Let’s have a heart to heart about
Availability Enquiries.
Supporting Artiste work can be a great earner… but it’s precarious to rely upon.
So should you respond ‘Available’ to everything - even for enquiries with overlapping dates?
In this week’s blog we are going to discuss what we expect when we send out availability enquiries and address how they are being managed by yourselves.
Grab a cuppa, becuase this is an important one.
Bad Agency Practice.
The old fashioned way that background agencies used to operate was to expect you to hold your availability unconditionally once you’ve replied available - regardless of how long you would need to do this for and regardless of the likelihood of booking.
Over time, agencies abused this expectation of undying loyalty.
A good booker will go through the schedule with a fine tooth comb working out who is needed where.
A bad one just blanket checks people for months of dates when in reality only a few days are up for grabs.
Expecting people to remain ‘available’ for months on end is lazy and, quite frankly, abusive to SAs.
This destroys the faith SAs have in the background casting process and encourages them to actively double book themselves as insurance.
A background agency should supplement your income, not compromise it.
While we’re discussing bad agency practice…
Some agencies, particularly ones based in the North, try and make people exclusive to them.Unless they are a talent agent, we find this exclusivity immoral and wrong.
We hope those background agencies are reading this.Unless they are offering you work Mon > Fri, every week of the year, how can they ask exclusivity of you…?! They are restricting your ability to earn! Please think very carefully about those agencies.
The Industry changes; the SAs respond.
British Film & TV has never been busier and productions expect agencies to find SAs, Doubles, Stand-Ins and last-minute replacements very quickly.
To meet the demand, Supporting Artistes are being sent multiple availability enquiries each day.
Still, you are statistically more likely to be released than booked for each role you are put forward for.
When your photos are suggested to productions, you are in a lookbook with several other options for the same role.
SAs know this and now spread their bets. They respond ‘Available’ to as many enquiries as they can - even if these enquiries check for overlapping dates.
This is you protecting yourself. We get it.
If you don’t get confirmed, you might not have any income for that day or week.
Spreading your bets prevents missing work opportunities.
To expect artistes to hold dates for one enquiry at a time in this climate is absurd.
There has to be another way - a better shared expectation between the agency and the artiste which acknowledges how SAs spread their bets to bring consistency to their income.
So this is our stance:
If we haven’t booked you yet…
You can continue to say yes to other work opportunities on those dates.
However - we will assume you are still available for the job unless you tell us otherwise.
The moment you are booked through another production, agency, or otherwise become unavailable after responding to one of our checks, let us know ASAP.
The best way to inform us is to email team@extra-people.com and include in the Subject line: “No Longer Available for [Project Name] on [Relevant Dates].”
Bookings are Binding.
We expect that when you’re BOOKED however, you commit 100%.
You can not release yourself simply by choosing not to confirm the booking confirmation.
You still need to get in touch with us directly if you have a problem with a booked job.
Always honour the agency that booked you first. This is professional etiquette.
We honour this arrangement as much as you.
But this arrangement only works if you inform us the moment you are no longer available for the days you have given availability for.
If you become unavailable because you’ve been booked elsewhere, you HAVE to tell us ASAP.
We do not want to find out at the booking stage that you are actually no longer available and haven’t been for some time.
All our work is undone and we have to start from scratch again.
There is nothing more frustrating than trying to book someone who has been approved by numerous departments only for that person to say, ‘Sorry, I’m no longer free’.
Or even worse, for that SA to ignore us. This isn’t Tinder. If you ghost us, we will ghost you back and you’ll never be offered work from us again.
Don’t be the person that makes the Crowd AD go back to Costume, back to Hair & Make-Up, back to the Director and say, ‘They can’t do it anymore’. Each department will remember you for it.
Any drop-out excuses or radio silence after the booking confirmation will lead to consequences for your attendance rating on your profile.
It’s just so much better for everyone to know about a change in availability before bookings come in than afterwards.
Life happens to everyone, but it’s how you handle it that defines you.
If you find yourself unable to do a booked job, just be honest.
Bereavements happen, accidents occur, childcare falls through, an emergency dentist appointment is needed… or perhaps another production books you.
If you think a teacher can see through ‘my dog ate my homework’, then we are absolutely masters at spotting bulls**t. We can tell immediately by your tone of voice or how the email is written.
Many times someone has lied about a family tragedy only for us to find out they are on another set.
Let’s handle it like adults. Honesty is the best policy.
If we don’t believe you, then you’re just eroding that trust.
So please honour the booking or handle your ‘drop out’ in the right way.
Good Agency Practice.
For every availability enquiry, some will be booked and some will be released.
An agency should look after both groups, because a release translates into no money.
At Extra People, we ask productions to try and confirm their selections within 24 hours of us sending them a lookbook of options.
If you’ve experienced longer, that’s because of the complexities at production and each production has different situations.
Some might receive our lookbooks and confirm within a few hours - some take a few days.
Maybe the Crowd 2nd AD can cast SAs themselves. Perhaps they need to get Hair & Make-Up and Costume to approve. Maybe they’re waiting to get the Director’s approval but it’s a busy day on set. Perhaps all of these departments are in different locations with poor WiFI access.
Rest assured that we are never sitting on bookings or releases. If you haven’t heard back, it’s because we haven’t heard back either.
As the industry has become incredibly busy in the past few years, we’ve really noticed that the longer it takes to book people, the more issues there will be.
The quicker we book people after an availability enquiry, the less issues we get.
(Still - We booked someone within 12 minutes the other day and suddenly they could no longer do it! 🤯)
Full Transparency; We will be better at Releases.
We used to have a similar philosophy to how the casting process goes for actors;
If you don’t hear back, you didn’t get it. Just get on with your life.
Overtime that opinion has evolved and we think releasing people is a better process. We know there have been times when we’ve not been great at that, for many reasons. But we are conscious of it and always try to make sure you get told in time.
Sometimes we don’t want to release people until everyone’s booking has been confirmed - if there are people who don’t confirm, it might mean you are back in the running.
Either way, we will be better at releases and it’s a company directive to ensure releases are sent out in a timely manner.
The same agency is double-booking me?!
Some SAs are baffled when an agency books them for one production, but continues to check their availability for the same dates on other productions.
This isn’t the agency being disorganised. This is a byproduct of agencies with large teams and our industry bursting with jobs.
One booker may not be aware that you have been booked by another colleague for the same dates. Just respond ‘Not Available’ as you would normally and be safe in the knowledge that your original booking with us is still binding. In the rare instance that we do double-book you ourselves, flag it with us and we will handle it.
Finally…
Yes, we are aware of a growing concern that a few productions each year treat bookings like pencils. We are lucky enough to have not been affected by this practice as much as other agencies, and we work closely with each Crowd 2nd to ensure Booking Confirmations are treated with the same respect by production as they are treated by SAs. Good agents are always working with production for better communication. We work closely to not be blindsided by rescheduling or scene changes.
The entire background casting process relies upon the faith that Booking Confirmations are binding and we do everything we can, including working with the union, to ensure that this faith never falters.
We hope that this blog has clarified our expectations regarding artistes giving their availability.
If you enjoyed this blog - be sure to read others at The Advice Centre.
Many thanks,
The Extra People Team.