To begin casting a project with Breakdown Express you must first submit a Breakdown with the project's details. 


Sign In or Start a Guest Account


1) Go to Breakdown Express and click "Post a Breakdown."



2) Returning users should enter their Breakdown Express login credentials and press the "Sign In" button.


 If you are a new user and have never posted a Breakdown before, begin by signing in as a Guest.


Go to the "Continue as Guest?" box and fill in your name, phone number, and email address. Once you've entered your information, click "Continue." 


All new user accounts must be in the Casting Director’s legal name as it appears on their government-issued photo ID. The email address of the Casting Director must be personally identifiable, e.g. yourname@gmail.com or yourname@yourcompany.com. We do not accept project specific, generic or company-name-only email addresses.



General Project Details


1) Project - If you've previously created a Project, the option will be available to choose from in the "Project" dropdown menu. 



  • Studio/Production Company - (Optional) The name of the Studio or Production Company the project is affiliated with.


  • Project - (Optional) The project file you're working on.     

      

This will only be visible to Users who have the Projects feature enabled in their account. Projects allows you to schedule actors across multiple Breakdowns and unlocks more advanced features.


2) New Breakdown - Here you will need to enter the general details about your Breakdown. 



  • Breakdown Title or Name: (Required) What the Breakdown is called.


  • Project Type: (Required) Whether this is a feature, television show, short film etc.


  • Union Status: (Required) Select the Union this project will be working with, or choose Non-Union.


Union Status Not Applicable is rare. It may only be used for Still Photo Shoots with no filmed component, and Live Performances that are not Plays or occur on cruise ships in international waters.


  • Casting Director Display Name: (Required) How your name will appear on the Breakdown.


  • Contact Phone: (Required) For internal use, only published if the project contains nudity.


  • Contact Email: (Required) For internal use only, we do not publish email addresses.


3) Your Casting Notice - This next section will require you to provide specific details for your Casting Notice.



Please Note: Additional fields may be available/required according to project type. 


  • Interview/Audition Date(s): (Optional). 


  • Callback Date(s): (Optional).


  • Start/Shoot Date(s): (Required) Include the filming or performance dates of your project. 


Please include the full range of filming or performance dates, if more than one day is scheduled.


  • Project Location: (Required) Include the city where the filming or performance of your project will take place.


  • Personnel and Production Info: (Required - Casting Director's Name) The Casting Director will be automatically entered, reflecting the name of the account holder.


  • Click the "+" next to a Job Title to expand that field, then click “Add person” to include the name of that person.


  • Click “Add Job Title” if the production job title you wish to include is not one of the provided options.


  • Click the “X”  buttons next to a Job Title and/or person’s name to remove them. You can have up to 20 job titles listed on the Breakdown, and multiple people listed for each job title.


  • Rate of Pay / Contract: (Required) Include the daily, weekly, or flat project rate, any project that pays less than $125 a day will only be released to Actors Access.


Non-Union projects with deferred pay will be listed as no pay and will only be released to Actors Access.


  • Additional Project Info: (Optional) Include any other information about the production or personnel.


  • Special Note: (Optional) Any other information not related to the previous topics goes here, This will appear on the Breakdown.


4) Electronic Submission Options - The next section will be the specifications of how the Breakdown is released and what information you want included when Actors or Talent Representatives submit to you.


  • Post Submissions To: (Required) You can choose to post to Actors Access and/or Breakdown Express.


  • Electronic Submission Options: (Optional) Choose whether to accept Actor notes, demo reels and/or size cards.


  • Submission Deadline: (Required) The Submission Deadline should take place before any listed Audition, Callback, or Shoot Date (There is no technical restriction preventing submissions after this date).


The Submission Deadline is the last date you would like to receive new Actors’ profile information, not the last date you would like to receive Auditions.


  • Submission Instruction: (Optional) Use this section to include any other information for Actors on what and how to submit.


5) Geographic Information - Include at least one region for the Breakdown (required). This will determine which Geographic area(s) your Breakdown will be released to. 


In order to be considered for a release outside the project’s local filming region, roles must pay a guaranteed minimum of $300/day (whether remote or in-person) and all travel and accommodation must be provided for in-person roles.



6) Notes for Breakdown Office Only - Within this (optional) section, include any additional notes for our Breakdown writing staff. This information will not be posted on the Breakdown. 


7) Please Select the Breakdown Services office to Submit this Breakdown - Choose which office this Breakdown will be sent to for review (required).


