preparing to hold auditions

Before posting a casting call looking for voice actors, there are a few things you should think about and have ready to ensure a smooth audition process.

First of all, assess whether your project is actually ready for VO.

Many newer creators rush into casting voice actors as soon as they have a concept for their project, but this can actually waste time all-around as plenty of things can change during development. Casting too early can not only result in a loss of momentum for your project, but may even lead to recasting if the actors you chose are no longer available a year later when you are actually ready to start needing their services.

One of the biggest signs of a creator not being ready to cast voice actors is when they still require other team members to actually make the project, but do not have those team members on board yet (or at all). For example, if you want to make a visual novel, are you able to draw your own artwork, compose the soundtrack and program it yourself, or do you need to hire other people to do those things? Artists, animators and programmers generally do not work for free, so if a project is casting voice actors but also looking for other key team members, there’s a good chance they’re not actually ready for VO.

Remember, voices are often some of the last assets to be added into something like a game! Having a solid plan in place and something to show for your work will help garner interest in your project.

Before casting voice actors, you should have the following items in place:

• A plan for how you will actually produce your project (many people have a great IDEA for a project, but want everyone else to make it for them—and unless you have a strong budget, that just isn’t going to happen).
• Finalized character descriptions
• A finalized or close-to-finalized script, at least for the first episode/installment
• A good idea of the budget (Is this a strictly not-for-profit endeavor, or will it be commercially released? If the latter, what type of compensation are you able to realistically offer?)
• Other team members already in place to do whatever you are unable to do yourself
• A plan for how/where you plan to distribute your project once it’s finished

Decide on your budget for voiceover.

If this is a passion project, student project or hobby project that you’re expecting to make little to no money on, then it is acceptable to request volunteer actors.

However, if you are expecting this to be a commercial endeavor – such as an indie game being published on Steam and/or consoles outside of being 100% free to play with no microtransactions – it’s good to compensate your entire creative team, which includes the voice talent. You can reference our Indie Rate Guide for a general idea of what you might expect to offer as payment. We recommend being standard and transparent with the rate offered rather than making each actor “bid” with their own rates.

Keep in mind that the more you are willing to pay, the larger amount and higher caliber of auditions you will tend to receive. Don’t offer more than you’re realistically able to, but if your project is no-or-low-budget, this means you may have to temper your expectations with the types of submissions you get. (In other words, if you want professional actors, you will have to pay for them—but don’t worry, there are still plenty of new up-and-coming actors who will be happy to audition, and people tend to be understanding of projects that are genuinely offering what they can versus trying to take advantage.)

Decide which characters you will open up for audition.

Make a list of the characters you are looking to cast and write a short descriptive paragraph for each. If you have any particular characteristics in mind for the voice or personality, include that information. If you happen to have artwork, even better!

Note: If you know you want to cast certain roles to yourself or your friends, or have a specific person in mind already, then it’s best to simply cast those roles ahead of time rather than opening them up for a public audition. You can still hold an open audition for any remaining characters that still need to be filled.

Choose sample audition lines for each character you are casting.

These should ideally be lines from your actual script. Choosing between 3-5 lines with varying emotions and intensities can help you get a good picture of whether someone is the right fit for your character.

While you can choose to allow improv on top of the actual lines if you so desire, resist the urge to ask the actors to just make up their own lines for the characters. Chances are they don’t have enough information to go off of to do that anyway, and writing is an entirely different skillset from interpreting an existing script. When a producer does not list audition lines and instead expects potential cast members to write their lines for them, this is almost surely a sign of a disorganized project and someone casting VO before they are ready.

>>Should I ask for demos instead?

While it may seem simpler to just ask interested voice actors to submit a demo, this will likely make things more complicated in the long run!

When you hold a casting call, you should already have a solid idea of what you are looking for. A “demo dump” will surely get you tons of responses, but how many of those are actually going to fit the characters you are casting? Additionally, not everyone has a demo yet (especially if you’re still working in the hobby realm), and plenty of actors can do things that aren’t specifically showcased on their demos.

You will almost certainly have a better shot at getting what you’re looking for if you include targeted audition lines for each character you are casting. This way, you are evaluating people directly on their fit for your specific characters as opposed to wasting time wading through hundreds of demos that may or may not be close to what you’re looking for.

