As the entertainment industry is rapidly evolving as a whole, so is each and every individual aspect of it. Castings are no different, with innovations transforming both how aspiring performers can get to the auditions and beyond, and how casting directors handle the whole process of selecting the right person for the job.
Learn more about how these three trends are transforming castings calls and the entertainment industry as a whole below.
Casting Calls Going Online
The ways of finding and applying to casting calls have come a long way, with specialized online platforms, like for example AllCasting, now offering highly efficient and convenient options for aspiring actors and models to find their next gig.
Not only making it as easy as typing “auditions near me”, but it also gives greater general accessibility to allow aspiring performers to search and apply for projects that are in fact not near them, and away from their hometown or region. These platforms allow users to create their portfolios and apply to casting calls relevant to them with a few clicks, as well as providing newsletters on the newest ones in accordance with their given personalized criteria.
While super-convenient for performers, the beauty of these casting-focused platforms also works both ways, since a significantly larger than ever before talent pool becomes available to the casting staff and producers.
Social Media Taking Over
The rise and takeover of social media has affected every aspect of our lives, and casting is no exception to that. Aspiring actors can use various social media platforms to showcase their skills and experience in a sort of like a portfolio, while also connecting to their peers and even admirers.
Similarly to other fields of work where recruiters also search social media for potential candidates for a job opening, casting staff also look for actors or models matching a specific set of talents. As performers are quietly building their online presence, showing the ability to engage audiences and be marketable, it may end up bringing them unexpected new opportunities in their way.
Similarly to the aforementioned casting specialized online platforms, social media also can help actors and models to gain visibility as potential candidates for a project in a more democratic way, avoiding many steps required in the past in order to get to the auditions, such as hiring a talent agent or joining a talent agency. As a matter of fact, if luck really smiles upon them, an individual’s online presence sometimes may end up being enough to get the job even without the usual casting stages.
Change In Audience’s Expectations
As we continue to evolve as a society and the numerous trends within it change faster than ever before, the expectations that audiences have for actors and models appearing in various projects are now different from what they used to be even just a decade ago, let alone a longer time ago.
One of the results of it is that performers of various backgrounds now have far more opportunities within the entertainment industry than ever before, as casting directors are looking to build a more authentic and inclusive cast for their projects, thus avoiding repeating the unrepresentative mistakes of past projects.
Regardless of the actor or model’s cultural background, race, gender identity, body type, or sexual orientation, there always are casting calls appearing that will look to display real-life diversity through its to-be-filled cast.
It also again is yet another reason for how casting is evolving towards a more vast talent pool for casting directors to choose from, while at the same time dismissing outdated stereotypes and resonating with wider audiences.
