Casting Director

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Baloo
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Casting Director

Post by Baloo »

Hi, does anyone know of Bdiscovered casting director/agent, they are based in Cardiff and they spotted my daughter through a casting and would like to take her onto their books. Are they any good, has anybody ever heard of them? Their website is www.bdiscovered.net

Thank you :?
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riverdancefan
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Re: Casting Director

Post by riverdancefan »

I have never heard of them......I must say I didn't like their homepage on their website either, but that's just a pesonal preference, too many busty ladies :D
How old is your DD?
"Tall and proud my mother taught me, this is how we dance" - RIVERDANCE
Baloo
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Re: Casting Director

Post by Baloo »

She's only 13, and yes I thought the same actually! :)
pg
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Re: Casting Director

Post by pg »

I'm quite sure you can do better than this. :D

BDiscovered and "Let Stardom find you" would put me off to start with!

This is not an agency (in fact, they state "we are not an agency" on their "about" page) and I would suggest they are not casting directors either, in the usual industry sense of the words. It's a "directory" like a score of others on the internet which is very very unlikely to be looked at by casting directors (and by that I mean casting directors who have been specifically employed to shortlist candidates for jobs).

Can you elaborate on "spotted my daughter through a casting" ? That seems a bit odd. Where did they spot her, and how did they contact you?

I've copied this from the "about" page:

We have over 20 years of experience using artistic direction, imagination, diverse experiential knowledge, research together withsocial and political expertise which we use to assist writers, directors and producers.

We use our extensive understanding of psychology to assess the limits to which actors can be pushed artistically. It is our job to know them intimately, and to use our knowledge of the wide variety of their skills to create an acting company for a project that allows the visual story to be told.

Therefore we are constantly interviewing actors, dancers, models and musicians to assemble a quality database of talent suitable for all of the projects we undertake.


How does the above claim go with absolutely anyone being able to upload their particulars? And how exactly are they going to get to know "intimately" the "over 2000" individuals on their database? :shock:

Here's what they say on their "casting service" page:
We can find the people you need to bring your project to life the way you want!
As Casting Directors we have taken the time to get to know a large number of skilled and experienced actors and actresses and a number of experienced agents. You can see some within this website, but we have a total database of over 2000 talented individuals. We are also very well connected with a large number of drama schools giving us access to new fresh talent. We also work with other audition websites such as Spotlight, Casting Call Pro, The Casting Website, Stars in my Eyes, AngelStages and many more to access all of the available talent in the UK.All of this gives us access to a vast number of actors. We don't hire the actors. We find a selection of people as close as possible to your requirements, filtering the candidates who are clearly not suitable and so saving you time and work. We then send the suitable candidates to you for an audition.


I wouldn't say that's exactly individual attention, would you? :lol:
Baloo
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Re: Casting Director

Post by Baloo »

Thank you everyone for your comments and I think We will give it a miss, I was not overly impressed by their website either :)
BDiscovered
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Re: Casting Director

Post by BDiscovered »

Interesting you should all be commenting on your opinions of this website, but clearly haven't spoken to us on the phone or by email. The contact details are clearly listed on the contact page.

As a Mum myself with a son in the industry I understand parents have concerns, but these comments seem very unjust and emotional, for example I appreciate that some of the models are busty, but to use this as a negative comment against us when we have loads of children and young performers we work with? We're not asking your child to be like this, every performer portrays themselves in their best light, the same will be true of your daughter or son. We are CRB checked fully vetted and approved Spotlight agents.

Again the comment that we are not agents seems unjust and dismissive. If you take the time to look at the talent on out site you will see us listed as their agent on their profile, do you really think all of these people would list us as agents if we were not really agents?

We represent hundreds of actors, models, dancers, singers and presenters from 5 years on up. As an agency we have one of the largest databases of talent in the UK, having nearly 5,000 people associated with us and new people joining daily. We also work as personal managers to our more professional talent and as casting directors for producers/directors.

