Has anyone done work with Extra Mile Casting? If so what is your opinion of them?
Please let me know
thanks

I think there is a fairly recent discussion on Extra Mile so you should check it out. My daughter started with them when she hadn't heard anything from her agent and really wanted to get on camera.

We are very happy with them. Yes, they charge a yearly fee (which they sometimes forget to collect every year!) but they send my daughter out fairly frequently and for really good "extra" roles so one shoot (or less) and it's paid for. Twice she was bumped to "under five" which was exciting. She was supposed to be in the last Sopranos episode (the teen couple in the diner) but the shoot date kept changing and in the end we were on vacation.

It's not "real" acting but for an occassional extra role when things are slow we really are happy with them.

I personally don't like them... Leah at extra mile is unprofesional should be banned. She doesn't have respect for upcoming actors or people in general. I had an incident where I landed in the hospital and couldn't make background work she booked me for.... she didn't care whatsoever what had happened to me. I would never want to work with people like that... I asked for a refund and she refused. she kept my money the funny thing is that I didn't start working with them yet!
Good luck if they did these things to me i won't be surprised they do these things to others

Well, I found out not to work with them myself. They called me to do back ground work. I never confirmed that I was attending and they called me to say that I was expected to be there. Leah said that she didn't have time to listen to me and hung up on me. I called back & let her know exactly what I thought of her.
needless to say her unprofessional mean hearted attitude isn't what I would ever want to work with. I have heard back from other friends in the business that have worked for them say the same thing. The owner Leah is horrible, that she is on a power trip and needs to get a clue.
I thank all of you for your responses. I now know to definitely stay away.

She's never done that to us. I got a call for my daughter to do something the first week of school and I told Leah she couldn't miss school the first week for an extra shoot. She said "no problem" and said that in the future I should book out but not in a hostile way.

If I found her to be less than respectful towards me I would stop as well, I've just not experienced that in the years I've been working with her. Maybe because I'm old!

you should not have to book out for extra work. we have said no to central casting and GWC on many occasions and they were always pleasent about it

Harley Gurl,
I've had the same experiences at Extra Mile. It's not just leah who is harsh it's her assistant Gillian as well. You have to give these people your schedule weekly and if it changes you have to let them know. IF they call you and you are not available and you never told them you wouldn't be available they get angry. Basically you are on call for them. They also make many mistakes when it comes to keeping track of schedules and try to blame you and are really mean. For me it wasn't worth working with them. They will get you a lot of background stuff (the set isn't always the best) so if you want to put up with that...

Extra Mile will get you background work but you'll have to sacrifice your dignity (in addition to the $40 / month) in return. Leah and Gillian (who is learning quickly from Leah how to be a bad person) will treat you like dirt. They'll yell at you, hang up on you, talk to you like you're a piece of dirt. Then, when they WANT you to work on a job, they'll be "Oh, hi honey!" They are incredibly unprofessional and the casting agents that work with them should be fully aware of this -- they should insist on professionalism or stop working with them.

I am SO relieved to read the statements that I see here regarding Extra Mile and its despicable leader, Leah. There's a lot about my experience that has been on my mind to this very day. It's been 2 years since she unceremoniously left me a message declaring that I "no longer work for Extra Mile," probably due to my insistence that she speak to me with respect. Correct me if I'm wrong, but even somebody paying as little as $30 a month for a service is the boss, and right there the heifer was twisted. It's lucky that she discarded me when she did and quickly paid me what I was owed, because I was on the verge of cursing her out anyway. I knew the day I walked into her office for registration, she was going to be a handful. Her curt and exasperated temperament spoke volumes. Memory fails as time goes on, but I think one excuse for her bitchy asides was the effort she put into getting union waivers for her roster of actors. Funny, in the months I was teamed with her company, not one waiver came my way after a long string of background gigs. And what in the world could justify her arrogance when her male assistant was the epitome of dignity? Let's not even get into the many calls she made, sounding like she'd rather have a lobotomy than talk to me. She even said her disgusting attitude was the nature of the beast. If she was the beast, perhaps. Once I turned down a film shoot for a job at 3 am on the ass end of Manhattan. Regardless of my anticipated schedule, I didn't really feel safe trying to make the trek for non-union wages. Obviously Leah was seething on the other end of the phone, like her reputation as a cattle herder was at stake. Anyway, I'm glad I was freed of her, glad to not feel like I was alone in my feelings then, but a little sorry that I never told her off more forcefully. At the time it really bothered me that she could turn my integrity around on me and throw a fit as if I was unprofessional. You never know if someone intends to badmouth you, and it often crossed my mind that she was petty enough to do so. Seriously, she probably thinks she's a glorified William Morris agent or something. This reply is long, but hopefully it will help others, because I will always tell anyone to avoid Extra Mile like a bad virus.

