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We are often asked “what is a casting call? And what does it involved?”

What is a casting call?

In simple terms, this is a process of one or a number of auditions in front of usually the casting director, producer and director.  To create a cast, this may include actors, dancers, performers, singers and models. There are a number of types of casting calls, they include;

Open: This term is used when the casting is open to public where anyone can attend. This is mainly for large or community productions.

Closed: This term is used when only selected number of people are chosen to attend. In many cases the casting director will use their own private list of agents or organizations.

What does this involve?

A casting call may involve a number of different things. This could be a singing performance, monologue, role play, or even simply just turning up and doing nothing (If they are looking for a look).

How do I find them?

There is a number of ways to find casting calls, this may be looking in your local paper, ‘The Stage’ newspaper or by Signing up here and creating a profile here.

Another great way is to network. Talk to other people you know. Find out what they are doing to find work. The more networking you do the better. You can never network to much.

Be prepared?

Always be prepared and arrive early. Make sure you read what the casting company/director is looking for. Most castings will come with a brief, so make you read it carefully.  So for example if they a looking for an 85 year old man, and you are in your 20s you don’t turn up, as you will wasting everyones time. There is nothing worse than turning up unprepared. This would make you look really un-professional.

Build a hard skin?

Rejection is part and parcel of this industry, so never take things personal. They might tell you to leave after 10 seconds or cut you out during your first line. Remember this is the job of the casting director and they may know that quickly that you are not what they are looking for.

Don’t forget (if you have not already) to sign up and create your free profile here.

Good Luck!

Remember to keep them clean.

Thank you

Editor, Media Volt

This causes particular problems for freelance workers (of which many production crew workers are) as they are now unable to move freely from job to job in the once media hub of London. I have heard it said that if you good at your job, and work hard enough, you will never have any trouble finding work. However in the current climate, I have to disagree.  Many of my past colleagues and contacts, have found previously, that once in a cycle of work in this industry, you start to build up contacts and experiences, and find it easy to move from job to job. However lately they have found that this reliant cycle of work has been broken, facing many with long term unemployment and financial difficulty. Others have been forced to leave behind their passion, to find jobs in other areas. It has always been the case that as you move up the promotional ladder, jobs become less and less. However, it seems that in recent times even fewer have been given the opportunity to climb that ladder, to production manager, co-ordinator, director, producer and executive positions.

I personally find it a great shame that such talent and new ideas are being lost in the recession, however all we can do is ride out the storm, and hope for greater opportunities in the future. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

I may be wrong, what do you think?

Remember to keep them clean.

Thank you

Editor, Media Volt

What are your experiences (bad or good)?

What advice would you give?

Remember to keep them clean.

Thank you

Editor, Media Volt

I often come across new bands, singers, and producers saying the same old thing: “I’ll never get a break, its all about who you know.” To be honest I actually started to think this was true. This was until I heard about Camilla Kerslake, a story of true persistence.

Camilla Kerslake, a student from The Guildhall School of Music made a 4 hour round trip for nearly six weeks every day before her lectures, to drop her demo tape into Gary Barlow’s record label. She even started bringing coffee to the receptionist to aid her course!

I’m not saying that this is what everyone should do, however sometimes to make that break, you need to go that extra step.

Have you done anything bold to make an impression?

What advice would give? What has worked and what hasn’t.

Remember to keep them clean.

Thank you

Editor, Media Volt

Nonso Anozie is a British actor born in 1978. In the summer of 2002 he became the youngest person in history to play William Shakespeare’s “King Lear” at the National Theatre and won the Ian Charleson Award and the Shanghai Magnolia Award for his performance as Othello. Other main roles at the National Theatre include, World Music, The Water Diviner’s Tale, White Folk, The Box, Sundance and Sweeney Todd. Nonso most recently played ‘ Burke’ in The Grey, ‘‘Artus’ in Conan the Barbarian. Tank’ in RocknRolla, ‘Erik Lester’ in the BBCs Occupation, and played the star role in the feature film Cass where he won the Screen Nation Award for Emerging Talent. Other TV and film roles include Prime Suspect, Nights Out at the Empire, Happy-Go-Lucky, Atonement and The Last Legion,

Hi Nonso and thank you for taking the time out to speak to Media Volt.

ITS BEEN A BUSY FEW YEARS FOR YOU, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR BEST ACHIEVEMENTS HAVE BEEN SO FAR?

Well I don’t think of any of my achievements as better or worse than any of the others. I just thank God that I wake up everyday and I get to do what I’ve dreamed of doing since I was a child. My first job (title role king Lear) was most definitely the job that set me apart as it was and is very unusual to see a 23 year old black man playing that role. It did my career a lot of good.

HOW MUCH DO YOU DRAW UPON YOUR OWN EXPERIENCE WHEN YOU ACT?

I like the characters I play to come from a real place so i do draw upon my own experiences quite a bit. This helps me mainly for the emotion that my character might be feeling. Although the characters walk, posture, accent and energy comes from other people that I have observed and taken as part of the character that I create.

AS WE KNOW, THE ACTING INDUSTRY CAN BE HARD. WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE SOMEONE TRYING TO GET INTO ACTING?

it is very very very hard. be under no illusion. If you can see your self doing something else then I urge you to go and do that. But if you are like many of the afflicted (laughs) and cant see your self doing anything else then my advice to you is to work your ass off to stay ready at all times. Opportunity met with preparation adds up to success! most people get opportunities when they have been out of work for a long time and are not in the right place spiritually, mentally or physically to make the best of it as they haven’t taken the time to stay ready!!!

AND HOW DID YOU START?
I started by getting involved in schools plays and after school projects, then during my a levels I got involved with Talawa theatre company’s summer school (I am now Talawa’s patron) that was the place that I really got to have fun and explore the craft. It really pushed me. At 19 I auditioned for the central school of speech and drama as it was the only drama school at the time that I wanted to attend. I was unsuccessful the first time round but I came back the next year and was accepted. That was how I started out.

I have to say, I loved the film Cass. Is this a story you knew about beforehand and how did you go about researching for the role?
Well I cant really say that I’m a football person. So I had not heard about Cass before meeting for the project. I knew that I had to do a lot of research before playing the role so I read his autobiography and was immediately drawn in to his amazing life story.

Knowing all the facts was one thing but I had to play this man so I spent three months visiting him and his family a few times a week. It was this way that I was able to pick up his walk his talk and various twitches and sniffs. It was a lot of fun and I’m glad it has been so well received.

YOU’VE ALREADY WON MANY AWARDS AND HOPEFULLY THERE WILL BE MORE TO COME. WHICH ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF?
I’m happy whenever my work gets recognized but the one that I am most happy about is my Magnolia award for best actor which I received for playing Othello in Hongkong. That award was great because it was an entirely different culture saying that “we like your work”. it was also the first time they had given this award to someone who wasn’t Chinese, so there is a bit of history too. I’m also very fond of my screen nation award as it is a very very warm feeling you receive when your own people give you the seal of approval!

SO WHAT PROJECTS ARE THERE TO COME IN 2012?

The new year is also exciting as I have some work to do in the US which I cant yet talk about. The future does look good.