We are currently taking on new artists only very rarely. We can only give a chance to very well-trained actors with diverse, professional on-set experience — projects on the German-speaking film market have become fewer, expectations from those casting have grown, and selection criteria have sharpened.

That said, we still take the time to read good applications — but only those that contain everything a professional actor should bring to an application: strong photos, a complete CV, the link to a meaningful showreel, and naturally well-maintained profiles on Schauspielervideos and Filmmakers.

Applications by email to bewerbung@neidig.org.

If you haven't heard from us four weeks after sending your application, you can take that as a polite no. We apologise for that — but we dedicate our full time and energy to the actors we already represent. Reading the many applications on top of that leaves us little capacity for considered, individual replies, and we don't believe in template rejections.

In principle this is possible, but not acceptable for us. It would mean that an actor or actress is pitched by different agencies to the same project at the same time — which causes confusion among casting directors and erodes trust in our agency. We also don't want other agencies harvesting the fruits of our work — on visibility, showreels and social media.

No. Our agency receives commercial casting offers every day and responds to them right away. We don't want to have to check in advance whether a parallel commercial agency has already pitched the same actor. It complicates our work — and just like with film enquiries, it would lead to duplicate casting invitations and confusion.

No. There is no sign-up fee. Our work is funded exclusively through placement commissions.

An acting agency places actors and actresses in TV and feature films, series, streaming-service productions, commercials and theatre. Artists sign a contract with the agency that regulates the placement commission in the event of a successful booking, along with the rights and duties of both parties. The agency presents its artists on its own website, maintains their profiles on the casting platforms Filmmakers and Schauspielervideos, introduces them to casting decision-makers, and promotes them in every possible way — photos and showreels in conversations, individual emails, newsletters, and pitches for new projects.

An acting agency handles fees, leads contract negotiations, and looks after every organisational aspect of a booking before, during and often after a shoot. We make sure artists are presented at their best so that they are easier to find and more often invited to castings. Beyond that, we advise our artists on long-term career planning and support them during role preparation.

Dear film students, we are always glad to support your projects. Because we receive so many requests, please take note of the following:

Time and again we've ended up — after a fairly involved casting process — being offered an unpaid, 'voluntary' contract for our artists. We always reject these contracts. Voluntary work is something you choose to do freely, which is not the case here. We insist that the type of contract intended for the successful actor (cost-only compensation, German minimum wage, deferred payment, profit-sharing) is communicated to us in writing in the original enquiry from the relevant film school.

Because we can't pass on the cost of our work in support of film students to our artists — even when only the German minimum wage is paid — we charge a placement fee of €100 plus 19% VAT for every successful placement on a student production. This is non-negotiable and must be explicitly acknowledged in the initial enquiry.

Step 1

Send your enquiry by email with the key project information:

• Project name
• Shoot period
• Shoot location
• Number of shoot days
• Role description / lead / supporting
• Synopsis
• Screenplay
• Director's name + CV or filmography
• Fee / cost-only compensation / deferred payment terms
• Casting information (time, place, sides)
• Your contact details — phone numbers with voicemail, email signature

Step 2

We're happy to forward complete enquiries to our artists and give you feedback on their response, or the artists will get in touch with you directly. Please plan for no more than two casting rounds. Be decisive — otherwise you may lose good actors along the way.

Step 3

If an actor moves to the next round or is cast, the agency always receives the information first and passes it on to the artist.

Step 4

Once cast, please send us a draft contract by email.

Step 5

All contracts must include a clause stating that the actors will receive a download link to the film as soon as the rough cut is complete.

Short films and feature films that don't include compensation for the actors are handled like this: send us your enquiry by email with the key project information:

• Project name
• Shoot period
• Shoot location
• Number of shoot days
• Role description / lead / supporting
• Synopsis
• Screenplay
• Director's name + CV or filmography
• Fee / cost-only compensation / deferred payment terms
• Casting information (time, place, sides)
• Your contact details — phone numbers with voicemail, email signature

We're happy to forward complete enquiries to our artists, who will then get in touch with you directly if interested. Castings are arranged directly between you. If our artists aren't interested, they may not always reply — in which case you won't hear back from us either.

After a successful casting, draft the contract and send it first to our agency by email — we'll review it. Because we can't pass on the cost of our work to our artists, even when only the German minimum wage is paid, we charge a placement fee of €100 plus 19% VAT for every successful placement on a no-budget production. This is non-negotiable and must be explicitly acknowledged in the initial enquiry.

All contracts must include a clause stating that the actors will receive a download link to the film as soon as the rough cut is complete.

Broadcasters keep individual fee lists for every actor. ZDF in particular is very strict about it. From age 18, actors receive a daily rate of €850. ZDF lists this rate for three years, after which it rises to €900. Every three years there's a 10% increase. From day 10 of shooting onwards, rates are capped — ZDF, in effect, asks for a volume discount of about 10%. It doesn't mean nine days at full rate and then less from day 10; it means that all shoot days from day 10 are paid at 10% below your listed rate.

More and more often, a special fee is announced by casting directors before the audition — to be filmed for at that rate if successful. If you don't accept this special fee, or the cap (the maximum fee for a particular format or role), there's no point auditioning. Even an excellent audition won't get you more money afterwards.

ZDF fees are therefore not freely negotiable with the production manager after a successful placement. What can be negotiated then are other points — travel and accommodation, recognition of blocked dates, and so on.

ZDF has MW fees for some formats — meaning that for every repeat broadcast, a repeat fee of 10% of the original rate is due. Some formats use MA fees — including a buyout and usually 10% above the MW fee, but without any repeat fees, no matter how often the film airs. Years ago, a repeat used to count as a repeat; for some time now savings have been made and the first night-time airing, the next morning's airing, the first airing on a niche channel and so on are no longer compensated. It now takes a while before ZDF actually counts a repeat as a repeat.

The Degeto also maintains lists; these tend to be a touch more generous.

Fees at the ARD regional stations are negotiable in principle, but there is often an overall budget for the fees on a particular film or series. It might be that the budget for a given role is, say, €1,500 per shoot day. Even if older, experienced actors — or already well-known ones — had reached daily rates above €2,000 on ARD productions before, they'll have to make do with the €1,500 in this case, or the role goes to someone willing to. Degeto and ARD stations also cap from day 10 onwards.

Fees at private broadcasters, streaming services and feature films are freely negotiable. The production will, however, look closely at which formats the actor has already worked on. If an actor has only appeared in short films, or an actress has mainly worked at ZDF and (given her age) was likely paid around €1,200 per day, then a streaming production's production manager is often willing to add something — but usually not much. Why would they, if they recognise the low market value of that person?

The agency has the strongest negotiating position with actors who have worked for different broadcasters and across a varied range of TV and cinema formats, so that a clear market value is harder to read and there's more room to negotiate.

Roles in the daily series of RTL, Sat.1 and ProSieben come with monthly fees — flat rates, regardless of how many shoot days you had in a given month. Divided across the actual days, the daily rate is fairly small, but you're financially and socially secured for many months, sometimes a year or more, and don't have to worry about the near future.

Acting has always been a difficult business, simply because there are far more actors — those still hoping to become one, and well-trained artists already at work. Until recently, around 5% of German-speaking actors could live from this profession without having to take on another job at the same time, or in between.

There have always been many more applicants than roles. Men have slightly better odds because more roles are written for men while proportionally fewer male actors are on the market. Times have grown harder, less is being shot in Germany, and it is estimated that only about 1% of actors today live exclusively from acting.

For actors over 18 who, as teenagers, weren't able to build an impressive CV or a professional showreel with diverse, interesting broadcast formats, the queue is long. Anyone who has gathered substantial on-set experience on relevant projects (short films don't count) is preferred by productions and broadcasters. As long as there are well-known actors without bookings, newcomers have very little chance of a role outside no-budget productions. Right now, plenty of well-known actors are out of work and are even shooting for lower fees than ever before. Why would anyone spend money on lesser-known actors? That's what casting decision-makers are asking — and they're betting on name recognition, certainty, and ratings.

That's also why we can't take on applicants who aren't yet known to casting directors and don't yet have strong application material. We are fully occupied keeping the actors we already represent — who have many projects behind them — visible and in the running. Even a degree of fame these days no longer protects from unemployment.