Finding Actors...

[dumile]

How do I do it? You have to pay 25$ to post a "job" listing on craigslist in my area. I put it in the volunteer section. Not expecting many responses. I don't have the funds to pay my actors for my first short.

On that note, do you guys have any advice on finding cheap, good actors in an area with no film schools?

 

[DadinWestchester]

You have to go to someplace like ActorsAccess, NY or LA Castings, or Backstage to find real actors. Anywhere else is just fooling yourself. Mandy and Craigslist is a joke. Do you want real actors or just wannabees? People will work for footage, but you have to go to a reliable source.

 

[pirate40]

Try local theater groups.

 

[Rolf Silber]

Try local theater groups.

+1

...and... if you make auditions to cast people ... change your own expectations. Look what they may bring with them and do not try to make them do things they may not be able to do.

And .... if you work with non-professionals (which can at times have good results) you'd better have a story that works around things they may have experience in or at least they can imagine themselves to be in. So the questions goes back to you: If you don't have the ressources to hire pros, better have a story that fits the situation.

Neither a Hamlet- nor a Casablanca- nor an Aliens vs. Plumpers-story will usually work with such actors. Don't try a lion tamer act with penguins, metaphorically spoken. But: If you treat penguins the right way, they can perform wonderful penguin'ish thing. Just don't try to make them roar....

 

[j1clark@ucsd.edu]

Try the 'gigs->creative' section. There was no such $25 fee for posting to that section a few years back. Unless things have really changed.

I answer some notices in that section occasionally, and don't recall anyone mentioning a fee... since most of the 'work' is 'gratis', it seems rather odd to charge to offer unpaid work 'opportunities'...

For other places, try junior colleges/colleges in the area where there may be at least some form of 'theater' department.

 

[clang]

Yeah, most cities have drama schools, amateur theatre groups etc. Definitely stay open to rewriting the script (or at least the dialog) to match the actors you find - amateurs usually do a lot better in a role close to their real personalities and who speaks much the same way as them.

Or do what I do - make animated films starring LEGO toys Seriously, finding voice actors is a lot easier than finding 'acting' actors.