21 questions, answered with sources
Direct answers for producers, directors and actors: how casting works in the UK, ways of working together, self-tapes and open calls.
Questions about Catherine Willis and CW Casting are on the home page.
What a casting director does, when to bring one in, how casting works in the UK and ways of working together.
A casting director finds and proposes the actors for a film, series or play, and manages the process from the first brief to the signed contract. That means reading the script, drawing up lists, checking availability, running auditions and self-tapes, organising recalls and chemistry reads, presenting choices to the director, producers and broadcaster, and negotiating the deals.
As early as development. A casting director can help a project get commissioned by finding the right actors for a pilot or a pitch, and can help work out what a part needs before it is fixed on the page. 9 of the 110 credits on CW Casting's list began as original casting for a pilot or first series.
Choose by credits, then send the script. Look for a casting director whose past work matches your tone and scale, using their credit list, the Casting Directors' Guild and IMDb. Approach them directly or through their agent, with the script or idea and your dates. Catherine Willis of CW Casting can be reached through the contact page or her agent, Independent Talent Group.
Casting in the UK runs through one main platform, Spotlight, and through actors' agents. The casting director sends a breakdown, agents suggest clients, and actors audition in the room or on tape. The performers' union is Equity. Child performers are licensed by local councils. UK casting directors also use open calls and street casting to find new faces.
In one of two ways. One casting director runs the whole process, or two share it: the lead casting director keeps the search as a whole, and a partner casts the roles in their own country. As the UK partner, CW Casting finds and tapes the British cast and handles UK availability, agents and contracts. Decisions are made over self-tapes and remote sessions.
Yes, a little. To claim the UK's Audio-Visual Expenditure Credit a film must pass the BFI cultural test, scoring at least 18 of 35 points, or be an official co-production. Two of those points depend on who is cast: one if a lead actor is a UK or EEA citizen or resident, and one if at least half the cast are. The credit itself follows where the money is spent, not the actors' nationality.
Yes. An actor who does not already have the right to work in the UK needs a certificate of sponsorship from a licensed UK sponsor, usually the production company. For work of three months or less, actors who do not normally need a visa to visit the UK can use the Creative Worker visa concession and enter without a visa. Everyone else applies for a Creative Worker visa, which lasts up to 12 months and costs £340.
In England a child under school leaving age always needs a performance licence from their home local council to work on a film or television production. The production applies, and a council may refuse an application made less than 21 days before the work. The child must be supervised by a parent or a council-approved chaperone, and schooling continues at three hours per school day.
Street casting means looking for people who are not professional actors, away from agencies and drama schools, in the places where the story is set. Casting directors use it when a part needs someone authentic to a place or a world. Catherine Willis co-cast the first series of Top Boy this way, in playgrounds in Hackney and Homerton.
An open casting call is an audition that anyone who fits the brief can apply to, with or without an agent or experience. Casting directors use open calls to find people from a specific place or background. CW Casting held two days of open auditions in Bolton for the Alma's Not Normal pilot, open auditions in Liverpool for The Gathering, open casting for The Full Monty, and an open call across West Yorkshire for the BBC comedy PUSH.
By looking outside the usual lists. Catherine Willis finds new actors in small theatres and at fringe festivals, in school plays, on Instagram and TikTok, at open auditions and through street casting. Around 40% of the actors in her casts are people she had never met before. Oliver Savell was chosen from over 700 auditions to play the young Alan Carr in Changing Ends.
Spotlight is the UK's main casting platform. Performers keep a profile there with credits, skills, headshots and showreels. Casting directors post breakdowns of the roles they are casting, agents suggest their clients for them, and casting directors also search the profiles directly.
The Casting Directors' Guild is the professional body for casting directors working in film, television, theatre, games and commercials in the UK and Ireland. It was formed in 1996, requires members to follow its code of conduct, and runs the annual CDG Awards. Catherine Willis is a member and has four CDG Award nominations. She is also a member of the Casting Society of America.
Catherine Willis of CW Casting is one of the UK casting directors best known for television comedy. 55 of her 110 credits are comedy or comedy drama, including Detectorists, Alma's Not Normal, Here We Go, Changing Ends, Cuckoo, Plebs, Upstart Crow, Back and This Way Up. Detectorists and Alma's Not Normal both won the BAFTA for Scripted Comedy.
Mainly for the tax credit, the crews and studios, and the actors. In 2025, £5.8 billion of the £6.8 billion spent on film and high-end television production in the UK came from inward investment and co-production, about 85%, according to the BFI. The UK expenditure credit is 34% for film and high-end television.
Self-tapes, open calls and getting seen.
Film on a phone turned on its side, facing a window or a lamp, with a plain wall behind you. Frame head and shoulders, ask someone to read the other lines from beside the camera, and make a clear choice about the character. Send no more than two takes, with your name, the role and the production in the file name. No special equipment is needed.
Two at most. Catherine Willis asks that if you send two takes, they are significantly different versions of the scene. The UK self-tape guidelines agreed in 2021 by the Casting Directors' Guild, Equity, the Personal Managers' Association and the Co-operative Personal Management Association set the same limit: no more than two versions of each scene.
No, though most parts are cast through agents. Casting directors send breakdowns to agents, who suggest their clients. Without an agent you can still be seen through open casting calls, through a Spotlight profile, and by inviting casting directors to see your work. Around 40% of the actors Catherine Willis casts are people she had never met before.
Be in something, and say where and when. Catherine Willis finds new actors in small theatres, at fringe festivals and in short films, so an invitation to see your work is more useful than a general email. Keep your Spotlight profile current, apply to open calls, and send links, not attachments.
Follow the instructions in the call. Each open call from CW Casting is published on the open calls page, with who can apply, the closing date and how to take part. You do not need an agent or experience unless the call says so. If you are under 18, please ask permission of a parent or guardian and use their contact details.
A clear choice. Catherine Willis told Spotlight in 2024 that casting is about finding people who present a fully rounded character quite early on, and that the worst thing people do is become very generic. Do not try to second-guess what is being looked for. Decide who the character is and commit to it.