Smart50 rank: 31
Revenue: $1 million
Growth: 43.33%
Founders: Elio Guarnuccio, 52; Brad Hayden, 33; Kylie Smith, 40
Based: Victoria
Employees: 12
Industry: Information technology
Website: www.at2casting.com.au
There's no business like show business - just ask AT2 Casting founders Elio Guarnuccio, Brad Hayden and Kylie Smith.
AT2 Casting is an online casting tool for the entertainment industry, that allows hundreds of casting directors, talent agents, actors and models to search for talent, send out audition notices, submit performers for specific roles, update portfolio details and use its marketing tools.
It's a much quicker and more efficient way of keeping people updated in the fast-moving entertainment sector, but selling the idea wasn't easy. AT2 Casting had to take the extraordinary step of giving some agents free computers and teaching them how to use the internet just to get the industry on board.
More than a decade on and it appears the players in the entertainment sector - most of whom pay a fee to have their profiles posted on AT2 Casting - have come to grips with the system. The company has posted average annual revenue growth of 43.33% in the past two years, with revenue reaching $1 million in 2007-08, up from $600,000 in the previous year.
The increasing take up of broadband has helped AT2 Casting, also it has also brought its share of competition. The company is currently reviewing its web strategy and considering ways to increase cross-selling and up-selling opportunities.
The company is also looking at taking its casting tool to other countries.
