NY Casting - Direct Cast - Filmmaker Help

Direct Cast Help - Posting a Project

Thank you for your interest in posting a project on Casting Networks!

You'll have the ability to post a Direct Cast™ project and receive submissions from over 30,000 actors.

Casting Networks is your one-stop talent shop for your independent filmmaking, theatrical and video needs. We can do everything from helping you find actors to distributing your sides, all at a price that everyone can afford: FREE!

These are basic instructions for using Casting Networks. For support, please call (212) 375-1000.

PLEASE NOTE: If you are using a PC, we recommend using Internet Explorer or Mozilla. If you are using a MAC, we recommend using Mozilla or Safari.

Create a Project

Go to our home page (www.nycasting.com).
Click on POST A PROJECT in the Direct Cast™ box.
A contact information page will pop up. Fill out the fields listed on the page (fields marked with an asterisk are required). When you’ve finished filling out the required fields, click SAVE.
Clicking Save will automatically send a confirmation e-mail to the address you provided. You must click on the confirmation link within that e-mail to activate your username and password.
Once you have clicked on the link, a new page will open. Click on the link at the bottom of the page and enter your login information.
The first time you log in to your account you will be asked to accept our Terms of Use. You must click ACCEPT TERMS OF USE in order to proceed.
Once you have logged in, click on the button marked CREATE NEW PROJECT.
From here, you will need to fill in the fields from top to bottom. If there are fields that do not pertain to your project, simply leave them blank. Fields marked with a red asterisk are required fields. NOTE: You must enter the Project Type first.
Once you have finished on this page, click SAVE & CONTINUE at the bottom.
You will be taken to the Creat Role page. Enter the appropriate information and click ADD ROLE. NOTE: Required fields are noted by red asterisks on this page.

Your project WILL NOT be approved unless you create at least one role.
You can request submission videos and skill clips from talent by clicking the YES button next to REQUEST AUDITION VIDEO. Add any audition skill details in the field marked AUDITION VIDEO INSTRUCTIONS.
Now click SUBMIT FOR APPROVAL (it is highlighted in orange) to finalize your project. A box that reads Project Approval will appear. Select the SUBMIT FOR APPROVAL button. The project status will change from Unfinished to Pending.

Please allow a two-hour project approval turnaround on weekdays, and a 24-hour turnaround on weekends. You will receive a confirmation email and a User Guide once your project has been approved.

Helpful Hints for Posting a Project

1. Review your project. You can edit any project information by clicking EDIT DETAILS.

2. Actors are far more likely to submit to a project when there is pay provided, even when the rate is undetermined (TBA).

3. You can make changes to roles by clicking EDIT next to what you'd like to modify.

4. The status of your project appears in the upper right hand corner of the page. It will say “Pending” until your project is approved.

5. Once the project has been approved, its status will change to “Active.” At this point, the project has been released to the actors on our site and they can submit themselves directly to you.

Viewing Talent and Making Selections

Click on the name of the project you wish to review.
The Viewing Project page will open.
Click on the number in the UNVIEWED column next to a role you are casting.
Talent profiles will appear. Click directly on the photo of the talent you're interested in to view their full resume and other photos. Choose which talent you want to keep track of by selecting a number below their name. Your number one choices should be marked with a 1, number two choices with a 2, etc. Selecting a number will automatically send the chosen actor to your SELECTS folder.
When you have completed viewing a page of talent, click on MARK VIEWED at the top of the screen. This will move your Unviewed talent into the Viewed column, and talent to whom you have applied a number into the Selects column.
Click NEXT to view each page of submissions.
This is how you will check submissions for each role.
After you’ve gone through all of the submissions, go back to your project page by clicking the RETURN TO PROJECT button, which is located on the upper-left corner of the screen.

Helpful Hints When Reviewing Submissions

RESUME ICON --- Shows you a talent’s resume. You can also see them by clicking on their photo.

