(copied from my myspace blog)
someone asked me:::Is it a scam if we have to pay?
I received an email today questioning the integrity of our business practices. I decided to put this on my blog just incase anyone else was wondering whether or not it's fair for us to charge a $20 registration fee for the services we offer to aspiring actors and models....Please read on and feel free to voice your opinion. Looking forward to reading your responses.
Kenyatta
Here's the original message I received:
please help me to understand.. it has been my experience that an agency which requires you to pay them for the chance for you to audition is not on the up and up...can you help me to understand where your venture is different? Usually if you are doing the casting for shows you are getting paid by the show, correct?
Kenyatta
Here's the original message I received:
please help me to understand.. it has been my experience that an agency which requires you to pay them for the chance for you to audition is not on the up and up...can you help me to understand where your venture is different? Usually if you are doing the casting for shows you are getting paid by the show, correct?
and here's my answer:
Wow this is a question that I don't get often, but I guess it's fair.... Now, yes we do get paid for casting services by the production that we're working on at the time. However, that is not all we do as a company. Along with casting, my company also offers services to actors..Agencys that require excessive fees well into hundreds or thousands of dollars and make guarantees that often sound too good to be true are generally something to be cautious of. My company charges a one time registration fee of $20 (the price one would pay to get in a club, or go to the movies, to eat a meal or in some big cities to park your car) to offset the price of processing photos and paperwork. I have 5 employees that monitor and maintain all submissions. When we receive new talent we review the pics and experience and we place them in proper databases or catagories and we actually find auditions and opportunities not just from our company but from other casting directors as well. Now we don't guarantee anyone a job, not even with an audition that we're conducting. It's solely up to the talent to go in there and do what has to be done to nail that gig! But we are in the business of helping actors and models reach their goals in entertainment so we try to offer as many tools as we can along with lessons learned in our professional experience to help along the way. This is a legitamate business and we run it as such. On top of offsetting the expenses associated with running our company as an online casting resource, charging such a nominal registration fee also allows us to judge who is serious about their entertainment careers. If you are not willing to make a $20 investment in yourself and your future, then how bad do you really want it? I have a reputation for donating my time and offering advice and services free of charge to aspiring actors and models. Many models and actors call me on my personal cell to ask questions before other auditions, to ask my advice and professional opinion. I do not mind helping people at all...that's one of the reasons I was driven to this profession. Throughout the year I speak at colleges and seminars about getting into the industry free of charge. When I have auditions and a person is not selected, I allow them the opportunity to receive one on one coaching from me in which case I will let them know exactly why they weren't selected and what they can do to brush up on their skills or appearence, You tell me any other casting director that takes the time to do this? Sorry if I'm longwinded but I'm passionate about what I do and I know that I go way above and beyond so I get a little emotional. I give alot of myself to this business and the talent...Many casting directors cast a project and may never even go onset. Once casting is done you can take your money and go but I go onset everyday to check on my talent, assist with paperwork and make sure that they're comfortable. If there is a problem, I become the liasion between the producer and that person to assist in solving it. I'm especially protective of the young ladies that I work with in music videos. I make sure that they are treated and spoken to with respect and that they are comfortable with the things required of them. And if for some reason they aren't I will not make them do whatever it is and I work to resolve the issue or get a replacement for the production. For years I worked on low budget projects some for free and sometimes nearly free while building my business and learning the industry and I worked a 9-5 as well. As things grew I was blessed and able to do casting full time This year we have branched out to the internet to be able to offer support and services to aspiring talent nationwide and that registration fee pays for those services. I am personalble, real, touchable, humble...not your typically "intimidating" casting director. I give alot of myself to help people advance in this dirty game. And I know that what we offer is actually worth way more. I hope I've answered your questions....please feel free to check us out...visit our website www.scene2casting.com and read the 'about' section for a complete list of projects we've worked on and you can google me 'Kenyatta Mootrie' to read more about our work and you can also look me up in www.imdb.com or write me again if you have any other questions or concerns Kenyatta
Wow this is a question that I don't get often, but I guess it's fair.... Now, yes we do get paid for casting services by the production that we're working on at the time. However, that is not all we do as a company. Along with casting, my company also offers services to actors..Agencys that require excessive fees well into hundreds or thousands of dollars and make guarantees that often sound too good to be true are generally something to be cautious of. My company charges a one time registration fee of $20 (the price one would pay to get in a club, or go to the movies, to eat a meal or in some big cities to park your car) to offset the price of processing photos and paperwork. I have 5 employees that monitor and maintain all submissions. When we receive new talent we review the pics and experience and we place them in proper databases or catagories and we actually find auditions and opportunities not just from our company but from other casting directors as well. Now we don't guarantee anyone a job, not even with an audition that we're conducting. It's solely up to the talent to go in there and do what has to be done to nail that gig! But we are in the business of helping actors and models reach their goals in entertainment so we try to offer as many tools as we can along with lessons learned in our professional experience to help along the way. This is a legitamate business and we run it as such. On top of offsetting the expenses associated with running our company as an online casting resource, charging such a nominal registration fee also allows us to judge who is serious about their entertainment careers. If you are not willing to make a $20 investment in yourself and your future, then how bad do you really want it? I have a reputation for donating my time and offering advice and services free of charge to aspiring actors and models. Many models and actors call me on my personal cell to ask questions before other auditions, to ask my advice and professional opinion. I do not mind helping people at all...that's one of the reasons I was driven to this profession. Throughout the year I speak at colleges and seminars about getting into the industry free of charge. When I have auditions and a person is not selected, I allow them the opportunity to receive one on one coaching from me in which case I will let them know exactly why they weren't selected and what they can do to brush up on their skills or appearence, You tell me any other casting director that takes the time to do this? Sorry if I'm longwinded but I'm passionate about what I do and I know that I go way above and beyond so I get a little emotional. I give alot of myself to this business and the talent...Many casting directors cast a project and may never even go onset. Once casting is done you can take your money and go but I go onset everyday to check on my talent, assist with paperwork and make sure that they're comfortable. If there is a problem, I become the liasion between the producer and that person to assist in solving it. I'm especially protective of the young ladies that I work with in music videos. I make sure that they are treated and spoken to with respect and that they are comfortable with the things required of them. And if for some reason they aren't I will not make them do whatever it is and I work to resolve the issue or get a replacement for the production. For years I worked on low budget projects some for free and sometimes nearly free while building my business and learning the industry and I worked a 9-5 as well. As things grew I was blessed and able to do casting full time This year we have branched out to the internet to be able to offer support and services to aspiring talent nationwide and that registration fee pays for those services. I am personalble, real, touchable, humble...not your typically "intimidating" casting director. I give alot of myself to help people advance in this dirty game. And I know that what we offer is actually worth way more. I hope I've answered your questions....please feel free to check us out...visit our website www.scene2casting.com and read the 'about' section for a complete list of projects we've worked on and you can google me 'Kenyatta Mootrie' to read more about our work and you can also look me up in www.imdb.com or write me again if you have any other questions or concerns Kenyatta
Thanks for reading. Visit http://www.scene2casting.com/ enter our site and learn more or go ahead and add yourself to our database of talent!
1 comment:
$20 is not much to ask. Why not? If your company does what it say then it's worth it!
Post a Comment