Casting assistant

Department/Team: Production

Responsible to: Producer

Contract: Fixed Term (18 months)

Location: Mix of home working and from The Old Vic, 103 The Cut, London, SE1 8NB (min 3 office days)

Hours: Full-Time - 40 hours per week, Monday-Friday

The Old Vic offers the ability to work these flexibly under the guidelines in our Hybrid Working policy. Additional hours may be necessary in order to fulfil the requirements of the post

Salary: £29,200 annum

A hands-on role supporting the casting process across the Old Vic's main stage productions, workshops, and community projects.

The Casting Assistant at The Old Vic sits in the Production team working closely with the Artistic Director, Producer, General Manager and Associate General Managers. The purpose of the role is to provide support to The Old Vic's programming team, freelance Directors and Casting Directors to ensure lists are made and maintained, casting sessions organised and artists are secured for productions.

The role will offer suggestions for roles, do detailed and sensitive research for most main house projects and will support, or potentially lead, on casting the Understudies for some productions. They will also provide general administrative support to do with scheduling of casting, liaising with artists and be The Old Vic's main contact for artist agencies. The role will also work with the wider Old Vic team on multiple projects at once ranging from main stage productions, Education and Community projects, Backstage Building projects and workshops/readings, and will cast some workshops without additional support

The Casting Assistant will be mentored by The Old Vic's Senior Casting Consultant, Jessica Ronane CDG and also work closely with US Casting Associate Jim Carnahan CSA.

Areas of responsibility

The Casting Assistant will be responsible for:

• Availability checking actors
• Working with multiple casting directors at once, often in the UK and or/ USA
• In consultation with Directors, Associate and Assistant Directors, establish the understudy and cover matrix for productions ahead of a casting process.
• Arranging, setting up and supporting or coordinating casting sessions
• Sometimes leading casting and understudy sessions
• Conducting general administrative tasks related to casting, including contacting a large volume of actors and agents, availability checks and maintaining lists
• Coordinating and/or recording casting as required. Uploading footage using Casting Networks and other platforms, and managing the distribution of audition footage in a timely fashion.
• Collating responses from the creative team
• Giving feedback to actors and their agents and abiding by the CDG code of conduct, not limited to the yes/no guidelines
• When appropriate, make in principle offers to agents
• Ensuring a timely and efficient line of communication between artists agencies and The Old Vic.
• Ensuring that any activities comply with all The Old Vic's workplace and employee policies, including but not limited to Health & Safety, Dignity at Work and Safeguarding policies
• To support or lead on casting internal workshops for potential/ upcoming main stage shows
• Supporting The Old Vic's Development team and Artistic Director's Executive Assistant with occasional actors' requests
• Working with our Head of Inclusion on capturing equal opportunities data for casting in accordance with The Old Vic's Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policies to ensure we continue to develop how we meet a broad range of artists
• To lead or support any special projects or initiatives to meet actors and expand the reach and breadth of knowledge with regards to its ED&I initiatives
• To ensure a presence at industry events including attending most drama school showcases, external readings and presentations.
• Adhering to the CDG's code of conduct and where appropriate, attending CDG talks and events
• Setting up and maintaining information systems, that comply with The Old Vic's data policy and wider GDPR legislation.
• Attending theatre shows and press nights on a regular basis and reporting back to the Programming team as required

This is not an exhaustive list of duties and the Theatre's management may, at any time, allocate other tasks which are of a similar nature or level.

Knowledge, skills and experience

Essential

• Experience of handling confidential and/or controversial information with tact and sensitivity
• Ability to prioritise a conflicting workload efficiently and to maintain standards of accuracy and attention to detail when working to deadlines or changing priorities
• Proven experience working in an administrative capacity in an environment with competing demands
• Exemplary organisational skills as well as written and verbal communication skills
• Demonstrable interest in the theatre industry
• IT literacy, with good experience of the Microsoft Office suite and Excel in particular
• A knowledge of etiquette and protocol in dealing with high-profile individuals
• Understanding of the importance of The Old Vic's ED&I values and how they interact with casting
• Strong team ethic along with the ability to work independently
• Literate in video editing and uploading techniques
• Comfortable reading and breaking down scripts and drawing up cover charts, character breakdowns and project summaries
• Experience of working in a producing theatre or a similar environment
• Strong networker and able to bring innovative ideas into the team
• Knowledge of and interest in actors and the challenges and opportunities of casting theatre in 2025.

The successful candidate will be required to undergo a DBS check as the role may interact with vulnerable adults and/or children.

We welcome and encourage applications from candidates who are under-represented in the creative industries.

Please make sure that you state in your application that you found this role via Creative Access.