Hi!

I've read a few posts on the message boards regarding submitting yourself to the casting director of a certain project. I was under the impression that without an agent, it was a lost cause to submit yourself directly to a casting director. I'm SAG eligible and AFTRA willing, but don't yet have an agent. I figured my best bet is to work on student films to build up my resume. Is there a way to submit myself to television and film casting directors? Who? What? When? Where? I'd love to know how to find out about projects that are currently casting and how to submit to the casting director.

Thanks!

Erin

You can submit to them if you like. You probably won't get called in-but there is a small chance. There are several places where you can get information about who to submit to and for what, with varying degrees of specificity and time sensitivity. Some people pay for illegally poached agent-only breakdowns that list all of the roles the CD is casting. I wouldn't recommend this because the CDs might get pissed off that they are getting submissions from random unrepped actors. Also, in television especially the casting is time sensitive so if you get a list of BDs sent to you at the end of the day it may be too late to get your submission in, as the agents have already sent rush messengers with their agency submissions to the CDs. The casting sessions may have already been scheduled.
Other people religiously scan the Showfax sides in an effort to see the roles available-then they go to the CD's office and make a dropoff with their headshot and post-it note. They know they are probably too late for that casting session but think that maybe they will see their submission and consider them for another role.
Still others simply make a general HS/RES submission to a casting office and say they would like to be considered for a preread or to read for any roles they see fit. You can get the CD addresses from Backstage each week, or Ross reports. And Nowcasting now has a feature where they list all of the shows and films in pre-production and show all of the addresses as well as the specific people doing the casting, even associates.

Thank you, LADelight. That was very helpful. :-)

Erin

I have gotten auditions from CDs through self-submission for both films and episodics via Actors Access.

It happens!

Good Luck...