We place most of our work in London, although we also place a lot of work in Manchester, in the South West in the Cardiff/Bristol BBC studios and some work in the USA.

We work with around 70 jobs per day and will put put people forward for all of the jobs that they are suitable for. Due to our size and the quality of our talent we are part of a select group of agents who have access to more exclusive jobs and opportunities, so we see a lot more than most agents see every day. Big enough to count, small enough to care! We will regular introduce talent CVs to casting directors, directors and producers when they are casting for roles with a view to booking you an audition.

Here are a few of the highlights of jobs we've had in yesterday – we see ones like this EVERY weekday

Law and Order: UK - Episode 8 'I Predict a Riot' (Television)

Law and Order: UK - Episode 7 'Access Denied' (Television)

The 4 O Clock Club (Television)

Paris I'll Kill You (Feature Film)

THE HUNDRED (Television)

GEORGE at ASDA (Commercial)

Before I Go to Sleep (Feature Film) - role Nicole Kidman's Husband !!

Disney - Magic Dust (Commercial)

Yoki (Commercial)

PADDY POWER (Commercial)

BEVERLY HILLS COP (Role of LEILA) (Television)

Undisclosed Pilot (Television)

Coca Cola commercial (Commercial)

On Line Poker (Commercial)

NHS 75th Year Anniversary Online Film (Internet)

The Vatican (Television)

Blank Slate Beach (Feature Film)

Everest (Commercial)

BARCLAYCARD BESPOKE OFFERS (Commercial)

Our Contract is Non-Exclusive - it is simple, it is non-exclusive so you can work with other agents, there is no fee to join, no contracts, no strings attached, we take 10% of the work we put you into.

This industry is always about the work - we have plenty - the presentation of CV, photos and showreel - and the training, we help guide the skills people need for thier chosen career path.

For example Spotlight list the accredited training at https://www.spotlight.com/DramaUK

If you have questions please email tina@bdiscovered.net
Irishdancer
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Re: Casting Director

Post by Irishdancer »

5000 are a lot even the big agents like Syliva Young Mark Jerman and Stage Coach done have nealy as many on the books, well may be Stage Couch do but that is from all they have all over British Isles. 8) Think you must be a extras agent you list all the projects your clients where involved with but don't say which parts they had. My ds agent only has about 250 clients and that is with children young adults and adults, if agents have too many clients its hard enough having to compete with people from other agency's but if you are competing with people who look like you from your own agency even harder. How on earth do you know all your 5000 clients, most of the best agents will only take on 1 client that looks the same in each age range and know what they are like so they can sent them to the auditions that they have a chance of getting. It's the quality not the quantity of clients on a agents books that matter.
emi's mum
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Re: Casting Director

Post by emi's mum »

The above posting lists Spotlight briefs that have been posted by CDs on Spotlight over the last two weeks and not all from yesterday. Any agent who has clients on spotlight will be able to see these briefs and submit clients if suitable. 5000 clients is a huge amount and this quantity needs a huge staff of agents and bookers to deal with. I'm not saying you're not genuine however this does throw up some concerns.
Also noted the jobs posted with Thompsons/peel have already been cast and offers made and RCCL Hairspray auditions are already booked in and full. Soul Sister closed casting a while ago. All these jobs were also posted in The Stage as open calls.
I would be very wary.
sophiesocks
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Re: Casting Director

Post by sophiesocks »

I remember this happened last year with another casting website that's been mentioned here a few times, there was a casting posted for a job that my dd had already been confirmed for.
pg
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Re: Casting Director

Post by pg »

I completely agree with Irishdancer, emi's mum and sophiesocks.


BDiscovered: I entirely understand your desire to counter unfair criticism or anything we have said which could be misleading, though if you have a website it is inevitable that people will comment upon it on the internet! If I wanted to find out about a product I would look for internet reviews as well as or instead of consulting the manufacturer :) However, your explanations just don't seem to add up, to my mind, and some of the things you state make me more wary rather than less I'm afraid.