Decide on a deadline for auditions.

You can read more about deadlines here, but in short: A deadline means that any voice actor interested has until that date to submit, after which point no more auditions will be accepted. We recommend allowing 5-7 days for paid projects and 7-10 days for unpaid projects, but obviously some projects will require a quicker turnaround. “ASAP” is not a valid deadline—be specific! If you truly want “ASAP” then try asking for a 24-hour turnaround. Remember that voice acting is a global market, so it’s best to include date, time AND time zone for when auditions will close.

You can always extend the deadline if you don’t find what you’re looking for, or shorten (with proper notice) if you get far more submissions than expected. Please be professional and courteous by adhering to your deadline—-don’t cast first-come first-serve or “as soon as you find the right fit”!

posting the casting call

Once you’ve done all your preparation, it’s time to actually make your casting call post!

Write up a proper audition post.

If you plan to share your casting call in multiple places, then something like a Google Doc can be helpful for keeping all the relevant information in one place. But if you’re just posting on the VAC server, you may choose to keep all the information directly in your server post (it’s up to you!)

Taking the time to write a detailed audition post is important because it shows you put thought into your project and are taking it seriously. Being clear about instructions and requirements will also help the submissions you receive to be more organized.

Your audition post should contain the following information:

• A brief overview of your project
• (For paid projects) Information on pay rate
• Description of each character you are looking to cast (include images, if you have them)
• Sample lines for each character that interested voice actors can perform for their audition
• Any other relevant instructions/information, if desired(formatting, labeling, number of takes, whether live sessions are requested, etc)
• Method actors should use to submit their auditions (email, DM, Dropbox, etc—this is up to your preference, but choose one consistent option to make sure all your submissions are in one place)
• Deadline for when auditions will close

Share your audition post on the platform(s) of your choosing.

• Voice Acting Club server – Please be sure to post your casting call in the correct channel (paid, unpaid original, unpaid fan or 18+) and adhere to our casting call rules.
• Casting Call Club – Not affiliated with VAC, but another popular online platform especially for hobby casting calls.
• Social media – X (formerly known as Twitter) and Bluesky are the most popular platforms for voice actors. Using hashtags like #castingcall can help get the message out. Be aware that posting your casting call publicly on social media – especially for paid projects – may result in a large influx of auditions that can be overwhelming to handle.
• Other spaces for specialty projects – If you are making a fan project based on an existing property, you may wish to share your casting call in fandom-related spaces where other creatives tend to gather, such as subreddits, Facebook groups, or other Discord servers. Be sure to adhere to the rules of whatever community you are posting in.

Tip: Do not require voice actors to join a separate Discord server just to audition for your project! You should be able to fit any needed information into your casting call post or Google Doc.

reviewing auditions + finalizing the cast

Depending on your project, you may find yourself with an overwhelming amount of auditions to go through. This is one of the reasons that being organized from the get-go is so important!

If, on the other hand, you are having trouble getting enough submissions, check out our article here.

Listen to the auditions for each character, and mark which ones you particularly like.

Some people prefer to listen to auditions as they come in, while others prefer to wait until the deadline and then listen all at once. It’s up to you, but one thing that’s helpful is to make some kind of indicator (such as adding an asterisk * to the file name) for which auditions you’d like to “shortlist” as possible contenders for the role.

If you’re concerned about possible bias, you may wish to do a “blind audition review” in which you randomize the auditions and listen without looking at the names attached. When you hear one you like, you can then check the name to note it down for your shortlist. While doing the process this way isn’t necessary, it can help you review the auditions more fairly without giving subconscious preference to your friends or actors with a large following.

Re-review the shortlisted auditions, if applicable.

Perhaps one particular audition stands out above the others to where you know it’s exactly what you want for your character. Great! But otherwise, go through your top contenders again and continue to narrow down until you’ve got your final choice.

If you’re having trouble narrowing things down, consider factors such as intentional acting/performance choices, audio quality, and vocal fit for the character.

Optionally, if you truly can’t decide, consider holding a callback.

