Biggest Loser casting tips (season 14)
Biggest Loser is getting ready to start casting for season 14! Casting calls will be happening this summer and will be posted soon on the Biggest Loser casting website. Basically, this post is a collection of tips I’ve written based on my experience making the cast of season three, as well as some links to casting advice I don’t think you should miss:
- NBC has posted casting information and the application here. They have all the casting news and information on a special blog just for Biggest Loser casting, which you can find here.
- Pete Thomas, the season 2 $100,000 winner has some of the best casting call advice out there, which you can find at his website, Winning Man.
- Holland, a casting director for Biggest Loser sent me a bunch of great advice on how to be casted, you can find it here. She updated them October, 2009.
- I’ve been posting these casting tips for the last few seasons and they always seem to end up with thousands of comments; just about every season has contestants that were hanging out on here, reading and giving each other thoughts and advice. You can find the most recent one here.
- If you’re dealing with disappointment about not being cast, then check out my post on Biggest Loser casting disappointment.
One of the questions I hear a lot is about money … how do contestants afford to be away from home and work for months at a time? I don’t know what it is now, but when I was a contestant there was a $500 a week stipend for cast members on the ranch. When you received the check you could cash it and spend it, send it home, save it, whatever. All airplane tickets, hotel accommodations, etc., for the contestants and potential cast members are taken care of by NBC, and during the casting process it self there was a $50 per diem to cover food costs.
Another question is timing; typically a season lasts for about 8-9 months. About four of this is spent in filming; if you last all the way until the final three or four, you could be away from home for as much as four months or so. Once the ranch filming wraps and the last few contestants are sent home, however, there is still another four or five months that all the contestants have to continue losing weight until the finale. In addition, potential cast members are flown out to California a couple weeks before filming begins for the final round of casting, medical checkups, psychological evals, etc. NBC brings out more people than what they need and the cast is not finalized until filming literally begins. People have been cut at the last minute and replacements flown in with hardly any time to spare. Nothing is in stone until it’s on camera!
When will you hear from Biggest Loser about your video? There is no way of knowing. I heard back a few weeks after I sent it in, but even after that it’s a big waiting game. If you get a phone number or email from a casting direction, definitely drop them a line/call every couple weeks to find out if you’re still in the running or what’s going on. Schedules and plans change almost every day, so it’s easy to get lost in the shuffle. If you don’t hear back within a month I would think your video didn’t make the cut. That doesn’t mean you can’t send in another or visit a casting call – it’s just up to you!
Finally, here’s my video application tips! This is by no means a recipe for success; it’s based on my video application and the conversations I had with casting directors out in LA in between things. I was pretty curious about the whole process so I was pumping them for info even after filming began. I’m such a nerd!
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They’ve usually decided if they’re interested in you within the first 30-60 seconds of your video, so front load it with your best stuff. Make it interesting! Start off with something funny or exciting!
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Keep in mind, if you’re going to be cast, your video is going to be watched hundreds of times by producers, executives, casting directors, etc. If it bores you or your friends the second or third time watching it … put some more time into it!
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Special effects? Don’t bother! We’ve all got video editing software with all sorts of bells and whistles on our home computers, but fancy transitions are not going to sell you to people who do video editing for a living. In fact, it can distract from who you are. I’m a video editing nerd and I didn’t use any special effects other than putting my name and contact info on as a subtitle at the beginning.
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Don’t bother talking about why you need to lose weight. When I first started filming my audition video I started describing all of my health reasons for losing weight – but when I was watching it back, I realized … they don’t need to hear it! One look at me was all they needed to know I needed to lose weight! Show them why you need to lose it; I said I needed to lose weight for my kids, and then I followed it with a minute or two of the best footage I could find of me with wrestling with my three boys. We probably filmed half an hour of that insanity and I grabbed the cutest, loudest, and funniest few moments for the audition video. Your physical need to lose weight is not nearly as interesting as who or what your losing the weight for.
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Live loud! Reality TV is over the top, dramatic, and filled with loud personalities. They need to see that on your video! I wanted them to know that even though I was morbidly obese I was up to the challenge of the crazy competitions and workouts – so I threw on a bunch of clips from my different youth group activities; me getting slimed, snowtubing, playing paintball, screaming at events, being on stage, running around … you get the idea. Other contestants did things appropriate to their lives; Tim from Oregon had himself spinning out on his Harley, Tim from Delaware recruited his elementary school class to do things with him, Heather Hanson filmed herself running around in a sports bra all day doing her household chores and errands. The less talking and more action you can have, the better (in my opinion)!
