Auditions are the normal processes of selecting the right talents for certain roles in a program, with regards to filmmaking, CASTING AUDITION is the normal and standard procedure for selecting the right actors to fill in the shoes of some specific characters in a story for production meant for audience, unfortunately in our part of the world, young, passionate and hungry “in some what cases” desperate” talents are being taken advantage of, it’s true some of these young talents stupidly allow themselves to be used, others do not mean to be stupid but applying the everyday inspirational quotes flying all around ” NO PAIN, NO GAIN; NO RISK, NO REWARD, BLA BLA BLA, etc. but somehow it doesn’t always pay as the sayings make it look, either way, THIS NONSENSE MUST STOP, with an already struggling industry, our actors suffer more, it’s either there’s no opportunity at all or there’s an opportunity with a price, now it’s okay to pay the price some times as we all say” we have paid our dues”, but not all prices are worth paying for, under normal circumstances, DO NOT PAY FOR AUDITIONS UPON A CASTING CALL;
if we can identify when an audition is not worthy, it will help too; I have therefore decided to point out a few clues to help educate our talents on how to spot a fake audition.
1. DO YOU WANT TO BE A STAR?: I try hard to understand how our actors fall for this nonsense, the most unworthy and super fake auditions emphasize on the word “STAR”, it’s so unfair to channel the love and admiration these young actors have for “OUR STARS” into deceiving them, truth is even the stars did not plan to be who they are in most cases, their endless passion and LOVE FOR THE ART got them here, also if anyone would think for a second, he or she would know that stardom is not like an egg that can be handed to a person in a few seconds, the most annoying thing is, these ads come with countless pictures of our KNOWN ACTORS. Dear young talent, I have these for you.
- DO NOT join the industry because you want to be a star.
- DO NOT opt to be an actor because your family or friend has a production company.
- DO NOT join acting because you want to be rich, it’s the dumbest thing to allow yourself believe.
- DO NOT join acting because there are several auditions every week.
- DO NOT join acting because you believe you were more intelligent than your friend back in school and now he or she is into acting so you can too.
- JOIN because YOU LOVE IT! You are crazy about it! You must have an absolute passion for the art! Nothing else, if you love what you do, no failure will break you down, no disappoints will discourage you, no stress or sacrifice will be too much to stop you, no matter how the going gets tough, you will realize you are just happy doing it, that’s how you know ACTING IS YOUR THING, now you could be great at it or maybe just trying your very best, either way, we all grow by practice, and everything filmmaking is all about experience, your endless passion and experience will lead you somewhere even before you know it, you will just realize you are SOMEBODY in “YOUR THING”
It’s very important to pray about your career too, whatever your choice of career, now whether you believe in GOD or not, agree or disagree, THE UNIVERSE IS NOT IN CHARGE IF ITSELF.
2. Is the ad “AUDITION” or “CASTING AUDITION / CASTING CALL”?: Get the difference between just an “AUDITION” and a “CASTING AUDITION”, general auditions does not mean you will get to be in a movie. When an audition does not give details of what is required of you as an actor to be able to fit a particular character, it means the production is just PICKING talents, they probably have no ready script or the director intends to adjust the script to suit the talents available for him, this is worth trying, it’s Ghana, it’s what most directors do, they pick talents before they decide how to use them, otherwise it’s not worth it, you must know what you are audition for as an actor, CASTING AUDITIONs come with details on the ad, you will either have a script to study a particular character over a few days or you will have enough details of what the casting director is looking for, in some cases a full character profile to guide you, this means the casting team is on a hunt for a specific character and it could be YOU. Also, real casting directors don’t decide on a single meeting, sometimes you will audition several times within or for a week or even a month, some great talents need awakening of spirit and so on, good casting directors do not believe in auditioning a nervous talent and deciding the next minute, casting auditions are worth trying any day anytime. Now in the case where the ad reads “CASTING AUDITION” but still no scripts or enough details of what is required, it’s not a Casting audition as the ad says, don’t bother, or a simple phone call to the number provided could do, ask questions, ask for details, from what response you get, you then decide if it’s worth trying or not, just know that the scammers get smarter every day, suppose they have seen this piece, they will do everything right to get you, use your head people, your first meeting with the team should tell you whether to come back or not, try not to waste your time and money on something not worth it.
3. ADS WITH SHOOT COMMENCEMENT DATE: This is dumb, you don’t name a shoot date if you are yet looking to get your cast, pre-production involves a lot, this includes preparing the cast, now you don’t even know your cast yet, you don’t know how much time and resources it will take to prepare them, and you have a shoot date already. Masa this is either not real or it’s the kind of productions you shoot and never see the movie anywhere or the casting is done already, you are needed for a not so clear reason, if that’s the case, “be specific Mr. Advertiser”. If not; dear talent, it’s not worth wasting your time and energy and even money on transport, let it go!
4. AUDITION ADS WHILE ON SET: I see these ads showing “on set” pictures yet calling for actors, to come and do what exactly when you are already shooting? I did share KOBI RANA’s post a few days ago, he was on set, and he needed actors for a big wedding scene, he was straight and direct, now that was different, at least you know exactly what was going on, but audition ads while on set shooting already, it’s either the production is the kind that gathers actors for in house practices and projects or someone wants to use your eagerness to see the filmmaking process to get something “unrelated” from you, not worth it if it’s not an invitation by the director to fill in a role due to emergency, even that still you will get enough details, otherwise, don’t bother, if they on set shooting already, their Audition ad is not for serious people like you.
Just to mention a few, be smart enough to spot a fake audition, they come in different forms from different Angles, be sure to use your head, be PASSIONATE, not DESPERATE!
GOOD LUCK.
Author: Abu Iddris, CEO – CINE GOD Studios
Very educative. God bless you