Actors

F

FutureDVXUser

Well-known member
Hey Guys,

How do filmmakers with no money to offer actors get them? Every agency I went to is like, "Well, people only do this stuff for extra money..." And than I'm hearin about filmmakers who get actors for free... Even filmmakers who get actresses that do frontal nudity... For free... And I'm like, "HOW?"

So, if somebody can please share some info on how to get in touch with actors or actresses from the Northern New Jersey area I'd really appreciate it...

Thanks
 
First, stop going to agencies. An agent is in business to make money. His money is made by commission, so he's not going to be interested in any kind of non-paying gig for his actors.

What you have to do is reach the actors directly. See if there's an online resource for actors in your area -- something like www.atlantafilms.com, which caters to the Atlanta and Southeast market. If you don't find anything, then branch out -- find whatever acting/filmmaking forums you can find, and post notices seeking actors. Also, check the local colleges, universities and arts schools -- particularly the ones with drama departments. Local Little Theaters can be helpful too.

The most important factor in being able to get skilled talent to work on your project for free is the quality of your script. If you have a great script -- not a good script but a great one -- and a production team that knows what it's doing, then actors will be eager to participate.

Also, consider offering deferred pay, rather than just no pay. This is especially true if your project is a feature film. If you hope to make money on it yourself, then there's no reason why you should expect others to work on it for nothing but meals, credit and copy. Fair is fair.

Good luck!
 
Hey Chapel,

Thanks for the reply. I'm just looking to do short films right now (6-10 minutes give or take). I have no crew other than myself and a friend whose just gonna hold the boom mic. I'm shooting it on a dvx100b, editing it with Vegas, and submitting to festivals and all that other stuff...

I'll look up a version of that site for Jersey later on...

Thanks again for the reply!
 
Often the sales rep for the station where my wife works will be the on-screen talent in commercials that they make and air for clients. They just don't want to spend the money on actors!
 
Interesting John. I've tried recruiting some of the local news folks here for acting gigs, but most of them have very strict contracts with the stations that severely limit what they're allowed to do. Smaller towns might be a bit more lenient.
 
Hey Future,

If you're doing shorts, then the scripts need to be really great to attract great talent. Shorts offer very little value to seasoned actors because they know not many people are ever going to see them. Still, good talent can be had if your script is good.

Try to get more -- and better -- crew while you're at it. It's great that your friend wants to help, but a good boom operator is worth his weight in gold. It's very disappointing to have an otherwise good short that can't be shown to anyone because the audio is bad. When you're looking for talent forums online, look for places you can find crew as well.

Remember Producer's Rule #1: Always use the best, most talented, most experienced people you can afford for every job.
 
Here is my method. At 19 befriend as many young actors as possible. Provide years of free video taping, art direction, prop making, set decorating and editing for their teenage vanity projects. Then go make video games for 10 years and earn a ton of money and great credit. Then call up all those aspiring actors who now all have their own series and get them to come work on your projects for free. And get drunk with them the whole time and reminisce about the old days. This doesn't work so well with crew people since they generally don't have the luxury of as much free time and disposable income to be in your film for free.
 
Join an acting class, there will be one maybe two people in the class who have talent. Then repeat. you have access to New York actors are well. That's a great gene pool. Put an ad in the trades, most actors spend their time waiting to act. A copy for their reel can be an inducement if the part is good.
 
If there is a craigslist.com out in you area then you could use that too. Really though, your best bet is to do the college thing if there is no acting market. It is the only place where you have a concentration of actors outside of the web. Remember though, stage acting is very different than screen acting. A jesture of a wave hello on stage will look like the actor is immulating a windmil on the small screen.
 
Thanks for the info... I'll just go through all the sources... This one thing I wanna do I only need 3 actors anyway for a 6 - 10 min. short...

Thanks again
 
chapelgrovefilms said:
Interesting John. I've tried recruiting some of the local news folks here for acting gigs, but most of them have very strict contracts with the stations that severely limit what they're allowed to do.
Click to expand...

I imagine that the on-air talent at my wife's station is similarly limited, but what I meant was that the salespeople selling the advertising to clients will often act in the commercials themselves instead of hiring actors to save money. These sales reps don't appear in any of the station's programming (which is mostly local news). I think because the station sometimes makes a deal with businesses to shoot the commercials free when they buy spots, they're looking to keep their production costs down as much as possible. But I also think the sales reps have an alterior movtive of wanting to be on TV.
 
mandy.com is a great place and you will get a lot of offers. obviously you will have to audition people properly as everybody* might show up.

another option could be craigslist (in the usa)

Also, when working with non paid actors, they may not feel the committment enough, and you could find urself (pers. experience) without a leading actor the day of the shoots. talk about motivations and commitment with your potential actors before taking decisions, and keep a good contact in the immediate days beore the shoots to make sure theyre not loosing motivation

Andrea
 
I wouldn't offer deferred pay for a few reasons and especially on a short. If you're looking to deal with a bigger name, they'll sometimes co-produce the project. there really is not hard and fast rule but I'd always do what's in your favor.
 
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