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If you have footage or photos of yourself thin, include those at some point on the video. If you can show them what your after will be, then do it!
Remember, enjoy the conversation here and know that I will never compromise your anonymity – not to NBC, 3Ball, Casting Directors or anyone. You can post anonymously, or you can leave your names and contact information … just remember that NBC likes to be the one announcing their cast for the show, so if you start identifying yourself publicly as a finalist, you’ll probably find yourself eliminated from the casting process. Be aware that casting directors do check in at my blog to see what people are saying, get a feel for what questions are going on out there, and sometimes to give us updates. Good luck to everyone … and let me know if you make the show! I get a kick out of hearing about the different contestants that have hung out on my blog before making the show! 
I'm Matthew, and you've found my blog! I'm married to Heather, a father of four boys, the Youth Pastor at Brandywine Valley Baptist Church, and former contestant on NBC's Biggest Loser.
HAVE been eating pretty healthy
And…
Will not allow myself TO GAIN weight
Oops
Ugh…jury duty tomorrow! Maybe that’s what the fortune teller meant when she said she saw a “sequester” in my future…NOT TBL! LOL JK Bedtime has passed…
I can’t remember who asked me about my correspondence with someone in LA but I would rather not say how it came about but Corndawg did a great job of confirming what I had known to be true. Again, I think a lot of us will have some answers by Friday or Monday…..try to enjoy your Thursday and enjoy the correspondence when you get it from Angelic telling you all the great news
Hey, did we ever decide what the “sign” is if a McNutty makes the show?
Thanks rogue… Glad we have a few father figures in the board to help us stay positive
and mother figures for that matter 
maybe we can do a jump for joy on the scale or use jazz hands.. Maybe say a phrase!?
@cheeks I’m rooting for you!!! Stay positive!
Shoulda been a Pi- you’ll know me sooner or later
if its later then I know you will figure it out first! (no hidden message y’all… I’m just at the first angelic email still)
2legit2quit: good luck…. It’s hard for us because we haven’t heard yet our fate but we are all happy for our mcnuttys to move on up!!!
Who else:.. Big fat Guy….Tempted… Sunshine&Raindrops. ..Squeen…anonymous …Hi ya…Chunky-monkey..BigMamaLove…going crazy…. Corndawg… & mister… ( sHarK Week) …. And to all you creepers… Quiet scrollers….. Casting directors… May your evening and rest of the week be filled with love joy & happiness…. Goodnight from the western timezone!
WOW!
I had corn and dogs for supper last night. 3 ears of corn-on-the-cob AND 2 hot dogs. I’d say lol, but I did for real.
DANG! A lot goes on in the wee hours of the night around here! I guess I went to bed too early.
Well, if Corn Dawg is legit, then I guess I never had a chance this season considering I chose to snail mail my video. DARN! I thought it was a particularly good one, too! I wish I was mature enough to say “Well, I guess it wasn’t meant to be” but I’m not. I’m feeling a little video rage over here!
@Cheeks- what do you think of the claim that all videos that will be watched have been?
Its official board; 2L2Q is definitely legit; 100%.
@2L2Q
I contacted them this AM and aked them to contact you, if you don’t mind. You can then catch up; you may be amazed at how they lost the 90. Even though I always thought you were legit, Sorry I was so sarcastic; but I’m sure you understand…
I’m not wanting to hurt any feelings on here either, that’s why I’m called BigMamaLove!! 2L2Q, sorry for doubting you! Here’s to hoping we all get to cheer you on for season 14!
…Now I have questions about Corndawg…hmmm…PI, this is up your alley, get on it…lol
…Of course, they both could be right…
…Well, gotta go to my Dr.’s Appt!!!
Nah…not that one…l
Everyone needs to calm the eff down…lol
I have a question for Corn dawg. If your video shows 2 views, but no email or call as of yet does that mean I’m out? The last view was 08/02.
…..went to bed early last night, for a change, I see a lot when on while I was in BLRanch dreamland!! ….hoping and prayng here that I am still in the running!!
@shouldabeenaPl ~ yummmm corn & dogs…
@tempted~ not necessarily the wee hours ….. for me it was just 11pm : ) …I also am confused about the “all videos that will be watched” maybe CD can be more clear?
