Are Casting Membership sites worth the premium price tag?
Being an actor means you have to get visible on and offline as much as possible. This can feel uncomfortable to introverts like myself who don’t necessarily want to self-promote or push my work in people’s faces. You have to remember that having an online platform is simply about you promoting yourself within the industry and your audience so that they know that you exist. You also back this presence up with proof of your work. Examples of your work are conveyed through your showreel, credits and your headshot (all in my order of importance).
Over the years, I have trialed many different platforms and casting sites and given them a good run, both in terms of my time submitting copious applications but also spending a small fortune in the process. For me, stage work has primarily come through connections and known networks where I have been volunteering at a local fringe theatre rather than through targeting theatre jobs online. Although, this is only my experience, I can bear witness to the fact that casting directors of stage and screen will prefer to work with who they know, like and trust. Getting work comes to you after you have paved the hard miles building up relationships which are mutually beneficial and networking to get to know people on an authentic basis, rather than about you thinking what can you get out of someone. Cold prospecting in any business sense rarely works yet we still feel a need to put ourselves through it and fish in murky waters!
One word of advice is to be clear about what you are looking for so you can manage your expectations. For example, I recently finished a screen acting course and am still doing unpaid student films to build up footage for my showreel. However, I will always request expenses for food and travel as a bare minimum. There comes a certain point when you should stop doing unpaid work as you have enough credits and footage to show for your efforts. Only you can make that judgement call and never judge others for choosing to do unpaid work- sometimes it is what people need to do to climb the next rung of the ladder. On all casting platforms, you can filter by work type; paid or unpaid but often you have to drill down on this information on more informal platforms such as Facebook groups or Twitter.
In my humble opinion, below are the best online platforms in order of my preference for getting seen and some of them are completely free (yes, you heard that right!).
Spotlight The branding of this platform say’s exactly what it does on the tin- it is the home of the UK casting industry. This platform is a non-negotiable for anyone seeking to get professional work. It is the regulated and official UK platform that all agents and casting directors scour for new talent. Whilst a presence on here is strictly necessary as most agents won’t represent you without it, it has never got me work off my own merit. I am on there to pay lip service to the industry and also my agent submits me for castings here. If you have an agent, they will generally take care of this platform but that doesn’t mean you sit back and relax as the work doesn’t just roll in. I have had less than a handful of self-tape audition requests on the back of my agent which hasn’t got me work. Having said that, it is the platform that will bring the most lucrative, life changing career opportunity when you do land work!
Backstage I have paid a yearly subscription to this platform and I have to admit that I need to make better use of it to ensure I am getting value for money. Backstage has an annual lump-sum debit fee of £84.99, a six-month fee of £49.99, or a monthly fee of £14.99. It cheaper than Mandy and I actually think it has better quality casting opportunities. I apply for castings on an ad hoc basis and am not really in a routine with it but the small number of castings I have applied for have requested self-tape or audition opportunities. Also, Backstage is international and particularly good for US castings (if you have the green card or citizenship, that is!). I have found Backstage to be really good for theatre and student films in order to build up your portfolio.
The Mandy Network This is the second or third go to platform (depending on whether you rank Backstage above it) for actors who are not quite established enough to have a Spotlight pin. You can sign up for free or a paid monthly membership for approx £20. I have trialled both types of membership and didn’t have any luck in getting any jobs. I trialed a paid membership for twelve months and was submitting applications for around ten jobs a week with no luck. When I have been talking to other actors about Mandy, they tell me that in order to be successful here and get a good job conversion rate, you need to be submitting for between 10–15 jobs a day. I was a member back in 2020/21 and never really saw that volume of jobs that I wanted to submit for so I cancelled my paid membership, although I do still have a free profile on there for visibility which is good as professionals can still view my profile and I can look them up directly for free on other platform. The reason why I don’t rate Mandy as high as Backstage is because it is more geared towards screen work and theatre is my passion!
Facebook groups: If you are building up your portfolio for fringe and student films, I highly recommend the below groups where you should regularly hang out, comment and engage. Not only do they post casting opportunities, but they are a great source of advice, recommendations and signposting for your acting career. At least 2–3 times per week, I will engage in the below groups and keep an eye on postings- I have been lucky to pick up last minute student film opportunities when directors are desperate for the next day/week and other actors are not available. If you are lurking, you can jump on these opportunities quick and fast to ward off your competition.
Actors UK
UK Actors
Student Film Makers and Actors Network UK
Acting Auditions and Casting Calls
UK Paid Acting Castings online
Twitter: I have a profile and am semi-present (quite frankly, I could do a hell of a lot better!) with visibility, to actively be following theatre companies and casting directors to get on their radar. A lot of my actor friends say that this platform is where the magic happens. I am not saying you should spam industry folk with DM’s on their personal accounts but you build a relationship with them by sharing useful content, tagging them in a post that relates to their work, or simply retweeting their post for sharing. Social media is called ‘social’ for a reason, it is not entirely about shameless self-promotion, but more a case of showcasing your work. For example, I will share any press features, links to new showreels and new marketing general. I will also tweet about any theatre or tv that I have seen or watching with my opinion. If you send out emails to agents or casting directors, I will then start following them on either LinkedIn or Twitter as an informal way of showing to them that I am keeping up to date with their latest projects.
All in all, if you take a blended approach of incorporating all or some of the above methods for applying for castings, outside of known networks then I think you give yourself the best chance of standing out from the crowd!