When you’re auditioning for commercial work (or any work for that matter), nothing
will burn your reputation and career faster than being bad with your dates and your availability. If you know that you’re not available for the shoot dates of a project, do not audition. Full Stop.
Auditioning for a project you are not available to shoot only creates headaches for your allies -namely, the casting director and your agent. And you definitely do not want either of those parties upset with you.
Now here’s where it gets more complicated: sometimes you’ll get a breakdown from your agent, and the shoot dates are listed as one day during a five-day span. Most of the time this happens when a production company has been hired to shoot multiple spots
for a client, and, at the time of the auditions, the shooting schedule is still in flux. Let’s say you’re available for only two of those five possible shooting days. Should you audition? Answer: Yes, but clearly list your conflicts with your agent and the casting director. And then, if you’re fortunate enough to get a callback, remind the casting
director one more time of your conflicts and availability. Occasionally, a desired casting choice can swing a shoot schedule that is still taking shape to accommodate an actor’s availability.
If you are an actor who is auditioning for on-camera work and also does a lot of theatre, pay special attention to your contract with the theatre — especially if it’s a non-union one. If you are working with an Equity theatre or a smaller non-union company, you want to make sure you have 1) an understudy and 2) a clause in your contract that allows you to step away from the show for a few days to take higher-paying work. In Equity contracts, this is called an MRE (More Remunerative Employment) clause. If there is no MRE, you’re absolutely within your rights ot request one. Here’s a great article by Chicago Casting Director Catherine Miller (no relation) about MREs.
Most theatres understand the importance of an MRE for their performers’ livelihoods, BUT theatres will want to hold blackout dates in your contract, usually around tech rehearsals and opening weekend, where you will. not be permitted to miss rehearsal of shows for another gig. While a national commercial will likely pay you more than the entire run of a play, breaking a theatrical agreement to take a commercial gig during a blackout period can be a quick way to ensure you will never work at that theatre again. Avoiding these situations before they happen is primarily your responsibility as a professional actor, not your agent’s.
When you are unavailable, a simple and prompt “thanks so much for the interest, but I’m not available for your shoot dates” is an appropriate and appreciated response–and pay special attention to the prompt part of that advice. For an in-person audition, actors generally stay on the casting director’s schedule until a confirmation or cancellation is received from your agent. So, if you delay in telling your agent that you are not available for the project, the CD might have to scramble to find a replacement for your time slot when they get that news. And that replacement actor may have also lost out on valuable prep time as a result. And that’s just bad karma.
The thing you never want to do as an actor is audition for a project “just to be seen.” If a client falls in love with your performance but cannot hire you for their given shoot date, that’s a disaster, and nobody wins.
–Matt Miller is a commercial director and occasional instructor at ASC.