@BFG~ if he s 2L2q….what step does that make him at? good luck @ your Doc. apt.c
@BML~ I agree…we all want to cheer him/her on.. just not ready for the let down
@justme ~maybe not : ) you never know until its over …they can be holding on to you for various reasons!
@EVERY1~ So our assumption is knowing more by this friday/ tomorrow? Anyone?!?!…. even the deep fried meat on a stick want to chime in on this one?….
@2L2Q did you goto a casting call or did you have the veteran treatment!?… wondering if they do things in legs…and if you were part of the first leg lol…did you angelic email come on 8/1 or before that..
@BFG….sent you email
Hello board…as it looks like we are nearing doctors notes and contracts… Can the people who move on please just let us know… Nicely … Maybe say ” level up”…
Everyone, this is crunch time…With the exception of a possible AM “Youre still in the Running” email, everyone’s gonna be asked for different stuff at different times; IF youre still in.
Some of you are obsessing WAY too much. You are really setting yourself up for an awful crash and monitoring this site 24/7 is only gonna make that crash worse. Most updates and FN’s are released in the afternoon; check in once or twice late in the day. So relax, get on with your life, the overwhelming odds are you did not make it…
@cheeks I’m rooting for you!!! Stay positive!
Thanks Curious!!
@Tempted
It’s quite possible that the videos have been watched if they’re going with some new format for the show (incl. teens), but like I’ve said before I have heard directly that the CDs watch videos right to the very end. I agree with you that it’s extremely disappointing and frankly, misleading if you are told ‘all videos will be watched’, that are sent in by the deadline, and then they are not. It also makes me wonder if Season 14 will be a teen show. I’m sorry I forget who mentioned that Ian (CD) had said they would be casting back to back for Season 15, so wonder if we’d be in the running for that?? It’s all so confusing. It would be really, really helpful if a CD could post a note on FB or Twitter or right here! Just to give us a 2 min. update!
@BFG- “FN” Finalist notification?.. I
@Cheeks… the 2min update would be nice,, even from corndawg lol : D
love u all & happy thursday.. plans for the weekend?!
The fact that casting seems to have fallen off the face of the earth is interesting to say the least! But, IMO they haven’t been nearly as “open book” as they have in the past. I kind of think they have decided people go a little crazy with too much communication!
Obviously the “concept” for season 14 changed with the addition of the teen concept…. if that were the idea all along they would have been promoting it. So, maybe other things are changing with it! And maybe that is why so many of us feel “left in the dark”. That is the positive spin side of me…..
Cause I just don’t want to believe it will be over tomorrow without having viewed my awesome video
@Tempted
Tempted says:
August 16, 2012 at 8:05 am
“I wish I was mature enough to say “Well, I guess it wasn’t meant to be” but I’m not. I’m feeling a little video rage over here!”
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I don’t blame you. I know exactly what you are going thru, except the seasons I was not watched, I believe the only difference was, I had a signed, certified card PROVING they received my package and they still appeared to have chose to ignore my submission
I’m so sorry for you and all the others, if you were not watched (and, unfortunately, as I believed the same about myself, I believe you probably weren’t).
I pray they have chosen to delay the casting process for this season and they will still do the right thing. WATCH ALL THE VIDEOS!!!
I feel I must say this.
It’s so good we have (on our side) and can completely trust Biggest Loser Casting to tell us the truth and do the honorable thing.
As BL Casting has told us many times, it would be best for us, if we were NOT to trust the rumours we may hear on this board, or anywhere else for that matter, but instead should trust ONLY the information they personally release.
Thank God we have their releases of information, in writing, to refer back to when questions should arise.
I will replay for everyone, the information BLCasting posted to their own facebook page (on July 22nd). I’ve now copied it directly from there, to paste here for us all to trust.
“All videos will be watched! We all watch them when we get back – not as a group but each of us watches many many of them + we have a team back in LA that has been watching all along! You will only be notified if we are interested in getting more info from you! Even if you do not send in a application for some reason then be SURE to include your contact info on the email or write it on your tape/dv
d submission!!!! Our LA team has already been in contact with many great people but we will be cotactig people from videos up until the last minute! Things to note: video counters dont always work – we have tested it many times and they fail to count our viewings (we assure you each video is viewed by the time we leave bl14!). Next, if we need more footage or pics etc we will let you know so pls do not “check in” it takes away valuable video viewing time. Also, LA callbacks are not complete because we live in LA so it is easier to call people back over the course of several weeks instead of just four days we are in each of the other cities! Thank you all! Happy Sunday!!”
