What to Send a Casting Director When You First Reach Out
You are a producer that just got a bid in for a new project that needs casting and you need to reach out to a few casting directors for quotes. You may be wondering what information you should share with casting about the project that would be helpful for them in coming up with a quote.
The more details you can provide upfront, the easier it is for a casting director to accurately assess the scope of the project, timeline, and overall casting needs. Clear communication not only helps speed up the quoting process, but also allows casting to better understand your creative vision and determine the best approach for finding the right talent.
The Shoot Location
The most important piece of information to share is where the location is shooting. For us here at Aura Casting in the San Francisco Bay Area, we cast remotely for projects shooting anywhere in the country. This helps us determine what market we will need to cast in and if theres talent widely available in that market, or if its a market that will require a more extensive search.
The Talent Specs
Are you casting two or ten talent? Do they have dialogue or no dialogue? Are they actors? Models? Real people? Performers? Background extras? All of these details matter when it comes to a quote. The more talent you have for your project, the more casting that is required for our team. Some talent are harder to find than others, such as specialty talent (example: real jugglers, party clowns, etc) which also plays a part in how we do our casting. They often require additional outreach, targeted searches, and more extensive vetting from our end. The more information you can provide about the talent specs upfront, the better we can understand the scope of the project, determine the most effective casting approach, and provide a quote that accurately reflects the work involved.
Auditions and Callbacks
Does your project require photo submissions from actors? Self tapes? Reels? Letting us know what you have in mind for auditions helps us when coming up with a quote. Callback sessions are considered a separate service, as they require additional scheduling, communication, session management, prep work, and post session organization from the casting team. Providing these details when first reaching out allows us to properly plan the workflow and provide a quote that accurately reflects the scope of our casting process.
Talent Rates and Usage
What budget do you have allocated for the talent? What are the usage terms? It is extremely helpful for us to know the exact or estimated rates upfront along with the usage terms. Knowing the talent rate and usage terms helps casting directors guide the overall casting strategy. Rates and usage can affect the talent pool and the type of outreach required.
Casting Rate
How much budget do you have allocated for casting? We will come up with a quote for our services depending on the projects details, but if you have a budget estimate for casting, it helps us to keep it in mind when making a quote.
All of this being said, you may not have all of this information upfront, and thats okay! Providing us with all of the details you can helps us to make a quote more quickly, which in turn helps us start casting sooner! The more context we have early on, the faster we can get to work finding the right talent for your production.
Do you have a project that needs casting? Reach out to us today to get a quote!
