Casting Sites: What I Use, Why, And Are They Worth It

Over the last year, I have joined many casting sites. Some I got auditions from, some are mandatory from my agents and some are mandatory from my manager.

Backstage

Backstage was the first casting site I joined and the first one I booked on. It’s mostly small budget or no budget and amateur projects, but you can occasionally find larger union gigs. I have two callbacks for SAG projects on Backstage. One is a TV series and one a feature film. The cost is 200 a year, but they usually have deals for 99 dollars. Also, if you use my referral code, the price drops to 75 dollars for a year.

Navigating Backstage can be tedious, but the search function is pretty good and savable. They also rolled out a new feature that allows you to hide listings. I use it to hide anything I don’t fit or am not interested in. Also, I like that I can submit all my headshots with each submission.

There’s a couple things I don’t like about Backstage. The first being pre-screening. They allow casting to request a pre-screen audition, which I consider a waste of time. What if I’m completely wrong for the part? Then I just wasted my time doing an audition for a role I would never be considered for. I never do the pre-screen and have still gotten auditions for those projects. The other thing I don’t like is that postings can require a cover letter.

Actor’s Access

Actor’s Access is the site that almost every serious actor uses. It’s also required by all my agents and my manager. The site is easy to navigate and it’s easy to filter jobs using the app. The cost is 68 dollars for a year or 9.99 a month. There is also a free version, but you’ll be paying 2 dollars per submission. There are additional cost with AA. You get two free headshot uploads and anything more than that, costing 10 dollars a picture. There is also a 22 dollar a minute cost for reel footage.

Most of my auditions and bookings come from Actor’s Access. There are two levels of AA; one that is public that anyone with an account can see, and a hidden level that only agents and managers can see. These casting calls are hidden from the public and agents and managers can submit their clients for the roles.

The only thing I don’t like about this site is that you can only submit one headshot for each submission.

Casting Networks

Casting Networks is mostly commercial casting calls. There are also UGC (user generated content), reality TV, and real people casting calls, but I am not interested in any of that. I only have this site because it’s also required by my agents and manager. I rarely check this site. but get commercial audition requests from my ATL agent quite often on it.

Of all the casting sites, this one is the most expensive. A yearly membership runs 259.90 or you can pay 25.99 a month.

Casting Frontier

I just signed up for Casting Frontier as it’s required by my manager. Aside for setting up my profile, I haven’t really used it. I also haven’t gotten any auditions here.

Cost for a yearly membership is 199.99 or 16.66 if you pay monthly.

IMDb Pro

IMDb Pro has a job search function, which was recently moved from the menu bar to under the profile menu. Jobs can be submitted to for free through IMDb or through DirectSubmit which is a function of Casting Frontier. If the DirectSubmit option is how you submit, you’ll need to have a Casting Frontier account. I have only gotten one audition from IMDb Pro, but I keep it because it’s basically my online resume. Plus I can search agencies, follow projects I have auditions out for, research projects and update my profile.

The cost for IMDb Pro is 149.99 a year or 19.99 a month.

If I had the choice, I would probably only have Backstage, Actor’s Access and IMDb Pro. The others haven’t paid off yet, but one booking will make them worth it.