The producer hires a casting director to find the talent. Whether it's a commercial, feature film, TV, movie or series.

The casting director puts out a notice to the agents of what he is looking for. The agents send photos and resumes of their clients to the casting director. The casting director then looks over all the submissions and calls the agents to set up auditions for the actors he feels are right for the roles.

For example, Warner Bros. is casting a new television show. The producer calls to say he needs an African-American male who could do a Jamaican accent. He also needed an attractive, tall Asian female.

The breakdown is released to the agents. They send in photos and resumes. The casting director decides which actors fit the description and calls. Sometimes, hundreds of actors are cast, just to fill one spot.

Many actors are talented, buy only 2 are needed in this situation.

As you can see, casting directors are an important part of an actor's life. They don't always make the final decision of who gets the job, but they do decide who gets to audition. This is why you need to know who the casting directors are and what type of casting they do.

One way to become familiar with the casting directors is to watch the credits at the end of the movies and TV shows you see. Commercials don't list credits.

The quickest way to learn who the casting directors are, of course, is to get a list that has the names, addresses, phone numbers and tells what shows they have cast and are now casting and figure out a way to get your information to them if you have no agent.

This is why we offer our Talent CD-Rom which is mailed out to casting directors and casting staff who book auditions. Learn More