UKCASTING – Our Casting Agency

Our casting agency is a very successful talent agency due to our industry knowledge and the ability to provide casting directors and production companies with an excellent one-stop process.   As well as this, we have a tremendous talent pool and casting directors continually enthuse about the calibre of the talent on our books.

 

OUR BRIEF CASTING STORY

UKTheatreSchool & UKCasting Agency began in 2001 and had significantly grown so quickly that the casting agency decided to out-source its talent to another agency to help with the demand for the young talent.  Although this should have proved advantageous, our founder, Lizanne Lambie Thomson, believed the best way to represent the young talent is to know and understand the promise and capabilities of the talent very well and an outside agency would not have anywhere near this type of knowledge.

As a result, a pool of staff with excellent casting knowledge was developed to look after the entire UKCasting Agency in-house once again.  This proved to be the right move and the staff and client relationship is enhanced by our agents seeing the students train and rehearse at UKTheatreSchool and/or attend ongoing ‘acting for camera’ and self-tape workshops as well as industry knowledge and casting workshops.  Lizanne said, “These types of workshops and ongoing training ensures the young people are put forward for the correct roles.  Our agency is perfect for casting directors, production companies and other casting clients.  We help them find the right talent for their spec very quickly and as the turnaround is usually very fast, this is a crucial aspect of the job.  She added, “We can deal with everything (where necessary) for our client and the production teams, from school permission letters and job licensing to chaperones and travel arrangements as well as being able to provide additional supporting roles for background”. Some production companies have only had to come to us for all of their on-screen or on-stage young talent”.

 

PARENTS/GUARDIANS UNDERSTANDING CASTINGS

We are also aware that parent/guardians may require help to understand how the casting side of things work and we do this by providing them with clear and concise breakdowns of the whole process as well as having some parent/client workshops for self-tapes and understanding the industry.  We believe transparency and understanding are key!

 

HOW TO BECOME PART OF UKCASTING AGENCY?

UKCasting Agency represents young talent, age 3-21 years, from all over the UK.  We represent young talent globally and we are affiliated with the award-winning UKTheatreSchool Performing Arts Academy.

 

HOW TO JOIN OUR AGENCY WITHOUT BEING PART OF UKTHEATRESCHOOL?

Firstly, it is advised that any person wishing to be part of our casting agency is also part of UKTheatreSchool as this way your strengths and weaknesses can be assessed on an ongoing basis and you can work to improve as a performer.  Nevertheless, we appreciate some young talent may live too far away for weekly attendance and in this case, you can still be considered.

If you would like to join our casting agency then mail us at info@ukcasting.org or you can complete our online form and send it to us with an uploaded photo of yourself (a recent headshot is best in the first instance) as well as a short ident (short video of you speaking to camera) telling us your name, age, height and where you live as well as a brief explanation of why you want to be part of our agency.

Once we have received this we will then contact you.  You may be required to do an audition with us.  Thereafter, you will be notified of whether we are able to take you onto our agency books.  We will only consider taking on clients who we believe we will be able to find work for within the industry.

 

I AM ALREADY PART OF UKTHEATRESCHOOL

Following a successful audition, UKTheatreSchool students are automatically part of the UKCasting Agency.

UKCasting Agency represents all current UKTheatreSchool students. With this dedicated representation alongside media/social media support from our PR Company ‘PDS Media’, we can guarantee that everyone is kept fully informed on exactly what is happening within our performing arts academy and the talent we are honing.

UKCasting Agency Memberships include the following:

*Each client will have their headshots taken by a professional photographer. These headshots will also be suitable for their Spotlight page.

*Our clients’ parents or guardians complete their child’s UK Casting Agency Membership Forms and the client will have their measurements and personal attributes detailed.  This, along with renewal photos, will be completed annually.

 

SELFTAPES

All UKCasting members will be invited to a self-tape workshop.

 

ONGOING INFORMATION

Our clients’ parents and guardians will receive Newsletters relating to casting updates and opportunities, where relevant.  Parents will also receive opportunities to attend self-tape workshops to help their child.

We are very proud to say we have played a big part in our clients securing roles in many theatre, radio, film & television productions and our list continually grows.

UKTheatreSchool students have worked alongside ‘A’ list celebrities such as Rod Stewart, Michael Bublé, Kylie Minogue, Rihanna, Liam Neeson, Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant, James McAvoy, Nicole Kidman, Colin Firth… to name but a few.

We pride ourselves in nurturing young talent and ensuring our clients are given the best possible opportunities.

 

WHO ARE WE INTERESTED IN HAVING AS OUR CLIENTS?

Our UKCasting agents like to meet all young talent (from 3 years old up to 21 years old) who are on our books as well as potential new clients, within this age range, from all over the UK.

 

WHEN DO YOUR BOOKS OPEN?

For hopeful clients out with UKTheatreSchool, our books open twice a year (normally in April and October) and our auditions are on an invite-only basis. It is imperative that we meet with any potential client to assess their likelihood of gaining work within the industry.

 

CASTING AUDITIONS

Casting auditions happen around the UK and abroad. In many cases, you need to be available for castings at very short notice and are willing to travel to Edinburgh, Manchester, London, etc.  In some cases, self-tapes are required at the initial stage, however, in many cases, you will be required to the audition to be seen in person by the casting directors.

 

BOOKINGS

We cover all types of work including TV, films, theatre, radio, commercials and photographic.

On many commercial shoots, parents/guardians are required to chaperone.  If a particular job has a long length of commitment time, the production may supply a licensed chaperone. Chaperones are not required for clients age 16 years or above.  Please note, most casting jobs take place throughout the week and this could result in your child having to take some authorised time off school.

 

NO GUARANTEED WORK

Unfortunately, there are no guarantees of work. If an agency guarantees you work, then you should be very mindful of checking their reputation.  Our advice would be to avoid any such agency!

We will submit clients for any castings if they meet the specific criteria. It is important to understand that we only submit for jobs that are relevant.

 

Fees

There are no fees to be part of UKCasting Agency and it is by invite-only. It is necessary, however, that all of our clients complete a photoshoot with us (at least once per year) with our approved photographers. These shoots are charged at a very reasonable rate.

 

PHOTOGRAPHY

It is very important to us that our clients are shown at their best.   Our agency photographers ensure they capture the clients’ perfectly, giving them the very best chances when submitted for work.  As well as this, our photographers ensure they meet with our specification and style of photography for our website and comply with Spotlight specifications.

 

Commission

UKCasting Agency receives a commission on all fees (except expenses).

 

SOLE AGENTS

It is the policy of UKCasting Agency to act as a sole agency to all of its clients – unfortunately, you cannot be with another agency whilst represented by us.

 

I WOULD LOVE TO BE PART OF UKCASTING AGENCY

Please complete the online form or email info@ukcasting.org to request an Information Pack along with a form to be sent to you.

 

We look forward to hearing from you.