You cannot possibly provide actors with good acting agency representation if you have 5000 clients! Having a large database of clients really isn't a recommendation - in fact I would say it was the reverse - for an actor.

A decent acting agent knows exactly what each client is capable of and has seen them perform. How many agents do you have?

Acting as casting director and agent is a direct conflict of interests, isn't it? A casting director is employed by and has a duty to the producer/director; the agent is employed by and acts for the acting client, so how does this work? (Unless you are talking about finding extras for something where a production company asks you to send over a number of clients - even then, you would be acting as the extras' agent presumably, not as the casting director).

I also note that you have a list of extras agencies on your site - why are you encouraging your clients to join other agencies? I just don't understand this. Either you are representing your clients or you are not. Why would you suggest your clients sign up with other extras agencies?

Due to our size and the quality of our talent we are part of a select group of agents who have access to more exclusive jobs and opportunities, so we see a lot more than most agents see every day. Big enough to count, small enough to care! We will regular introduce talent CVs to casting directors, directors and producers when they are casting for roles with a view to booking you an audition.

I'm afraid this doesn't ring true either - unless you are an extras agency (and I have to smile at the idea that you are "small enough to care" with 5000 clients!). It is not the size of an agent's database or the number of clients that determines whether an agent has more access to jobs and opportunities. Casting Directors who want actors go to agents they trust who know their clients. Most high profile jobs never get sent out as casting breakdowns - the CDs know who they want to see and go to the agents who represent them.

The jobs you mention are likely to be available to most agents via the Spotlight link. Some of them are directly available to unrepresented actors via the Spotlight link. You are not one of the "top" agents favoured by Casting Directors - there's nothing wrong with this, lots of good agents are not - but they don't generally try to claim that they are, nor do they claim that hearing about perfectly ordinary jobs which are readily available via the Spotlight link somehow makes them special. As I have said (and as you will presumably know) most top/high profile jobs never go out via any casting breakdown in any case, so to claim that getting breakdowns means that you get access to "exclusive jobs and opportunities" as a favoured agent isn't really accurate is it? It's that kind of claim that makes me really wary.

If you submit the details of everyone suitable for every job and you have 5000 people on your database, does this mean that you are submitting scores of clients for some jobs?

We will regular introduce talent CVs to casting directors, directors and producers when they are casting for roles with a view to booking you an audition.

Umm. Yes. That's good then. That does indeed suggest that you are an agent - perhaps you have taken off the site the words "we are not an agency" on your "about us" page. It was there when I looked at the site in April.

I don't really understand "we place most of our work in London" either. If you mean, this is where most things are cast and where a lot of work takes place - then, OK. But it's not "your" work, is it? You don't really have all that much influence over it really, do you? Nothing wrong with that - it's just an odd thing to state.

I also completely disagree with your advice/views on exclusive and non-exclusive contracts on your site. This is probably good advice for extras but it is rotten advice (in my opinion) for actors. I could expand on that, but I would have thought that industry experience would mean that the reasons were obvious.
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Genevieve
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Re: Casting Director

Post by Genevieve »

I would look for an agency with a lot less people on their books - and one with a visually better website, - as pg said, 5,000 on their books is a lot, and a real negative, and 'bdiscovered' and 'Have a Look' seem to be subsidiaries under NTH !
Most agents have around 300 on their books and as for number they can send for castings, considering that agencies are often only asked to submit a set number of 'actors' from their books, often small, i'd question how well would anyone be represented and likelihood of getting a casting for any 'actors', which Id assume would be slim , so its an Extras agency really, and photographic modelling ?
I also do not understand the statement
@We use our extensive understanding of psychology to assess the limits to which actors can be pushed artistically. It is our job to know them intimately@
What qualifications do they have in the field of pychology? and are they just flowering up the statement that they @know@ all of their actors - and how can they know 5000 intimately ? They must have a lot of staff then ! sending Extras en masse for jobs daily !
- and the links from their website to Spotlight forms and info is available to any agents, ...it doesn't therefore reinforce their statements and provide any more credibility, as pg has pointed out -
Furthermore, why put a list of @unrepresented@ jobs on their website ? Is this to imply that these are the jobs you '@could' get@ ? I certainly see why psychology may well be a factor here, perhaps to have the effect of encouraging joining/signing with them sound more attractive !!!
I'm sure they do well, 'bdiscovered', - but sounds like an Extras agency and not the kind of representation 'actors' would be looking for.
Janejoyce
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Re: Casting Director

