Rude Casting Director

[katmandu]

Is it not better to assume that no contact means "thanks but no thanks" and if they're interested you can be sure the cds will be in touch? Saves any false hope - in this electronic age although communication is easier it also adds huge pressure. If cds followed up every audition they'd have no time to do what they are there to do - get the best person for the job. It's not an intentional rudeness or discourtesy - simply doing what they are paid to do. I guess my dss have been lucky as I said but they have also not had any expectations. Competition is fierce. Performing children seriously need to learn that rejection is not necessarily personal - it's face fitting and getting the job done. And move on. What a fantastic opportunity to learn a life lesson - tough maybe but onwards and upwards. Not sure what constitutes "abuse" in the case of that particular cd - moving someone on quickly would appear to me to be the opposite - not wasting their time. I can assure anyone reading this thread that confronting a cd with accusations of rudeness and discourtesy will do your child no favours. As it wouldn't with any other employer paying for services - however talented.

[Irishdancer]

I do not expect my ds to hear when we go for a first or even 2nd recall but when yr child gets down to the last few children for a role I do expecrt to hear as we have been runing up to London 4, 5 or 6 times, the last few castings where my ds has got down to the last few children we never heard that he did not get the part, they only have to contact 2 -5 children when we have taken the time and money to run up so many times then u would expect they would let u no that yr child has not got the role. Each time we heard through NAPM or Screenterror that some one has the role would just be nice for CD to phone or email agent to say thank you well done for getting to the last 3 for the role but did not get the role because we decided to go with a boy who has had lead roles in a feature film.

[katmandu]

Totally agree - point taken. After fifth or sixth recall and trips to London and very very few children still in the frame I too would hope (!) not expect, for feedback from the agent and it would be great to hear from the CD themselves. But I'd be quite surprised - and if I saw an email or phone call coming in from them I'd be unfeasibly excited as I would then assume they were being offered the part - only to have hopes seriously dashed!!

[Irishdancer]

I do not expect emai or phone call from CD but think that agent should be contacted with a no

[siohip]

Lots of stresses in life, and we cannot compare the stress a cd has with that of a firefighter or nurse etc...however the effects may be similar...stress is not necessarily a bad thing- it keeps most of us going, it's our ability to cope that allows stress to get on top of us...
I think as earlier said and in another thread, common courtesy is just fantastic and should be encouraged in all walks of life..saying...manners maketh the man...........
I think what is difficult is the assumption that one person''s time is more valuable and important than anothers...when in fact we all have things to do and it is however much you desire to allow your dc opportunity, blinking hard work.
I think we just need to keep on encouraging good behaviour and every so often have discussions like this about what we consider to be less than so.
i really don't think anyone is ever going to stand up and be counted and take the unfortunate unpleasant cd on, as we are in the business to try and allow our dc's dreams to happen. However we can choose to avoid the Cds we know may waste our time..or be unpleasant, or just thank be that there are others who behave very well.

[Fruitcake]

My DS has been for a large number of castings for a variety of different things, and we have only had a few negative experiences.

One was the whole organisation of the auditions (or lack of it!), leaving a huge group of unsupervised, unchaperoned kids in a small room for hours and hours with no communication with the 'outside world'.

The other couple of not so nice ones were all with the same CD, who could possibly be the one being discussed on here now, although she did actually request to see DS for a couple of things after the first time she met him, so she's not all bad! It was just her general attitude and her miserable countenance.

Luckily, the majority of our experiences have been positive ones, and we have met some really lovely CDs.

I'm so sorry some of you have had such bad experiences that have effected your DC so badly. That is unforgiveable in my book.

I understand that these CDs are under stress, but, as has already been said, no more than anyone else during a typical day at work, and, as has also already been said, finding a suitable actor for a role is not exactly life or death!!

[JTBmum]

Hi

It was a man! Cant say who, for fear of ruining any future chances!!! But apparently US CDs are a different breed! By the way, DS is 16 now and one of the youngest so has been in situations where often older people are in the running. Sometimes people forget that.

[julie4travel]

I got the casting director wrong then i was thinking it was a lady! LOL

[Irishdancer]

I saw an advert on Kids casting Call Pro applyed for it for ds it said £50 a day I saw they looked at ds, did not hear any thing then I saw it advertised on Starnow applyed for it went for audition on way home looked at advert on Starnow againt relised it was a no payment job, got a message to say that they would be calling him for a recall, I emailed back to say that as I thought it was a paid job on KCCP it would be the same on Starnow but relised that it said no payment that I did not get paid for work if I was off so if I was not going to get chaperion money would have to pull him. I got a email on Saturday to see him on Monday night and that they would pay me chaperion fee if he got the role went to recall at recall they had 12 boys thought they would only have about 2 or 3 sets of boys as it was a recall we did not start till 6.50 got out at 8pm some one else from here did not get out till nealy 9pm then had a 2 hour journy home and then only found out there ds did not get it because we where pm each other, I got an email to say that he was down to the last 4 for 2 parts they did not even email me to say ds had not got the role I had to email them and ask, have a feeling they are using some children from Starnow who they do not have to pay, if they used ds would have to pay the other boy the same, so that would have been £400, if they have the money to pay they advertised on KCCP £50 a day should do the same on Starnow, they said they really loved ds and would call him again but there is no way I would ever let ds audition for any thing they do again I feel this is exploitation. I really wish now I had gone with my first instinct and not gone to recall. . On way home lost ds oyster card £10 then found he had lost his ipod tuch £120 which he had bought with his birthday money so a very costly recall.

