Follow-up e-mails from actors on auditions?

[sonofaresiii]

I've been holding auditions for my next short (I hate casting), and I've noticed the most professional of the bunch always send a follow-up e-mail, and it's always pretty standard. A sentence or two thanking me for the opportunity and wishing me luck with the project.
I don't remember seeing too much of this in my past projects. I'm starting to wonder if there's a trend of it becoming almost like applying for a job-- you come in for the interview, send a follow-up e-mail. It feels like maybe there's someone out there (teacher, professor, book or seminar) telling people "If you're professional, you send a follow-up and say these things.") Much in the way there's plenty of people telling writers the "right" way to pitch a movie.

The standard message gives me the feeling there's some professional response I'm supposed to give to this. Have any actors noticed a reply to their follow-up messages that they've taken as a sign of professionalism? Do I just return the sentiment ("Thanks for coming out, we appreciate your interest in the project")? Or should I make it more personal, something telling them what impressed me about their audition ("We loved your interpretation and professionalism")? Or should I just ignore it until I've made a decision one way or the other?

Have any directors/casting directors noticed this trend? I always thought it was fairly standard to have more or less radio silence until any decisions have been made. Is this more common on smaller shoots?

 

[clang]

I suspect those follow-up emails are sent in the hope of improving the chances that the casting director might actually remember the actor from amongst all the other hopefuls when making a casting decision Yes, it's a recent popular trend much as it is with job interviews, no because actors have really become any politer.

Personally I wouldn't acknowledge such emails immediately, but when you do later communicate your casting decision, it's a nice touch to do so via a reply to their follow-up email, as this:
- acknowledges that their email was in fact read and kept
- avoids the impersonality of a bulk email (even though your text may be the same text you send everyone else)
- and yes if you genuinely have some comment re their performance, this is a great place to put it

 

[paulears]

I concur - they're not really expecting a response as rejection is part of the business they're in, but they are trying to ensure you remember them without being to pushy, and it does seem to work. Callbacks based on previous auditions often save huge amounts of time and money running open auditions.

The performing arts specialist colleges all spend time on auditions now - indeed, auditions are often a specialist module or unit that people take to improve their chances. Being famous still means an audition, although these are private - but they still have to really go for it!