When I was 14 years old, I did my first audition. In my city, it was very uncommon for anything related to the audiovisual world to happen, so when I saw the announcement for an audition in the newspaper, I was very excited. After finding out a bit about the process and filled with excitement, I decided to participate. This particular “audition” was handled in the following way: you paid a fee, participated in a 3-hour workshop where they evaluated your acting skills, and if you were selected, they called you to travel to the capital to participate in a youth series. Of course, once the audition was over, they never called me back, and the series was never made.
Over 20 years have passed since then, and after having a career full of real auditions and serious opportunities, if I could travel back in time and talk to that excited 14-year-old boy, there are a few things I would advise him about the audition process. I decided to write them here because maybe you, or your children, are in a similar situation.
Never allow anyone to charge you for an audition or to participate in a project.
The industry works as follows: you do a job, so you are the one who gets paid. If you are the one putting money out of your pocket, something shady is going on because it completely contradicts the meaning of being a professional actor (someone who gets paid to act). So be very careful with that. If you hear about a casting call or a project that requires you to pay your own money to have a chance to participate, run away from there. They will take your money, make you do a “test,” and you will never hear from them again.
How to identify a real audition?
The first thing you should do is look up the person conducting the audition or the production company. Then you can go to IMDB and enter their name. There, you will see all the projects this person or company has developed. If they don’t appear there, it’s a warning sign. Everyone who has done anything in the audiovisual industry has a profile there; it’s like the LinkedIn or Yellow Pages for filmmakers.What types of websites offer these auditions to people without industry experience?There are two websites you can look for to start applying to auditions: Backstage and Actors Access. Both require a subscription to participate, so my recommendation is to do a free trial and see how many casting calls there are in your city. (Remember, you should be the one getting paid, not the other way around.)Another valid option is to search on social media (Facebook groups are generally good for this) for casting calls for independent projects in your city.
Beware of Talent Agencies
There are very large talent agencies in this country that generally conduct auditions. These auditions are free, but once they are done, they will call back 95% of the participants and tell them they have “potential” but are not ready yet, and they will offer “training” to polish their deficiencies. In case you haven’t noticed, that’s their business model. The audition was not for any project; it was simply to get leads for their classes.If you are called for an audition at a talent agency, the first thing you should ask is what project it is for. If they say it’s for several projects, it’s a red flag. If they offer you training to be represented by them, ask which famous actor they represent. If they can’t give you a list of 10 people you recognize who are actively working, run away from there. You will end up paying a lot of money for training that will never bear fruit in the real goal you should have as an actor: getting work.
Fortunately, not everything is bleak. If you are careful, know who to connect with, and do the proper networking, you can have a stable career no matter where you are. Simply knowing which doors to knock on and what real opportunities your city offers.
So I recommend doing your research, trying to look in groups on social media, community theaters, audiovisual schools, and becoming part of the audiovisual and artistic community currently developing near you. Having a career is possible. If you need help, don’t hesitate to contact me.
Pedro Cohen
Audiovisual Coach
