A few years ago, I wrote about the importance of noting a casting director’s preference for electronic submissions. Absolutely, most casting directors are still “old school” and the hardcopy submission of your headshot and resumé will suffice. Even those CDs who have turned to electronic submissions maintain physical files (but getting into those files seems to happen after an audition or showcase experience rather than as a result of a mailing). But for those few “early adopters” among us, we have embraced technology and there is no going back. Sure, you can continue to avoid the high-tech casting revolution, but when we’re looking for anything to help us cut the numbers down on each project, why would you choose to help us eliminate you from the running? To save two bucks? Sadly, the potential cost of creative actor “workarounds” is much higher.

I’m returning to this topic today specifically because of a breakdown I released just under ten days ago (and that’s ten days including two weekends and a national holiday, so I’m expecting even more submissions to start up this week). We’ve received over 7000 submissions for 18 roles thus far. Dismissing the previously-covered facts that a handful of actors simply refuse to believe that I actually mean it when I post DO NOT SUBMIT ON MULTIPLE ROLES in the breakdown and others feel the need to post a note along the lines of, “I won’t do nudity,” when submitting on the one and only role that requires it, I’m going to cover some of the “newer” issues I’m seeing, where electronic submissions are concerned. Before I dive into the specifics, I feel it’s important to make one thing clear: EVERY ONE OF THESE EXAMPLES IS REAL. I’ve had a very interesting ten days, to say the least.

A Need To Stand Out

Some actors really, really, really want to be sure they are noticed, especially when there are another few thousand actors vying for the role. I get that. But nothing stands out as beautifully as professionalism, confidence, and respect for the process. What doesn’t work (other than to provide me with myriad examples for the “What Were You Thinking?!?” file) is sending porn, emailing every member of the production team, and asking the casting director out on a date. Seriously. I know you may think you’re cute. I know you may think you’re clever. I know you may think you’re funny. But be professional, wouldja?

Can’t Afford the Membership

Do me a favor. If you decide to, in your emailed pitch (with megs and megs of attached files that my server automatically deletes), boast about your recent six-episode top-of-show guest-star role on a top ten series, do me a favor and don’t, in the next paragraph, explain that you’re not submitting using Actors Access because you can’t afford your $68 unlimited Showfax membership or the $2 submission fee. C’mon! There are costs associated with the pursuit of acting. Everyone knows that. And I’m not a fan of all of the money actors feel they have to spend in order to pursue their dreams. Truthfully, there are costs you can cut out. But if you want to get seen on projects for which casting directors only accept electronic submissions, you’re going to have to be able to submit electronically through that casting director’s preferred website.

I know you believe you’re not spending anything to mail a submission to someone (because you’ve already paid for the envelopes, stamps, and headshots themselves) vs. spending the $2 right then to submit online. But if you just did the $68/yr. subscription, you could submit unlimited times and download all the sides you want! Seems so simple! But still, there are actors who won’t do the math. If you won’t add it up, then just consider the flipside. This sort of thing is basically the same as you refusing to buy stamps when a CD will only accept hard copy submissions by US Mail. What the heck would you expect then? A reward for this odd stand you were taking?

“Managers” Submitting As Actors

Some managers aren’t subscribers to Breakdown Services. Okay. If your manager isn’t on Breakdown Services, um… why not? Just curious. That’s a little odd to me. But, since I’m open to “new managers” as much as I am to “new actors,” I’ll take a pitch call from a manager who wants me to meet his awesome clients. While we’re talking, I’ll ask, “Can I pull them up through the Breakdowns’ interface?” (I do this because I’d like to have their headshots and resumés in front of me during the pitch call.) “Oh, I’m not in the system,” the manager will say. “Okay. Is your client in the system?” “Um… sort of,” comes the reply. Here’s where it gets way dicey and even risky for actors.

Some actors with “new” managers who aren’t yet subscribing to Breakdown Services will agree to put themselves up on Actors Access and then provide their managers with their login information. The managers then sign in as an actor, submit the actor on projects (and this comes across as a “self-submission” just like anyone else who comes through Actors Access), and sign out to repeat the process with the next client’s login info. Well, some managers also adjust the settings to have notifications of auditions and messages from casting directors that come through the system go to their email addresses (Y’know, so that they can “manage” the requests for the actors whose accounts they’re using). But imagine fielding notifications for a few dozen clients, each of which is emailed to you through the same email address but on behalf of a different client (on who knows how many different projects). Do you see how confusing this can become? I see auditions slip through the cracks all the time for actors whose “managers” are submitting them through their individual Actors Access profiles.

