Back Stage 411 - Casting FAQ

"Where are my Resume Alerts, Application Submissions, and other BackStage.com emails?"

Talent-Database Resume Alert Emails are an exclusive self-serve feature of the Find Talent/Casting Center Employer Toolbox section of BackStage.com. You can create as many alerts as you’d like, to automatically search through the BackStage.com Talent Database for exactly the actors, performers, and crew you need. You can renew the alerts, extend the alerts, edit the alerts, delete the alerts, etc.

If at anytime you stop receiving the Alerts that you’ve created, then please log into the site and make sure that your Résumé Inbox (Application Submissions Manager Inbox) is not filed up, that none of your Resume Alert Email Agents need to be renewed, and that your search-criteria is correct and optimized.

Also, make sure to check your "spam," "bulk," and "junk" email folders in case Back Stage's emails are accidentally being caught by your email program's spam filter! More details are below . . .

Finding Open-Mike Nights -- Calls for Comedians, Singers, Musicians, Dancers, and Variety Performers

Back Stage lists a variety of Open Mike (aka, Open Mic) opportunities every week in the casting/jobs section of BackStage.com and the Back Stage print editions.

These opportunities are listed in various categories, depending on the type of talent being called for. And the opportunities being listed may vary from day to day and week to week, depending on what information Back Stage has available.

However, the two Back Stage categories where Open Mike Night and Club Talent opportunities are most commonly found are:

• Comedy & Improv -- this category includes calls for stand-up comedians, improv comics, and comedy duos, groups, and acts.

• Cabaret & Variety -- this category includes calls for singers, dancers, some comics, new cabaret acts, club talent, and variety performers

The following Back Stage categories are also  worth checking out for Open Mike, Club Talent, Variety Show, Burlesque, Cabaret, and Talent Showcase  opportunities, competitions, gigs, and jobs:

Advanced Casting/Job Search -- Customize and Personalize Your Search!

To run an Advanced Casting/Job Search -- to filter the casting/job notices by location, job category, character age-range, character-ethnicity, character gender, pay ranges, keywords, etc. -- visit http://tinyurl.com/AdvancedCastingJobSearch.

Search Tips:

To search for casting notices, click on one of the BackStage.com toolbar links labeled "Search Casting" or "Search Notices," or visit the Actor's Toolbox page located in the casting area of BackStage.com. The Actor's toolbox features links to advanced casting and résumé tools, and on the right-hand side of the Actor's Toolbox page there's a Simple Casting Search box for your convenience.

In the casting search-engine area of BackStage.com, you can fill out as much or as little search criteria as you'd like. The more details you enter, the more refined your search will be; the less you enter, the more results you'll see.

Advanced Search Filters:

Log-In Help: Find Talent/Casting Center Employer Account

If you forget your Find Talent/Casting Center Employer Account's "login" username or password, then you can click on the "Forgot your login and password?" link on the Employer Login page to have your log-in information emailed to you.

Help Topic: "I can't see my new Cover Letter, Saved Searches, Resume Updates, or other Casting Items!" - Page "Refresh" (F5) Notes

If you’re sure that you’ve saved and/or updated a cover letter -- or any other item on BackStage.com, such as your Saved Searches, resume changes, etc. -- but you’re not seeing the new items or changes or they appear to be available, then there’s likely just a temporary “cache” problem between your web-browser and BackStage.com.

Usually the simplest way to solve this is to simply “refresh” the page(s) you’re having trouble with.

To refresh a page, click on the “refresh” or “reload” button on your web-browser’s toolbar a couple of times. Or click on the F5 key on your keyboard a couple of times. (Note: On some multimedia keyboards and Apple/Mac computers, you may need to hold down on the “Fn” Function Key at the same time as the F5 key in order to make the refresh-function work; and for some browsers Ctrl-F5 may work instead.)

Help Topic: "I don't want to receive resume submissions via email or online!"

If  your company or agency no longer wishes to receive submissions (resumes, photos, reels, etc.) from actors, models, performers, or crew via email, then Back Stage may be able to help you. However, first we'll need to figure out where your email address is being found in Back Stage's print and/or online editions.

Please check on the following possibilities:

Posting Headshots/Photos on BackStage.com

Headshots, comp cards, and other photos are typically posted to one of three places on BackStage.com:

1) To your BackStage.com Multimedia Resume. Your BackStage.com resume can include multiple photos, reels, links, and more. You can also include your resume (including all of the photos and other media you’ve associated with the resume) in our online talent database, which is searched by over 20,000 industry professionals every year. You can also use this multimedia resume to submit to casting/job notices online. This is the most popular way to post your headshots, photos, and comp cards on BackStage.com.

AOL Web-Browser Software Compatibility Issues with BackStage.com

Are you currently using the AOL web browser (aka "AOL Explorer") to visit sites on the Internet?

Regrettably, AOL’s default security/privacy settings tend to be incompatible with the secure, cookie-based BackStage.com log-in system and some Java Script usage – and even if you manually fix the AOL browser settings, we've received reports indicating that AOL will periodically force the incompatible settings back onto computers without warning (via browser updates).

Because of this, we highly recommend that you download, install, and run the free FIREFOX 3 web-browser instead. Or try Firefox 1.5+, 2+, 3+; Safari 3+; Internet Explorer 6+, 7+, or 8+, Opera, or Google Chrome. All of these web-browsers tend to work more quickly and consistently with BackStage.com compared to older web-browsers and the (often problematic) AOL browsers/navigators.

Email Your Resumes - Submit Multimedia Resumes and Cover Letters to Casting Notices -- And Apply to Projects

You can submit your Multimedia Resume (a resume enhanced with photos, links, etc.) to casting directors, producers, directors, and other employers and individuals using a few different options on BackStage.com.

Instructions, Tips & Tricks:

"Where are my Casting/Job Alerts and other BackStage.com emails?"

Casting/Job Alert Emails are a subscriber-exclusive self-serve feature of BackStage.com. You can create as many casting alerts as you’d like.  You can renew the alerts, extend the alerts, edit the alerts, delete the alerts, etc.

If at anytime you stop receiving the Alerts that you’ve created, then please log into the site and make sure that your Saved Casting/Job Notices Inbox is not filed up, that none of your Casting Alert Email Agents need to be renewed, and that your search-criteria is correct and optimized.

Also, make sure to check your "spam," "bulk," and "junk" email folders in case Back Stage's emails are accidentally being caught by your email program's spam filter! More details are below . . .