Pay not stated
Posted Sep 4
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Casting Calls in New York, NY
Nobody needs convincing there is work here. The real question is can you survive long enough to get good — so this page explains how the machine works, starting with why one background call quotes two different rates.
31 open calls · updated todayFree to submitScreen and theatreUnion rates current to July 2026
$350
Posted Sep 4
Pay not stated
Posted Aug 27
One posting, two prices
The clearest evidence in the country of what the union card is worth
Most comparisons of union and non-union pay are guesswork across separate jobs. This is a single live New York background call, quoting both rates in one line.
Observed on a live New York television series call · August 2026
The rate line, verbatim
SAGAFTRA 231.00/8, Non Union 187.00/10 +club bumpOne production · one day · two categories of background actor
SAG-AFTRA
$231
for 8 hours — $28.88/hr
Home two hours earlier, on the same production.
Non-union
$187
for 10 hours — $18.70/hr
Same set, same day, same work.
54% more per hour, and two fewer hours on set. There is no arguing the jobs aren't equivalent — the production put them on the same line.
And here is why both appear at once
Union background slots are finite, and they fill first
This is the mechanism nobody writes down, and it explains almost everything about how New York background casting behaves.
SAG-AFTRA background coverage caps · effective 1 July 2026
How many background actors must be union
26
The first 26 background actors per day on a television motion picture must be covered
85
The first 85 per day on a theatrical feature — and now on high-budget streaming titles too
27
The television cap rises to 27 from 1 July 2029
A production hires union up to the cap, then hires non-union beyond it. That is why one notice quotes two rates — the production genuinely needs both categories on the same day.
What that actually means for you
The union slots on any given day are a fixed number, and they go first. Which is more useful than any general encouragement about joining, because it tells you the thing that decides your day rate is not talent or experience — it is whether you are in the first twenty-six.
It also explains why union background actors here talk about being "checked in" early. On a capped day, the order matters.
The theatrical cap now also applies to streaming programmes of 85 minutes or more with budgets over $30 million on platforms with 20 million-plus domestic subscribers — which pulls a lot of prestige streaming work into the higher cap.
Small, real, and almost never published
Money you are owed and may not be claiming
Under the 2026 agreement, these are separate from your day rate. They are not favours, and they are not negotiable extras — they are contractual.
Double-duty adjustmentAny day you do both stand-in work and general background work, in either order
+$27Body make-up or hair goodsPer day, when required
$21.50Meal penalty — backgroundPer half hour, from the fifth half hour onward
$15Meal penalty — principalPer half hour, from the fifth half hour onward
$75Know these before you need them. An actor who does not know the double-duty adjustment exists will do both jobs and take one rate — and nobody on a busy set is going to volunteer it.
Date-check anything you read about union rates
The 2026 TV/Theatrical Agreement was ratified on 5 June 2026 with 91.42% in favour, and runs from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2030. Most changes took effect on 1 July.
Any page quoting pre-July-2026 rates is out of date — and most of them are. That includes any figure on this page once enough time has passed; check against SAG-AFTRA directly before you rely on it.
The structural thing every national directory misses
New York is two parallel careers, not one
Most casting sites treat New York as "Los Angeles but colder" and write entirely about screen. Theatre here is a genuine full-time career with its own union, its own audition system and its own economics.
Career one
Theatre- 01Union is Actors' Equity, not SAG-AFTRA
- 02Broadway, Off-Broadway and Off-Off are three different economies, not three sizes of one
- 03Auditions run through EPAs and ECCs — in-person open calls
- 04Free to attend, and they barely exist in Los Angeles
Career two
Screen- 01Union is SAG-AFTRA
- 02Episodic television, features, commercial and voice-over
- 03Submissions via Actors Access, Casting Networks and agents
- 04Casting offices generally do not accept unsolicited contact
EPAs and ECCs are the free New York mechanism
Equity Principal Auditions and Equity Chorus Calls are in-person open calls — and they are the single biggest structural difference between working in New York and working in Los Angeles. No money changes hands. You turn up.
Non-members can generally be seen if time allows after members, and understanding how that works is worth more than any paid workshop. Check current Equity rules before you go, because the access arrangements change.
