Free Actors

HVXOU

HVXOU

Well-known member
So I am a student, and I was wondering what the best way to get some free actors would be. Our group provides food, but we can not provide compensation. How to get the word out?
 
Where are you located? Most major, and some not-so-major, cities have actors desperate to find decent productions to be in. A great many will work for 'meals, credit and copy.' If you're doing a film you hope to someday be able to sell, then it's only fair that you also offer deferred pay.

Look for online actor resources, forums and such in your area. Check with college drama departments or local theater groups. Even high school drama clubs.

If you're doing a feature and you have a great script, consider looking beyond your immediate area. Actors have been known to be willing to travel great distances, at their own expense, to participate in a deferred-pay project if it has a great script and a great role for them. If yours' qualifies, then consider posting casting notices on NowCasting.com and NYCastings.com, among others.

Good luck!

.
 
I'm in Athens, Ohio at Ohio University. I would be more than happy to pay if we generated funds, no question on that one. I just can not seem to get the word out that I am looking for people. When I am back in the fall I will talk to the drama department.

Thanks.
 
Free meals are ALWAYS a plus.

:thumbup:

You can always post audition notices in the Theatre Department. Then there's Craigslist. You can also inquire with local talent agencies as to how to go about checking out potential talent.
 
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Meals are the minimum. You have to do it.

Go to plays at your university. See the actors work. Meet the ones you like. Let them inspire you. Write parts specifically for them.
 
Jack Daniel Stanley said:
Meals are the minimum. You have to do it.
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yo jack, quick question for you, if you have a longer project you're filming (something that may be 1 to 3 months long just shooting on weekends) do you typically feed your actors on every shoot? even if it's less than say 3 hours? i'm just curious of how other filmmakers handle this.
 
I would try to James, though I've never done a project exactly like you've described.

Food can be the difference in a contented crew and actors and a really grumpy crew and actors thinking "we work for this guy for free every week and he makes no effort to do anything for us, why do we do that" and then despite the fact that it might make hours of footage you already shot useless, you may start to lose people.
 
i think it depends on what area you live in too. where i'm at, there are tons of actors willing to act for free in order to get a demo reel or experience, etc. i had about 20 actors on my last film and there was no way i could afford to pay each of them $100 per day. i had a couple of flakes, but they were replaceable anyway.

the original poster's a student, if he's looking for free actors, i doubt he can even pay himself $100 per day, let alone multiple actors.

if i was doing something on a budget that was not out of pocket then it would be a different story though.
 
Prodigi Pictures said:
I don't understand the desire for free actors. I made that mistake in film school and the result was too few actors showing up to an audition. Paying anything at all completely transforms the audition process. Offer $50.00 a day and you'll have far more choices.

The moment you are serious about making a really good movie you understand that you have to have actors who fit the role perfectly, understand their craft backwards and forwards and are extremely serious about acting as a profession.

Read my thread about A Lonely Place For Dying if you want to see how many actors will audition for a film if you are willing to pay $100.00 a day. I had over 10,000 actors submit for 7 roles in my film. And what we promised is what any student film can promise...$100.00 a day and a copy of the movie.

I don't mean to be harsh. I just hate to see fellow filmmakers sabotage their own movies. The difference between free and inexpensive is vast. I don't want free. I want inexpensive. That small difference is so important.
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I agree. I paid my actors for the first serious film I did in film school, i.e. the first film that didn't have one of my fellow classmates as an actor. I only paid them $100 actually for about a day and a half, but they were still appreciative. That was still not as well handled, though, because while I intended to pay the actors I didn't really mention it in the casting call and it was obvious it was for a student film, so I didn't get many auditions AT ALL. I think 85% of the people flaked totally.

Oh well, joke's on them, I'm doing plenty of work in the coming year and if any of them were any good, they missed a great connection back in the day. But if you are offering pay you get a much better selection, it's really true.

I'm surprised sometimes to see the quality of actors who show up for auditions when you're only paying $100/day, $150/day, etc. It's surprising, very good, talented people.
 
I don't understand the desire for free actors.
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I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it might have something to do with alot of people not having the money to pay people for their no-budget films.

Sounds crazy, I know.
 
Ok, I started another thread about making money in the cafe, but I pose the same question here. What are good ways to make money to even offer to the actors? Would it sound enticing to an actor if I said x% of profit will be yours from admission or donations at the screening. I guess I am just not sure how to even get off the ground.
 
Glib remarks like that sound deep, but the reality is a short film with two characters that is shot in two days only needs $300.00 to pay for actors.
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I'm sorry, where did he say he needed 2 actors for for two days? How much if he needs 3 actors for 8 days? Or, what if you haven't read the script and dont know the requirements?
 
Prodigi Pictures said:
I don't understand the desire for free actors. I made that mistake in film school . . . I don't mean to be harsh. I just hate to see fellow filmmakers sabotage their own movies. The difference between free and inexpensive is vast. I don't want free. I want inexpensive. That small difference is so important.
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Although I agree that actors (and any professional) should be compensated monetarily whenever possible, I can't agree that "free actors" will necessarily sabotage a film. I've worked many times with actors who've worked for free and who've given solid (or at least adequate) performances.
 
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