Hiring Local Talent and Extras in Austria
A practical approach to local casting, clear booking terms and production-specific checks in Austria.
A Vienna dialogue scene and a Carinthian location shoot need different casting plans. The role breakdown, language, travel and dates should determine where a production looks for performers, not a generic claim about how many Austrian agencies exist. Before anyone is booked, the production also needs to establish the agreement, rights, payment route and any special safeguards that apply to the people being filmed. This guide offers a practical sequence for that work. It does not provide an Austrian rate card or assume that a union agreement, tax treatment or working-time rule applies to every performer. Those questions depend on the production and must be checked with qualified local advisers. One particularly important exception to an ordinary adult casting workflow is the participation of children: the Austrian Labour Inspectorate provides explicit guidance on authorisation for children's appearances and recordings.
As Fixers in Austria, we bring local expertise to international productions filming in Austria. Our team's deep knowledge of local regulations, crew networks, and production infrastructure ensures your project runs smoothly from pre-production through delivery.
ACT 01
Turn the script into a usable casting brief
Start with what each scene requires. Distinguish speaking roles from featured background, general crowd and specialist action. Give the casting lead the shoot location, dates, likely number of days, dialogue and language requirements, mobility or performance skills, wardrobe expectations and any sensitive or physically demanding action. Explain whether a dialect is essential to the character or merely a preference. A regional label does not tell you what an individual performer can do.
Set out the rights package
State the intended use of the material: format, distribution channels, territories, duration and any contemplated stills or advertising. Ask the producer to identify what can be negotiated and what is essential to the commission. A useful brief gives a supplier enough information to quote the work and lets candidates understand what they are auditioning for, rather than leaving usage to be resolved after a creative decision.
Bring local knowledge into the brief
When casting a historically or culturally specific part, bring appropriate local knowledge into the brief. Avoid inferring language, citizenship or lived experience from appearance. Share only the audition material candidates need, and avoid asking them to disclose irrelevant private information to demonstrate “authenticity.”
ACT 02
Search by location and supplier scope
Austria is not a single interchangeable casting market. A shoot in Vienna, Carinthia or another province may call for different local contacts, travel plans and search channels. The Carinthia Film Commission describes itself as a first point of contact for filmmakers in Carinthia and says it can refer companies and services and assist with filming permits. That is evidence of a regional production resource, not proof that it represents actors or books extras. Ask each potential casting supplier precisely what it covers.
Compare supplier proposals
A good supplier comparison starts with the same written brief. Ask how speaking performers and extras will be sourced; who handles submissions, auditions, candidate communication and confirmations; whether a second local team is needed for another location; and what experience the proposed people have with the specific work. Ask for references and a written breakdown of casting service fees, performer fees, expenses, cancellation arrangements and responsibility for personal data.
Distinguish directories from casting
Do not substitute a commission directory for due diligence. Film-location and production-support contacts can help establish a route into a region, but selecting and engaging performers remains a separate commercial and legal decision. For a multi-unit shoot, nominate a single person to reconcile lists and changes so that no performer receives conflicting dates or terms.
ACT 03
Set realistic decision points
Work backwards from the shoot and the approvals the role requires. A speaking part may need dialogue assessment and a callback. Background work needs numbers, continuity requirements and a check-in plan. An action or intimacy scene needs advance safety and consent planning. Child participation raises an authorisation question before the production can treat the performer as an ordinary booking.
Put approvals on the schedule
Place milestones for the brief, search, shortlist, creative approval, contract review, any authority process, fitting and confirmed call on a single schedule. A production-specific timetable should also allow for changes in location, weather or performers without promising work that has not been agreed.
Tell candidates what to expect
Tell candidates what is requested at each audition, whether it will be filmed, who will review the file and when they can expect an answer. Offer reasonable access or interpretation arrangements where necessary. An availability enquiry is not a booking; tell people clearly when they are on a tentative hold and when the work has been confirmed.
ACT 04
Check terms, rights and payment before confirmation
Identify who will engage and pay the performer. Then agree the role or action, dates and locations, compensation basis, reimbursable expenses, fittings and rehearsals, cancellation or changed-work terms, and the intended use of image, voice and performance. Record these in appropriate locally reviewed documentation. A self-tape submission or an exchange of call details should not be treated as a complete agreement for every use of a recorded performance.
Seek local status advice
Ask Austrian production counsel and payroll specialists which employment, collective, social-insurance, tax, work-status and safety rules apply to the particular engagement. Ask the adviser to identify any applicable collective agreement and explain its coverage rather than inferring terms from a union name. A foreign production should also seek individual work-authorisation advice where relevant rather than assuming entry permission resolves paid performance.
Build a scoped budget
Build a budget from scoped quotes, not assumed daily prices, commission percentages, contribution percentages or travel-distance thresholds. If someone invokes an agreement or tariff, ask for its name, current version, coverage and applicability to this production and performer category. Keep contractual fees, casting-service charges, payroll administration, travel, fittings, usage and contingencies as separate budget lines so there is something concrete to review.
