Ever wanted to know if you’re really a star? I got the opportunity to find out my “star potential” two weeks ago through the website AreUaStar. I’m going to take you through my experience with this truly unique website.

ABOUT AREUASTAR

The site was created by experienced casting director Tammara Billik, who then teamed up with a few others in her field who are just as experienced. The system offers three deals: Photo Only, Silver Star, and Gold Star.

Photo Only ($29.99) is just what it sounds like: you send in your headshot or personal photo and are evaluated on your look and castability. Headshots, as it is commonly said, are an actor’s calling card, and the casting directors will evaluate your ability to catch someone’s eye with just your photo.

The Silver Star package ($49.99) requires an actor to record themselves performing a scene, monologue, or even just telling a story that shows their personality and energy. Once the casting directors have gone over your video, they will give you feedback on your look, castability, your talent and skill level, and an answer to that burning question- your star potential.

The Gold Star package ($99.99) includes all that the Silver Star does, but also goes a bit further. In addition to the basics, you are also given feedback on your performance with constructive criticism on how you might improve and what you could do to take your skills to the next level.

GETTING STARTED

When I was asked to try out the system with the Gold Package, I was impressed by the options I had. They really allow people to present what they’re skilled at, as not everyone is equally talented in the areas of monologues and scenes. Actors submitting to AreUaStar have the option of doing a monologue, scene, or telling a story that shows their personality. The website not only provides some sample scenes that could be used, but they have instructional videos that give tips on how to film a professional-looking tape.

THE “AUDITION”

I chose to do a monologue (Elizabeth’s from Catholic Schoolgirls) , and set up my video camera facing a plain wall. I did about three takes of me doing my piece straight through, and then I watched them and picked the best one. Like me, you might watch them and think, ‘My beginning in take one was good, but my ending is better in take two.’ My advice is to pick just one. I don’t know if the website has any rules about editing, but my view is that in an audition, you only get one “take”. (Additionally, if you put two clips together, it is doubtful that you will be in the exact same place in both takes, so it will look a little weird when you suddenly move!)

SUBMITTING THE VIDEO

After I chose my take, I went to upload my video, and experienced a little trouble. They prefer you submit a Quicktime or .avi file, but neither of mine worked. I e-mailed the website and received a polite and helpful reply in a few hours. In the end, I just submitted a .wmv file. I am not sure what went wrong on my end, but at least I got my video uploaded!

WAITING

The site says that, after submitting a video, an actor will get feedback in 48-76 hours, so you can imagine how shocked I was when I got my feedback within about four hours! I can’t say this will happen with everyone who sends in material, but I was pretty impressed!

THE FEEDBACK

Because I was using the Gold Star package, I got all of the feedback available. The evaluation is a well-organized document that details the casting director’s response. First up are the ratings out of ten for look, castability, talent/skill level, and overall star potential ten being the highest. I’ll share my marks:

Look: 6
Castability: 6
Talent/ Skill Level: 8
Overall Star Potential: 7

After the ratings came the notes that the casting director took while watching my video. S/he wrote that I made a good monologue choice and that I made him/her laugh out loud a few times. (which is good, since it’s a comedy :p) S/he also commented that I had good comic timing. S/he also gave me some constructive criticism, noting that I should work on my transitions between topics and raise some of the stakes for my character.

Something I hadn’t expected was an opinion about my “type”. I sort of already knew what it was, but it never hurts to be told again, as knowing your type can be very helpful. I am definitely a supporting actress, the “best friend” type.

Lastly came the “suggested next steps”. I was advised to continue studying, which is always a good tip, and to focus on my comedy skills. I was very happy to read the last sentence: “I think you have potential to continue in the world of acting”.

This is all good, vital information, especially the parts that covered type and castability. It is important to know the extent of your talent before you try to break into the world of show business so that you can continue to train and improve.

OVERALL

I was very impressed by the professionalism of the site. I had a few problems on my end, and when I called them to ask for help, they were extremely courteous and assisted me very quickly. I also like the form the evaluation comes in- a neat, easy-to-read document that would look great in a portfolio.

The only thing that I think would put me off this system was the price. While I understand that the casting director is taking a good amount of time to review my video, I am pretty frugal. However, this service would be an excellent gift to someone to wants to know their star potential. The website can be accessed at www.areuastar.com

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