Get More Work

You’re here, which means the hardest part is over: you’ve got a foot in the door. You’ve created a casting profile and maybe even landed a few gigs. But how can you increase your chances of getting more work as an actor or model?

We’re here to help! First of all, if your goal is to find regular acting or modeling work (beyond working as an extra), you need to start finding a talent agent but also read the tips below.

If you’re just starting out and trying to add more experience to your resume so agents will sign you, these guidelines are essential to follow!

First, check your expectations.

We’re gonna keep it real with you: the film industry is a gig-based economy, and here in Portland there are just not as many jobs available. To further complicate matters, those fewer jobs all typically have very specific requirements in terms of look or skill. Even if you hustle non-stop and follow up on every opportunity that comes onto your radar, your chances of being booked will remain fairly low. Even if you do everything right, working as talent probably isn’t going to become your full-time job anytime soon. 

Working as an actor/model can definitely be a fun and rewarding side hustle, but gigs are sporadic, short notice is typical, and bookings are always subject to changes. So, gigs are mostly incompatible with traditional 9-to-5 employment. The most successful talent are folks who are self-employed, have multiple income streams, or are otherwise positioned to take time off work without facing financial hardship. We love having you on set, but we definitely don’t want your involvement to come at the cost of your ability to stay afloat.

But if you have a flexible schedule and don’t mind short notice, there are a few things you can do to get booked more often! 

Leverage Social Media: Follow Casting Agencies & Join Film Groups

Casting relies heavily on social media to share casting calls and project announcements. Start by following these local casting companies on social media and their websites, to you gain access to their projects:

While you’re at it, we suggest joining these Facebook groups:

We recommend adjusting your preferences so these pages appear first, and turning on notifications so you’re alerted every time a new post is made. To have a competitive edge, you need to act fast.

Act Fast & Follow Directions

Casting is an extremely time-sensitive process. Most roles will be filled within 24-48 hours of posting. When you see a casting call, you should submit immediately. 

It’s important to read the submission instructions for each gig from beginning to end and follow them exactly. The submission process will differ from one job to the next, and incomplete or inaccurate submissions may not be considered. Fair warning.

Stay At The Top of Our List

Here at Weeble Mountain, we don’t always have time to post a casting call before booking a project. In fact, the casting calls you’re seeing across the board are just the tip of the iceberg of available gigs. 

Instead of relying on direct project submissions, we often cast directly from our database. The algorithm will bump you to the top of our list if you do the following:

Keep Your Profile Looking Good & Up To Date! 

  • Include lots of information in your profile! It’s especially important to list all your measurements (height, weight, clothing sizes), special skills (juggling, acrobatics, foreign language proficiency, dialects), and any props you may own (cars, pets, musical instruments, athletic equipment, etc.) You never know what we’ll be looking for!

  • Upload lots of clear, recent, color photos without filters of your face and body. Avoid black-and-white and low-resolution photos, please. We need to see your real skin tone and hair and eye color! We need to know what your current hairstyle is. Photos where you’re wearing hats, sunglasses, or other accessories that make it hard to see your face are effectively useless. We cannot book you if we don’t have at least one photo showing your face, and another of your full body. And we want to book you! These don’t need to be professional headshots; snapshots and selfies are great, and you can never have too many!

  • Log in regularly. Recent activity automatically bumps you to the top of our list while dormant profiles get less attention. Every time you see a casting call you’re interested in, add a new photo or take another look at your “casting information” section. 

Respond Quickly & Stay Flexible and Reliable! 

  • Respond to inquiries as promptly as possible. Casting is a last-minute venture, which means the “first come, first served” principle is in full effect. You stand the best possible chance of booking the job if you respond to the offer now (rather than 30 minutes from now.) Our availability checks come with a cutoff time, and if you don’t respond in time, you’ll have to wait for the next gig! 

  • Don’t flake out! We won’t blacklist you if you need to cancel a booking (life happens), but we use an algorithm that prioritizes showing us the talent with good attendance records. It’s better to say no than to say yes and not show up! We’ll often reach out to only our most reliable talent for super last-minute gigs.

