The Importance of Casting Calls: Meeting Unique Production Needs
One common question we hear from artistes is, “I’m already on your books – why do you need to do casting calls?” It’s a fair question, and the answer lies in the unique nature of every production brief.
First off – To Our SAs
Don’t worry, we haven’t forgotten about you! The diversity and depth of our database is what makes us stand out in the industry and we always check our books to meet specific briefs. Your profiles are the first place we look to fulfil any brief – so make sure you keep these updated with current photos and up to date information. We email artistes with any suitable briefs so keep an eye on your inbox!
Our database is incredibly diverse. It’s filled with talented people from all walks of life – artistes with a vast range of skills, appearances, and experiences. Whether it’s dancers, athletes, or people with highly specific looks, our books are the foundation of what we do. But even with such a diverse pool of talent, casting calls remain essential. Here’s why we do them:
1. The Right People in the Right Place
Sometimes, productions need a lot of people in a very specific location. For example, if a shoot requires artistes in the Orkney Islands (This was an urgent casting call for the production ‘Outrun’).
Casting calls help us find local regional talent quickly, minimising travel costs and ensuring availability.
2. Niche Skills and Talents
Our books are filled with artistes that are skilled in the art of playing musical instruments to fire breathing but sometimes a brief is so specific that we need to look further afield. For example, a production might require a professional goat milker or coconut market seller with machete skills! Casting calls allow us to find those rare gems while checking our database for the perfect match.
3. A Very Specific Look
A brief might call for people of Peruvian heritage (for Paddington in Peru), an identical set of twins, or even people with their own cyber punk attire and look! While our books contain a wonderfully diverse range of appearances, casting calls help us fine-tune the search to meet exact requirements.Casting calls come into play when productions need something so specific, urgent or in such large numbers that we need to reach beyond the existing pool. Even then, we always link the calls in your organiser so you can view the current urgent castings and register your interest.
You will usually already be considered for urgent casting calls if there is information on your profile that tells us that you are suitable. If your profile doesn’t tell us that you are suitable (for example if you have a base/somewhere to stay in a location not local to you that we don’t know about) you should then register your interest via the urgent casting section on the homepage of Artiste Organiser
Remember, if you are new to us – you don’t pay anything upfront to apply, if you are not suitable for any of the current urgent casting calls, you can apply to become a supporting artiste https://application.castingcollective.net/ with us to be considered for future film & TV opportunities for the next 12 months.
You can also keep an eye out for our urgent casting calls on our social media channels!
Happy casting!