Post by Janejoyce »

Hi there, just out of interest I came across this thread recently while doing a bit of research before my daughter and I attended a photo shoot with Bdiscovered. I had heard only positive things about them from a few friends and on other online forums, so decided to go ahead with the shoot any way. We both had a fantastic day at their offices and were impressed with the quality of Bdiscovered's photos and with the way they worked closely with Sophie (my daughter) to make her comfortable and build her confidence in front of the camera through out the day! They were also very open and honest about the type of work they get and I was shown Bdiscovered's Spotlight feed and Casting networks job feed and was very impressed with their openness about this and their guidance with what type of work Sophie is suitable for. I was also given other industry advice for Sophie such as to not sign any exclusive contracts, something that we were considering at the time. Bdiscovered's staff were all very pleasant and took care of all hair an make up on the day, we were able to take all of Sophie's photos with us on the day and she has had several auditions for jobs since then. So all of this being said I can't understand all of the negativity on this thread! Of course I understand why people would like to discuss the the suitability of an agency before attending, after all we are discussing our children's safety. How ever after seeing Sophie have such a wonderful time, I can do nothing but give Bdiscovered a ten out of ten and recommend them for a wide variety of up coming performers, whether their interests be getting top quality acting work or simply confidence building and industry guidance!

Thank you! :)
pg
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Re: Casting Director

Post by pg »

I'm pleased you are pleased.

However, the standard of the photos on the site is NOT what would normally be expected from a professional headshot photographer and I would recommend anyone interested in getting professional acting headshots done to do some research in to what Casting Directors look for in headshots and photo galleries on Spotlight? Have a look in Contacts or on the website Headshot Hunter and compare the photographs you see there.

Having multiple agents is not a sensible move for anyone who wants to be taken seriously as an actor in the industry - and I am concerned that this is the advice coming from BDiscovered. What were the reasons they gave for not signing an "exclusive" contract?

It is very unlikely that "top quality acting work" will come someone's way if they are being represented by Bdiscovered. They won't get to hear about it because they will not be on the preferred list of agents. Though they will hear about some jobs of course.

Do you know of examples of clients of theirs who have landed "top quality acting work"? Of course this depends on the actor as well as the agent. But the top agents have a lot of clout.

I know that BDiscovered do not insist on seeing the acting ability of the clients they take on - this would be enough of a red flag for me. An agent cannot hope to represent someone properly if they don't know what they are capable of. What's more, a CD would expect an agent to know what their clients are capable of...

There is so much wrong with the information on the site.

May I suggest that anyone considering it does some serious industry research first?

Two books I would recommend are:
"An Actors' Guide to Getting Work"
and "Actors' Yearbook".
Irishdancer
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Re: Casting Director

Post by Irishdancer »

PG is right I had a look at the children's photos on this site they are not very good some if the posses are rubbish no good agent would put photos like this on there web page. My Ds is a IMBD pro member which means that we can look up all agents casting directors in there I put this company in there surch and nothing came up. All the best agents who's clients are getting work are on there so are all casting directors. There is nothing about this company on there which means none of there Clint's are on there.
pg
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Re: Casting Director

Post by pg »

A minor point - but possibly a telling one: you don't need anyone to take care of "hair and makeup" for an actor's headshot photo shoot ...
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