My First Virtual Audition

I had my first virtual audition through Backstage this week and I thought I would share the process with you. The process is very similar to a callback, so I used that mentality for the audition.

I arrived to the virtual room about 10 minutes early. It’s part of making a good first impression. The director and another actor that was already cast then arrived about 5 minutes before the scheduled time. Introductions were made and then the director explained the project and the casting process. This was a 3 step casting process. The first step was the virtual audition. Then, step two would be virtual callbacks. The final audition was to be in person and whoever was chosen for that would be flown to Las Vegas to audition in person and in front of cameras. It was also mentioned that almost 3000 people submitted for this project. I suspect that 100 people or less was part of the first round.

The director went into detail about the scene and what she expected to character’s emotions to convey. The other actor on the call would be the reader. After I did the scene, they asked me make some adjustments and we did the scene again. Right before the call ended, they asked if I had any questions or issues. I wanted ot be fully transparent so I told them about the callback I have for a SAG film that films around the same time as this one. They assured me that if I got both, that they would work around my schedule as I would not needed to be on set everyday. My only question was what was the plan for the project after completion. Was it going to be released on their streaming channel or was it going somewhere else. They said that it would be on a major streaming network.

This is my favorite way to audition now and I wish more projects cast this way. It gives you the personalized face to face with casting without the negatives of sitting in a room for hours waiting on your turn to audition that in person auditions have. You get the chance to get notes and adjust and also allows the people casting to see your real personalty.