It seems that every day there is a new 'service' popping up, offering to help actors and crew find work and further their career, usually for a substantial fee. They claim to take all the hard work out of finding employment - just give them your details, your photo and your money and they'll set about finding the perfect job for you. So all you need to do is sit back, relax and wait for the work to come flooding in, right?
Well, we're not convinced. Imagine this - you're a casting director or a producer who has been given the challenging task of finding exactly the right people to work on a production. You think carefully about what is required and prepare a breakdown with specific details for each role or job.
The replies come in; many are from agents, actors or technicians who have carefully considered your brief and prepared personal, detailed and professional submissions tailored specifically to the demands of that particular production. There is also a large pile of submissions from a 'casting service' - to which you did not send a breakdown - which has forwarded a pile of ill-considered, impersonal and often inappropriate choices. Which applications would you choose to look at?
Here at PCR, we don't need to imagine the scenario - we regularly hear from casting directors and producers who have submitted a breakdown as described above, only to be deluged by unwanted applications from 'casting services'! We do our best to stop these services from misusing the valuable information printed in PCR (and really appreciate the loyalty of our subscribers and contributors who report such underhand conduct to us) but it is not always easy to prevent.
We are also very concerned that the claims these 'casting services' make are misleading. You may be interested in a recent ASA ruling against one service: http://www.asa.org.uk/asa/adjudications/non_broadcast/Adjudication+Details.htm?Adjudication_id=40709
The ASA has also published a very helpful page with general information and advice about advertisements offering opportunities for actors and models - http://www.asa.org.uk/asa/news/news/2005/You+wannabe+careful.htm
Nearly 40 years of dealing with casting directors, directors and producers has given us extensive insight into the industry, but we would never pretend to be experts in representing actors. With so many subscribers, how could we possibly give your career the individual attention it deserves? What we do is work extremely hard to provide you with a useful tool so that the real experts - you and your agent (if you have one) - can use our essential information to help you to present yourself in the best way possible to those doing the casting or hiring.
The information and breakdowns printed in the pages of PCR are a result of direct contact with a casting director or production company - we never print anything that is second hand, stolen or old. And with our new 'Last Minute Casting' service - featured in the exclusive 'Subscribers Only' section of our website - we are able to feature castings which might be happening too quickly to cover in our Monday print edition. An added (and completely free) service, our regular email alerts will let you know immediately when a last minute item appears.
We are legitimately interested in the success of our subscribers, which is why we have a free telephone line so that you can speak directly with us and ask questions about productions you may have heard of. We provide you with as much information as possible so that you can make an informed decision about which jobs to apply for. And we have recently started the highly successful 'Business of Acting' seminars - from which we make absolutely no profit - to help actors get a leg up in the industry.
It frustrates us that so many people are being duped into thinking that finding cast or crew employment in this industry is as easy as submitting your details to a website. It takes a lot of work to find work, but that effort will pay off. It's a simple formula that works: read PCR, find a production listing for which you are suited, prepare a personal application, and submit it to the appropriate contact we have provided. The vast majority of our subscribers (over 70%, as a recent survey has revealed) find work by reading PCR - chances are good that you will too.
TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR CAREER. READ PCR.
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