Casting

When working on a production with a decent budget, all you need to do is hire a casting agent who will find you the most suitable talent and then you pick the best ones.
However when you have little or no money to spend you'll be doing all the work yourself. From posting ads to sitting in on auditions.

So where to start...

First off you need to find somewhere to post an advert which will be seen by hundreds if not thousands of budding actors and actresses. There are many places online and I have listed a few below. Please note some sites might not serve your country.

Star Now - Worldwide
Casting Call Pro - Worldwide
Mandy - Worldwide
Spotlight - UK
Backstage - US


Second, you need to create an advert for each of the characters you're going to be casting. Now if you are not going to be paying your actors you need to offer them something, such as Expenses Only, which means you will pay for their travel/accommodation cost and all food and drink. So at least they are not out of pocket and getting experience. It's always a nice touch to say you will do a DVD copy for them and that they can freely use the footage for their showreel. If you're paying, clearly state how much the role is, i.e £150 per day. Make sure you say where and when you will be filming, try and be as accurate as possible. It helps to also provide a brief synopsis of the project. The more information you can provide the more likely you are to get a good number of responses.

Third, shortlist. Pick the most suitable candidates based on experience, look and maybe location (if you're keeping costs down). Get down to maybe 5 or 6 and make sure you thank the others for replying, but they are not what you are looking for this time.

Forth, auditions. Try to hire or borrow an office, classroom or ideally drama room or studio, to set up your auditions. Doing them at home is a lot less professional, a workplace will be more comfortable for the actors to attend. Set up a video camera so you can record each audition and watch them back later to help you decide. If you can send the script or a scene from the script to each of the participants before the audition then you can get them to act those scenes out and see how each actor interprets your script giving you a better idea of how they will perform in the film. You can ask them to prepare a monologue as well if you wish to see more of a range from them. Most actors will have a standard one they use at all their auditions.

Finally, it's time to pick your actor, but always keep a back-up in mind just incase they back out. This happens more often than you might think. Especially if someone is offering them paid work!