Believe it or not, I actually spent a year studying filmmaking in a somewhat-prestigious MFA film program. It was a huge waste of time and money and I left after the first year.  But I did lean a few valuable life lessons while I was at that school.  There were only 13 of us first-year grad students and one afternoon, we all took a walk from the Film Building over to the Theater Building.  The purpose of the field trip was to meet undergraduate acting students.  It turned out that for the undergrads, working on a grad student’s film was quite an accomplishment.

The students we met basically threw themselves at us.  They performed scenes and did improvs and took any request we could come up with.  Some of my classmates seemed to really enjoy the power and started asking the students to do more and more ridiculous things.  After a while the whole exercise really started to feel inappropriate.  As we were leaving, a beautiful young student came up to me, clawed my chest and enthusiastically proclaimed “use us….please use us…make us your whores….we will do anything you want!”  She was being dramatic but I will never forget the look in her eyes.  She meant what she was saying.  Of course, she didn’t mean it literally.  It wasn’t a sexual offer; it was an emotional one.

It was that moment I realized how much power directors have over actors.  Aspiring actors are some of the most hardcore and dedicated people you’re ever going to meet.  And an unscrupulous or uncaring director could really take advantage of a actor’s enthusiasm.

So when you start looking for actors and actresses for your video contest entries, you have to act like a professional and treat these people with respect.  As the director, you have something that they want.  There are thousands of hopeful actors in your city compared to only a few dozen directors who happen to be casting at the moment.  That means that as a filmmaker, you have a lot of power.  As I learned on that trip to the Theater Building back in grad school, even good people can let a little power go to their heads.  So the very first thing you need to do when casting for a video project is to tell yourself you’re not going to take advantage of the people who want to work with you.

And the next thing you need to do is get your ass over to Craigslist.

Like most video contest filmmakers, I used to recruit my family and friends to appear in my contest entries.  But it’s uncool to constantly ask people you know to act for you.  So now I get almost all of my actors from Craigslist.  (The irony is that every once in a while, a friend will ask me “How come you never ask me to be in your videos any more? I want to act again!”)  Hiring actors on craigslist is like shooting fish in a barrel.  And that’s why I prefaced this post with that little story about treating aspiring actors with respect.  Just because it’s easy to find actors and actresses  on Craigslist it doesn’t mean you should treat them like they’re disposable people that are lucky to be working with someone as brilliant as you.

If you’ve never used Craigslist to find actors before, you’ll first have to make a free Craigslist account.  (It’s also free to post a call for actors).  Once you have an account, head to the Gigs section and click on “Talent.”  The rest of the process is pretty self-explanatory.

But how do you write a post that will get the attention of decent actors?  The answer is simple; money.  Offer money and you will hear from dozens and dozens of people.  And you don’t have to offer a lot of money.  $50 or even $100 lets people know that you’re serious and that you know what you’re doing.  Yeah sure, there are a lot of actors out there that are so desperate to get footage for their reel that that they are willing to work for “copy and credit.”  But personally, I don’t think it’s right to ask actors to work for free on a project that could potentially win you thousands of dollars.  Plus, money ensures that the actors you select (probably) won’t flake out on you an not show up.

So what exactly should your post say?  Well, honesty is the best policy.  If you expect the shoot to take 4 hours, say that it will at least 4 hours.  If you only want actors of a certain type, mention that too otherwise a lot of people you can’t use will be e-mailing you.  Keep the whole thing short and upbeat.  If you’re shooting a video contest entry, be sure to say that.  But if you’re shooting an ad for a contest being run by Poptent, Mofilm, Tongal or Zooppa you should say that you’re “Shooting a commercial on Spec.”  And you should also mention that if the sponsor likes the ad, they will purchase it and use it.  That angle always works well for me since all actors would love to be in a “real” ad for a major company.  However, I always refrain from mentioning the sponsor’s name in the post.  You don’t want anyone to get the impression that you’re actually affiliated with the sponsor.  So if I’m shooting a Dell video for a Poptent assignment, I’ll say I’m “shooting an online ad on spec for a well-known computer company.”

Once your ad is up you’re inbox will soon be flooded with replies.  And you’ll quickly be faced with another dilemma.  Should you respond to the people you are sure you do not want to cast?  Personally, I don’t respond.  I just archive their e-mail.  Responding to each person who writes to you would take forever and most actors will understand that.  Besides, who wants to get an e-mail saying “thanks but no thanks?”

After weeding out the actors you know you can’t use, you’ll be left with a handful of potential cast members.  At this point, some directors would schedule in-person auditions.  But not me.  Why?  Because $50 or $100 is not enough money for a director to be too picky.  If you’re shooting a video for a client you should absolutely do auditions.  But making people schlep across town just so you can audition them for a video that probably will never be purchased just isn’t fair to the actors.  For sure, a lot of actors will audition for you if you ask them to…which is why you shouldn’t ask them.  If you’re shooting a big, expensive Crash the Super Bowl entry then sure, hold auditions.  That’s a different story.  But if you’re just shooting a little video for for some contest where the prize is $2.500you’re wasting people if you make them audition.  Instead, I recommend doing an over the phone audition. Either that or just cast people that have decent demo reels.

When you’re on the set, your goal should be to waste as little of your actors’ time as possible.  Don’t tell them to show up at the same time as the crew!  There is no reason they need to sit around for three hours while your lighting guys set up.  On a low budget shoot, an actor’s “Call Time” should be about 30 minutes before they will be needed on set.  If you keep things moving, your actors will be happy.  Back in grad school, one thing the teachers drilled into our heads was the idea that the producer must ALWAYS provide meals for the cast and crew.  That’s B.S.  I always provide pop, water and snacks but a meal is overkill.  If your shoot goes longer than 6 hours, you should probably spring for lunch.  But I’ve found that food just slows things down and many actors and actresses don’t want to sit down and eat.  They’d rather just do their part, get their cash and be on their way.

There’s one last thing that you need to decide before you cast actors for your video contest entries.  Should you give them a cut of the prize money if you win?  Sometimes I offer a cut to actors that I have worked with more than once.  (If I cast the same actor twice it means I really, really like them).  But usually I do not give my actors a cut if my video wins something.  Why?  Well, because they already got paid.  As the filmmaker, you are the one taking all the risk and so it’s appropriate that you garner all the reward.