If you go to New York and seek auditions for plays, you don't need an agent right away. You can audition and get into Broadway, off Broadway, off-off Broadway and touring productions without being in the union (AEA) or having an agent. Your work can be seen by casting directors, directors and agents because they go to plays to look for talent. A lot of actors are noticed in plays and are asked to audition for films and other productions based on their work in the theatre.

If you want to work in the soaps in New York, you can wait to get an agent. Open auditions for soaps are held regularly.

If you want to audition for roles in independent films, you do not need an agent. Various trade publications print auditions for many independent films.

If you want to perform in theme parks, renaissance fairs, cruise ships, regional theatre, touring theatre productions, summer stock theatre, outdoor theatre, Shakespeare Festivals or just about any live performance venue, you do not need an agent. Open auditions for this kind of work can be found throughout the country.

It is even possible to audition for Hollywood films and TV productions without an agent. Casting directors who are casting for big budget Hollywood films or television productions seek out talent through agents and also through sources other than agents.

A casting director (CD) is a representative of a production company. CDs can be found "in-house" or as "independents." An in-house CD is an employee of a production studio. This could be a major network studio such as Fox or CBS, or of a contract production studio, such as Aspen Production Services in Colorado: http://www.aspenfilm.com. The CD handles the casting services of the projects in the production house.

An independent CD is hired by a producer on a job-by-job basis. The CD's job is to seek out actors for the numerous roles available in a production. They pre-audition the actors who interest them. The actors whom the CD feels are appropriate for roles are susequently auditioned by the director, producer, writer, studio executives or anyone else involved in the final casting decision.

Essentially, here's how the casting process works:

1. Someone wants to create a film, TV show, commercial, radio ad; some kind of production.
2. A script is written.
3. A producer is employed to higher the artistic and technical people, equipment and all the other elements necessary to bring the production to completion. This includes hiring the director.
4. A casting director (CD) is employed to pre-screen actors for the director in hopes of finding suitable actors to play all the various roles
5. The CD contacts agents with the specifications for all the roles
6. The agents send photos and résumés for suitable talent they represent in hopes that the CD will want to arrange auditions for their talent
7. The CD directly contacts other talent the CD believes might be right for the various roles
8. The CD arranges auditions to prescreen the talent
9. The CD chooses the talent to show the director
10. . The director auditions the talent
11. . The director decides who gets the roles

These 11 steps are somewhat simplistic. There are numerous variations. For instance with TV commercials, executives from the corporation that hires the advertising company that is producing the commercials might have final approval of principal actors (actors with speaking parts).

Or, for a major motion picture funded by a large studio, such as Disney, numerous studio executives frequently have the final say about who gets the principal roles.

Or, in a small, low-budget independent film, the director and casting director responsibilities might be handled by the producer - who might also be the writer, editor and have a principal role as well. And agents might not be involved at all because the pay (and thus the commissions) might be so little they would not be interested in spending any time on the project.

Keep in mind that films and theatre are only a small percent of the many, many ways professional actors can earn income. Other ways to earn income include acting in: commercials, business videos (training, sales, marketing, product demonstrations), local TV productions, music videos and trade shows.

Casting directors regularly seek out actors to perform in these lucrative types of productions as well. When CDs seek out talent they:

• request talent submissions from agents and managers already known to the casting directors.
• request talent submissions (via breakdowns - more about breakdowns later) from agents and managers not known to the casting directors.
• review reels, photos and résumés submitted by actors directly to the casting directors. Actors just like you. CDs open every submission they receive. They maintain file cabinets stocked full of the photos, reels and résumés they receive.
• pre-read new talent. Actors are frequently called in (via agent recommendations or direct submissions) to read for casting directors so they can become acquainted with new actors and their work; their type, background, experience skill level and range of capability.
• attend theatre productions. This includes Broadway, off-Broadway, off-off-Broadway and other professional and semi-professional, regional and local theatre productions.
• attend showcases (university, conservatory and privately produced). A showcase is a special production which consists of participating actors performing short scenes for an audience of producers, directors, casting agents, friends, and other showcase actors. If well produced and attended by respected industry professionals, showcases provide an opportunity to be seen in a professional setting by casting people. Many actor training schools, especially those in or near major industry markets, produce showcases which feature their advanced students.
• watch movies including major motion pictures and independent films and other films at film festivals.
• watch TV shows.
• clip pictures of interesting looking talent from magazine ads and articles and contact the talent through the ad agency or publisher.
• participate in casting workshops. A source of controversy and potential scams. Casting workshops are supposed to be conducted for the purpose of teaching attendees about how casting works and to provide tips and techniques to help them audition better. They are not supposed to be a job interview or an audition opportunity. There is not supposed to be any implied or overtly stated promise of employment. The curriculum should include: audition techniques, the business of acting, office etiquette, demystifying the audition process, how casting procedures differ between pilots, features, episodics and the like, performance adjustments and feedback, advise on seeking representation, open forum Q&A, general industry trends in casting, review of headshots and résumés.