Choose the office closest to your personal, professional location.



8) Nudity - You must disclose whether the project contains nudity or partial nudity. If so, you will be required to publish a phone number to accept calls from Talent Representatives regarding any questions they may have about the nudity requirements. Once the required information has been filled in, click on "Continue to Roles" to move to the next page. 


Nudity includes: Full frontal nudity and rear nudity for all genders and toplessness for female-identifying actors, as well as costumes that consist of thongs, g-strings and/or transparent underwear or bathing suits - including nudity required on set, even if it will not be shown on film.



Project Roles and Notes


1) Add a New Role - Click here to begin adding the roles you'd like to cast. 


Add a New Note - Use this to create different categories of roles or to break up the list of roles.


Storyline - Include a brief synopsis of the project you're casting for.



2) When you select "Add a New Role," you'll be directed to a new page. Fill out the required information for the role you're casting and then click "Save Role" at the bottom of the page, or click "Save Role and Add Another" if you wish to continue adding roles.



Please Note: The Physical Characteristics and Personality & Character Arc fields will merge to create the full role description, which can be previewed by clicking "Preview Description."



  • Role Name/ Title - (Required) Enter the name of your role.


  • Gender - (Required) Choose which gender option(s) the role is open to. This choice is not visible to actors unless you include it in your description.


  • Age - (Required) Enter a range from youngest possible to oldest possible. This choice is not visible to actors unless you include it in your description.


Unless the role is for Background Performers, we ask that you limit the Age Range to no more than 20 years for Adult roles and no more than 5 years for Minor roles. Please note that additional restrictions will apply to the employment of Minors, depending on your State/Province’s laws and regulations.


  • Ethnic Appearance - (Required) Choose from any or all of the options or choose not to specify. This choice is not visible to actors unless you include it in your description.


  • Description - (Required) The "Physical Characteristics" and "Personality & Character Arc" fields will merge to create the full role description. The "Physical Characteristics" field will auto-fill with the gender, age, and ethnic appearance choices you made above, but can be edited if you would like them to display differently. The "Personality & Character Arc" field is open text for you to enter additional description of the role.  


It is recommended that you include a role size at the end of the Personality & Character Arc field (LEAD, SUPPORTING, DAY PLAYER, ENSEMBLE, BACKGROUND, etc.).


  • Is this a Paying Role - (Required) Choose "Yes" or "No."


  • Attach Picture - (Optional) If a photo is needed for visual reference for Actors or the Agents or Managers.


Only attach reference photos of people the Actor must resemble. do not attach Sides, Storyboards, Logos, Text or additional Audition Information.


3) Once you've added all of the roles that you want to cast, select "Finished with Roles and Notes." 

 


  • Edit Role - To edit a role you just created, select the Edit Role button to the right of the Role Name, that looks like this:

  •  Delete Role: To delete a role you just created, select the "X" button which is located to the right of the Edit Role button. 


  •  Drag and drop your roles and notes to change their order. 


  • Delete All Roles - Use this button to remove all the roles from the Breakdown to begin again. 


Reviewing and Submitting Your Breakdown


1) On the last step, you'll be given the chance to review your Breakdown before submitting it for publishing. 


If you would like to change anything  before publishing, select the "Edit Breakdown" button located in the bottom left-hand corner. 



2) Government Issued ID - If this is your first Breakdown with us, we require an image of your current ID to create your account. Click “Choose File” to upload a pdf or jpg of your ID.


The ID must be a current, government issued photo ID and must be in the legal name of the person listed as Casting Director. Your ID is for internal use only and will never be shared.



3)Terms of Use - To continue, please agree to our Terms of Use by selecting the "I AGREE" button.


Press the “Click Here” button to read the full Terms of Use. If you do not wish to accept the Terms of Use, click the  “I DISAGREE” button to exit the website.



4) Submitting Your  Breakdown - If you are finished editing your Breakdown, click the button labeled "Submit Breakdown to ___ Office." If that button does not appear, be sure to check that all of the required fields have been fully filled out.



4) After you have submitted your Breakdown, the writers will review it and contact you if they have any questions about the information you provided. 

  • New Users - Once your Breakdown has been approved, a link will be emailed to new users to register for a brief online training session. Once training has been completed, your Breakdown will be published and login information for your new Casting account will be emailed to you. 


  • Existing Users - If an account has been made previously, once your Breakdown has been approved, an email will be sent stating the Breakdown is published and to use your existing username and password to view the submissions.  




Next Steps: