There are some major don’t-dos to remember after having been officially booked on a project.  By avoiding these common pitfalls, you’ll make sure you’re not leaving a casting director second-guessing their selection.

The first thing you don’t want to do is bombard a casting director with a thousand emails.  Everyone else already does this, and that’s precisely why many casting directors set up project-specific inboxes that are promptly deleted after production.  It can be a headache to shift through all the messages they receive, so not only will they not appreciate the flooded inbox, chances are they’ll never get to reading yours anyway.  If you’ve been booked, great.  Wait for instructions.

The same goes for phone calls, of course.  Sometimes casting directors give out their direct cell numbers.  If you’ve gotten this line, this is a privilege not to be abused.  They are naturally hesitant to provide their personal number to talent, so if you have it, consider yourself lucky.  You can program it into your phone, so you know who’s calling when they reach out to you, but never call the number repeatedly.  You are likely not the first talent that the director has ever booked, and they understand you’ll need some direction.  So, wait for it.

You’ll want to make sure you carefully read all instructions provided.  Never wait until the last minute or assume any information is trivial.  The entertainment world is a busy place to be, and no one has time to shoot out irrelevant information.  If you’ve received some documentation, you can safely assume it’s vital and you’ll need to spend some time reviewing it.

Do not back out once you’ve been selected unless you are in a life or death situation.  Casting directors need to know you are reliable and can be counted on to report for duty.  They are intolerant of excuses, so if you have to make one, it better be really good because chances are you’ll lose your spot.  Life happens, and sometimes things don’t pan out as expected, but when you’re looking to make it in Hollywood, you’ll have to work extra hard to get your foot in the door and make a name for yourself.  This is not something that should be taken lightly.

If you’ve been booked on a project, great!  You should be proud of your accomplishment.  Remember to always present professionally and keep your connections professional, and you’re sure to pull it off!