RUN RUN RUN FROM EXTRA MILE CASTING!!!! I wish that I had done some checking online about this company before I gave them any of my money or time. During the orientation, a phone came in and Leah's male employee (I think his name is Chris) was trying to handle the call with some grace and decorum explaining that he would take the caller's number and get Leah to call her back. Once she found out who Chris was talking to, Leah instructed him to not take her number and to tell the caller that Leah had said they were no longer getting work for her and to not bother calling back. All of this in front of new people. Rude. That should've been my first clue. After working two days for her, Gillian called me and asked if I was available for work on another day. I had failed to call in my availability and was not available. Gillian proceeded to chastise me for this. I apologized and told her I would be more responsible in the future. I immediately called back, thinking I should give my availability for the rest of the week. Leah answered the phone and chastised me for the same thing Gillian did. Ok, ladies I get it. I'll do better. Last week, Leah left a msg. about a day of work and instructed me to call her on her cell phone ONLY if I could make it. If not, call the office. By the time I got the message, it was very late and I actually couldn't take the job anyway so, as instructed, I called the office and left a message. Leah called me yesterday and left a message about working tomorrow and said that she would appreciate if I would call her back quickly because I didn't return her call from the weekend and she didn't like wasting her time. I called back immediately and asked what time the call was for. Condescendingly she said, "All day Zeke. The work is always for all day." I said, "No, I meant what time?" She said, "Zeke, I have no way of knowing that until they wrap for the day and decide." I inquired about her not getting my message from earlier and she said, "Oh, did you call the office? Ok." Very nicely. I then said, "This isn't going to work. I don't appreciate the lack of professionalism and the way you talk to people. It's unnecessary." She just kept saying, perkily, "Ok. Ok. Ok." THEN, she hung up on me? Rude much? I wanted to call her and give her a piece of my mind. Then I decided it wasn't worth it. She's hell bent on being miserable and I think prides herself on being a horrible shrew of a woman. She is overly impressed with herself and WAY overestimates her importance to the film business. I will most certainly be warning people from here on out to NEVER EVER darken the door of Extra Mile Casting. There are way too many opportunities in this city for people to be disrespected and abused. It's SO not worth it.

Just out of curiosity, does Extra Mile work with union or nonunion talent? Either way, I think both unions should be made aware of their lack of professionalism dealing with people.

I have never worked for Extra Mile Casting nor worked for Leah. And I have heard about her mercurial nature from others too offline.

However, the business of acting, especially if you are a background person or extra, is simply that, you are a body, to fill the background with. Now some would say that simple common courtesy would be nice no matter what you are, but those going to companies that are geared specifically for extra work should not be surprised at not being noticed right away nor should they expect all niceness and respect simply because they are walking through the door and doing background.

I'm not saying this to be mean or nasty. I'm just saying some could save their indignation and anger by simply being realistic. What I'm saying is, I've noticed TOO many people, who simply do background work, or are looking to get into the business and start working as extras, and COMPLAIN about not getting the star treatment.

As an unknown, as an extra, whether union or not, we are nobody. Yes, fillers are important for a street or restaurant or room scene, but you know what - if you can't do the work, there are plenty of more starry-eyed kids out there who would love to take a go at it and the newbies arrive every day!

So no, when I go to extras or background gigs, I don't expect the company to have water, I don't expect them to have food, I don't expect them to know my name and I don't expect them to roll out the red carpet or open the door for me. I bring gum with me, a book to read, a bottle of water and a positive attitude. I'm there to meet people, work the room, and show that I'm not a complainer or troublemaker. You'd be surprised who is watching, silently as we all work. The troublemakers don't get asked back or suddenly find their phone no longer rings for more work. Word gets around, not just for "difficult" agents but for "difficult" actors.

I try to leave my ego at home when it comes to background and acting gigs. I know what I'm there for and I know I'm not the star of the show and I deal with it. One day the shoe will be on the other foot, I reason, and I will recall the ones who were nice to me simply because they were being humane and not a butt kisser.

Tantrums and demands for respect tend to occur once one has made it BIG, not when you're a nobody with a couple of background creds and/or an acting school on the resume if at all. *LOL*

P.S. And why didn't you all trust your gut and run? You stood there and saw how this particular agent mistreated people, yet you STAYED. All I can say is, do your research, ask around like we all do here, and LEARN to trust your gut. Isn't that one of the prime directives of acting anyway?

Take care!

quote:

...
So no, when I go to extras or background gigs, I don't expect the company to have water,

Thank God I am SAG.
We get water.

My background is in Human Resource Management within a couple fortune 500 companies, I would just like to see the entertainment industry treat everyone with respect. Just because you are background does not me that you are a nobody. I agree that why do many extras sit and complain about the long hours, the waiting, the holding area, etc., then in their next breath they are talking about how much extra work they do. If you don't like the conditions just like any other job, Quit. Life is too short to be miserable and always complaining.

Now, back to the subject Extra Mile Casting. I agree with ressydm, trust your gut...Stop working for someone who is so unbelieveably unprofessional, just to get a job. If people stopped accepting jobs from them, maybe they would realize that actors will not work with them and they would either change their ways or the company would fold.

Break a Leg!

quote:

Originally posted by ressydm:
So no, when I go to extras or background gigs, I don't expect the company to have water, I don't expect them to have food, I don't expect them to know my name and I don't expect them to roll out the red carpet or open the door for me.

My daughter has done background work on a couple of films and tv shows and, decently enough, she was always provided with good food, a choice of drinks, and a nice place to sit while she was waiting. We were both always treated decently and with respect (as everyone should be, background or not!)