Explore Talent promotes itself as the world’s largest, online talent website, with a community of over 2.5 million members, which may be possible, if you include the U.S.A. and Canada. Paying members are promised exposure to casting directors and producers through over 60,000 casting calls and auditions for union (S.A.G., A.F.T.R.A., and Equity) and non-union acting, modeling, music, dance, and crew work. Explore Talent also claims to be the most viewed casting site by entertainment industry professionals. This is very impressive compared to the other online services we’ve seen out there. Members can e-mail an Explore Talent profile (headshot & resume) electronically rather than searching for files and attachments on a home computer or laptop. Members can also submit or attend open calls locally, in their hometown, or in any city or town in the United States or Canada. This can be especially helpful if you live in Fargo, North Dakota or Raleigh, North Carolina; I mean, anybody can find you auditions in Los Angeles or New York City.

According to the site’s main page, they list auditions and casting calls for all the major TV networks (broadcast and cable), Film (major Motion Picture Studios and Independents), Theater, Dance, and Modeling (runway, print, Internet, and promotional). Musicians can search for gigs in their area or submit their music page to Music Producers, Distributors, and Labels all over the U.S.A. I know a lot of musicians will be really pleased with this. I think anyone would be impressed with the online resource section, which claims more than 20,000 listings for talent related services such as Agencies (Modeling and Acting), Talent Managers, Casting Directors, Photographers, Acting Coaches and Schools, Studios, Print Shops, and more. It would be awesome to have all of this contact info right at your fingertips. You can also compose and send an SMS message directly from the website to a friend’s cell phone. Pretty neat.

Overall, Explore Talent seems to be the best casting website in a field that is truly lacking direction, empathy, consistency, substance, or for that matter…principles. With the high-end price for a one-time, flat rate (no monthly fees or other charges) of $199.50 for one year (there’s also a 6-month and 3-month rate) Explore Talent is the least expensive and risky of the lot. If all true, this just might be the easiest and fastest way to promote yourself and your career. Personally, I like the idea that members have access to Talent Advisors or Customer Service for personal attention; we actually called both departments and had our call answered in minutes by a very friendly and helpful human being. We recommend that you explore Explore Talent.