Let’s say you have three candidates for the lead role in your project who all performed equally well and have similar vocal tones, and you’re having trouble making a decision. One option in this case is to contact each shortlisted actor individually and request they do a callback audition with some additional lines from the script. Feel free to provide some further feedback and direction for the callback if there’s any adjustment you’d like to hear in the performance based on their initial audition.

If you aren’t satisfied with any of the auditions for a particular role, consider extending the deadline.

Some characters are harder to cast than others, and additional time may be needed. Note that you don’t need to extend the deadline for your entire project unless you want to—once your deadline passes, feel free to cast the characters as you see fit, but you can allow an extension for those you want to hear more options for.

Once everything is finalized, create your master cast list.

While this step is optional, it can help you with organization. Make a private spreadsheet, Google Doc or even a text document listing all your characters, which actor is playing them, and that person’s contact information (this can be their email address or Discord ID, depending on how you plan to communicate for your project.) This will ensure everything is ready to go when it’s time to send out scripts, and also prevent an embarrassing mistake with mixing up actors.

starting the recording process

You’ve successfully held a casting call, reviewed auditions, and finalized your selection for each role. Great! What next?

Contact your cast members to offer them the role.

Email or DM the actors who were chosen for each role and let them know they are cast. Example: “Hello Kate, I’m pleased to inform you that you have been selected for the role of Nadia. Please let me know as soon as you accept, and I’ll send over the script and recording instructions!”

It is not necessary to post your cast list publicly until it comes time for official role announcements. Additionally, you do NOT need to inform those who weren’t selected—it is assumed that actors will only be contacted further if they are being offered a callback or a role.

If you are producing a paid project outside of something small and informal, consider using a contract.

While a contract is not necessary for volunteer projects and may be overkill for something like a quick one-off YouTube video, it’s recommended for paid projects which involve a significant workload. In the case of a commercially monetized project such as an indie game released on various platforms, it can also help ensure your rights to use and distribute the recordings.

A contract should ideally protect both parties in the business relationship, and should be signed by both you and the actor. Terms such as pay rate should be clearly agreed to in writing prior to starting work, and we strongly recommend including language stating the recordings will not be used for any generative AI purposes.

If you need an example contract for indie projects, we have one here that is free to use and modify, but bear in mind it has not been reviewed by a lawyer so use at your own risk.

Send over the scripts as well as any necessary instructions.

Distribute the scripts to the actors in your cast. Be sure to provide any necessary instructions, such as how to format/label/deliver their files if you have any specific preference on this. Additionally, be sure to include a deadline for when you need the recordings by.

While most indie projects can be recorded independently by the actors (with any necessary context written in the script), some projects – particularly larger-scale paid projects or anything where the director is quite specific on how they want each line delivered – may prefer to hold a live directed session with each actor on Discord or Zoom. See our guide here for how to hold a successful live session.

Once you’ve reviewed the final recordings, ask for retakes if any are needed.

Sometimes you may find you need a few lines redone for whatever reason, such as a technical error, a mispronounced word, or simply wanting a different direction in the read. Revisions are an expected part of voice acting, so don’t be afraid to ask for what you need—but do be reasonable in how many retakes you ask for, and if you require an excessive amount of them (such as requesting that virtually the entire script be rerecorded or asking for more than 1-2 rounds of revisions), consider providing extra compensation. This shows that you value your cast’s time and effort.

Tip: If you want to read more on etiquette, check out our article here.

casting call dos & don’ts

DO: Be specific with what you need.

If you just make a post saying “I need voice actors”, chances are you’ll get loads of submissions that may not even fit what you’re looking for. Taking the time to describe the characters you’re casting for helps ensure that you receive submissions from fitting talent for each role.

DO: Communicate professionally.

Even if you’re just making an unpaid hobby project, it’s good to get in the habit of taking yourself seriously if you want your potential cast members to take you seriously. This doesn’t mean you need to be stuffy or formal, but note the difference between “plz audition 4 my minecraft project!!!!” and “I’m currently holding auditions for a YouTube series based on the world of Minecraft.” First impressions are important in attracting talent to your project.

DO: Decide on a consistent procedure and requirements.

Especially if you’re anticipating a large volume of submissions, a little planning goes a long way in keeping yourself organized. Here are a few ways in which consistency can help you.

