How do I get a Disney channel audition if I live abroad?

How to get discovered by Disney?

• Well, I grew up watching the Disney Channel, and I would like to audition.Problem is that I am poor and I cannot afford an agent(I know, that is a huge bump in the road). But I love to act and I think I am really good. I think I have potential for Disney. How do I get them to discover me? Do I send an audition tape, do I post on Youtube? I really don't know what to do to get discovered. I live in New Jersey, and I think they usually have auditions in common places like New York or California. Any experts out there, I need all the help I can get. Thank you in advance.

• Answer:

  Actually, legitimate agents don't charge you money until they find you work. The ones who charge for classes, head shots and other promotional materials are frauds who won't be able to help your career. Since an agent's job is to provide casting directors with experienced, professional actors, you won't be able to find one (a legitimate one) to represent you until you have some professional acting experience. Just about everyone you see on the Disney Channel started out working in community theater, since that's about the only place an aspiring actor can learn while gaining the experience required to access other opportunities. If you enroll in classes at a local theater (they're inexpensive, generally) and show that you're talented and committed to learning and mastering the craft of acting, you'll be considered for roles in upcoming productions. Once you've appeared in a few of those, you'll have the experience required to shop for an agent who may be able to find you other work. Most stage actors also work in commercials, TV and movies, so your theater peers will be able to recommend agents when you're ready to take that step. Just about everyone thinks it would be fun to be on TV, but very few people are willing to do the work necessary to make that a possibility. Most A-list actors spent years doing low-profile work -- theater and commercials -- before landing the parts for which they're known. The dues-paying process is hard to avoid, since it weeds out the people who are serious about acting from those who just want to be famous. That's why agents won't risk their reputations representing amateurs. TV and movie production is incredibly expensive, so directors can't afford to waste time training actors on the job. And if an agent sent an inexperienced actor to a job, his own reputation would be ruined and he'd be pushed out of the business. But if you show that you can recreate the same character night after night on stage without your performances becoming predictable and stale, agents will know you're the real deal, rather than a wannabe, and consider representing you.