How to find out about auditions for movies

Once you have decided that you want to become an actor you then face the challenge of getting that first acting job. How exactly do you get your resume on casting agents desks? Is there a fool proof way to getting auditions? In this article, we will look at how to audition, whether to look at film acting, or TV auditions and the benefits of being a TV extra. I have chosen options that I know work, its not definitive in the least.

Background or extra work

What exactly is an extra? An extra, also known as a background artist, or walk on parts. An extra is the person you see in the background, the police officer who gives the grizzled detective his coffee, the market stall owner who is always giving change but never actually saying a word. In short, extras are the background 'life' of any scene. As an actor do you want to be an extra? The short answer is why not? Its a good way of learning how a film or television set works and it can appear on your resume. Extra work is quite easy to find a quick search on Google brings up a huge amount of agencies offering paid acting work, with most offering rates between £40-£80 a day. Agencies will take a percentage for finding you work usually around 10-15%. Working as an extra can also allow you to earn money whilst you are looking for that big break or your next acting job.

Featured roles

The first role or your big break
But what if you want to find auditions for acting roles? How do you find the people casting movies? Again, a simple internet search will give you a few thousand results. If you can't afford to hire an agent, then you could try looking at the production and casting report. For a fee you can receive a newsletter with a selection of auditions on a weekly basis. The fee depends on the subscription that you choose a basic subscription starting at £80 for 12 weeks up to £283 for a year. Of course, there are other services such as The Stage a trade publication which gives you auditions and agent contact information; and a huge number of websites offering you the chance to post your resume and photo for consideration. A lot of these productions will be low to no budget but again even working for free looks better on your resume than no work at all.