Thought I'd enter an online video contest

[Saharanturtle]

so I put up an ad on CL looking for actors. Result?

1 reply


lol, I think my fault was saying you have to have had some experience (and now that I think about it, an amateur could've probably done an okay enough job :/


/rant:undecided


brb checking the next contests due date

The reason I don't want to work with amateur actors (which is probably 99% of the actors in the dc area) is because I'm an amateur director, so I think that's a recipe for failure if the actor completely doesn't know what they're doing. Question to those with experience, how is it workin with amateur actors/actresses?

 

[Tom Shortridge]

It ultimately depends on the individual. I've worked with amateurs who are incredible actors, and pros who couldn't act their way out of a paper bag.

More important than their experience is their willingness to adapt, and the ease with which you get along with them.

 

[ZazaCast]

You be the judge... I get ALL my actors from Craigslist, or friends of friends who want to act:
www.zazacast.com

Just make films...good or bad, you'll learn something each time!

 

[ugafan]

so I put up an ad on CL looking for actors. Result?

1 reply


lol, I think my fault was saying you have to have had some experience (and now that I think about it, an amateur could've probably done an okay enough job :/


/rant:undecided


brb checking the next contests due date

The reason I don't want to work with amateur actors (which is probably 99% of the actors in the dc area) is because I'm an amateur director, so I think that's a recipe for failure if the actor completely doesn't know what they're doing. Question to those with experience, how is it workin with amateur actors/actresses?

how much money are you paying for the experienced actors? did you list the compensation in the ad?

 

[Hawk Teflon]

I'm with Zaza. Every actor I've used in any of my shorts have been either friends or random luck of the draw responses to a CL post. I usually post those about a month before shooting though, and they're few and far between.

One thing I did back around Christmas was put out a general listing for anyone interested in possibly acting in a short in the upcoming term. I told them up front that it won't pay because we don't have any money, and that we just like shooting things for fun. It's a passion of ours, and if they have the same passion and want to learn as we do, then to contact me. I'm not going to mislead them and say "If it makes money then you do, too." It won't. It'll have a run on dvxuser and youtube probably. And for that, I got about 30 replies, most of which were about 20/21 years old. Some experienced, some not, but I was able to at least get a small list running of possible people.