Content warning: The following article contains mentions of sexual assault.
Equity, the union for theater workers in the U.K., released a new series of guidelines for identifying a fake casting notice. The suggestions include being wary of notices posted on social media, as well as any auditions that require actors to be nude.
The guidelines arrived in the wake of a sexual assault incident involving a union member. Ian Manborde, Equity’s equality and diversity organizer, told the Stage, “While members regularly report to Equity fake casting notices, recent incidents have led the union to refresh its guidance to members on good practice in vetting casting notices.”
Here are some of the tips Equity has provided to make sure a post is legitimate:
- Be careful about any casting notices posted outside of traditional casting platforms, such as on social media.
- “Verify the background and status of the person who has published a casting notice.” Equity recommends checking to make sure the person who published the casting call is a legitimate casting director; a good barometer is whether or not they are a member of the U.K. organizations the Casting Directors’ Guild (CDG) or the Casting Directors Association. U.S.-based actors can check with the Casting Society of America.
- Check “the credentials of whomever has published a casting notice. You should ask for examples of prior work, confirm their office location, website, email address, and mobile number.”
- Avoid communicating about an opportunity via text message. Send and receive correspondences with a professional email address.
- Be skeptical about casting notices that don’t include a pay rate.
- Auditions and self-tapes should not ask actors to be nude or partially nude. Actors should report to their union any instances in which they are asked to remove their clothes.
- Avoid any auditions that take place in someone’s house or a hotel room.
- If an actor shows up to an audition and they are the only person there, they should leave immediately.
You can find the rest of the guidelines on Equity’s website.
Though these safety instructions are geared toward U.K. actors, they are also applicable to actors in the U.S., where casting scams are equally prevalent. In 2020, a fake casting notice circulated online asking models to send nude self-tapes in order to be considered for Paris Fashion Week. The post, which also asked for passport information, used the name of a real casting office and agent, but a false email address.
This incident led to SAG-AFTRA releasing a memo to its members saying, “You should always exercise caution when submitting personally identifiable information and audition tapes. Please note, in addition, that no SAG-AFTRA–franchised agent is authorized to solicit materials of a sexual nature from any current or future member; it is a violation of SAG-AFTRA agency regulations to do so.”
SAG-AFTRA also encouraged members to notify the union if they see any fake or questionable casting calls.