Every once and a while, we like to cast a spotlight on new apps that have really impressed us. Sometimes, they’re apps for millennials, like SnapChat; other times, we like to talk about apps that can help solve world crises. But today, we want to talk about a new app revolutionizing an industry – the world of Auditions and Castings.

Now, full disclosure, SDI is the development team behind this project. But this is important: we were but a vessel for the app owners. They came to us with a full-fledged plan, a concept, and even plans for future growth (which we can’t disclose at this time). All we did was tell provide them with the tools to accomplish their dream.

App Revolution

The Castivate team comes from the world of Performance and Acting, so they had an intimate knowledge of the industry. This is the secret to the success of any entrepreneurial venture; we’ve worked on literally thousands of tech projects, providing us with unique insight into this world. When it comes to starting up a new tech tool or service in an existing industry, the most successful businesses are those started by insiders.

Castivate is no different (available for free on both iOS and Android) . For decades, performers have struggled to find the right castings, to get audition opportunities that not only match their skills but are nearby. But Castivate also approached this problem from the perspective of the casting director; a persistent issue with casting directors, especially in the world of acting, is getting talent that actually matches the role they need to fill.

So, Castivate was designed to solve this issue. It sends castings for performers (Dancers, Stage/Film Actors, Singers, and even Models) directly to a User’s phone. Sure, there are other digital options that connect performers to castings calls; mostly in the form of websites, many of them only focus on one performance arena, or one location.

Castivate, on the other hand, searches the internet for all of the performance arenas listed above, pooling it all in one single location. However, the team wanted it to be more than just a list of aggregated auditions. They had strict requirements, the first of which was an expiration date. They wanted old castings for past auditions to be removed from the list, automatically. Other requirements included a robust location feature, where castings would get sent to a user based on their geolocation.

This ensured that performers only got castings calls for local auditions (though users can select to receive all castings!). This feature means that actors, dancers, singers, and models get castings that are actually local to them, instead of combing through a bunch of castings for people clear across the country.

But this is the age of true customization. An era where tech allows us to create apps that rival the intelligence of toddlers (and potentially some adults). So our developers also utilized machine learning and a robust filter to go a step further. When users sign up for castivate, they have the option to set up a personal profile. This profile covers:

♦ Skill set

○ Actor, Singer, Dancer, Model – or all of the above;

♦ Age;

♦ Gender; and

♦ Ethnicity;

When combined with Machine Learning algorithms, Castivate takes this information and compares it to thousands of castings on the internet. Every day, the app selects the most relevant casting and sends it right to their phone. No endless searching for the right casting, no time wasted on auditions that are looking for someone else entirely. Just set up your profile once, and get fresh castings daily without doing anything else.

For Casting Directors, Castivate helps them find the specific talent the role needs. While Castivate doesn’t need to direct input to host auditions, directors can post on the app manually, thereby expanding the potential talent pool. Finally, we want to talk about one last awesome feature that helps both talent and directors: Castivate allows users to upload their headshots and Contact details right onto the app.

Directors can look through thousands of headshots hosted on the app, quickly tapping (or, in the case of the website, clicking) on photos to dive into the details. Even if a director doesn’t directly view the archived photos, we automatically populate headshots between casting calls, dramatically increasing the exposure of our hosted talent. Pretty awesome, right?

At the end of the day, we have an obvious stake in the success of this app. But that being said, we wrote about this because it is a prime example of entrepreneurial ingenuity. This idea would never have occurred to us, but the Castivate team didn’t have the skillset to build the app framework itself. Only when we came together did we build one of the best apps of 2017, in a field that is in dire need of technological innovation.

So, got an idea, but need some tech guidance? Give us a call at 408.805.0495/408.621.8481 – or click to contact us! Oh, and if you’re interested in Castivate, reach out to their team here, or download the app on iOS or Android. It is 100% free – no hidden costs, no signup fees or “platinum” user accounts. Just an amazing, life changing app, for free.

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