  • Add us to your address book. Our email is casting@weeblemountain.com, and it sucks when time-sensitive emails end up in your spam folder! Please don’t abuse our email, though. Read our contacting us page before reaching out.

Don’t Let Your Assumptions Mislead You

You might be thinking, “But if I don’t accept every job I’m offered, you’ll be mad and stop calling me!” That’s a common and understandable fear, but we promise it’s not true. We’d rather you turn down fifty jobs in a row than accept one and then flake at the last minute. You will never be penalized for turning down a job, however cancelling once you’ve committed is a different story.

You might be thinking, “But if you have my photos, you’ll exclude me because of my look (weight, skin color, age, visible disability, etc). Actually, we love you just the way you are! We are always fighting to increase representation in media, and we consider your uniqueness an asset. If any aspect of your appearance is underrepresented in film and TV, be assured that we are regularly searching for more people like you so we can tackle these issues together. Having clear photos of you helps us prioritize booking you!

Alter-abled? We want to accommodate you, not exclude you! But we need to have complete information. Not all shooting locations are accessible, and the last thing we want is for you to come to work on a set that is not safe for you to navigate. Disclosing your accessibility needs in advance helps us find the best roles and accommodations for you, so you can have the best on-set experience possible.

Be someone people want to work with

Your professional conduct and attitude matter just as much as the skills you bring to the table, if not more. If you want to keep booking jobs, be someone people want to hire.

DOS

  • Be friendly and positive. If we know from experience that you make the set a more pleasant place to be, we’ll be more likely to call you in the future! Humility, gratitude, and a can-do attitude go a long way! 

  • Be flexible. When you book a gig you must assume the details (including location, date and time, and what to bring with you) are TBD and roll with the punches. Your call time will likely be issued at the last minute, and it may change unexpectedly. You may be asked to arrive earlier or stay later than planned. With that in mind, you should not plan any important events on the same day as filming, nor accept a job if you have a prior commitment before or after. If the entire day isn’t free, you can’t do the job. Keep your phone close at hand with notifications turned on and respond to any calls or texts from casting immediately.

  • Be a clear, prompt communicator. If we contact you with a gig, respond as quickly and decisively as possible, and with as much information as requested. When you arrive on set, check in where and when you’ve been told to. If you need to use the bathroom, inform a PA rather than just wander off.

  • Be patient. If the entertainment industry had a slogan it would be “Hurry Up and Wait,” because that’s the job in a nutshell. Most of your time on set will not be spent filming, but keeping yourself occupied while the crew sets up the next shot, adjusts the lighting and sound, and deals with the principal talent. Expect to have a lot of free time on your hands and plan accordingly. Books, knitting, crossword puzzles, and other analogue pastimes are highly recommended. Cell phones and other electronics are often prohibited on set, and even when they’re allowed there’s no guarantee there will be WiFi, Cell Service, or even power.

DONTS

  • Don’t take rejection personally. All it means is that you weren’t a match for this specific job, not that you’re a bad performer or that someone in casting has it out for you. Accept that rejection comes with the territory, and don’t be the person who fires off an angry email or fills the casting agent’s voicemail box with pleading inquiries about what you could have done differently. Those are both surefire ways to take yourself out of consideration in the future.

  • Don’t be a squeaky wheel. This includes but is not limited to sending unsolicited emails with updated resumes or reels, notifying us of your availability when you have not been asked, over-explaining why you can’t accept a booking, or asking when casting will be finalized. Messages like these create additional and unnecessary work for us. Trust us that we will initiate all necessary communication.

  • Attempt to network by friend requesting casting agents, talent agents, directors, or other industry professionals on their personal social media profiles or sending them DM’s. They are unlikely to respond, and it’s frankly a pretty intrusive move. Even in the entertainment industry, most people prefer to keep their professional and personal lives separate, and those boundaries should be respected.

Conclusion

We love knowing we’ve filled a call with flexible, reliable people who will be easy to work with, because it means we can move on to the next part of our job without having to worry! So if you want to increase your chances of getting more work, do everything in your power to be one of those people. That means giving us all the requested information, communicating clearly and promptly, following directions and maintaining a positive attitude both on set and off. We look forward to working with you!

Have you mastered all the strategies above? The next step is to work on finding a talent agent.