DO your research. WATCH the show. BOOKMARK imdb.com. GOOGLE really is your friend!
If you still don't know how to use GOOGLE to find a film's director, here is a tutorial link: How to google a film director
Sometimes a casting director will call the agency instead of sending the info through Breakdown Express and when that happens you will get an email or text from us. You will not receive a cmail from Actors Access in this case.
Please confirm your audition ASAP. You may text me or reply to the email. Replying to the cmail goes into my inbox as well but takes a little longer than a text or direct email. As with commercial auditions, if you do not confirm your theatrical audition in a timely manner, the audition will be canceled.
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Auditions have really come a long way.
Many, many, many years ago, my agent called me on a Friday to tell me I had a soap audition on Monday afternoon. She gave me the character's name, the location/studio and the time. Great! Everything I needed to know for the audition, right? Read on.
My headshot at the time screamed "young, cool rocker chick" (complete with BIG hair), so I assumed the role was young, cool rocker chick-ish. (Hardcopies-only back then. No online casting with multiple photos at this time. GASP! Quelle horreur!!) So, I showed up at the studio in a cute tank top, my cropped motorcycle jacket (don't be too horrified, everyone wore these back then), super-tight jeans and rockstar boots. And BIG rocker hair (can you say "AQUA-NET"?). I walked into the reception area and the first thing the assistant does is look at my outfit and hair and then says, "Oh, I guess you haven't read the sides." Wh-wh-what?? "Oh, didn't your agent tell you that you could have picked up sides here on Friday?" Um, nope. (Yes, this was way before sides were sent out by email!)
No worries though, I was quite early, so I had some time to study. (But it would have been nice to have the ENTIRE freaking weekend to prepare! And hello, a heads-up on the role, as in character description, would have been nice too. Whatev!) So she hands me the sides (audition script pages) and tells me I can sit in the next room. I walk in and sit down next to five other girls -- all wearing skirt suits and heels. Everyone had their hair either pulled back in a bun or pinned back and slick straight. Huh? I looked down at the sides. The audition was for a contract role as one of the main character's uber-conservative (and quite a bit older) secretary. O-tay! This should be interesting...
I didn't get the contract role. I was told I was too young for the part. But a couple of months later I did get a part in another episode. My role? Young, cool, rocker chick, of course.
What did I learn from this experience? That no matter how bad you think your chances are of getting the role, you should make the best of it and just DO A FABULOUS JOB! Casting directors will remember your performance and your positive attitude -- and let's face it, I MUST have stuck out in that group of librarian-looking girls that day!
What else did I learn? I learned that good communication and correct information are two of the most important things an actor needs to succeed. This is why as agents, Melody and I are so insistent on giving you ALL THE INFORMATION AVAILABLE and we want to make sure that everyone READS ALL THE DETAILS on their audition notices. We are on YOUR side. We WANT you to succeed and have every advantage possible to BOOK that role!
This is also why we are so adamant about being able to contact our actors immediately for confirmations and things like last-minute auditions or updates/changes and conversely, being available FOR our actors when they need us or have questions. A very efficient tool in this day and age is texting -- which has been a godsend in many situations. (Please see my previous post "TEXT ENABLED PHONES. WITHIN REACH."). http://lltalent.blogspot.com/2010/01/text-enabled-phones-within-reach.html
Looking back, I would have LOVED to have audition notices texted to me and sides emailed to me back when I was an actor. Ah, technology! But we didn't have cell phones, internet or GPS back then. I was lucky to have a cordless (landline) phone with an answering machine, a library card for research and a Thomas Guide to find my way to locations.
Oh, and I also had to walk to school for miles, in the snow, barefoot. Uphill...both ways.
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Thanks for reading.
HAVE A FABULOUS WEEK, EVERYONE!!!!
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