ACT 05
Give child performers an independent approval track
The Austrian Labour Inspectorate says participation by a child in photo, film, television and sound recordings requires an appearance permit issued by the relevant provincial authority. Section 2 of the Austrian Children and Young Persons Employment Act defines a child as a minor below 15 or one who finishes compulsory schooling later; the City of Vienna service page describes children below 15. Ask the authority which rules apply to a 15- to 17-year-old, including a minor still in compulsory schooling. The permit depends on the nature of the work: the guidance specifies a particular interest of art, science or education, or advertising recordings, along with written consent from legal representatives. A proposed recording does not automatically qualify. The application goes to the office of the provincial government of the province where the recording will take place. A parent's consent is necessary within that process, not a substitute for the authority's decision.
Check the provincial process
Bring the production's local counsel and the responsible provincial office into the planning before committing a child to work. Obtain the current application materials, check the actual type of recording and the child's circumstances, and confirm which medical or other supporting documents the office needs. The Labour Inspectorate lists additional conditions for income-generating appearances; Vienna also lists supporting declarations and opinions that can affect an application. The two pages differ on the scope of an ophthalmologist's assessment for recordings. Ask the responsible office and Austrian counsel which medical opinion, municipal declaration and other supporting documents apply rather than assuming one form fits every child.
Keep Vienna guidance local
For a Vienna shoot, the City of Vienna publishes its own appearance-permit application page for children employed in photo, film, TV and sound recordings in Vienna. The City says to submit the application no later than six weeks before the event. That is a Vienna filing instruction, not an Austria-wide processing guarantee or assurance that the permit will be granted. Check the applicable office for a shoot in another province, and do not assume a booked call, submitted application or parental signature is already an issued permit.
Plan for the child's welfare
The child's welfare is a production concern beyond paperwork. Make the scenes, schedule, supervision, travel, education and contact arrangements clear to the child and family in age-appropriate terms. Check the permitted working conditions in the actual decision rather than inserting adult call-sheet assumptions into a child schedule. If the script or location changes, review what was authorised before the change is filmed.
ACT 06
Make the set ready for the people cast
Send confirmed call information securely: arrival point, named contact, expected work, scene and wardrobe notes, transport instructions and a way to report delays or ask questions. For a large group, decide who checks people in, gives safety directions, records continuity and manages any change of action. Allow the people performing to understand what is expected of them; provide interpretation when it is needed for safe and informed participation.
Protect audition files
Limit access to audition files and personal details to those who need them. Tell candidates how submitted recordings will be used and retained, and check the production's privacy process with local advisers. If a scene becomes more intimate, dangerous or otherwise materially different, stop and reassess consent, safety, agreed rights and contractual changes. A booking for one action should not silently expand to another.
Reconcile work at wrap
At wrap, reconcile attendance, changes, agreed expenses and documentation through the named production contact. Ask the paying entity to communicate how and when the agreed payment will be processed. Do not assume a standard settlement time or fee practice without checking the agreed terms and applicable rules.
ACT 07
Common Questions
Where can a production find local contacts?
Start with the shoot province and the role brief. A regional commission may help point a production to services: Carinthia's commission explicitly describes referrals and production support in its region. Ask suppliers about their actual casting scope and terms rather than treating a location-service directory as a talent agency.
How early should casting begin?
As soon as the scene requirements, dates and usage can be shared meaningfully. Build a project-specific schedule for approvals, auditions, terms, any child permit and final calls. For children working in Vienna, check the City's instruction to apply at least six weeks before the event.
Is there a standard Austrian extra rate?
No nationwide rate is verified by this guide. Get a quote for the work and proposed rights and ask a qualified Austrian adviser to check any applicable agreement, engagement model and payroll treatment.
Is parental consent enough for a child in a film?
Do not assume so. The Austrian Labour Inspectorate describes an appearance-permit process for children's participation in recordings and requires written consent as one element. Contact the provincial authority for the shoot location and check the actual decision before work.
Do all film performers fall under the same union terms?
Not necessarily. Identify the actual contracting party, production type and performer category, then ask local counsel to identify any relevant current agreement and its scope. Do not turn a union name into a universal rate or working-day rule.
What should a performer booking include?
Identify the work, date and location, fee, expenses, planned usage, fittings, changes and cancellation terms, contracting and paying parties, and a contact for day-of issues. Have the relevant terms reviewed for the actual production.
Sources
- Carinthia Film Commission — Regional production support and referrals
- Austrian Federal Legal Information System — Child definition, KJBG section 2
- Austrian Federal Legal Information System — Child appearance permits, KJBG section 6
- Austrian Labour Inspectorate — Child appearances and recordings
- City of Vienna — Child appearance permit and local application guidance
Ready to Roll
Plan Local Casting in Austria
Share the breakdown, shoot provinces and rights package with a local production partner. Compare scoped casting proposals and agree who owns each approval. Bring the right Austrian advisers and provincial office into any legal or child-participation question before a tentative hold becomes a confirmed booking. Contact Fixers in Austria to discuss your next project.