No. Casting directors are not ignoring you.
It takes a lot of work, time and money to make a feature film, movie or even a commercial. One of the unsung heroes of the production process are extra casting directors. Extra casting directors are in charge of finding the right talent in order to bring a scene to life and it is not an easy job. Fielding through thousands of submissions, posting hundreds of casting calls, and working long hours are just a few of the job requirements of an extra casting director.
Recently, Jamie Lynn Catrett of Catrett Casting revealed the detailed process behind casting talent and it’s pretty amazing.
Here’s what she had to say:
For new people still trying to figure out the background world: Someone just posted a (snarky) comment on CL’s page about how we do not let people know if they don’t get a role, and I would like to respond to that comment in here, because its come up a few times lately.
Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but casting usually will not tell you when you do not get a role. This is not just in Atlanta… this is the way casting has been done since the beginning of Casting! That is why the old Hollywood motto is, “Don’t Call Us, We’ll Call You”. This is not because we like to torture innocent souls. It’s because we simply do not have time.
I want people to keep in mind the following things before getting upset with us about anything, but specifically about not replying to an email submission:
1) Our jobs are extremely time-consuming. We do not have the time or resources to respond to every person that has applied. People in casting often work 7-day weeks, and usually 12-18 hour days for months straight. Sometimes even our ‘part time assistants’ clock in at over 60 hours a week, and our full-time assistants? Let’s just say they aren’t sleeping a lot. Any given casting director is probably working a 90-100 hour week right now. So when people ask us to add more work to our already busy day by responding to ALL of the people that apply, I chuckle and remember something that my dad used to say to me as a kid when I would tell him (fists in the air) that I was going to beat him up. He would look around and say, “Oh really? You and what army?”
2) So, yes, we would need an Army. Because that’s honestly what it would take. Which we could probably hire, based on our files… but that’s not the point and the real problem isn’t just that we would need an Army, it’s that we would need to pay for an Army. So now, we don’t just need an Army, we also need a producer willing to pay for a full-time Army.
3) On that note, I would like someone to walk into a meeting to try to convince a producer that we need to pay for an army of people – not to help hire all of the people we need for a project, but mostly to respond to all of the people that we AREN’T hiring. I’m certainly not going to be the one to do it, so someone else will have to try this one out because I’m guessing that conversation would go a little something like this:
Producer: So you want me to pay for an army of people to respond to people that we aren’t hiring and don’t need for this project?
Casting: Yes, producer. That is right.
Producer: ::Long Look::
Producer: (To assistant). Can you please get this person out of my office?
I hope everyone is having a good week, and I hope that this helps you see things from our perspective!!! Sent with <3.
Ultimately, it centers around the fact that there is not enough time in the day to respond to each and every submission. So, the next time you apply for an acting job, remember casting directors are working hard and while you may not be perfect for that particular role, there’s another casting call around the corner.
