[BLOG] [PERSONAL] – Respect Yo’self
Attention: This might seem to some as a bad Yelp review, but I have a point. Trust me.
I walked into a cattle call earlier this week. For those who don’t know what this is, they basically schedule as many people (or actors in some cases) as they can and see them on a first come first serve basis, they give you a number when you walk in, and oh yeah, not paid, of course. Anyways, it’s not really about the money, I’m down to work for free if I believe in the project and see potential and passion. But not for this.. Let’s put it like this. If you’re a plumber, are you gonna unclog someone’s shit for free? Of course not. This is a profession and as an actor, you NEED to be respected as such. Everything starts with working for free; I’m not saying it doesn’t. But after you ‘intern’ in anything for long enough and have a trained set of skills, you start charging motherfucker. Especially on shit like this. And not even for loads of money should someone calling themselves a professional work on a piece of shit like this. This, my dear friends, is probably the ugliest side of acting there is.
Once you get your number (branded like fuckin cattle) they sit you at an open gym with about 100 people sitting down on long plastic tables. They start auditioning people in the middle of everyone by pretending they’re on trial!!! I understand wanting to put people on the spot and different methods (it sounds cool on paper), but this turned into a Jerry Springer episode. The casting directors were openly laughing and ridiculing people “auditioning” for them. Most of these people were obviously not actors. American Idol style. Fucked up.
I did not know it was going to be like this, because like the deceiving, conniving motherfuckers they are, the posted it on a professional casting website and even schedule you at 10:45am (so it seems as if you’re gonna be seen at that time). For respect to these people, (which they clearly don’t have towards me, or us for that matter) I will not name the name of this show, but these people need to know how fucked up their process is.
That might be some people’s jam, but for me it just felt degrading and casting directors need to be clear about this. Let you know you’re walking into a cattle call. In the end I didn’t even audition for them. Because I’m better than that. And most people who call themselves actors are most likely better than that too. I did not get into this profession to go to fucking cattle calls. I didn’t pay money to get an education in the craft to get humiliated in such a way. I came to work and collaborate with artists. These people are not fuckin artists, they’re abusive, repressed, got-it-all-wrong assholes. And the sad part is that they are the majority. And it’s accepted. But it’s time to change the norm. It’s OUR duty to bring respect and art back into this medium. Remember that not everyone in this industry is like that. There are still artists! I’ve seen it! I’ve worked with them (like people from The Cynical Owl!) So just give yourself the respect you deserve, and in some cases, walk the fuck out. You’ll come across some gems amongst the feces.
Enough is enough! Respect Yo’self! We’re not cattle!