File labeling. It may not seem like a big deal, but if you have everyone auditioning label their files consistently, it will make it much easier to review and compare auditions side by side—particularly if you’re holding auditions for multiple characters. Common file naming conventions for auditions are Character Name – Your Name.mp3 or CharacterName_YourName.mp3. The reason behind putting the character name before the actor’s name is that it’ll make it easy to sort all the auditions by character when you go to review. Whatever naming convention you choose is entirely up to personal preference, but pick something and stick to it.

Submission method. If some people are sending their auditions over email, others are DMing them to you on Discord, and still others are replying publicly with their audition on social media, it can quickly become chaotic and make it easy to miss some. One popular method for organizing auditions is to create a file request on Dropbox and ask everyone to upload their auditions to the folder you create there. This will also help avoid blowing up your email or DMs.

Formatting multiple takes. Some actors may choose to submit more than one take on their audition. You may wish to set a limit on takes (ex: no more than 3) and decide whether you would like each take on the character to be submitted in a separate file or as part of the same file. For example, if an actor is providing two takes on a given character, would you prefer they do their first pass and then immediately go into their second pass, or create a different file for each pass (ex: Character Name – Actor Name – Take 1.mp3 & Character Name – Actor Name – Take 2.mp3)? Either way is fine, but it helps to decide on a consistent standard. It is also recommended for actors to submit their takes as “ABC ABC” rather than “AA BB CC”, meaning they should give their full first take on all the character’s audition lines and then go into their full second take, as opposed to doing multiple takes of each line in a row.

DO: Include an estimate of the expected workload, if you have an idea of it.

Sometimes you won’t know this information ahead of time, and that’s okay! But if you are up front with estimated workload for each character, this can help greatly for actors who need to plan their schedules and know whether or not they’d have the time to actually commit to your project. A good estimate of workload is a line count (for self-directed recordings) or approximate number of hours needed (for live-directed sessions). If you have a particular window in which the recordings would need to be completed, this can also be very helpful for actors who may be going out of town, in the middle of exams, or currently busy on other projects to know whether they should go ahead and submit.

DO: Consider authenticity in casting.

While this is a hotly debated topic in VO and some argue that “anyone should be able to play anyone”, it is worth at least bringing up for consideration the importance of authentic representation. This often matters not only to voice actors, but some of the audience for your project who may see themselves reflected in the characters and care about how their culture or identity is represented in media. Yes, it’s ultimately your project and you can cast however you want, but if you have characters of certain marginalized identities (POC/LGBTQIA+/disabled/etc), do consider encouraging auditions from actors of those identities.

When it comes to accents and dialects, there are a lot of factors at play. Plenty of actors are great at mimicking all sorts of accents, and sometimes that may be what fits best for a particular character, which is fine! But ideally, authenticity should at least be a factor when reviewing the auditions—for example, if you have a French character, wouldn’t you rather have an actual French actor as opposed to someone doing a stereotypical interpretation of a French accent?

DO: Ask for auditions in mp3 format, unless you have a specific reason for needing something else.

Since auditions are primarily for demonstration purposes, an MP3 file is completely fine for this. While WAV files are generally preferred for final recordings due to the uncompressed format allowing for lossless quality in editing, the bloated file size will quickly blow up your inbox!

In very specific situations where voice talent will be strictly evaluated for remote recording – like with a professional studio – raw auditions in WAV format may be requested in lieu of a separate home studio sample, but it’s generally considered overkill for most online projects.

DON’T: Close your casting call early, at least without proper notice.

Over and over again, situations come up in the online scene where someone posts a casting call with a specific deadline, then suddenly without warning – sometimes even the same day – announce that auditions are closed because they’ve either gotten too many submissions or already found what they’re looking for. This is immensely disappointing and frustrating for both actors who had planned on submitting closer to the deadline, and also actors who did not see the audition in time due to time zones or work schedules.

If you truly feel you’ve gotten way too many submissions and don’t want to leave auditions open for as long as originally planned – or the timeline of your project has changed – then at least give proper notice (24 hours minimum) of what the new deadline will be. In a forum-style post such as the casting call channels on the VAC Discord, it’s a good idea to edit your post title with the new deadline.

DON’T: Cast first-come first-serve.

