We supply performers to shoots, not only to stages. If you need a face-changer, an acrobat, a martial artist or a Chinese opera role on a call sheet, this page tells you how we work and what we will need from you.
WHAT WE CAST
- Bian Lian 变脸 — Sichuan opera face-changing, including fire-breathing variants
- Chinese acrobatics — contortion, chair stacking, foot juggling, diabolo, aerial
- Martial arts — Shaolin forms, weapon work, ensemble and solo, adult and youth
- Chinese classical dance — Tang, Han and Song repertoire, solo and ensemble
- Chinese opera roles — including the Monkey King 美猴王 and character work
- Musicians — guzheng, pipa, erhu, dizi, percussion
- Heritage specialists — lion and dragon dance, shadow and string puppetry, sugar painting, calligraphy
- Fire performers — iron fireworks, fire pot, wind-fire rings (China-based; ask us about travel)
- Ensemble and background — we hold our own 52-member troupe, so a crowd of trained performers is a booking rather than a search
Body doubles, stunt-adjacent performance and doubles for a named artist are all work we have done. Tell us the role rather than the act and we will cast to it.
WHAT WE SEND YOU
Within one working day of a brief, normally:
- Portfolio and recent credits for each performer proposed
- Current full-body and head photography
- Height, measurements and shoe size
- Unedited performance video — not a showreel cut
- Short bio, languages spoken and level
- Day rate, half-day rate and overtime terms
- Current city and country, and passport status
- Availability against your dates
If the role is specific — a particular height, a particular build, a double for a named artist — send the reference and the measurements and we will come back with who fits, or tell you plainly that nobody does.
WHAT WE NEED FROM YOU
The more of this we have up front, the faster and more useful the first reply:
- Shoot dates, including travel days
- Location — country, city, studio or location
- The role — what the performer is doing on camera, and for how long
- Usage — territories, media and duration. See below; this materially changes the fee
- Budget range for the performer, and separately for costume if you need it
- Who is contracting — the production company, the agency, or an intermediary
- Who arranges work authorisation and filming permits at the location
RIGHTS AND USAGE — PLEASE RAISE THIS EARLY
A day rate is a day rate. It is not a worldwide perpetual buyout, and we would rather agree the difference before the shoot than discover it afterwards.
Tell us the territories, the media, and how long you need the performance for, and we will quote accordingly. A single-market commercial for twelve months and a worldwide feature in perpetuity are different numbers, and both are fine — they just need to be the number we agreed.
A NOTE ON WHAT CAN BE FILMED
Some of what we cast is protected by the tradition it comes from. Bian Lian is the clearest case: the method is a closely guarded secret passed within a small number of families, and performers do not demonstrate or explain it.
That does not stop you filming the act — it is filmed constantly. It does mean we will want to understand early whether the shoot involves close-ups of the mechanism, a performer teaching the technique to another artist, or anything that would require the method to be shown. If it does, we will tell you what is possible and what is not before you build a schedule around it.
TRAVEL AND DOCUMENTATION
Our performers travel internationally and hold valid passports.
- Four to six weeks is comfortable for visas and documentation. We have worked to shorter notice, and will tell you honestly whether your dates are achievable
- Most performers work in basic English; our bilingual production staff travel with larger bookings
- Performers are experienced with call sheets, unit moves and long shoot days
- Work authorisation at the location is the production’s responsibility. Tourist entry usually does not cover paid work, and we will ask you to confirm the route before anyone books a flight
COSTUME AND PROPS
Costume, headpieces, masks, footwear and props travel with the performer as standard.
If you need something built — a specific colour, a duplicate set for a double, a costume matched to an artist’s measurements — we can quote for:
- Use of an existing costume from our wardrobe
- Rental
- Alteration of an existing costume to your measurements
- New build to specification
Build times vary by complexity. Tell us the reference and the measurements and we will come back with options, timings and a price. Fabrication starts on receipt of a deposit, since a costume built to one artist’s measurements has no second use.
HOW IT USUALLY GOES
- You send the brief
- We come back within a working day with candidates, video, measurements and rates
- You shortlist; we arrange a call or a self-tape if you want one
- We agree fee, usage and costume terms in writing
- We handle documentation, travel and the performer on the ground
Casting something now?
Send the dates, the location, the role and the usage. If we have the right performer we will say so within a working day — and if we do not, we will say that too.
More from ING
- Performances → the full list of acts we cast
- Performances → Bian Lian 变脸
- Performances → Chinese Acrobatics 杂技
- Our Work → Hunan Satellite TV 华人春晚