I do not want to upset people here, but two things to think about”
1. as BLCasting said: “video counters dont always work – we have tested it many times and they fail to count our viewings (we assure you each video is viewed by the time we leave bl14!)” Might they have been speaking of the prior seasons “YouTube” submissions not counting correctly, or do we think they were also referring to the NEW (this season) use of the “vimeo” system too?
2. Could they possibly have held the LA casting call first, because they are focusing on LOCAL contestants this season (for the most part), so they can team BL14′s contestants up with LOCAL teens (over their school year)?
Opinions???
Big Fat Guy says:
August 16, 2012 at 9:55 am
…Now I have questions about Corndawg…hmmm…PI, this is up your alley, get on it…lol
…Of course, they both could be right…
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I thought, as of last night you declared Corndawg “all legit”, cause you figured out who they were.
Earlier, in the evening, I had thought I may have figured out who they were (I believe, someone completely different than you thought) and your (you and the other’s) acceptance of them threw me off.
I then came up with a 2nd possibility as to who they are, but the information they were spewing didn’t seem to coincide.
Am I correct to think you no longer consider them legit?
AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! Vimeo is doing maintenance!!! This is probably EXACTLY the moment BL was trying to access my video
LOL.
@PI – I hope they watch, too…. but realistically it has been almost a month since I’ve submitted and time is ticking….. even if I am exactly what they wanted originally it seems very unlikely I’ll make enough of an impression to make the last minute efforts.
@Tempted
When I refresh vimeo it gets hung up, but when I opened it NEW, it opens right up and is usable.
I tested earlier and if you download ur
Video on vimeo vice playing on the site it does not change the counter. Being a computer guy I would bet they are downloading and then watching which makes editing a lot easier. I don’t have any I
Do on anything just sayin!
That should say don’t have any other info. Sorry fat thumbs
I don’t think the vimeo counter works. The BLcasting team emailed me last week for my vimeo password and login info because the old one wasn’t working. I sent them the new one and they said it worked but it doesn’t show a view!!
@just sayin- I have a hard time thinking they download thousands of videos just to watch them. I would understand downloading videos from callback people- the ones they want to pitch, but not initial submissions.
@TacoHead- why would the counter work from every computer BUT the BL casting? It just doesn’t make sense to me. I tested from public computers, private computers, and company computers…. all of them got counted.
Maybe ur right but still a possibility
@taco head
taco head says:
August 16, 2012 at 5:16 pm
I don’t think the vimeo counter works. The BLcasting team emailed me last week for my vimeo password and login info because the old one wasn’t working. I sent them the new one and they said it worked but it doesn’t show a view!!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
What were you doing, testing to see how persistent Casting is?
“The BLcasting team emailed me last week for my vimeo password and login info because the old one wasn’t working. I sent them the new one and they said it worked”
Did you actually CHANGE your password AFTER you sent them your video submission? You sent them the NEW one and they said it worked! Obviously, an old one wouldn’t work. Why was there a new one?
@PI
2L2Q is 100% legit. As far as Corndawg is concerned, I only picked up on the In Turn comments he was making. I have no idea about his legitimacy…that was my question…
@ should have been a PI
I accidently sent them the link to the video instead of the password! lol
stupid mistake, thank god they reached out to me!!!!
Level up
Damn.
Good luck!
Wish I could say the same!!! Hopefully it’s person to person not everyone at once
For those people leveling up we’re you contacted or attended a casting call before July? Or did u send in everything after the casting calls
I’ve only leveled up in donkey kong and my orff schulwerk certifications.
Where did everyone go? Packing for LA?
Looks like it’s you n me Curious! :/
so sad!!!!.
@TT can you give us any details… no pressure hehe… were you part of the first angelic emails or second.. and by second.. i mean on 8/1
sunshine r u on the west coast too?
are there any other blogs like this one!?
Does anyone find it strange that Holland is on vacation right now? Just saw she has been in Chicago all week on vacay!
i’m up!!!
ya i saw that she was on vacation… i know brandon and kristen are in the office though lol
she must of pre-planned the vaca’i
@Curious …yeah
@Cheeks…I mentioned that days ago and noone seemed to care.
@Mister…congrats…can you share when and how you were contacted?