Auditions in Phoenix: Where the Casting Calls Actually Come From

In the early years of my acting career I went to every college and trade school in town and hung posters with my headshot on them, with pull-off tabs holding my phone number, offering my services as an actor. I did not get a single phone call. That’s how badly I wanted to find auditions in Phoenix, and it’s how little I knew about where they come from.

Where do you find auditions in Phoenix?

Almost every paid casting in Arizona runs through one of a handful of casting directors, and they post their notices on Casting Networks. So the short answer is this: get a profile on Casting Networks and Actors Access, sign with an Arizona agency once you have something on your résumé, and audition for the student films and the theater in the meantime. Nothing on this page will get you a job. It will get you in the room.

The casting directors in Phoenix

Start here, because this is where the paid work is. I’ll say up front that I own one of these, so read the list knowing that.

• Phoenix Casting – founded by Matthew Dearing to change the culture of casting in Arizona. Commercials, corporate and film, with a reputation for respecting talent.
• Garth Williams Casting – Garth and Jan Williams, with decades of combined experience in the Phoenix market.
• Good Faith Casting – Scottsdale. Founded by Faith Hibbs-Clark, now run by Bella Hibbs. More than twenty years in business.

Take a workshop or two with the local casting directors when they offer one. It supplements your training, it never replaces it, and you’ll walk out knowing how that particular office thinks.

The websites, and which ones matter here

• Casting Networks – the one that matters in Arizona. If you’re signed with an agency here you are probably on it already, because the casting directors in town run their notices through it.
• Actors Access – Breakdown Services. The widest reach in the country. Free to join, small fee to submit with extra photos.
• Backstage – subscription. Theater, student films and independent work.
• Project Casting – free. Background and extras work, which is a real way to earn a first credit.

The current list is kept on the book page, with what each site is for. One more thing to know: most of the acting jobs listed on any of these sites pay little or nothing. That is not a reason to skip them. It is a reason to know what you are worth before you submit.

How to get onto any audition site

1. Create a profile.
2. Upload your headshot, and your reel if you have one.
3. Set your geography and fill in your demographic information honestly.
4. Submit, and keep submitting.

Here’s what a real notice looks like. This one ran in Phoenix in 2015, so treat the money as a marker, not a quote:

MOBILE PHONE – CHILE. Commercial, non-union. Run: TV and internet in Chile, two years. MOTHER / principal / female / 35 to 45. Looking for an actress in Phoenix who can play a conservative, uptight soccer mom type. Hair blonde or brown, shoulder length. Wardrobe: suit pants, blouse, cardigan, pearl necklace. Rate: $450 plus 10%.

Everything you need is in there. The part, the usage, the money, and the look they have already decided on. Your job is to decide in thirty seconds whether you’re a fit, and to submit if you are.

Acting jobs in Phoenix, and where they actually come from

People type “acting jobs in Phoenix” into Google expecting a job board. There isn’t one, and anybody selling you one is selling you something else. Here’s where the paid work in Arizona actually comes from:

• Commercials. Regional and national spots shoot here year round, and this is the most consistent paid work in the market. It runs through the casting directors above.
• Corporate and industrial video. Training films, explainers, trade-show pieces. Unglamorous, paid, and steady.
• Film and television. Productions come through Arizona and cast locals for day-player and background roles. When they do, the notices land on Casting Networks and Actors Access.
• Theater. The professional companies post their own audition notices on their own sites, on their own schedules.
• Student films. The three film programs below hold auditions as part of the coursework. Unpaid, and where every reel in this town started.

Do a few projects for free to build the résumé, and get a phone number for whoever can get you the footage for your reel. Then only work for free for a season. After that, value your skill enough to get paid for it.

The Arizona film schools

• Arizona State University, The Sidney Poitier New American Film School
• Scottsdale Community College, Film
• Huntington University, Arizona – in Peoria.

Do you need an agent to audition in Phoenix?

No, and you should start working before you approach one. You’ll want something on your résumé and something on your reel to show them, because an agent’s job is to make money from helping you get work, and if you aren’t producing income for them you will be dropped. Once you’re ready, find one, because the higher quality jobs run through the agencies. Two cautions from years of watching this go wrong. If you’re represented and you submit for work out of state, read your contract first; most Arizona agents don’t represent you outside Arizona, but some do. And if a production contacts you directly, run it through your agency anyway.

Casting do’s and don’ts, from our side of the table

The last word, from a casting director

I try to be impartial on this page and I can’t be, because I own Phoenix Casting. So take this from the other side of the table. A great casting should be an experience. Producers, directors and ad agencies need a partner they can trust to deliver incredible talent, so they can focus on the production. What that means for you is simple: the actors who get called back from a Phoenix casting are the ones who were in class the week before. Don’t be afraid. Don’t suck up. Do your job, and move on.