[paulears]

Surely it's actually good for the young people to realise, first hand, that not everyone they meet will be nice, or even that interested in them? There are so many people in the industry who are not particularly friendly, polite or positive. We deal with these people all the time. A casting director or even a choreographer will hopefully be nice people, but they don't really need to be. They often get the job because they're tough and don't take prisoners - maybe they don't actually need to be 'nice' - so just don't bother. Not pleasant for the people in front of them, but perhaps better to find out early, than to take the job and hate every moment.

Luckily, most are pleasant and understanding - but we need to remember nothing says this is how it has to be. As for complaining - don't! It will get you tagged as 'trouble'.

[pg]

@Irishdancer - how infuriating for you! Hopefully there will be better opportunities for your ds in the future.

I've obviously been very fortunate: I've never met an unpleasant casting director. I've met a couple who have been a bit caustic, (and a couple who've seemed a bit bored - which might well have been down to my performance!) but most have been delightful.

@ paulears:
I think it depends how you behave. I think there is a clear distinction between being submissive and accepting rude behaviour on the one hand and standing one's ground on the other. I think it is often possible to influence and educate (and to come away feeling empowered) without complaining. One of the most interesting exercises I did at drama school was about status and drawing people in and pushing them away. It turned out to be enormously valuable when used to handle off-hand, blocking, or downright aggressive behaviour. If you counter such an attitude with submission then you confer more power to to the aggressor; if you counter such an attitude with aggression then the aggression escalates and both parties become incensed (and if you are the one without the "power", you lose). If you counter such an attitude with warmth, with a pleasant, open and friendly confidence and a determination to stand where you are and not be pushed around (almost as if the aggression or off-handedness had never occurred) it can have a very surprising effect on the "aggressor" - they can wake up and become quite human! Even if it doesn't work as well as you'd hoped, you can really come away feeling better for it! You have neither been a "push over" nor have you been provoked into destructive anger. If you do manage to change the attitude of the person you meet, it can make you feel fantastic - and it might even help them feel better! If you don't, well, it's their loss, you can just feel smug on the way home that you behaved better than they did.

This was only an acting exercise, but it has honestly had quite a profound effect on the way I interact with "difficult" people! (I'm starting to sound like a self-help book ).

As an aside: my partner was very proud that he had used a "self-help" book that someone had leant him to put under one of the legs on his desk so that it was level. He felt it had fulfilled its purpose brilliantly.

[islandofsodor]

Yes, casting firectors may not have got the job by being nice but when you are dealing with children they have to remember that they are still children and they can get upset easily.

A few years ago some of my students went to audition for acting parts in a professional panto at a theatre not too far from pg! Whilst they were treated with the utmost courtesy one of their mums witnessed some awful behaviour towards the children auditioning as dancers which resulted in some of them being in tears. They had advertised for children with ballet experience and the choreographer apparently started having a go at a group of girls saying what do you think you are coming to a dance audition with your hair in a bun, its not a ballet class you know get your hair down.

These poor children wouldn't have known any different, they would have been told by their teacher to come like that and may even have come straight from class. Surely any casting director wants their job to be made as easy as possible, they want to find the best person for the job and they are not going to do that by upsetting young children.

[pg]

Surely any casting director wants their job to be made as easy as possible, they want to find the best person for the job and they are not going to do that by upsetting young children.

Hear, hear!

[paulears]

At the risk of being machine gunned - I've got an alternative take on this bit.

Surely any casting director wants their job to be made as easy as possible, they want to find the best person for the job and they are not going to do that by upsetting young children.

In my company manager/production manager role, I'd rather have discovered which people can't take it before giving them the job. If at audition, the choreographer or director can make people cry, then it's a good indication that when the pressure builds in the real rehearsals, the same thing will happen - and at that stage fixing it may be impossible.

I realise we need to recognise they are kids and be artificially nice for that reason - but if their role is critical, then an awful lot hangs on their ability to deal with stress. Nobody wants them busting into tears - but the practical issues do need their 'toughness' quite important. Especially if the actual director is know for their temper and tantrums - as some are.

The casting director may well know a director or choreographer is going to be difficult. Part of their job is then to make sure the successful auditionees are capable of putting up with them. If they crumple, then that is probably very important to know before contracts get signed!

The worst thing is discovering too late you have a 'fluffy' one who reacts very badly to the production process. Nobody wants to see them upset, but I don't want to see it when we're rehearsing - I'd rather have seen it in audition and not picked them.

I really do my best not to upset the kids, but sometimes stress levels just get out of control for reasons outside of people's control, and you need tough kids.

The choreographer who had a go at the kids about the buns saw something she/he didn't like. If the reaction upset them, then how do you think they'd deal with the working with this person when things get tough. If the buns caused stress, I'd expect the rest to be even worse? I've seen choreographers scream at dancers and have amazing tantrums when they can't quite get it. These people may well be unpleasant, but their standards are never compromised - "find me another dancer, this one's useless" is not a rare request.

[Jeanie]

When I finished law school and joined my first law firm, it was expected that the partners would hurl abuse (and the odd judgment) at trainees. This was accepted as they had "brilliant minds" and had to let off steam.

My nephew trained as a chef in the mid 90s. The head chef played a "knife game" which concluded with him accidently slicing into my nephew's hand. This was laughed off as kitchen "high jinx".

I am pleased to report that this behaviour is no longer tolerated in City law firms and aggressive chefs are no longer the norm (Ramsay aside).

I've worked in theatre and have seen calm and polite directors who look after their actors. There is no need to shout and scream abuse and the excuse "they're creative people" is just an excuse. I suspect it's the less talented people that need to scream and shout as they do not have the creativity to articulate their directions.

Jeanie