Quick Summary
Virtual casting is now a standard part of the entertainment industry for child actors and models. Here’s how parents and kids can prepare to succeed in remote auditions:
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Finding Trusted Online Casting Calls
Use verified casting platforms and social media to find legitimate opportunities tailored to your child’s schedule and interests. -
Setting Up for Online Auditions
Ensure high-quality video and audio using basic equipment like a smartphone, quiet space, and clean background—appearance still matters! -
Understanding Live vs. Self-Taped Auditions
Live video calls require real-time interaction, while self-tapes offer flexibility and multiple takes—each requires different preparation. -
Polishing Presentation and Performance
Dress your child neatly, avoid distractions, and help them deliver a confident, engaging performance suitable for the audition role. -
Submitting Auditions Correctly
Label files clearly, follow instructions carefully, and treat all submissions as professionally as in-person casting.
How to Find Legitimate Online Casting Calls for Kids
Gone are the days when the only chance for aspiring kid performers to apply for casting calls was to go with their parents and get lined up in a real-life long queue to submit their acting or modeling portfolios. And that is not even counting the numerous limitations of the era when it comes to casting calls, e.g. practical and geographical ones.
In the digital age, casting calls are conveniently available a couple of computer, smartphone, or tablet clicks away, including social media and online platforms focusing on castings, like KidsCasting. This allows parents to in advance balance their child’s acting or modeling aspirations with their other daily activities, by searching using their own various criteria, including availability, location, and other details.
The process is pretty much straightforward from there on. By carefully following the instructions listed in the casting call, the information required must be added to the application. Such info will likely include a kid's acting portfolio, professional headshots, and more. Once applied, it is time to await the answer from the casting staff, which will hopefully come in the form of an invitation to audition.
What Equipment and Prep Do Kids Need for Remote Auditions?
Once the good news arrives and the invitation is extended to the young actor or model with the notification that it will take place remotely, it is time to prepare.
To achieve the best possible results, it is certainly worth considering investing in equipment. While it might be the first time you will need to participate in an online audition, the current casting trends clearly show it won’t be the last, so it can easily be considered a long-term investment.
Obviously, the first thing an online audition requires is a camera. To capture the kid’s audition performance you won’t have to buy a professional filming camera, as the one in a computer or smartphone should be sufficient enough to provide good quality, clear footage.
Second is the audio to come with the footage. It is utterly important that the online audition audio captures the kid's voice clearly and accurately. When auditioning remotely, it should also be prioritized that there are no background noises. While investing in a microphone can not hurt, it is fairly possible to also manage with those in the same devices used for the camera, as long as it captures everything clearly.
As aspiring kid actors or models continue to audition more and more, parents should also take into consideration further improvements to the video quality, such as artificial lighting, framing, backdrop, and more.
Despite the auditions taking place in an environment of your choosing, by no means the kid actor or model should appear unkept or in overly casual attire, like the pajamas they wear at home. Remote auditions should still be treated the same way as in-person because appearance is one of the primary things casting directors will look into when judging the candidates.
Parents should make sure that their aspiring kid actor or model is dressed appropriately for the remote auditions with a natural yet presentable and polished look. However, also avoid emphasizing looking flashy with unusual clothing or hairstyles so it does not risk creating the opposite effect and distracting the attention away from the child’s performance during the audition.
How to Help Kids Succeed in Online and Self-Tape Auditions
Once the preparations are finished, it is time to audition. There are two ways the remote audition may be required to be conducted by the casting staff.
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Online Auditions
This type of remote audition takes place in real-time, through a digital video conference platform of the casting call’s organizers' choosing. Besides the candidates being able to participate from a place of their choosing, the audition format remains the same as it would be when meeting in person.
It is possible that online auditions still feature all the candidates at once through a group option as it would when auditioning in person. For example, it allows casting directors to also test kid actors' skills at working together through script reading. This way young models or actors also get to hear questions from their peers to the casting staff.
The primary benefit of doing auditions remotely this way is that there are literally no geographical barriers between casting staff and young performers. It gives extra opportunities to get gigs for the kids no matter where they are from and to avoid potential travel expenses to the location of auditions. Meanwhile, casting directors get access to a much wider talent pool available for their project due to being free from the limitations of physical presence requirements.
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Self-Taping Auditions
The final result of a self-tape should be similar to what kid performers have to accomplish in the aforementioned online live auditions. Still, there is a key difference - the performance in front of a camera will be judged only once its recording is sent to the casting staff of the project.
Since there won’t be real-time instructions or commentary by the casting director, parents should try to ensure their young talent follows the standards expected during the audition performances.
One of the biggest benefits of the method of self-tape auditions is that it allows performers to rehearse thoroughly, and, if there are no recording platform specifics regarding the amount of tries, do as many takes of their performance as they wish until they feel they have the right recording ready to submit.
It also gives the flexibility for kids to audition at the time most convenient to them and their parents instead of adapting to the schedule set by the casting staff. On the other hand, casting directors can review the auditions with their team more efficiently than they would in real-time. Though, admittedly, the lack of casting directors' attendance during the recording also omits the ways they could gauge kids to show off their talents.
How to Submit and Label Remote Auditions for Casting Directors
Once the self-tape audition recording is ready, with the audio and video quality being acceptable, the file should be appropriately labeled, usually including kid actors or models' name and what they are auditioning for. Then it is time to submit it digitally to the casting staff in a way previously agreed upon.
In the case of online auditions, the remaining process is the same as it would be during in-person auditions. Casting directors will review the auditions and get back to the candidate with the answer. It may be the unfortunate decline, an invitation for further auditions, potentially in-person this time around, or better yet - getting the acting or modeling gig.