You might feel that as soon as you get an audition that reasonably fits what you’re looking for, you should just cast that person on the spot and close the auditions early for that character. Not only is this entirely unfair to others who planned on auditioning within the stated deadline, it’s rarely best for your project—even if you think you found a great fit, what happens when the next audition that comes along is even closer to what you have in mind for that character? What if you passed up the ideal choice for that character because the actor happened to be at work or school in their time zone the moment you posted the casting call and someone else got to it sooner?

While it’s ultimately your project and you can do what you want, casting first-come first-serve leaves a bad taste and may turn actors off from working with you. Honor your deadlines—if that “perfect fit” is still the perfect fit when the deadline passes, then your job becomes easy (but do try to listen to all the other submissions with an open mind, just in case.)

If you’re impatient to cast or your project is urgent, it’s okay to set a short deadline, as long as you adhere to it—in fact, audition deadlines for many projects in the professional world are only 24-48 hours! You can always extend later if you don’t find what you’re looking for or want to hear additional options.

DON’T: Make multiple takes a requirement unless there’s a good reason for doing so.

If you’re requesting multiple takes for an audition, chances are it’s because you want to hear variation in emotion, energy levels, etc. However, your audition lines should ideally be chosen in such a way that actors will show these variations without requiring a whole separate take to do it! It’s perfectly fine to allow or even encourage multiple takes, but if the actor already has a solid idea of what they want to do with the character, making them send a second or third take “just because” is a time-waster for both you and them.

Now, there are always exceptions—for instance, if the audition is only a single line, then it’s natural to want a few variations, or if you aren’t sure if you want a particular accent or not then you may request actors do one take of each. This is perfectly reasonable!

If you do insist on multiple takes, one way to improve efficiency on this is to provide some direction on what approach you’d like actors to make for each read. For example: “Please provide take 1 with a high-energy read, and take 2 with a more subdued, conversational read.” This way, actors aren’t just flailing in the dark trying to come up with something for a mandated additional take.

DON’T: Send out notices to actors who DIDN’T get chosen.

Generally, if an actor is contacted about a project they auditioned for, it is assumed that it is either a callback or a role offer. Finding out that it’s a form letter saying “sorry, we went with someone else” just sets the actor up for disappointment (chances are they had already forgotten about the audition anyway and moved onto the next one!) You can read much more in depth about why rejection letters are a bad idea in this article.

DON’T: Require actors to join a separate Discord server just to audition.

Most voice actors do not want to join yet another server just to see what characters are available, see submission instructions, or view audition results. People are auditioning for all sorts of projects at any given moment, and don’t want to have to join a separate server just to try out for a project they may not even book. It’s fine to have a Discord server for your project, but that information can be exchanged with actors once they are cast if you decide it’s necessary for them to join.

DON’T: Require actors to improvise their auditions, unless it will be required for the final project.

It’s fine to encourage improvisation, but unless the specific nature of your project requires actors to have a strong improv background, making this a requirement during the audition phase can not only lock out otherwise great actors who aren’t good at improv, but also make your project appear disorganized. Choose specific audition lines from your script for each character (and if you don’t have a script yet, it’s way too early to be holding auditions!) If you wish, you may encourage actors to ad lib or change up the wording to feel more natural or put their own spin on it, but don’t just ask them to make up the lines themselves.

DON’T: Make social media promotion a condition of casting.

There are some projects which will hold open auditions, but require actors to share the post or publicly post their audition on social media in hopes of getting more followers. This comes across as a gimmick, and is disrespectful to the actors who may not feel comfortable sharing their audition publicly or preemptively promoting a project they’re not even involved in.

Additionally, some projects will hold open auditions but then only cast the actors with the biggest followings—while sometimes those actors DO genuinely happen to be the ideal fit for those roles, the motive becomes apparent when the producer becomes far more preoccupied with making sure the actors share the crowdfunding page before even working out the logistics of recording.

While it’s acceptable to want actors to share a role announcement post once the game is out, or even to ask them if they wouldn’t mind sharing a Kickstarter link to help ensure the project gets funded, no one wants to feel like they are being “used” just because of the following they worked hard to build. Any promotion the actor chooses to do is a bonus, but you shouldn’t cast on the basis of who you think will advertise your project the best. Read more here.