You should build a contact file of casting directors. How do you find casting directors? Pretty much the same way you found agents: on-line resources, the Ross Reports, the yellow pages.

On-line resources:

Although most of the CDs listed work in LA and NY, there are many listings for other states as well. Go through the listings and prepare a contact card for every CD in your state or in adjacent states.

The next place you should go is to the web page of your state's and adjacent states' film commissions. Many states have a department called a "film commission" or "film board" or "film office" which is designed to promote film production and the use of local businesses within the state. Most film boards have a "production services directory" or some such thing that lists companies that provide services to film makers - services such as "CASTING SERVICES." Go through the listings and prepare a contact card for every CD in your state or in adjacent states.

Use the web page for the Association of Film Commissioners International: http://www.afci.org to find your local film commissions (includes non-United States commissions). Also use an internet search engine such as Google, http://www.google.com to locate film commission web pages. Keywords to use would be your state name then "film commission" or "film board" or "film office." Go through the listings and prepare a contact card for every CD in your state or in adjacent states to find your local film commissions (includes non-United States commissions).

The Ross Reports:

Each month, Ross Reports contains a list of films in production. The list includes casting contact information and information about where each film is scheduled to be filmed. You would be surprised how many movies are not filmed in LA or NY but instead filmed in other states and other countries. If you are serious about doing film acting, you should subscribe to this publication. Go through the listings and prepare a contact card for every CD in your state or in adjacent states.

Yellow Pages:

Hollywood In Your Own Back Yard:

It is possible to expand your range of exposure a bit to take advantage of Hollywood auditions that take place in other parts of the country. Although most TV and film work is cast in LA, NY and secondary markets, sometimes directors are unable to find the talent they seek in these markets. In these cases, casting directors are hired and sent forth into the vast hinterlands to contact local agents and place audition notices in the trades and local papers. When back-country audition opportunities like this become available, actors from remote areas will send in their photos, résumés and demo tapes in hopes of securing an audition. Eventually, one of those hinterland actors gets noticed. Could be you.

Please take note of steps #5 and #6 of the audition process:

• 5. The CD contacts agents with the specifications for all the roles
• 6. The agents send photos and résumés for suitable talent they represent in hopes that the CD will want to arrange auditions for their talent

Although casting directors call actors directly for auditions, they depend far more on agents to bring talent to their attention. This is done by calling the agents and inquiring about talent they represent or through agents contacting them after receiving "breakdowns" of roles to be cast.

What are breakdowns? Breakdowns provide casting details to agents. Scripts are provided by casting directors to a breakdown service. The breakdown service prepares the breakdowns. These are then made available for download to talent representatives who use them to learn about the various roles that need to be cast for each script. The talent representatives then submit to the various casting directors photos and résumés of the actors and actresses they represent.

Breakdowns are provided on a daily basis. They are regularly prepared for TV shows, pilots, feature films, movies for television, theater, student films, industrials, internet projects, and commercials. Each breakdown includes a description of the characters that need to be cast for the various productions listed. Along with character descriptions, a breakdown lists a brief synopsis of the production, any other relevant information and casting submission information.

The breakdowns are available in electronic format via the internet to subscribers of a breakdown service. Casting directors submit their casting information to breakdown services and agents subscribe to them. Because of this fast, dependable, and convenient system of alerting agents to available roles, representation by an agent greatly increases the odds you will be called-in for auditions. Auditions for major motion picture and many independent films, television productions, commercials, voice-over work, and industrials (training films and the like) would be difficult to find without the assistance of an agent.

Actors can also access select breakdowns via the Showfax web site: http://www.showfax.com. Not all breakdowns are listed on the Showfax site. It is up to the casting directors whether a breakdown is released directly to actors via Showfax or made available only to talent representatives. Showfax also provides a number of other services useful to actors. There are fees for some of the services.

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