When creators Katherine “Ashterr” Birke and Akela Mars set out to cast the pilot for their animated series ”The Reiters”, they needed high-quality talent on a small indie budget—voice actors who could bring depth to their characters and deliver professional audio from home setups.
“A bad microphone would immediately result in not being picked as we could not offer our own studio,” they said. With audio quality as the first filter, they looked for the other essentials:
- A voice and accent that matched the characters
- Clear emotional expression with the slightly heightened performance animation requires
- Believability and strong acting instincts
Shortlisted actors were then reviewed again, and the team conducted light background checks to confirm professionalism and past experience.
Momentum they didn’t see coming
What they hadn’t expected was the scale of the response. Their casting call received 1,793 submissions on Backstage—far more than they anticipated and far more than previous channels had produced.
Visibility played a major role.
“We believe that having our project represented by Backstage on Instagram helped our reputation, and as a result led more acts to trust and audition for our project.”
The increased visibility wasn’t just about numbers, it expanded the quality and diversity of their talent pool, helping them cast stronger performers than through previous channels.
Professionalism, speed, and quality, on budget
Despite tight financial constraints, the team found actors who matched their creative needs and their budget.
“So far, everyone is really professional and great to work with!” Most submissions came in within the first day, and even before recording began, they felt confident in their cast’s abilities. “From their portfolios and swift communication we have no doubt of flawless performance.”
Staying within budget without compromising quality was essential for a new indie studio. They were relieved “to find actors who were satisfied with the amount we could offer per role, meaning we were able to find professional actors without surpassing our budget.”
And compared to past approaches, the jump in professionalism was clear. Candidates have impressed them as “more professional compared to our previous methods of casting.”
Several actors are already planning to return if the series moves forward.
Why Backstage stood out
The team described the Backstage workflow as “very intuitive” and appreciated having a dashboard view of messages, auditions, reels, photos, and past work that allowed them to assess talent efficiently.
They appreciated being able to read messages, listen to auditions, and view talent profiles and all in one place, versus the extra “digging” they have had to do using other platforms.
Profile photos helped them get a sense of who they’d be working with, while reels and work samples made talent evaluation sharper. And reviewing auditions became its own source of inspiration.
“Listening to all of the people who took time to apply was really amazing, and we had so many to choose from!”
Talent cast on Backstage
Characters
- Ricky, voiced by Alex Corbett
- Painter, voiced by Matthew Dalton
- Mrs. Carter, voiced by Sarah Buck