To stay on the safe side: YOU manage your Actors Access profile. If your manager wants to submit you, let him get all set up legitimately with Breakdown Services. Otherwise, you run the risk of missing auditions and looking like someone who submits on everything but no-shows auditions when scheduled. Don’t let someone else’s inability to multitask impact your reputation in the industry.

Flat-Out Refusal To Submit Appropriately

So you submit using an ultra-megabyte, instantly stripped-away attachment via email and I reply to you with my little form letter (I’m told I’m too nice, even doing that). In that reply, I provide a link to the Actors Access breakdown (which you must’ve already seen, since it’s the only place I listed the breakdown to begin with) and explain that we’re only accepting submissions this way, so that producers and I can review materials from three different locations using the Breakdown Services interface. I get back a neat little auto-responder from your ISP informing me that you don’t accept mail from addresses that aren’t in your address book. Way to go, genius. You submitted to me but didn’t unblock my address for any response. What if that reply was an invitation to an audition? Oh well, I have another few thousand actors to look at. I’m not going to work as hard as to go fill out some form so that I can be “approved” for your email address book. Forget it.

What really gets my proverbial goat is the idea that sending a private message to me from any of the actors’ message boards I frequent (Hey! Why not send PMs at ALL of them?) and saying, “I couldn’t figure out how else to contact you,” is appropriate. Really? Wow. What would Darwin think of that claim? Hmm. My phone number is on the freakin’ breakdown itself. My website is linked from the breakdown itself. On that website is my email address, mailing address, and phone number. And you think private messaging me through various actors’ message boards about the fact that you “refuse to use Actors Access” but “desperately want to be a part of this film” is going to impress me? Sheesh!

Now, I don’t mind a little MySpace note or a head’s up email that says, “Hey! I submitted but wanted to take a moment and say hello, remind you that we met when you were casting a film last year, and thank you for considering me. This looks like a great project!” That is a GREAT use of the many online social networking sites out there. And I’m totally OPEN to actor interaction at that level! I welcome it! So, don’t fret that you’ve crossed a line if you dropped a note or self-pitched on top of the submission. That’s totally fine! I’m talking about your cohorts who use these methods to get to me instead of the ones outlined in the breakdown itself. That’s where I scratch my head. Or scream.

Why It Matters

Well, it doesn’t, to everyone. There are some casting directors who don’t give a dang about the Internet (except as a means of looking up someone on IMDb-Pro). But to those of us who use our favorite online casting system to release a breakdown, sort through submissions, view demo reels, schedule auditions, select callbacks, and generate deal memos, it matters quite a bit that you are in that mix! Look, we don’t choose our favorite “system” to cause you stress. We do so because it fits the way we do business every day (oh, and yet again, within ten minutes of the breakdown’s release, I had a call from another “service” asking me to post the breakdown with them as well. No. We’re not usually looking for more than one place to filter through actors. Each CD has her ONE favorite site based on her needs). NO, you don’t have to do it “our way.” But please don’t try to come up with ways to thwart our process. We all have a job to do, here. And if we’ve made our preferred method of contact very clear, your refusal to get that is no different than me calling your mom to provide feedback on an audition.

Basically, in any casting office, if we are reviewing pages of online submissions and your thumbnail headshot is not among them, you’re not a part of the process. If we are flagging demo reels for producers to review and your submission is not there, you’re missing out on prescreening that could get you invited straight to a producer session. And if we’re scheduling prereads and your headshot isn’t smiling up from the screen we’re using to build the schedule, you’re not going to magically appear on the day’s list. When we can do everything from within the system (and when we have thousands upon thousands of actors from whom to choose), why would we go through about a half-dozen extra steps just to include you, when you were unwilling to click SUBMIT on the project from within your Actors Access account?

A casting director I interviewed — back in my days as a columnist for Back Stage West — told me that actors often get scared when they hear there are 100,000 actors competing for roles. He estimated that only 5% of that 100,000 actually “count” as “real, prepared, professional actors” against whom you are competing. The rest, in his opinion, are “complacent.” So, for those of you reading this column who feel no need whatsoever to “bend to the will” of a casting director who has shown a track record of using specific technology to assist her in casting project after project, congratulations! You have inspired members of that 5% to keep going, knowing that they have the edge over you every time they simply follow directions with a sense of professionalism and respect for themselves and others in this industry.

Bonnie Gillespie is living her dreams by helping others figure out how to live theirs. Wanna work with Bon? Start here. Thanks!

Originally published by Actors Access at http://more.showfax.com/columns/avoice/archives/000641.html. Please support the many wonderful resources provided by the Breakdown Services family. This posting is the author’s personal archive.