Extra Casting Calls: Availability Request or Booking Request

Casting can send you two kinds of messages, and they mean different things. An availability request asks if you are free. A booking request says casting wants to book you. Both arrive in Replies, and both deserve an honest answer on the same day if you can manage it.

Availability request

An availability request is a question: are you free on these dates? Casting often sends many of these to narrow down a pool. A casting office might send 400 availability requests to book 100 people, or 2 requests for 1 role. So a request is a good sign that you are being considered, but it does not mean you will get the booking.

Before you answer, check the dates in the message against your Calendar and your own plans. Think about the whole day, including travel. Days on set are usually about 12 hours, sometimes more, and seldom less than 8. Many start at 5 or 6 in the morning. A day with a conflict in the afternoon is not a free day.

Booking request

A booking request means casting wants to book you for the role. Read it from start to finish. Look for the date, the call time, the location, and any note about what to wear or bring. Casting usually emails wardrobe guidelines the evening before, so watch your email too.

If something is not clear, ask the casting company before the shoot day. A booking request is a promise on both sides. The production plans around you, and you plan around the production. Say yes only if you are sure you can be there.

How to answer each

For an availability request, answer based on the facts. If you are free, say so right away, since roles are often booked for the next day or two. If you are not free, say no clearly and early. A quick no is easy for casting to work with. A slow maybe can cost them the chance to ask someone else.

For a booking request, confirm as soon as you can. Then put the date and call time on your own phone calendar, and set an alarm for the night before. If you are not sure that you can come, say so now. It is better to pass on a booking than to accept it and not show up.

Your Calendar also helps here. When you mark a date available and you are in the area, casting sees a small calendar icon on your profile for that date. That makes you easier to check, but you still need to reply to the roles you want. Keeping your Calendar current covers how it works.

Confirmed bookings

After you accept a booking, it appears under Confirmed bookings in Replies. That page is your list of days you are expected on set. Look at it the evening before each shoot day, and again in the morning if you can.

On set, you check in with the assistant directors, and for a second day they may give you the next call time. If they do not, the casting office that booked you sends it. Keep your own notes about each day, such as the date, your call time, and when you were released. Pay usually comes later from a payroll company, so your notes help you check it.

What if your plans change

Plans change. If you can no longer make a booking, tell the casting company as soon as you know. You cannot cancel through the website. Email or call the casting company that booked you. Your Calendar has an "email casting" link that starts the email for you. Only the casting company can remove the booking.

An early message gives casting time to find a replacement, and a message on the morning of the shoot gives them very little. Casting does not want to be up at 4 a.m. filling a 5 a.m. spot.

Each casting company decides how to treat a no-show. Many will ask why you did not come and may give you another chance. Repeated no-shows usually end it, since three strikes is a common limit. If your availability changes for other days, update your Calendar. Tap a day once to mark it available and twice to mark it unavailable, and it saves by itself.

When a booking includes a fitting

Some bookings include a costume fitting. A fitting can happen 1 to 2 weeks before the shoot, the day before, or the morning of the shoot day. Fittings are paid, usually as a "quarter check," which is 2 hours of pay on a $150/12 rate. A fitting on the morning of the shoot day does not get extra pay. If a booking request mentions a fitting, put that time on your phone calendar as its own entry, because it may fall on a different day than the shoot.

Your next step

Open Replies and read any message you have not answered yet. For the full path from reply to shoot day, read what happens after you reply. To see why speed matters, see reply fast and reply once.