Tampa Indie Film Casting Scam Case Study
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A few years back,
there was a so-called casting director in the Tampa Bay area who also
sold casting and acting workshops as a means of earning income. This character
held these large cattle-call castings where he dropped the names of large
productions which he supposedly was affiliated with. When the actors showed
up to the audition, they were told that they needed to improve their craft,
and after they were turned down for the “roles”, they were
pitched the acting classes that the casting director conveniently offered.
This went on for two years. Again and again, gullible actors failed to
check out the casting director and his claims and fell for the confidence
scheme. The casting director made a living using deceptive practices,
luring in actors with film roles that may or may not have existed. To
our knowledge, not a single actor ever landed a role. Plenty, however,
paid for classes that this so-called professional offered. The casting
director started feeling pressure when Independent Modeling began to investigate
and report him, and quit while he was ahead. He retired. Similar casting
bait and switch scams, however, sprang up in his place. The life cycles
of these scams continue. This time, however, more and more actors are
educating themselves, and fewer actors are falling for these scams. Are
you an actor who wants to be educated? Well, we recommend that you read
the rest of our Tampa Bay Film scam definition database, but for a synopsis
on this scam, continue on.
As a general rule, scrutinize ANY casting director who drops the names
of large productions which are using (or allegedly using) the Tampa Bay
area as a location. It is highly unlikely that any large production will
utilize any local casting director who is not C.S.A. (Casting Society
of America) affiliated, as most of these companies are union-affiliated
and are obligated to keep to unions such as SAG (Screen Actors Guild).
If they claim to be casting for a big-budget Hollywood production, you
must make sure that they are legitimate and are doing what they claim
to be doing. The reason that it is so easy to get away with name dropping
is that it is hard to verify anything with large production companies,
and the lure is stronger when the actors are led to believe that they
are in an audition for a large production which may lead to them being
“discovered” or become their lucky “break”. If
it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. There is more, however,
and this is a flip side.
Even if the casting director IS affiliated with a large production, it
still may be a scam. The casting director could contact them and offer
to refer local talent to them. Most large productions have more "important"
things to worry about and may not check to see if the local casting director
is legitimate. Even more seriously for actors, a production using the
Tampa Bay area for a filming location has probably already cast most of
their principle roles and will be bringing in their cast actors from outside
the area. What does this mean for actors looking for their lucky break?
A lot. What is means is that the “roles” that are left are
for extras or stand ins, which translates to having a job as a prop or
as background fodder. The pay is low, the hours are long, and how in the
hell are you going to get your lucky break when the main job of being
an extra is to be forgettable and to NOT draw attention to yourself? Extras
who upstage the real actors in a scene, whether intentional or not, find
themselves quickly dismissed if the issue cannot be resolved by the director,
as these are expendable roles. Think that you will have lines or can add
“principle” to your resume for one of these gigs? Think again.
Most of these roles barely qualify as acting roles, and in practice are
not acting roles at all. Think that the local casting director, and especially
the one who is set up to scam you, will tell you this? No. What they will
do it let the actors think that they are auditioning for principle roles,
as the actors can easily be misled by the casting director withholding
information from them (or outright lying to them if asked directly, as
they can claim a miscommunication if caught in any lie). The bait and
switch casting directors will allow the actors to think this and then
discount their abilities, setting them up for the pitch of acting classes
or casting workshops; these characters make their money by referring extras
to the production AND by selling classes.
One more thing in regards to local casting directors working with large
out-of-area productions. How qualified must a casting director be to cast
actors for roles as extras where they are simply background items? Anyone
can do this, and it is highly unlikely that the large production company
will care as long as they have people referred to them.
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