The official web home of Team J, a frabjous transmedia company.
Stonehenge Auditions are a series of mass auditons designed to connect actors with producers, not unlike Stonehenge Casting.
We’re pleased to announce that the videos from this year’s Stonehenge Auditions are now online at our YouTube channel.
There’s also a 2017 playlist.
If you’re an actor, don’t forget to add the video to your Stonehenge Casting profile.
If you’re a producer, we now have over 800 audition videos for you to search through.
Stonehenge Auditions 2017 aka the sixteenth edition of the in-person mass auditions for film and video will be in Washington, DC on Monday, March 20th (hint: this link goes to the event information page, including an extensive actor FAQ and producer FAQ).
However, if you want to be direct like John Wick, this is the tactical page for you.
First things first: are you an actor or a producer?
PRODUCER?
If you’re a producer –by which we mean producer, casting director, or anyone looking to hire actors– you register for the in-person event on the WIFV website, just like last year.
Producer Registration is now open on the WIFV website and will remain open until noon on Friday, March 17th (i.e. the Friday before the Monday event).
Once you have registered for the in-person event, we’ll contact you about getting set up on Stonehenge Casting (we also have an article about getting producer access on Stonehenge Casting).
ACTOR?
All actors register for Stonehenge Auditions 2017 by going through Stonehenge Casting, not through WIFV.
If you’re an actor, DO go ahead and create or update your free profile on Stonehenge Casting. Remember, your profile needs to be 100% complete to be eligible for the lottery.
Registering for Stonehenge Auditions 2017, by which we mean the lottery to get a slot, is the same process as submitting to any other project on Stonehenge Casting (here’s the link to the article in case you’d missed it).
Specifically, you’ll want to go to the “Projects” tab once you log in. Then click on the project that looks something like this:
Actor registration opens on Monday, February 13th and closes on Saturday, March 4th. It really doesn’t matter if you register early or not, as long as your profile is complete. Remember, if you register and your profile is incomplete, you won’t be eligible for the lottery. Take your time. Besides the FAQ on Stonehenge Casting, you can also take a look at the Stonehenge Casting How-Tos on this blog, including one about getting your profile baseline to 100% as well as how to get all your measurements.
When you register, please follow the listed directions.
That means in the “ROLE” field you don’t put any information on roles you might wish to play. You put conflicts (if any) you have during the audition times of 10am to 6pm on Monday, March 20th. We’ll do our best to schedule auditions based on those notes.
By reading the directions, you also know you do not put anything in the video audition field.
Even if you’ve already submitted: Make sure your profile is 100% Complete
This is a requirement to be eligible for the Stonehenge Auditions lottery and the one most actors are missing.
There’s a handy bar that displays at the right of each page of the actor/performer profile.
The completion percentage is different from the required fields and does not mean you need to fill out every last field in the profile.
As mentioned in the submission instructions, the Stonehenge Casting FAQ about Completion percentage lists all the fields you need to fill out to make your profile 100%. Again, those are:
Basic Information
Projects and Preferences
Contact Information
Appearance
Vocal & Language Skills
Physical & Athletic Skills
Union Status & Availability
Special Information
(Can you tell producers sometimes use our site for background performers?)
Attachments and Links
The two sections actors seem to be missing the most are their logline (which has a how-to article) and their measurements: ALL TWELVE of their measurements.
Wrapping up
Remember, if you’re an actor or a producer, we have a page all about Stonehenge Auditions 2017, including links to an extensive Actor FAQ and Producer FAQ.
Thanks for reading and we hope to see you at the Henge.
Casting, more often than not, is on a tight schedule. It’s one of the reasons we here at Team J love developing rosters of talent.
But while the concept of rosters is all well and good, you still need tactics for how to find the right actor to call in and audition as fast as possible (assuming the client didn’t give you a last-minute requirement and you need the talent for the shoot tomorrow!)
So for those of you in the DC area, here’s one tool to add to your bag of tricks:
Check out the actor’s audition videos.
Team J has been running the Stonehenge Auditions since 2005 and posting the videos of said auditions online since 2006.
You can visit our YouTube channel and scroll through the names. Alternately, you could just type in an actor’s name and “Stonehenge” and you’ll see if they have a Stonehenge audition.
We have over 700 auditions online, but bear in mind, actors can write us at any time and ask for an old audition video to get taken down (usually because they don’t think that video still showcases their best work).
