Below is Step 5 in My 10 Steps To Start Your Acting Career in Los Angeles – For International Students
As an international student/actor in the US, we do not have a work permit. This means we cannot get paid. In turn, agents will not take us on as their clients since we cannot make them any money. Therefore, we have to be our own agents for now.
It’s amazing we can do that. Before, only agents would get the sides and the character breakdowns. And of course, the casting websites still don’t have the juiciest parts, but for us who are just getting started, student films and indie projects are a great place to be self-submitting.
How to get many auditions
First
– On the casting website, check the box that says you would like to receive an email notification whenever a role fit for you is published
You should receive a ton of emails, to a point that it gets annoying. Even if you did everything right when you signed up, you will receive some casting notices that don’t exactly fit you. You have to weed through it because among them, there will be roles perfectly fit for you!
– On the same page, check the box that says you’re willing to take unpaid roles
For now, we are getting paid in experience on set, reel material, food and most important: a credit on your resume.
Second
– Monitor your inbox and submit yourself as soon as possible after you have received the casting notices
This will put you higher up on the casting director’s list. Don’t wait. Submitting to a role just one day after the role has been published and your submission will very likely be lost among the ocean of submissions from actors that look exactly like you.
When you submit yourself, casting will only see your name and your headshot. If you have the look they are searching for, they will click on it and see your profile.
This is why you need to have a killer headshot. Make sure it pops even in the thumbnail version. The best way to do that is to look at all the photos from your headshot session and see which ones stick out when you go through them in their thumbnail format.
(Bonus)
– Add a note to your submission
If you really love the sound of a role, set yourself apart even more from others by adding a little note on why you like it. Not many actors do that. When I was casting for my own short film, the ones who wrote a note got an audition invite, even though they didn’t have the exact look I was going for, because I liked their passion. One of them got the part!
Third
– Keep submitting.
It will be time consuming. You might receive 15-30 emails per day. Sometimes even 50. I usually gather the emails and check them every two/three hours throughout the day Monday through Friday. It starts early and slows down around 5pm.
You don’t have to submit the minute you receive an email notice but don’t save it all to the end of the day. Do it in the morning, after lunch, after class, after the gym. It might take 10 min here and there. You will feel how often you should check in. Make time for it.
If you follow this, and submit only to the roles that really suit you, the audition invites should come soon.
In my next post, I will write about the do’s and dont’s to make a good audition routine.
Cheers,
Ina