Do the two tracks connect? Sometimes, and less automatically than people hope. Treat them as two careers you might run at once rather than a ladder from one to the other.
Before you pay for access to anybody
The union wrote a sentence for this. Look for it.
Paid classes taught by casting directors and agents are a large, contested part of the New York ecosystem. There are legitimate educational versions and there are exploitative ones — and the union responded by requiring a disclaimer.
A New York studio publishes this, stating it is provided specifically at SAG-AFTRA's request:
"Seminars or classes are for educational purposes only and will not secure or provide opportunity for employment in the field or representation by an agent or casting director."
Its presence is transparency. Its absence is a signal.
That disclaimer exists because the paid-access model is widespread enough to have needed regulating. If you take a class taught by a casting director or an agent in New York, it should be visible. We are not accusing anyone of anything — we are telling you what to look for.
The same disclaimer turns up in Los Angeles and Chicago. It is a national standard, not a New York quirk.
And the distinction that resolves most of it: paying for training is a normal transaction. Paying for access to a decision-maker is a different category — and it is what the disclaimer is about.
Local knowledge nobody surfaces
The state pays extra to shoot away from the city
New York State's film incentive includes an upstate uplift — a premium for production that happens outside New York City. Which means a meaningful share of New York State work deliberately shoots somewhere you would have to travel to.
That is a real, checkable policy with real consequences for where the jobs are, and no national casting directory mentions it to actors. If you are only filtering for the five boroughs, you are filtering out work the state is actively paying to create.
Worth checking before you rule it out
Upstate productions frequently handle travel and accommodation differently from city shoots, precisely because they cannot rely on a local talent pool. Read the terms rather than assuming the drive makes it uneconomic.
Verify the current uplift, the qualifying counties and the programme's funding against the New York State film office before relying on any figure.
Where the work is posted
The routes, and how to use them
New York is the market where understanding the system beats collecting business names. These are the four routes that matter.
Actors AccessThe primary screen submission route. Profile is free; responding to every role is not.BackstageStrongest here for theatre, indie and Off-Broadway. Free to browse, paid to apply.Casting NetworksCommercial work in particular. A free account cannot self-submit at all.Actors' Equity — how EPAs workThe union's own procedure document. Notices themselves are members-only.
Representation
SAG-AFTRA franchised agentsSelect "New York" in the dropdown and search — there is no direct link to the list.Agents vs managersThe union franchises one and not the other. Their own side-by-side comparison.Check an agent's NYC licenceTalent agencies here need a city Employment Agency Licence. Managers do not.
Two things we deliberately do not publish
A New York casting director contact list. The offices here do not accept unsolicited actor contact and do not run public join-our-database routes. Publishing contacts would encourage exactly the behaviour that wastes your time.
A ranked list of "best" New York agencies. It would be arbitrary and it would date instantly. The union maintains a franchised list; use that. And remember SAG-AFTRA franchises agents, not managers — a real agent earns commission on work you book, never a fee from you up front.
Quick answers
Common questions
Is background work here worth doing?
As income, non-union background at $187 for a ten-hour day is thin. As a way to be on professional sets, learn how they run and accumulate union eligibility, it is one of the more reliable routes in the city — provided you treat it as a means rather than a job.
Do I need Equity, SAG-AFTRA, or both?
Depends which career you are running. Theatre is Equity; screen is SAG-AFTRA. Plenty of New York actors hold both eventually, and almost nobody starts with either. Do not treat the cards as a starting requirement.
Can a non-union actor attend an EPA?
Generally you can be seen if time allows after Equity members, and the specifics vary by production and by year. Check the current Equity rules before you travel across the city for one — but do not assume you are excluded.
New York or Los Angeles?
The honest version: New York has a parallel theatre career and free in-person open calls that Los Angeles largely does not. Los Angeles has more screen volume and the industry's decision-makers. Neither is easier — they are different machines, and the choice is about which one you want to learn.
Filter to union work and watch the day rate change
Set a New York alert, filter by union status, theatre or screen, and see the two-tier market for what it is. Free, and you can browse the whole board without an account.
Set a New York alert✓Free to browse and submit✓No card required✓We never charge for an audition