FILE ICON --- Allows you to move talent into a My Files folder. (My Files is an updated version of the Favorites folder.)

HAND ICON --- Gives you the opportunity to move your talent into different roles within the same project.

CAMERA ICON --- Shows you other pictures the talent has online.

CELLULOID ICON --- Allows you to watch video attached to the talent's resume.

PLAY BUTTON --- Prompts the video audition your talent submitted.

To see the phone number of a talent, click on their photo and a resume will appear. Phone numbers and email addresses appear under their name.

To view another role, hover your cursor over ROLE NAME underneath the Project Name. Click your mouse and a list of all the roles you are casting will appear so that you can switch back and forth between them.

Creating an Audition Schedule

1. Choose the AUDITIONS button on your toolbar. A dropdown menu will appear. Click CREATE AN AUDITION.

2. Select the Project that you are scheduling, then select the audition type and room number. (If you are unsure what your room number will be, select room one.) Choose an audition date from the calendar. Click CREATE A SCHEDULE at the bottom of the page.

3. You are now on the Audition Schedule page, which is separated into two halves. On the right is the talent filter and on the left are the time slots you'll use to schedule your talent.

4. Now you can start to drag your talent into time slots. You can add multiple talent to a single time slot by dragging them one by one, or you can drag multiple talent into successive time slots by clicking the SUCCESSIVE TIME SLOTS button in upper right hand corner of the page.

5. To notify talent that you have scheduled them for an audition, click the SEND TIMES button. If you re-schedule auditions, click SEND TIMES again and another e-mail will be sent to any talent or representatives who were affected by the change.

6. If you need to notify talent about a non-scheduling issue, such as an update in location or wardrobe change, click the SEND MESSAGE button.

Using the Worksheet to Manage Talent

1. Click the WORKSHEET button on the toolbar.

2. Use the drop-down menu to filter by Confirmation Status, Talent Name, Project, Management Company, Schedule and Role Name.

3. Use the column headings to sort your list.

4. Talent will respond to your audition e-mail by using our Confirmations System. You will see their confirmation status in the Status column.

5. Use the "C" button to mark talent for Callbacks, the “B” button to mark them “Booked” or the “F” button to move them to your Favorites folder for consideration later.

6. Click on a talent’s name to expand their Talent Audition Profile window and get easy access to more information about them.

Generating Reports

1. Select PROJECT REPORTS or AUDITION REPORTS by hovering your cursor over the Reports button in the toobar. To create a Project Report, choose your project in the drop-down menu. Now you can generate a Call List Report, which gives you the option to sort talent by name or priority. Click the checkbox next to CALL LIST or PRINT BREAKDOWN, and then select PRINT REPORT(S).

2. Hover your cursor over the Schedules button on the toolbar and select LIST OF SCHEDULES. Click the REPORTS button for each schedule you would like to view. You can also generate a report for your projects and your talent schedules. Check the box next to PRINT SCHEDULE or PRINT TALENT NAME LIST REPORT and you can create reports with or without photos, and with or without schedule notes. Now click PRINT REPORT(S).

Posting Sides

Once you have scheduled auditions, you can post the sides for your project online.

1. Click on Download sides cover page to fax them to us at (323) 462-6470.

2. You can also e-mail your sides to sides@castingnetworks.com.

More Tips

1. When contacting talent, be sure to disable your pop-up blocker. Otherwise, the e-mail form you are going to send will not appear.

2. You can also e-mail a list of the people you’ve selected. For example, if a producer is interested in viewing the people you’re bringing in, you can e-mail the talents' information to them by clicking SHARE SELECTS.

3. To contact talent individually, click on any thumbnail photo, then click on the e-mail address on their resume. An e-mail form will appear.

Have more questions? Please feel free to call us at (212) 375-1000 or send an e-mail to nydirectcast@castingnetworks.com.

Casting Networks reserves the right to refuse to post any project.
Please refer to the Direct Cast™ Terms of Use.