A recent criticism thrown our way is that we only cast our favourites.
We’ve shared our casting process in-depth here and here, but it’s always worth debunking rumours that circulate in crowd holdings and online spaces.
The short answer? We wish our job was as easy as booking favourites!
Instead, we need to provide each production with great candidates that match their casting briefs as close as possible, some of which can be incredibly specific and niche.
Even if you look the part, we are limited by the hair brief, the measurement parameters of available costumes, the proximity to the filming locations, production’s transport preferences, the relevant experience required, the ownership of special clothing items, the quality of your photos… etc.
If we kept submitting our favourites to every role, then productions would simply use other agencies that have a better casting eye.
So you do have favourites?
Sure, in the sense that this is a people’s industry. Our estimation of each artiste is affected by the way they conduct themselves on-set, in crowd holding, over emails and online. From a previous blog:
Each agency may have tens of thousands of faces on their books, but you can take comfort in the fact that the bookers soon become familiar with their most reliable SAs that are switched on, turn up on time, do what is required of them and conduct themselves professionally.
The most reliable SAs literally rise to the top during our casting searches. Our bookers often sort their searches by the artists’ number of competed jobs and their attendance rating (the % of booked jobs you’ve completed, which is affected by drop-outs & no-shows - 100% is ideal, anything less than 90% is concerning). This process ensures that the most dependable SAs are encountered regularly by our team.
The cream rises. But remember - using this metaphor - we drink the entire coffee, not just the cream. We can only identify the best supporting artists by ensuring we approach everyone that matches the casting brief, not just those we’re familiar with. Favourites do not exist at the expense of the rest of the database.
If you’re easy to work with and reliable, then soon enough you’ll be remembered as someone that can be called upon at short notice to help us out of a quandary. Better yet, nothing beats the feeling of saying, “Aha! I know just the person!” when a very specific casting brief lands on our desk.
These moments are a testament to both the bookers’ familiarity with their books and the Supporting Artists’ reliability and collaboration with the agency.
This familiarity is earned, not given. We don’t have a big list of all our favourites ready and waiting; each booker has built rapport with different artists across the platform. Moreover, the eureka! moments described above are by no means representative of our casting process.
Remember, this rapport doesn’t directly translate into more bookings. A golden rule that we can’t say enough - the agency suggests you; the production books you. We could suggest you until the cows come home - production will always have the final say on who is selected. If we had our say, 100% of our artists would be working every single day.
If you go through a quiet period, it is most likely due to the casting briefs we’re currently working on; sometimes your look will be in demand and sometimes it won’t be.
Accusing the agency of favouritism is a self-fulfilling prophecy - aggressive rants alienate the exact team members responsible for making hundreds of casting decisions each day. This won’t yield more jobs, it’s an act of self-sabotage. On this note, it’s key to remember a Warren Buffet quote:
“It takes 5 years to build a reputation and 5 seconds to ruin it.”
It breaks our heart a little when an artist who looks perfect from our end - a 100% attendance rating, years of completed bookings, a regularly updated profile - suddenly behaves unprofessionally to a crew member or to us at the agency, either in-person or online.
Finally, we understand the disappointment behind a release message. Supporting Artiste work is always a bit of a numbers game - you are always more likely to be released than booked due to the nature of us having to provide production with multiple options for each role.
It's much better to be asked and then released rather than not hear anything at all - it's proof that our bookers like your look and are putting you forward for work.
If you receive no availability enquires at all, swing an email to epcommunity@extra-people.com with your name & profile ID and our community manager will review your profile to see if something is missing.
As you can see, it’s not an straightforward yes or no answer! But we believe our system strikes a balance between rewarding the reliable SAs on our books whilst at the same time giving plenty of opportunities for newcomers to prove themselves.
Many Thanks,
The Extra People Team.
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SUPPORT CONTACTS
The email address to use for any profile-related issue is epcommunity@extra-people.com
If you have any booking enquiries please reply to the last email concerning that project. Your email will go to a dedicated email for that production.
If you have general enquiries that are not pay or booking related, please contact team@extra-people.com
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