Massive opportunity for audition but not sure?

[Alalalalalongalalalalalonglonglilong]

My kids go to a local drama school, literally here in my housing estate and they are in different classes, one doing musical theatre and the other doing prose / poetry. It's all very small scale and local. The owner also runs a casting agency affiliated with a large one somewhere else but that's about all I know, occasionally local kids get into an ad but ive only seen one with some kids running in the background, nothing major. My kids have never auditioned. Last night I got a rather excited call from the owner about a role that my 2 DC should audition for and wanted to send a recording and I said yes, why not. The physical descriptions and ages suit my 2 exactly. It's for a big movie with 2 big names committed and I know the chances of making it through round one are very slim but someone will make it. If successful I would have to move to another city for a few months with them and take leave from work, cancel a family holiday and a whole lot of additional difficulties. But it would be an amazing opportunity and I cant pass it by. Then there is the fear of what if they are successful and one thing leads to another, I don't want to invite fame and success into a young life. I am wondering if anyone has previous experience or words of wisdom. Am I being silly even contemplating this after 1 tape, or is it best to consider all eventualities.

[Medschoolmum]

You're getting a bit ahead of yourself, I think.

Send the tape and see what happens. You can make a decision if and when they are offered the roles.

[MissMelanieH]

The nice thing about self-tape auditions now is that you can do round one with very little real risk.
Submit your tape and see what happens. The likelihood is a "thanks but no thanks" bit if they do get a call back then you can have a proper discussion as a family about what you want to do next.

[Alalalalalongalalalalalonglonglilong]

@Medschoolmum @MissMelanieH thanks for the advice. I've already submitted the tape. They said I may have to fly to London on Wednesday morning for a second audition but the school have asked if we can do it on zoom. The flights would have to be at our own expense so we'll see what they say. I'm off work anyhow this week so it's not the worst scenario. And while I don't want to spend money on travel, I do have the means to go if I want to so all things considered I'm in a good position.

[sunflowerdaisyrose]

My child got to the final round of auditions for a West End show, I was making all the plans in my head about logistically how it would work etc and she didn't get it, so now I try very hard to take everything one step at a time!

She doesn't have an agent at the moment as she was finding doing self tapes and then hearing nothing pretty disheartening so just does amateur local shows now - and even then, waiting for audition results and how doing one show may impact another gets me overthinking sometimes!!

Good luck to them and enjoy the experience!

[TheatreTaxi]

Do you have boy/girl twins by any chance, @Alalalalalongalalalalalonglonglilong ?

It’s natural to think through the “what-ifs” when auditioning, but do be realistic about the chances of success.

There are two ways to audition for a production. A casting director can invite a child to audition, usually after their agent has submitted the child for an advertised role via the casting platform Spotlight. In theory, the odds of success are slightly higher in these circumstances as a casting director looks at the submissions and then selects only the children that are the best fit for their idea of the role to audition.

The other route is to audition via an open call, where anyone is free to apply. Because there is usually a wider pool of applicants, the odds of success from an open call are usually much smaller. I’m pretty cynical after 9 years parenting a young actor, and in my experience the majority of open calls are a box-ticking exercise that casting directors carry out just in case there is an unexpected “perfect fit” out there, or as a last resort when struggling to fill an unusual or very specific brief. Open calls are usually conducted in parallel with invited auditions for experienced children from top agencies, and it is far more common for one of these children to book the role than a complete unknown - unfortunately that’s just the way the industry works.

I had the impression from your OP that this audition might have been from an open call, in which case I’d suggest you all enjoy the experience of filming the tape and then forget about it. You don’t usually get a “No thanks” from a first-round tape, just radio silence.

If your DC do get called back, there will be plenty of time to make decisions further down the line. For key roles in a feature film there would normally be recalls, director’s meetings and often a chemistry read or screen test before an offer is made. That process takes weeks rather than days, and you can choose to pull out at any point if you feel it isn’t going to be workable.

[Alalalalalongalalalalalonglonglilong]

@TheatreTaxi thanks for that advice. Yes they are boy girl twins! They were submitted through spotlight, I couldn't even remember the name as I haven't a clue. I understand the casting people would have seen their photos and maybe a brief profile before asking for a tape, the agency took care of all that. Physically, they are well suited to the on screen parents so I see why they were submitted. I was told I'd hear back by Tues pm for a second round so I'm guessing we are putting it down to experience. Its been fun though, I think they could do quite well really but its not something we have ever pursued before and I doubt we will again unless something crops up. Its probably just as well as DS was worrying about missing the dog if he has to live away during filming!!

@sunflowerdaisyrose thanks for the well wishes and good luck to your DD too.

[TheatreTaxi]

@Alalalalalongalalalalalonglonglilong, I thought they might be 🙂. There's a big casting search on at the moment via Spotlight and open call for boy/girl twins to play Shakespeare's children in the movie Hamnet.

Good that your DC had fun doing the tape - the chances of success from any audition are so small that enjoying the auditioning experience is a goal in itself!

[Alalalalalongalalalalalonglonglilong]

@TheatreTaxi that's the one! I didn't realise it was also open call. We didn't get the call back for round two anyhow so its much ado about nothing now. My twins, particularly my DS felt really special about it, he has had a rough time with school bullies and it really boosted his confidence so I'm grateful for that. Thanks for the advice.

[mustardrarebit]

Don't put any pressure on it. Just see it as a bit of fun and a learning experience. Then forget about it. My daughter tapes a few times every month via her agency (she's been with them since she was 3). It really is a numbers game. Sometimes she's recalled, very occasionally she has been successful and has worked for some major brands. Castings for big movies are a stab in the dark sometimes. She was asked to cast for 'A Little Light' as Anne Frank, I couldn't see them casting her at all, but we had fun, it was a great script. She has auditioned to be Ana de Armas' daughter twice though, for different movies, and she genuinely looks like her, I had my fingers crossed for those 😆