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Other than this and screen terrier

how does everyone find out about auditions?

You need to keep your eyes on Mandy.com and UK Screen, they're usually fairly good. It's also worth paying for StarNow and Casting Call Pro.

You should also subscribe to The Stage - plenty of auditions still get listed in there and on their website.

Unfortunately it is very difficult to get access to information about properly paid jobs without an agent. I've only seen paid work advertised on UKscreen twice! I only look at it very occasionally, so I suppose I might have missed some over the last 10 years or so! It has no selection procedure though so it is rarely used by those with paid jobs to offer. Before I got an agent, I found Castweb very useful (and the jobs are almost always properly paid). I think you have to be in Spotlight to join - or that used to be the case. I don't pay for any subscriptions now as my agent gets all the information I could get and more. You can get standard membership of CCP for nothing, which allows you to search the "jobs" (most of which are unpaid unfortunately!) and then if you spot a paid job you feel you are suitable for you can decide whether or not to subscribe - though it is expensive.

An inexpensive (though time-consuming) way to find out about auditions is to keep your own file index system of companies. Get hold of a copy of Contacts and do some research into theatre companies, TIE companies, regional theatre etc. Most will have websites and will usually give information about how they go about casting. Some even publish casting breakdowns.

Getting information about film and TV casting is much more difficult and is very rarely in the public domain. If you are in Spotlight (and you don't have an agent), you do now get some casting information sent to you directly, but it is only a small proportion of the information sent out to favoured agents.

I don't disagree with your sentiments on paid work, pg. But if you're just starting out then, frankly, you have to go unpaid and earn your stripes a little. It's the price we pay.

Also, I think you'll fine the business moves away from soley giving out work to their favoured agents in the near future. I promise nothing, of course, I'm not psychic. But I know there's an increasing trend for independent film-makers to head straight for your Mandys and whatnot, purely because dealing with agents can be a slow hell.

Aah! The paid versus unpaid debate...

Holland Park wrote:But if you're just starting out then, frankly, you have to go unpaid and earn your stripes a little. It's the price we pay.

I think many actors do unpaid work when they start out and eventually stop doing it when they realise that it doesn't lead anywhere!

I would always suggest being really, really choosy about any unpaid work you do. If it is a collaborative, profit-share venture where all involved have a shared creative dream - then fair enough. It still needs lots of planning though, and you should get involved and understand how it is being financed and what the responsibilities and rewards might be.

If you are doing it to try to get experience on a set, you could try getting (paid) work as an extra and watch carefully what is going on. You can also consider student films (though in my opinion, these should be paid at the Equity student film rate). Students are learning too, so the experience you get can be useful or dreadful, depending on the set up!

If you are doing it to get showreel material - it can be a long, slow process and the material you get on an unpaid venture can be really dire. Of course, the showreel material you get from a paid venture might not be great but at least you have the compensation of a recognised credit and some money in the bank!

Working for nothing so that you can learn and improve your craft certainly has some merit, whether this is via training or working on an unpaid amateur/independent venture. I think it is easier to learn and improve your craft in a properly paid professional set - up though.