We’re happy to hear that the Actors’ Center film and video auditions are now online as well so you should be able to do the same thing on their YouTube page.
When to use this casting tactic
As much fun as just randomly clicking on videos can be, we’re assuming you’ll want to use this in when you have limited time. Here’s some actual use cases we’ve used and other producers have told us they’ve used.
1) If someone tells you about Jane Actress and you want to quickly see their work
Let’s say you’re at a party. You mention the project you’re working on and you mention you’re looking for an actress who has both clowning and stage combat experience.
“Jane Actress is great at both,” your friend says. When you get home –or perhaps even then and there on your smartphone– you type their name into the YouTube search. Bam!
2) If you’ve narrowed down headshots/resumes to a handful of names and want to see them act
You’ve put out the call for headshots/resumes and received a bundle. You’ve pared down the contenders based on look and the experience they list on paper… but are they really a fit? Checking out some of their recent auditions might help you know before you call them in yourself.
Open a link to the Stonehenge YouTube channel and open a link to the Actor’s Center channel and search the name both places.
Similar Tactics You Can Use
Obviously, you could just plug in their names into a Google search, you might get their website which might have clips, or just clips in general. We’re not saying don’t do that.
What we are saying is that going right to the Stonehenge Auditions or Actors’ Center channel and searching will automatically cut down on some of the irrelevant search results.
For those of you producers who use Stonehenge Casting, Team J’s online casting system, we also keep on pushing the actors to list their clips and demo reels. They can list up to five and you can do a search just for profiles with videos. As of this writing, about 570 do, but obviously we’d like that number higher.
So there you have it: one more casting tool for your toolbox. We’ll be posting more in the months ahead.
Team Jabberwocky is planning to work on a lot more productions this year — so what better way to get energized than get other people energized?
Earlier today, we had a free webinar for student filmmakers about casting in the DC area. You can check out a recording here.
Based on the success of this webinar, we’ll probably offer additional ones later this year.
Stonehenge Auditions 15 was held on Monday, April 4th — and while we’re still wrapping up everything, we’re already looking ahead.
Should we have another Stonehenge Auditions this Fall? Take our brief, five-question poll and let us know!
Not a year goes by where Team J’s chief, Bjorn Munson isn’t asked, “Say, do you know some actors who would be interested in being in a 48 Hour Film?”
Well, now we’re going to do something about that.
The Washington DC 48 Hour Film Project will be the weekend of April 29 to May 1st this year. What’s the 48 Hour Film Project you ask? It’s an adrenaline and caffeine-fueled weekend where over 100 teams will be filming 4 to 7 minute films all over the DC Area — and some teams always need more actors.
We’ll be using Stonehenge Casting to collect rosters of actors who are interested in principal or speaking parts as well as background performers (hey, many of these 48 filmmakers have grand visions!).
Two important things actors should remember regarding the 48 Hour Film Project:
First, all the creative work is one within those 48 Hours. No scripts will be written until Friday night, and will need to incorporate a randomly drawn genre, prop, character, and line of dialogue.
Second, the 48 Hour Film Project is an all-volunteer contest. No one on the cast or crew gets paid. Historically, this means both union and non-union actors can and do appear in 48 Hour Films, but SAG-AFTRA actors appear via a short film agreement with deferred pay per the agreement.
There are two different categories you can submit for:
These are for any and all speaking roles. It could be a big role, it could be a small role. You don’t know any more than the screenwriter does. There might even be frantic script changes when you shoot on Saturday.
Any 48 Hour Film is, by one measure, an exercise in fun and glory. If you’re up potentially helping out a film — and potentially getting an email blast late Friday night or early Saturday morning seeing if you’re available to just hang out and have fun as a cowboy, a martian, or simply a bar patron, this is for you.
0) Create a free actor profile on Stonehenge Casting if you haven’t already
We have a FAQ on Stonehenge Casting as well as plenty of How To articles here on the Team J blog.
1) Update the Availability Calendar on your profile
Before you even submit, make sure you’ve listed any conflicts on April 29th, April 30th, or May 1st. 99% of the teams will be doing almost all of their shooting on Saturday, April 30th. If you’re not available then, it’s best to skip this year (hey, there’s the Baltimore 48 in June).
2) Click one or both of the links above to submit to that category
Or you can do it while you’re in Stonehenge Casting. We have an article about it.
