The people in your film matter more than the camera you shoot it on. A believable performance recorded on a phone beats a wooden one recorded on a cinema camera, every single time.
Where to find actors when you have no money
- Local theatre groups. The single best source. Amateur dramatics societies are full of people who can hold a performance and would love the footage.
- Drama students. Colleges and universities. Students need showreel material and are used to being directed.
- Disability arts organisations and theatre companies. Many have members actively looking for screen work and rarely being asked.
- Casting call groups online. Local film-making groups on social media, where people post unpaid short film roles constantly.
- People you know. Genuinely fine, with one caution below.
On casting friends and family
It works, and plenty of good films are made this way. The risk is that it is much harder to give an honest note to your brother than to a stranger, and much harder for him to take it. If you cast someone close to you, agree out loud beforehand that you will be direct on the day and that neither of you will take it personally.
How to run an audition without a studio
An audition is not an interview. You are trying to find out one thing: can this person be believable saying these words?
- Send the scene in advance. Ambushing people with cold reads tells you who is good at cold reads, which is not what you are casting for.
- Record it. Phone on a table is fine. Performances feel different on playback and you will want to compare.
- Read the other part yourself, or have someone read it. Never make them perform to silence.
- Ask for it twice, differently. Give one direction — "same again, but this time you are trying not to cry" — and see what changes. You are testing whether they can take a note, which matters more than the first reading.
- Tell everyone when they will hear back, and then tell them. Including the people you are not casting. It costs a message and it is why people work with you again.
Cast disabled actors in disabled roles
If a character in your film is disabled, cast a disabled actor. This is the clearest and least negotiable point in this guide.
It is not only an ethical position, although it is that. It is a craft argument. A non-disabled actor performing disability is performing an idea of it, usually assembled from other performances, and audiences who share that disability can see it instantly. An actor with lived experience brings a hundred details nobody would think to write — how you actually get through a doorway, where you look when someone talks over you, what you do with your hands.
Disabled actors are also chronically under-cast, so the pool of experienced, available, keen performers is much larger than most first time directors expect. Disability arts organisations and disabled-led theatre companies will point you towards people.
And make the audition itself accessible: a ground floor room, the scene sent well in advance, a self-tape option, and a clear statement that access needs will be met without anyone having to justify them.
The crew you actually need
A short film can be made by one person. It is much more pleasant with three.
- Director. You. Decides what the film is and talks to the actors.
- Camera. Frames and records the shots so you can watch the actors instead of the screen.
- Sound. The most undervalued job on a small film. One person holding a microphone in the right place and listening on headphones will improve your film more than any other crew member.
Anything beyond that is a luxury. If you can find a fourth person, make them a producer — someone whose whole job is that the location is booked, the batteries are charged and lunch exists.
Ask properly, and be specific
When you approach people, tell them the things they need to decide: what the film is about, which days you need them, where, roughly how long, whether it is paid (say so plainly if it is not), what they will get out of it, and when they will see the finished film.
Vagueness reads as disorganisation. A clear, specific ask from a first time filmmaker gets a yes far more often than a hopeful one from an experienced one.
Before you move on
- Every speaking part is cast and has confirmed the dates
- Disabled characters are played by disabled actors
- Everyone has the script and knows where to turn up and when
- Somebody other than you is responsible for sound
- You have asked every person whether they have access needs, and planned for them