Backstage - Casting Calls

What it does

Backstage is a professional marketplace for the entertainment industry. The app serves as a central hub for actors, performers, and crew to discover and apply for casting calls and other production jobs. Users can create detailed professional profiles, browse extensive job listings, and filter opportunities based on specific criteria to find relevant roles.

Where it shines

Backstage excels at providing powerful, granular control over job discovery. The filtering system, shown at 02:43, is comprehensive, allowing users to narrow down thousands of projects by gender, age, location, and even submission type. This turns a potentially overwhelming firehose of listings into a manageable and relevant list. Another highlight is the clear structure of the job detail pages (01:41), which cleanly separate project information from specific role descriptions, making it easy for talent to quickly assess if an opportunity is a good fit.

UX highlights

Actionable Job Feed: The main feed (01:29) presents key information upfront, including project type, pay status, and union status, using clear tags for quick scanning.
Comprehensive Filtering: The filter menu (02:43) offers deep customization, including age ranges, location proximity, and exclusionary options like 'Work from home'.
Saved Searches: Users can save complex filter configurations as a named search (03:35), which streamlines future job hunting and enables notifications for new matches.
Profile Strength Gamification: A '5/10' meter (06:13) encourages users to complete their profiles by creating a clear, visual goal.
Feed Curation: A small eye icon allows users to hide irrelevant jobs (04:19), personalizing their feed and reducing clutter over time.
Clear Role Breakdowns: Inside a project, each available role is listed in its own card with 'Apply Now' and 'Save Draft' buttons, simplifying the application process (01:43).

Monetization & growth

Monetization is introduced early. After a brief feature carousel and account sign-up, the user is immediately presented with a paywall at 01:17. The app does not appear to offer a free trial. Instead, it presents three paid subscription plans: monthly, 3-month, and a 12-month plan with a 'SAVE 50%' introductory offer. Key features, like applying for jobs or even saving a draft application, are locked behind this subscription, making it a core requirement for any meaningful use of the app.

Who it’s for

This app is clearly designed for aspiring and professional talent in the performing arts and production industries. This includes screen actors, stage performers, voiceover artists, and crew members. The feature set is tailored for individuals actively seeking work, who need efficient tools to sift through numerous opportunities and manage their applications.

Notes & opportunities

While the app is powerful, the user is required to sign up and subscribe before seeing the actual job listings. This could be a point of friction. Allowing users to browse the feed in a limited, view-only state before committing might increase conversion by demonstrating the value of the content first. Additionally, the profile creation flow (starting at 04:52) happens after the main onboarding, which could be an opportunity to integrate a few key profile questions earlier to personalize the initial job feed.