Imagine a Paperless Audition

Chris Peterson

OnStage Founder & Editor-in-Chief

~~~~~

The auditions process is always going to be stressful, not much can be done about that. But what if it could be made easier? What if the check-in process was smoother? As a casting professional, what if the organization and cut process simpler?

Well you're prayers might have been answered with AuditionAnswer, a revolutionary tool that seeks to make auditions, paperless. To understand how this works, check out the video below. 

Created by actress Alexis Berlinger, the idea came from her own experiences of showing up to auditions.

"I'm a Performer and would occasionally attend open dancer/singer calls in NYC at Pearl Studios and Ripley Grier. I thought the sign-in process was chaotic and the amount of headshots and resumes seemed unmanageable for Casting", she said.  "I thought that automating the process and using tablets/laptops for Performer sign-in would be much faster and easier for everyone involved."

So far, the response from casting professionals has been quite positive. According to Ms. Berlinger, 

"Everyone who's seen a software demo is excited about the idea. Automation just makes sense - some people are shocked this isn't already a standard practice at open calls. Several Casting Professionals have signed up as Beta Testers and I'm looking forward to hearing their feedback. The biggest challenge going forward will be making the solution flexible enough and customizable  enough to be used by all different types of theatres and casting organizations. Everyone runs their auditions somewhat differently so AuditionAnswer needs to support that."

The site has launched and can be found at www.auditionanswer.com. They have also started an Indiegogo campaign to raise funds to update software. 

Personally, as someone who has worked as a director and in the casting business, I can say that this is certainly a better way to conduct auditions. It organizes the entire process and will save people a ton of time. I hope it continues to develop.