3) Fill out Roles (it’s a required field)
In the “Roles” field, you can just look at your logline and tailor it for here. If, after looking at the required genres, you know you can bring something special to something like Western (you’re a horseback rider) or Martial Arts (you’re a black belt), list it. But remember, you’re still limited to 200 characters for that field, so if you want to list every genre, just put “any genre.”
4) Fill out the Video Audition URL (optional)
If you want to put a demo reel from your main profile here, that’s fine.
5) Click Submit
6) Join a team as you see fit
The casting notices will be open from now until Friday afternoon, April 29th. 48 Hour Filmmakers may contact you beforehand, hoping to lock you into their ensemble — or they might contact you frantically Friday night as they realize they really need someone who knows karate and has clowning experience (for example). It’s completely your call.
We hope you have fun… and frankly, we’re hoping this helps at least one crowd scene happen.
Many of you know that Team J helps other people cast their stories. Indeed, Stonehenge Casting, Team J’s online casting service, is a tool we use for our own casting.
Starting in 2016, we’re going to be using Stonehenge Casting extensively to create rosters: folders of actors who may be interested and available for certain types of projects for a particular time period. For example, we’ll probably be helping cast student films this spring, indie features this summer, and political ads this Fall.
We have hundreds and hundred of actors in our database — and not all of them are interested and available for all of these projects.
Although Team J advocates filmmakers starting their casting well in advance of production, we often get contacted to help cast projects when the shoot date is imminent. At the same time, the ‘seasons’ of what types of projects we’re asked to cast is not as unusual. Student films often cast in the Spring. Political ads focus in the Fall and even the summers in presidential election years. You get the idea.
Why are we doing these general calls? Quite simple: it works.
You’ll see this in other industries. Government contractors, something familiar in the DC area, will often put out job notices for positions they might have to fill. They’ve put a bid on a contract that will require database administrators, business analysts, or project managers. People will send in their resumes. These people often get interviews. Then, if said contractor wins the contract, they can staff up faster.
You’ll actually see this in the film and theater community as well. Guess what the Stonehenge Auditions and various other mass auditions are? We’re building up our roster of performers we might call in for various work.
Building rosters of potential hires is something you do when you employ free agents who work only on a given contract. And even if they get to work with the same theater or production company a lot, actors are pretty much free agents these days.
So we decided to use the power of Stonehenge Casting and its availability calendar to help us and help you.
When we know we have been or will be asked for a general type of project for a specific time period, we’re going to put out a general call to actors. If you’re interested in that type of work during that particular time period, you can put yourself higher on our radar.
Sure, we’d like to give you a greater lead time about a specific project. But we’ve found that doesn’t always work out.
Which casting notices should I submit for?
You can submit for one notice or all of them — depending on your interest. You’re basically pre-qualifying yourself as interested in a particular type of project with a certain pay range for a specific period of time.
When will I hear back from Team J?
You might not hear from us at all.
When we are casting a particular film, we may do a specific casting notice and ask you to submit for it — or we might just contact you and ask you to come in and audition.
But that’s all based on what roles the scripts call for and how well we think you fit said roles.
In Team J tradition, we will follow up with everyone who submitted at the end of the casting period whether or not they were cast.
Should I put these dates on ‘soft hold’?
Absolutely not.
By submitting to the notices above, you are not on hold, “first refusal,” or anything like that. Keep on looking for work as you see fit.
Team J creates these general calls to help us cast projects quicker by pre-qualifying actors who are interested and available. However, we haven’t offered you a job and you haven’t accepted. You’ve simply said you’d be up for this type of work for this time period. If something works out, great. If not, no worries.
What if you ask me to audition for a particular project and it’s not my thing?
Say no thanks.
By putting your virtual hat in the ring for these as-yet-undefined projects doesn’t mean you’re saying yes to audition or appear in any of them.
Some scripts may not be your thing. We’re establishing the general type of work, the general payscale, and specific time period.
What if my availability changes?
Please update your availability in your profile as soon as you know.
Note, we’d love you to keep your availability calendar up-to-date on Stonehenge Casting not just for this project, but for any project we or other producers are casting.
If you are not available because you’ve actually heeded our advice sought work in addition to this general casting notice, congrats! Feel free to submit to future general calls.
###
That’s it. We know it’s going to help us find the right actors for projects faster. We’re sure it’s going to help some of you.
