Castability App Launches, Selling Actors Casting Directors' Verdicts for $35 a Month

The casting-feedback app Castability officially launched earlier this month, ending a beta run that stretched back to November 2020. A subscription costs $35 monthly after a two-week free trial.

The premise is straightforward. Actors film original scenes on their phones, submit them, and receive scores and critiques from working casting directors. Users get new scenes every week. Each performance is judged on three metrics: "technique," "believability" and "creativity." Alongside the scores, actors are told what worked and what needs improvement. Rankings and highlights of top performers are under consideration.

Jay Boyer founded the company and began building it a decade ago. Amanda Lenker Doyle, CSA, serves as director of casting; her recent credits include "Scooby-Doo: Origins," "Chad Powers," "Cape Fear" and "Murdaugh: Death of the Family." Cronin Cullen, Jackie Rhoads and Taylor Shurte rounded out the development team, with design and engineering by Goji Labs.

What does the app actually promise?

Feedback, mostly — a commodity the industry has always rationed. "Actors are constantly being evaluated, but they're rarely given the information they need to grow," Boyer said in a statement. "We built Castability to give actors something tangible: honest feedback from people who understand the craft, greater visibility into their performances and the ability to see their progress. It's about putting some of that power back into actors' hands."

Lenker Doyle framed the value as transparency. "One of the hardest parts of navigating this industry is the uncertainty. So much of the casting and filmmaking process happens behind closed doors, and actors are left guessing," she said in a statement. "Castability pulls back the curtain, showing actors how the casting process really works. It's education I wish every actor had access to, and after six years of building it, I'm thrilled to finally share it."

Why now?

The founders point to two industry shifts. First, the pandemic eliminated most in-person casting sessions and made self-tapes (audition videos recorded by actors themselves) the standard for film and TV projects. Second, runaway production has scattered work beyond Los Angeles, leaving actors in smaller markets without easy access to industry gatekeepers.

"An actor in Tulsa can now get the same professional eyes on their work as an actor in Los Angeles or New York," the founders noted.

Boyer started work on the app ten years ago and opened early access in November 2020, with paid access following in 2021. The app stayed in beta for years while Boyer and Lenker Doyle expanded the service — a leisurely build for a product now selling speed-of-delivery critiques.

The app is available on both iPhone and Android. Whether professional feedback at $35 a month becomes a career investment or another subscription line item will depend on whether casting directors' scores translate into actual auditions — a question the launch, notably, does not answer.