Casting FAQ - Cream City Casting

Oncata FAQ (formerly Cream City Casting)

Top questions from talent.

I don't have a professional headshot, do I need to get one?

If you are just starting out or you are not a professional actor/model you don't need one. In fact most of our client ask for selfies. Even when we send professional headshots they ask for most recent pictures even if they are not professional. Most jobs we cast will require auditions or photo session and we'll get your headshot then.

What is the difference between Oncata and Talent agency?

Casting agency is hired on the production side and is part of the production team. We do not represent talent or charge client or talent any agency fees. Our only goal is to get the right talent for the project.

Does Oncata represent me if I sign up with them?

We do not represent talent. If you want to do talent work professionally we highly suggest getting an agent.

What is considered street talent?

Street casting referes to the casting in the community. People with no professional acting background or modeling experience can still be casted for video and photoshoots if they have the right look.

Do I need to bring a headshot and resume for auditions?

No we try to minimize paper waste and everything we submit to our clients is online documents

How do I get paid?

If you finished a job and need to fill out an invoice, pleace contact

Can I sign up with no experience?

Yes you do not need any on camera experience to be signed up in our database. We hold auditions and open calls so we can always make sure you can do that job if you are booked.

What kind of people is Oncata looking to cast?

We are looking for anyone and everyone. A lot of times we give out cards to people that we see on the street and if our friends know interesting looking charachters they always refer them to us. So really even pets can be signed up with us.

How do I receive a copy of the commercial work I was a part of?

Our portfolio is updated regularly. Please check the porfolio page first, if you don't see your booking there that means we don't have it yet.

Top questions from clients.

What is Oncata?

Cream City Casting is a casting agency based in Milwaukee, WI. Our talent database of self representing talent (real people) is over 1500 people and we work with various agencies in the Midwest region when there is a need for professional on camera talent.

What is the difference between casting agency and talent agency?


How do your fees work?

We charge for a day of casting. In some instances we can offer a half day rate. There is no extra charges on top of our daily rates. The daily rate includes casting call, gallery prep, booking and talent payments and the amount of days will depend on how many talent options are needed and how specific the casting is. There is an extra charge for auditions to cover assistant and video editing or photo processing.

Why can’t you just pull people from your database and show options?

Our database is always expanding and we pride ourselves in providing the most recent headshots of the talent we submit. Casting calls also help us provide the most current availably. But most importantly we can provide larger sample of people every time. We always go beyond our database and post ads on social media to attract more talent that we can submit.

How do you know if the people you are submitting will be good on camera?

We don’t and this is why auditions are always a good idea but we realize that there is not always a budget to hold auditions. We provide a meet and greet service to our clients if we never worked with particular person before and they got selected for a job. This is different than auditions where we see up to 30 people per day. The meet and greet is only available for up to 2 people per role and we do it to make sure that the talent picked based on photos can perform in front of the camera.

I signed the estimate and gave you go ahead to do casting and now my job is canceled. Why do you still charge me your day rate? I didn’t book any talent.

We are not a talent agency so we do not operate as one. We don’t go to our database to pull people in hopes we can book one of the people we represent and make agency fees. We actively cast in the community thorough social media advertising, our newsletter and word of mouth. We spend hours on the email and phone to secure as many options per role as we can. We cast entire families, grandparents, next door neighbors etc and this is all based on lots of communication, explaining the job and what people will be doing. Only after detailed casting like that we can provide a gallery with options. So the reason why we are charging the day rate even when the job was canceled is that we already put in our time casting.

How do I know if the casting agency is the right choice for me?

We cast for a wide range of projects. Let’s say you have a job with a need for a strong actor. You can contact 2-3 different agencies in the area and get various links with auditions that are inconsistent because they are provided by different agencies. If you go with a casting agency we can provide you with options from up to 8 different agencies in the Midwest and Los Angeles. This will be presented in one comprehensive link and auditions will be of the same high quality throughout. We also will keep looking until we fight the right person and not just try and make you pick actors we represent because we don’t represent any. Read more about our audition process below. Another example is you need people that look a certain way or have certain professions. We can do that! Check out our portfolio page there are many examples of real people casting there. From military families to fisherman to the most amazing personal journey stories we can find what you are looking for through our wide casting net. We love finding new faces it’s our specialty and as a minority owned business we pride ourselves in presenting the most diverse talent you can find in this market.

Can you pay talent?

We can pay non SAG talent hired for the job if the company doesn’t have a payroll service to pay talent and that will be included in the casting day rate. We can also offer paying SAG talent at additional cost.

Oncata Inc.


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