It's been a while since we've taken a look at the issue in depth, so let's revisit some of the facts regarding paid Casting Director "workshops"...

Right now, over 200 CDs and their staffs are paid to meet actors in CD workshops. That's TWO HUNDRED. These casting "professionals" represent almost every network and cable TV show produced - from ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, Showtime, HBO and more - and are accepting a fee to meet actors to consider them for acting work on the shows they're currently casting.

So there is no misunderstanding - DoNotPay.org applauds and encourages casting directors who teach - real teachers, providing ongoing classes with a real curriculum or lesson plan.  Our efforts have always focused on  the one night, single  session so-called casting director "workshops" - where as many as 24 actors perform scenes for working casting directors or assistants, often with little or no feedback.  These are not classes.  This is not education.  These are paid showcases.  And that's just not right.  In fact, the practice often violates state and local laws.

Where are all of these casting "professionals" when SAG and AFTRA come calling for help for their members? At a hearing with the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement during the workshop debates a few years back, former AFTRA rep Jean Frost said on the record that she had sent out 75 letters to various CDs and their staffs - asking them to donate just one evening of their time to see AFTRA talent in their new showcase program.  Out of the seventy-five requests, a single casting director responded, Jean told the room.  I have heard similar stories from those who run the SAG casting-related events.

Right now, there are a set of state workshop guidelines in effect - guidelines which the workshop industry begged the state to create so that they could stay in business. But most workshop companies haven't bothered to follow these guidelines, and since they were agreed to years ago, there have been hundreds of violations. That's right. Believe it or not, workshop companies are still breaking the law.  Yet the Labor Commission, which promised to follow up and prosecute all violations has done absolutely nothing to investigate violations or enforce the guidelines.

UPDATE: As a result of our efforts to bring attention to the issue of paid access, SAG has put in place the new Casting Access Project, which provides actors with FREE ACCESS to working casting directors in accordance with Section 47!  Click here for more info.

But the road to the free opportunities the Casting Access Project provides has been a rocky one.  The workshop companies - who hate free competition - have an incredibly powerful lobby and have effectively kept this program from being implemented as fully as possible.  In fact, at the state hearings dealing with the pay-for-access workshop issue, then-CSA president and workshop industry patsy Gary Zuckerbrod slammed SAG Section 47.  At the same hearings, the attorney representing casting director and CSA Board Member Katy Wallin (Wallin owns a workshop company which paid other casting directors at the same time she served on the CSA Board) vowed to the Labor Board panel to fight on Wallin's behalf all union efforts to implement Section 47.  Wallin went on to serve as the vice president of the CSA -  helping to create policy for the only organization representing film and TV CDs in America.  Despite these roadblocks, the Screen Actors Guild and the SAG Foundation were able to establish this free and very successful program.  Kudos to both organizations and to the casting directors who have graciously given of their time to support CAP!

Right now, the CSA continues to support paid workshops by its failure to inform its members of those workshop companies which have consistently violated the state guidelines and whose misleading and false advertising continues to reflect negatively on the entire casting profession. 

How successful can the CSA expect to be with their new union when they allow those among their ranks to charge other union members (actors) for access to their offices?  And how can the CSA expect casting directors to be recognized for the Academy Award when they represent the only profession in the entertainment industry which has a handful of members who consistently exploit actors and abuse their power to line their pockets? 

The CSA can scratch its head, and wonder why every main-title profession, including editors, cinematographers, and even costume designers and makeup artists are considered for the coveted Oscar yet casting directors are left out of the mix.  They can be puzzled by the lack of respect casting directors are accorded in the entertainment industry by producers, directors and actors.  But all they have to do is look as far as their own members, at the greedy and self-serving behavior exhibited by a small number of them, and the inappropriate manner in which all responsible casting directors are portrayed by the workshop industry.

That's basically it.  Kinda like a State of the Workshop address.  Today, actors have fewer and fewer opportunities and much less access to acting work and are paying more than ever to get their foot in the door.  Things will never improve until the workshop companies are taken to task by the state of California for their violations, when the Guild has honored its commitment to its members by making certain Section 47 is fully and faithfully enforced, and when the CSA finally takes the initiative to make certain that all its members behave in a  professionally responsible and ethical manner.

I don't blame actors for paying for access.  It's nearly impossible to meet a casting director any other way.  But if actors don't want to pay, they must organize - and mount a revolution. They need to create a powerful lobby which can make their voices heard on a large and collective scale. They need to stand up and be counted. They need to take their careers back. They need to demand that the access to those who can hire them be free of charge - and not limited to those who pay for the privilege.

Some suggestions....

Actors should call and write the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement and demand that the law is enforced.

Although the Casting Access Project is a great start, should call and write SAG and demand that Section 47 is enforced to its fullest and that casting directors for all signatory productions participate.

Section 47 says, in part:

"At least once per month, Producer will send a casting director, if one is then engaged, to the showcases jointly sponsored by the Union and Casting Society of America. Such casting director may instead expend a comparable amount of time holding general interviews."

Actors should call AFTRA and report the CDs who are violating AFTRA bylaws, which say, in part:

"A casting director shall not attend or lend his/her name to any acting school, workshop, seminar or like programs which advertises the specific role(s) or motion picture(s) for which the casting director is currently casting."

Actors should call and write the Casting Society of America and demand that their members do not patronize workshop companies which cannot follow the guidelines and which violate the law.

Actors, talent agents and talent managers have all been royally screwed by the workshop industry. Many of the "day player" roles are being cast directly out of workshops. Access to most TV casting offices is nil - unless you decide to pay. It's time for a change...not just a cosmetic one, but a permanent change which will benefit all actors, not just the few who have supported a system which pays the workshop companies and CDs millions of dollars each year and denies free access to the majority of the acting community.

Over the course of the past few years, the foundation has been laid. But the violations are glaring and everywhere. Actors can make a difference.

Organize.  Focus.  Read the guidelines.  Know the law and the union rules. Click through to our website and watch the extremely revealing ABC 20/20 undercover investigation.   Take action by contacting every relevant agency, guild and organization and making your voice heard.  Then let the media know.

And casting directors?  If you agree that actors should never have to pay to meet you and read for you, please contact the CSA and voice your opinion, and then call SAG and AFTRA to sign up for their casting access programs!  Email us at the address below and we'll forward all the info you need to get involved.

There's a terrific refresher course on our website in the form a media timeline of events surrounding the workshop phenomenon. Concerned actors and casting directors can contact us if they have any specific questions at askcasting at aol dot com.

Now go and make a difference!!