Monthly Archives: February 2017

The WTF Price Of Casting Workshops: Jail?

Journal Entries

Just today, it was announced through major entertainment publications that “the Los Angeles City Attorney’s office has filed criminal misdemeanor charges against the operators of five casting workshops for allegedly charging actors for auditions in violation of the state’s Talent Scam Prevention Act of 2009. If convicted, each of the 28 defendants – including 18 local casting directors – could face up to a year in jail and a $10,000 fine. Arraignment is scheduled for mid to late March.” Wait, hold up.

“If convicted, each of the 28 defendants – including 18 local casting directors – could face up to a year in jail and a $10,000 fine”
cf-dafuqDa fuck?
Although I have been known to be ambivalent in my stance on casting workshops and am aware some casting folks do these as easy cash money, it is and always have been a tool for actors to use whether they choose to do it or not. Nobody is forcing these actors to pay for these workshops. And yes, there are some casting who use workshops to do their easy pulls when they need to cast the one-liners (and only actors who have taken their workshops). Yes, there are some who could not give a shit about the actors. But these are a few bad apples that do not speak for all. Most importantly, for people to actually think that casting workshops guarantee employment or auditions? Which dumb fuck actually believed that to be true? As someone who have taken them in my first 3 years of acting, I have always been informed constantly (and I mean CONSTANTLY) that this was never the case.

To now convict these casting directors and casting workshop owners with a possible 1-year jail time or a $10,000 fine absolutely blows my mind. Does the punishment actually fit the crime? Like, seriously?

giphy

I’m gonna emphasize my befuddlement again. As much as I am aware that these casting directors apparently are violating AB1319, the Krekorian Talent Scam Prevention Act, casting workshops are not a scam because they don’t promise ANYTHING.

I don’t like casting workshops much anymore and because I don’t, I simply stopped taking them. Have I noticed an effect on my auditions? Maybe? I don’t really care about analyzing it too much because there are many other ways to progress on the actor’s journey and casting workshops are just a tiny part of it. When other actors ask me if they should take them, I give them the entire pros/cons and leave it up to them what their best course of option should be.

If these casting directors do end up being convicted, I find the rigidity and inflexibility of the law to be a detriment and must be looked into with the utmost caution. These are not crooks and this is not a case of bribery.

This is gaslighting from a bunch of pissed off sourgrape actors who put their entire hopes and dreams on casting workshops and not for once even think of thinking there were, God forbid, other methods.

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GET A GRIP, PEOPLE (AS I FLIP A TABLE OVER)