Interested performers can now submit video auditions at TheGetDownCasting.com.

"The Get Down" will be set in 1970s New York City and is described as "a mythic saga of how New York at the brink of bankruptcy gave birth to hip-hop, punk and disco — told through the lives and music of the South Bronx kids who changed the city, and the world…forever."

Luhrmann, who directed Moulin Rouge on film and La Bohème on Broadway, said he hopes to feature undiscovered talent in the series. In fact, in a recent interview with vulture.com, the director said, "The thing is, the entire show is hung on bright young people…There are many professional [actors] at that age. But I don’t want to miss some extraordinary young person who’s just months away from sending in a tape to some casting agent. You need to spread the net very broadly."

Writers on the new series, about the dawn of the hip-hop era, include Seth Zvi Rosenfeld, Nelson George, Radha Blank, Aaron Rahsaan Thomas, Sam Bromell, Jacqueline Rivera, Thomas Kelly and playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis. Luhrmann will executive produce with Kelly, Shawn Ryan, Catherine Martin, Paul Watters, Marney Hochman and Guirgis.

The first season of the series will cover a three-year period, 1977-80.