Freebies

[mandimm1]

Hi I too think it is unfair when I pay for sites and people expect to get the info for free.
The reason the cd's have gone on these sites is so the members can have access to the profile for the job.
CD'd do not generally like to be contacted direct and that is why we are all on spotlight or have agents.
Open castings are for everyone.
It is a bit unfair of people to be having a go at OAA as we are all entitled to our opinions and this is a debate forum.
napm is a fab site and very informative on many aspects of this industry.

[pg]

CD'd do not generally like to be contacted direct and that is why we are all on spotlight or have agents.
Open castings are for everyone.

This is a very good point.

The point that ash made also sums up the problem well:

This issue occurs when people see the casting on the public facing site - these are the true dangly carrots (designed to make you sign up to the sub site) not NAPM
are unsubscribed to the relevant site
post NAPM with a request for more info,
they do not understand that the sites often provide no more detail to the subscribers - just an apply now button
Some NAPM MAY have more details as their DC's have been or are going to a casting
BUT it is pretty inadvisable to share that as the CD then get's deluged with speculative applications they didn't want and wont respond to.
People then get cross the CD doesn't respond and mail again, this is the quickest rout to NOT working in the industry

I think the problems arise because new people join this site all the time (which is a good thing) and some of them have very little understanding of how the industry works. Then you get hopeful, but naive, requests for information in the belief that if they could find out who to send their details to they would be considered. This is the misconception that people seem to have and it does get a bit wearing to have to keep repeating that there's not really any POINT in sending your details if it's not an open casting call or if your details have not been submitted via the route the CD wants. The trouble is, people who don't know how the industry works really don't want to believe this! Some people ask for advice but don't like the advice when they get it, and carry on asking the question "how can I apply?" because they want a different answer from "there's no point" or "you can't". Both these answers seem a bit mean and unhelpful but they are generally accurate.

The exceptions to this tend to be when an individual has done plenty of research into the opportunity and has found a good reason why their application might be considered, even if it's not through the usual channels, or they have a good angle to approach it from; this will generally not be for the high profile stuff though. This means the person doing their own research and does require people to know a bit about how the casting is done - it won't be enough to ask "how do I apply?" on an internet forum.

I would also suggest that many of the sites that spring up and that you have to pay for (with the exception of Spotlight) probably copy their information from elsewhere and don't have the CDs permission to post the details anyway. If you apply for big budget stuff via some of these sites, your information will in all likelihood be ignored. It's up to individuals whether they want to take this gamble. If you want paid work - you need an agent you trust who will work hard for you. If you want unpaid experience then there are plenty of ways to get this experience without paying for a casting information site.

[mandimm1]

Absolutely pg!

[ash]

SO agree PG .....

Unfortunately the x-factor effect is in play here.....

If only they saw me I would be THE NEXT BIG THING.....

I JUST NEED TO BE DISCOVERED.....

They need to know I'm here......

Waddaya mean you are not interested ......

Please can we have an emoticon for SIGH

[charlotterose]

Agreed...because if you arn't registered with the sites they are advitising on then this kind of says that you are not the kind of person they are looking for (regardless of wether you ARE or not) and so they probably wont get back to you anyway and there would be not point oin you applying, plus its really anoying for the CD too. Although I see where people are coming from sometimes as the castings can be quite appealing and subscriptions to KCCP and Starnow etc can end up being quite expensive really...

[GypsyMumNot!]

Not just "quite expensive" charlotterose but totally impossible for the likes of me with 2 teenage daughters and trying to survive on benefits! Having said that then it is a bit of a sweeping statement to say that if you do not subscribe to these sites then "you are not the kind of person they are looking for" - if I could just fill you in a bit as you may not know my background: one 17 year old at The Brit School doing a diploma in Musical Theatre; one 14 year old at a full time theatre school on a scholarship....

I repeat - I cannot subscribe to these sites because I cannot afford to do so, not because we are "not the kind of person they are looking for" - wouldn't you agree?

And I repeat - if ya don't wanna share, then don't don't post.

As a non-subscriber, I'm quite happy to live without, esp as at least 2 of these sites (Casting Website & Starnow) are becoming increasingly dodgy & way over-priced for what they provide. As has already been said - legit castings are usually thru agents anyway, so probably cheaper in the long-run to get an agent & pay for Spotlight. Cheaper still are local amateur musical companies - both dds belong to these on top of what they already do at their respective schools & the experience they have picked up over the years is second to none.

[charlotterose]

Gypsymumnot!, having read back over my post I think that I may have not written down on paper what I ment in my head... I didn't mean that You arn't the sort of actor they are looking for, mearly that they are trying to make life easier foer themselves by selecting people from one place, and this job is harder if people are sending in applications from different people... sorry
and I agree that you can live withoput subscriptions (I am ) but they do appear to be quite useful sometimes... sorry again

[GypsyMumNot!]

No probs

[obsteve]

If I had the money, I would subscribe to all of these sites and post the information for free on here. These sites are run by leeches who add nothing to the industry. The castings on the sites can always be found elsewhere. I would say that any site which takes your money for information you can find elsewhere- like Casting Call Pro , Starnow and The Casting Website is a scam.

These sites leech off people's hopes and dreams, and provide relatively little in return. I have frequently posted auditions on free sites like mandy.com and talentcircle, only to find that some greasy sales merchant comes asking if they can list my audition on their payfor site, where inevitably some poor parent has paid good money to see the details.

I feel very very strongly about this. We should seriously get together and destroy these slimebag entrepreneurs. The whole setup is devisive, and turns people (like the OP has shown) against each other, because they feel like they're doing everything they can to help their kids.

[siohip]

yah go obsteve!

[GypsyMumNot!]

Yay obsteve!! Brilliantly put - absolutely true. Totally agree with everything you say!

[ash]

then the best way to do that obsteve is what i do,

locate the Freely available auditions and list em here .......the more the merrier

but advising people to sign, up breach T&C's and post on napm can possibly get them and napm in trouble .....

[obsteve]

Hi Ash, that's what I meant