The other day as I perused Facebook I came across a post shared by a self-proclaimed casting director. I thought that we would analyze parts of the post and comments for educational purposes. Below is one of the major red flags I noticed.
The #1 Red Flag
The number one red flag I read was that this self-proclaimed casting director was charging people to submit to her casting. As I read more of this casting call, it stated that if you booked a role, you couldn’t show up to set and appear tired or complain of being tired. I also read that you would be charged $50 if you showed up more than fifteen minutes late to set.
Let me start by saying this to all newbies reading this post. You should never pay to submit to casting calls. EVER, or pay any money to a casting director for arriving to a set late. When submitting for a casting, you should only submit your name, a selfie of how you currently look, your age, height, weight, and location. Or, if it's a casting for a speaking role, you would submit a professional headshot. But, if you ever find a casting call where it states you need to pay to play, I would not only first report the post because nine times out of ten those particular “casting directors” (not casting agents) are running a scheme and attempting to make money off their submissions.
Reasons Why Casting Directors Don't Charge
1. It is not legal to charge to submit to castings.
2. Casting directors are hired by a production company to cast local talent. They place the casting needs on their website or social media platforms so talent can submit. Once they receive those submissions, the casting director sends them to the director to choose talent they would like to use in their film/tv/music video, etc. Once casting is complete, the production company pays the casting director.
What you Should Do?
If you ever come across a casting that states you will be charged for arriving to a set late, please avoid that “casting director” and let everyone who may be new to the industry know that that particular “casting director” is running a scheme and to steer clear of them. Because eventually, this person will be exposed, causing them to become canceled.
So, be careful. Be sure to read casting calls thoroughly and if there's something you don't know, be sure to ask.
Do you have any casting red flags? Be sure to submit them to atlantafilmandtv@gmail.com