There is nothing wrong with having somebody record an audition from the sides and send it to you.
I act quite regularly and I do this for commercials, industrials, indie features and shorts quite a bit. And when I audition at casting agencies for bigger budget stuff, guess what? 75% of the time, on the first or second round, the actual producers or directors aren't there. The casting agent records my audition and sends it to them.
Our last feature we had lots of people submit a video audition.
Here is how you work to save their time and your time.
Put a casting call out and be as specific as you can about the roles. Also, make sure to make your project sound interesting. Try to be as specific as you can about the shoot dates. You don't want to waste your time or the actor's time if they were never going to be able to do the shoot in the first place.
If you are open to all ethnicities, please specifically state that in notice. If the role is ethnic, but several ethnicities could play it, be specific about that.
Ask for a headshot, (or a photo), and resume along with a link to their reel if they have it.
Sort through the submissions and headshots and find the actors that are interesting to you. Then, if they have a reel or samples of their work, you can look at it and judge as to whether or not they are going to be right for your needs. (Some actors may be new and won't have samples of their work, but they may seem to look right for the part, don't worry, just have them submit.)
Once you have the actors who seem like a good fit, send them the sides and ask them to submit a video of them doing the sides.
From those submissions, whittle it down to the few that you think are in contention. Then, set up in-person auditions. Because of timing and distance, some actors may not be able to make the in-person audition and you will have to skype or facetime.
All of this just to tell you that I know a lot of actors, of all levels and I know of very few who would drive three hours to an open or first round audition, that was offering very little or no pay.
Now, I do know, myself included, many actors who would drive three hours TO BE IN an interesting film or short with a good role that was little or no pay, as long as it wasn't taking up days upon days of shooting.