Dear Jackie:
I would love a history of Breakdown Services. Most specifically, I would like to understand why it is illegal for actors to access breakdowns. How and why did this come to pass? Who makes this decision? Casting? Breakdown Services? Production companies? The government?
Why can't enterprising actors purchase access to the breakdowns and pore over acting opportunities themselves? After all, I like my agent, but I am the best judge of what I do well and if I am right for a part. I can't be certain that my agent would think of me for all the parts I would enjoy or want to stretch into. I am also the best judge of the parts I am most interested in playing, including interesting character roles that may be under-five.
I know that there are questionable ways of finding the breakdowns, and I haven't bothered to pursue those avenues. Why not make it possible for actors to legally have access to the full breakdowns?
D. A.
Los Angeles, Calif.
Dear D.A.:
Before Breakdown Services came into being in 1971, film studio casting directors had to get their own casting information out to talent reps. Basically this was achieved by calling around town and explaining each project's casting needs to individual agents and managers. Clearly this could be time-consuming and somewhat tedious. Enter entrepreneur Gary Marsh, who saw the need for a more efficient system-a service that could compile all the casting notices and get them out to talent reps quickly and consistently. And thus Breakdown Services was born.
Breakdown Services is essentially a casting notice delivery system. Talent agents and eligible managers subscribe to the service and pay a fee to receive the information. CDs put out the notices, and they are the ones who decide who will receive them. In some cases a CD will request their breakdown be sent only to select agencies or managers, and not even all Breakdown Services subscribers will have access. Breakdown Services, in essence a middleman, does not decide who gets the information-it only streamlines and transfers it.
This may seem unfair, but think about it. Employers aren't required to publicize their job listings. A company looking to fill a position doesn't have to put a classified ad in the paper. It can promote from within, use a headhunting or employment service, select candidates from a job fair or from existing on-file resumes, or pursue a single recommended candidate. There may be numerous qualified people who never get a shot at that job, but it is the company's prerogative to choose its own hiring process. That is the same principle at work here. The employers, or in this case the employers' operatives-the CDs-are free to consider as many or as few applicants or actors as they like.
"Breakdown Services doesn't impose any restrictions on access to the breakdowns," said Gary Marsh in an e-mail on the topic. "Casting directors determine where, when, and to whom a breakdown is released." If it were up to Marsh, why wouldn't he invite actors to subscribe? Think of the extra revenue such a move would generate. The problem is that, with no control over where their information is going, CDs would just stop using Breakdown Services altogether and put out their casting information themselves. This could inevitably lead to even less opportunities for actors, as CDs would likely limit the number of talent reps they bothered to contact to those with whom they had existing relationships. What would motivate them to reach out to hundreds of talent reps the way Breakdown Services does, when they could fill their audition slots with calls to just a dozen?
You have to keep in mind the reasons you are not being invited to submit for projects through the breakdowns. With so many actors out there, CDs are barraged with a sea of choices for every role. They want agents and managers to help them sort through and limit their options to a more reasonable quantity, and they want the added air of professionalism representation can imply. Don't get me wrong; I am not saying represented actors are necessarily better than un-represented ones. I know there are fabulous, seasoned actors without agents, and there are terrible newbies under contract with big firms. I know talent reps' choices about their client lists can be misguided, narrow-minded, and sometimes just plain silly. It is an imperfect system, to say the least. Still, I understand CDs wanting a way to narrow their overly abundant options. Can you blame them? When hundreds of actors are submitted for each role, and casting offices are often flooded with submissions that can stack up waist high, the process of sifting through headshots and resumĂŠs can be overwhelming. Casting professionals often work under tight deadlines, so of course they welcome this way of managing their workload. Additionally just about everybody likes to get referrals. You-if you're smart-will get referrals for acting classes or headshot photographers. You aren't required to consider every class or look at every photographer's book. People rely on referrals every day-for dentists, plumbers, and pediatricians; for help in deciding which movie to see or which restaurant to try. CDs are just looking for the same kind of help. Of course they would prefer to see actors already vouched for by their colleagues. While this creates frustration and can further cronyism, it is not set up to exclude actors. It is, as I said, an imperfect system created to handle an oversupply of applicants for a limited supply of opportunity.
As for those illegally accessing the breakdowns: They are, to be blunt, stealing. They are violating copyright law as well as the California Unfair Practices Act. While Marsh focuses on going after those who sell the breakdowns and has never attempted to prosecute an actor, Breakdown Services has sued for damages and won settlements as large as $200,000. To me, taking a risk like that to send my headshot to someone who doesn't want it in the first place just doesn't make sense. Of course there are lucky breaks, where an unsolicited mailing off an illegal breakdown produces an audition or even a job. That's what keeps the sellers of bootleg breakdowns in business.
But remember, there are other avenues. CDs occasionally make breakdowns public. You can look at these general notices, free of charge, on the actors' area of the Breakdown Service's Web site, www.actorsaccess.com. The last time I checked, there were 25 pages of casting notices, with approximately 25 notices per page. Before you worry too much about the breakdowns you can't see, make sure you are taking full advantage of those you can.
You can also find out about film and TV projects currently being cast in Back Stage West.