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So, you’ve written the best script ever. You cast it, your all ready to shoot. On time, on schedule.

Your lead calls up, and says he just got called into work.

Your villain sends you an email saying he couldn’t show up because his plans change.

The lead lady texts you about being late due to a wardrobe malfunction.

This is the typical first day of your so-called, “best” shoot.

Actors who work with film students for free are often young, eager to learn, and are just open to gaining experience on any project they can, even if its for no pay at all. But personalities clash, and schedules disconnect. Pretty soon you have to call your best buddy to act in the lead and your film seems fine right?

WRONG

A lot of student films have three things in common

1. Bad sound
2. Bad videography (or cinematography)
3. Bad acting

The bad acting can be easily noticed in videos with a good look and good sound.

The real problem is this, if you pick your friends or your classmates. They WILL suck. Actors go to school to act, filmmakers go to school to film. Don’t put in your psychology major kegstand buddy for the lead, and don’t put in that cute girl in your editing class.

People are afraid of the camera, actors are not.

Where Do I Find Good Actors

Believe it or not, big name actors like Robert De Niro, Jack Nicholson, Robin Williams, and many others will act in a professionally put together low budget short film. You just have to know what your doing, and actually get them interested in your movie.

But lets assume your working on a film project for a contest.

NewEnglandFilm.com is the best way to get attention. I highly recommend making a seperate email for headshots and resumes because I get so many every time I post. It’s ridiculous. But often times, people just blindly apply and things can get rough.

I had one guy apply to a commercial shoot I did, and he was from Miami. And he even offered to fly up to work on this project with us. I told him he shouldn’t because he isn’t going to be paid. Since there really was no guarantee of money.

Here’s a good way to identify some actors that aren’t really all that legit.

• Improper spelling
• Myspace/Facebook photos instead of headshots
• Computer generated responses
• No headshots
• No resume
• No headshot OR resume

I have literally recieved an email that said this

“Yo man, u makin a movie? i wuz wonderin if i cud play the heero?”

I deleted it as soon as I saw “Yo”

A plus for applications to your post is when they actually talk about the movie they’re applying to, or what role they want to play. But I’ll get on how to do that later.

Picking And Choosing

Here’s probably the hardest part for film students.

When casting for your film, and the convenience of the internet allowing you to view headshots can help you decide who to ask to come to your casting call. Or if your crazy like me, just hire them based on legitimacy.

Pretty faces are what you want, acting comes second. If your actor isn’t really all that good to look at (especially in HD) then its not going to be pretty when your audience sees it.

This is usually where someone says, “Doesn’t acting really matter?”

In this day and age of media, acting has really been replaced with good looks (i.e. Megan Fox, Ryan Reynolds) and thus you should pick based on what kind of movie your making.

Movies are usually a creative preference, but things like music videos and commercials tend to need pretty faces to look at. Aside from the crappy local videos you see on TV all the time.

Here are some guidelines for picking a good looking person

• Does the headshot look good?
• Do they look like a movie star?
• Can you fit them in any lead role of a famous movie?

If any of the answers are ‘yes’ then we might have a winner.

Posts that Actors want to see

There really is no magic way to find the actors to perfectly fit your movie. Its a matter of having an eye for looks.

Here’s what I’ve left out thats made my posts get hundreds of applications in the past.

• I’m a student
• I’m not paying
• I’m looking to fill my reel
• Its a personal project
• Its a student project

Frankly, any of these will keep a lot of picky actors away.

This is why you make due with the power of the internet.

Have a company name, post some of your work on a website you created. And refer to yourself as a big shot indie director/producer working on his/her next project. Promote yourself, and once they find out your a student, and that you’ve professionally marketed yourself you will have gained some respect. And thus, you have made a contact to call back.

You have just networked.

Don’t think of this as lying. Film teacher Dov Simens often says that if you call yourself a filmmaker (or in his case a producer) and you worry if people will ask what you’ve done, he suggests you say “I have many projects currently in various stages of development”.

This is true. You have ideas, they are being developed into movies. Problem solved.

Think of yourself as a big shot, you will be treated as such. Just don’t get an ego trip, your not making millions yet.

Compensation, A pro way of saying, “What do I get out of this?”

So, you’ve found your actor, and they want to know if they can get something out of this besides another film under their belt.

You’ve struck a blank.

Well no worries, because some people are happy with the simple things. So just offer some of these compensations for their help.

• Food
• DVD/Digital copies
• Credit in the film
• Referrals for other movies

Food is usually the best. Along with your crew, everybody on set will be more motivated if you offer pizza on the break. Assuming you have the money to pay for it, which I would hope you do at least.

Its fairly easy to find your actors all over the web, its very hard to find the good ones. Having a keen eye for looks and talent can go a long way. And as long as you leave out your fellow film students as actors, your movies will come out as awesome and convincingly professional as they come.