P.S. Some casting directors will also hold “generals” where actors can come in for a one-on-one talk and audition with said casting directors. Team J absolutely plans to do this in the future, but in the meantime, we’re using our site, Stonehenge Casting, to its maximum potential.
Stonehenge XV aka the fifteenth edition of the in-person mass auditions for film and video will be in Washington, DC on Monday, April 4th (hint: this link goes to the event information page, including an extensive actor FAQ and producer FAQ).
However, if you’re laser-focused on registering, this is the page for you.
First things first: are you an actor or a producer?
PRODUCER?
If you’re a producer –by which we mean producer, casting director, or anyone looking to hire actors– you register for the in-person event on the WIFV website, just like you did for Stonehenge XIV.
Producer Registration is now open on the WIFV website and will remain open until noon on Sunday at April 3rd (i.e. the day before the event).
Once you have registered for the in-person event, we’ll contact you about getting set up on Stonehenge Casting (we also have an article about getting producer access on Stonehenge Casting).
ACTOR?
All actors register for Stonehenge XV by going through Stonehenge Casting, not through WIFV.
If you’re an actor, DO go ahead and create or update your free profile on Stonehenge Casting. Remember, your profile needs to be 100% complete to be eligible for the lottery.
Registering for Stonehenge XV, by which we mean the lottery to get a slot, is the same process as submitting to any other project on Stonehenge Casting (here’s the link to the article in case you’d missed it).
Specifically, you’ll want to go to the “Projects” tab once you log in. Then click on the project that looks suspiciously like this:
Don’t see the link? That means actor registration isn’t open yet. Actor registration opens on Monday, March 7th and closes on Saturday, March 19th. It really doesn’t matter if you register early or not, as long as your profile is complete. Remember, if you register and your profile is incomplete, you won’t be eligible for the lottery. Take your time.
When you register, please follow the listed directions.
That means in the “ROLE” field you don’t put any information on roles you might wish to play. You put conflicts (if any) you have during the audition times of 10am to 6pm on Monday, April 4th. We’ll do our best to schedule auditions based on those notes.
By reading the directions, you also know you do not put anything in the video audition field.
Wrapping up
Remember, if you’re an actor or a producer, we have a page all about Stonehenge XV, including links to an extensive Actor FAQ and Producer FAQ.
Thanks for reading and we hope to see you at the Henge.
We’re pleased to announce the 15th edition of Stonehenge Auditions, the one-day speed casting event for film and video work, is coming back this Spring, just in time for the DC 48 Hour Film Project, final student films, and productions shooting this summer. It will be held at the Source Theatre in Washington, DC on Monday, April 4th from 9am to 6pm.
Note: Pre-registration for actors and producers is required. There are no walk-ins.
Our schedule and the process will be very similar to Stonehenge XIV last fall. Actors will register via StonehengeCasting, which means they need a free profile they can create NOW. Producers will register via WIFV (we’ll link to the exact page when it’s live).
In the meantime, you can get answers to all sorts of questions about the event via our Producer FAQ and Actor FAQ.
If you want to be among the first to know when registration opens and closes for both actors and producers, sign up for our mailing list.
We hope to see many of you at the Henge!
With a new venue, new technology, and not having done the in-person auditions in over four years, we have to admit we were a bit nervous about bringing the in-person Stonehenge Auditions back.
But we’re happy to report the feedback has been tremendously positive — enough so we’ll probably do it again next year, especially if we have the same support team we had this time. And yes, making the event seem this smooth takes a lot of people.
We have to thank Women in Film and Video (WIFV), specifically Melissa Houghton and Ariel Magno, for helping with both the venue and registration. (On the venue front, we were made very welcome at Source Theatre thanks to Jennifer Osborn and Gordon Nimmo-Smith).
Jeanette and Meredith were the dynamic duo checking actors in with Ariel of WIFV checking in producers (Beforehand, Maurice, Sonja, and Jimi were helping with Stonehenge Casting registration). Phil, Richard, Gale, and Brooks were your resume wranglers. Inside the theater, operations were handled by Bill, Francis, and Kelley of Tohubohu Productions, Ciscovaras Pictures, and Cavegirl Productions respectively — with Bjorn as the timer.
As mentioned at the event, we aim to post the audition videos on our YouTube channel by the end of the month.
And finally, thanks to all the actors and producers who joined us at the Henge!
© 2024 Team Jabberwocky
Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