It's a little astounding to me that I've been writing the blog for this long and have neglected to talk about such a key part of this crazy industry: where to begin! Hours can (and should!) be spent diving into these forums, and the tools offered through each site is invaluable to make the online submission process just a little bit easier. For all my dear performer friends out there that are not living in NY yet but plan to, or are simply wanting to broaden their horizons a little bit by submitting for projects outside their current residence, this post is for you (because whether you live in a major audition city or not, these resources will allow you to self-tape submit for projects from out of state or keep you up to date on all the upcoming live auditions; take advantage!).
**This is certainly not an all-inclusive list -- far from it, it's rather short, actually, and I know that there are a few "obvious" sites I'm missing! These are the sites I personally know best and can recommend / comfortably talk about as I know them the best. And I'm sure there are many more sites on both local and national scales I don't know, but these are the most widely-known and therefore most frequently used by the "major" theatres and casting companies. Onward!
Playbill
Playbill is your new best friend for several reasons. The most obvious (and arguably the most wonderful) reason is Playbill is the only option on this list that doesn't require payment to submit for projects (hip hip hooray!). You can get on right now and start browsing for postings across the country. It is worth noting that New York is the most prolific location that is updated most often / has the most volume of postings, but you can find postings from wherever you are. Click on the Jobs tab, set your filters (type of work, location, unpaid okay or paid only, union, and intern or regular), and off you'll go!
You'll see all kinds of jobs posted here, covering every facet of the performing arts field, so it's not just for actors but also for musicians, directors, writers, and tech, as well as some more "obscure" categories like coaching or instruction, career services, and theatre administration. A fair amount posted on Playbill is for online submissions -- each posting will give you an email address to send materials to and/or provide a link to a submission form -- but you'll also find tons of notices of live ECCs, EPAs, and open calls. So in terms of what's available to you, you have OPTIONS. The site is accessible and easy to navigate, the submission process is fool-proof, and the non-existent price tag can't be beat. So take a look! See what you can find and make sure to check back often -- they're updating that thing throughout the day, every day.
Actors Access
The "next tier" up from Playbill, Actors Access is a little sneaky with its submission process. Anyone can sign up to create a profile and browse the listings (and yes, there are A LOT of listings), but in order to actually submit (though some projects waive fees depending on the company you're submitting for), you have to pay a fee of $2.00 (per project). To avoid this, you can upgrade to the premium subscription of $9.99 a month. By going premium, you can submit for as many projects as your little heart desires; however, there's additional red tape when it comes to your actor profile. Add whatever you'd like in terms of resume, skills, biography, education, written content etc. etc., but when it come to media, you're faced with more price tags. If you exceed two pictures, you'll be paying $10 for each additional upload. And videos are another story: $22 PER MINUTE (rounded up) of footage. So it can get pricey quick.
**(So a work-around / what I recommend is to keep your resume up-to-date and use your favorite two headshots. After that, direct casting to your personal website / Instagram / Tiktok / wherever you choose to post your media by utilizing your biography tab so they can see more from you without you breaking the bank. You're welcome.)
As I mentioned before, there are A TON of projects posted on Actors Access: theatre, voiceover, commercial, television, film, shorts, miniseries, ad campaigns, online content -- you name it, it's there. That said, I personally find it a little difficult to navigate and a little scattered to look at. I always feel exhausted by the time I'm done scrolling through Actors Access because it's taken so much out of me to dig through such a collection, but sometimes you find some really cool opportunities hidden amongst the chaos: it might be worth the pursuit.
Backstage
You've heard of it, you know it, you may or may not love it: Backstage. Back is certainly the most expensive option here -- if you find coupon codes, you can probably get away with paying just under $100 for your first year, but subsequent years are just under $200 annually or $25 monthly -- and I think you'll probably hear mixed reviews from actors in terms of whether or not the subscription is worthwhile. I know a lot of NY actors who swore off Backstage a long time ago: had it for a time when they first started out but found it wasn't as helpful as other sites / the benefits didn't outweigh the price. For me personally, I just entered my second year subscription, and while that second annual fee was not at all fun, I'm not quite ready to write Backstage off.
In Backstage's defense, I will say that it is the one site of everything on this list where I most frequently find jobs that are exclusive to Backstage. I will also say that I have booked the most callbacks and, subsequently, jobs through Backstage. That might make me biased, especially if that makes me feel more inclined to turn there first when doing my daily browsing, but I also must mention Backstage's actor profiles. You can basically do whatever you want; the subscription allows you to post a bajillion pictures, however many videos you'd like, audio files, introduction videos, voice samples, etc etc., all at no additional fee. You can also get paid for booked projects through Backstage as well as receive callback information / sides / casting messages directly through the site, meaning everything is organized and in one place. Also also, browsing for jobs and filtering down to what you're looking for is super intuitive and comprehensive. So it has its drawbacks, sure, but it definitely has benefits as well. Which side wins in your book? You be the judge.
Honorable Mention: The Hustle
This one is specific to NYC and specific to live auditions, but I simply cannot write this list without singling out a dark horse hero among newbie non-union actors. The Hustle is a fairly new resource that has made waves in the community. The Hustle's audition calendar gathers information about every EPA, ECC, and open call happening in the city every day so that you can look to see what's coming up without manually sifting through all the above websites to find that info. It is a measly dollar or two a month to have access to this calendar, but if you'd still like some of the benefits without paying? Follow their Instagram for daily updates on each audition, letting you know whether a certain call is seeing non-union, how far on the list they are, when the call is closed, etc.. I've talked about them in previous posts, but I will never stop talking about them: you have NO IDEA how much of a game-changer it is to have all that info readily at your fingertips when you're out trying to get seen for as many auditions as possible in a day.
@thehustle_nyc
Are you ready to do some surfing?! Are you fired up and ready to book?! Have I overwhelmed you entirely?! Probably the latter. But I hope you found this list helpful in some capacity. Know of other audition resources I or your fellow readers should know about? Drop it in the comments -- I'd love to hear about it.
Thanks for reading, #DreamTeamHLJ, and let's go book.
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