Guidelines for Submitting Yourself on Acting Jobs with Representation

Submitting yourself for potential job opportunities on various casting websites is a great way to stay proactive with getting yourself, or your child, opportunities! 

Getting real-life audition and on-set experience is vital. No matter how much you prepare and cultivate a process, it’s hard to replicate the feeling of walking on set for a role you booked, or into an audition room with a new casting director.

Whether you have representation or not, if you’re a new performer, you should always be submitting yourself for different projects on Actors Access, Casting Networks, or any of the casting websites that are overflowing with opportunities. 

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Here are some guidelines to follow as you submit yourself on projects while you also have representation

1.) Always know what your representation’s expectations are regarding self-submitting

Do they expect to get paid on jobs you book yourself? Most reps do.

Some of them expect to get paid on any job you book, some only expect to get paid if a job is over a certain dollar amount. Make sure you’re 100% clear on their boundaries or what contractually you’ve agreed to with them. Also, if you end up booking a job from a self-submission, you will need to book out with them on the days you’ll be working.

***Booking out is when you give your representation days that you’re not available to audition or work. Like if you’re on vacation with your family in the Bahamas, you clearly can’t be bothered to attend a Crest Toothpaste commercial audition. 

Don’t let your representation’s expectations deter you from self-submitting. If your rep expects to get paid on every job, so be it. Wouldn’t you rather get the job and have to pay them than not get the job at all? 

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2.) Only submit on a job if you’re comfortable with what the role requires of you

If you don’t like the content, don’t submit. If you’re not free for the filming dates, don’t submit. If you’re not comfortable working unpaid and it’s an unpaid opportunity, don’t submit.

Only submit if you feel comfortable, excited, and are able to commit to what the project requires. Save yourself the stress of if by golly you book the job…. and it’s content you aren’t comfortable with, a pay rate that you detest, or a date you’re not available on…. and you have to say no and disappoint everyone who’s been involved in the process who were excited to have you be a part of this project.

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3.) If you feel like you’re in the ballpark of what they’re looking for, submit yourself

You never know, you may get called in! Let them be the ones to say no, rather than not even throwing your hat in the ring because you don’t perfectly fit a breakdown. With that being said, if you’re so far off base from what they’re looking for… don’t waste their time or yours. Submitting on everything just to submit is not strategic and a waste of time.

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4.) When you’re starting out, student films, short films, or any type of unpaid work can be great

You’ll network with new people, get on-set experience which is incredibly hard, if not impossible, to replicate in a classroom setting, get to add a project to your resume, and you’ll maybe even get some usable footage for your reel out of it!

This is your one career. You need to make sure that you’re always fighting to get yourself opportunities and experience. Relying fully on someone else to create your destiny doesn’t work and is beyond frustrating. Self-submitting is an easy way to put effort towards growing your career every single day. 

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If you’ve been self-submitting and haven’t been getting called in for auditions, book a 30-minute free consultation with me. We’ll go through your casting profiles and see how we can improve your most important marketing tool that directly affects your audition ratio! You’re never the problem… your strategy probably is, and that’s truly an easy fix!