I just ordered by headshots (which don't ship until next week), but I have my pic (w/o name on bottom) can you use it to post on actors access (which my agent (LA) wants) or wait until I have my actual print and then upload it?

You don't need to wait. Use what you have. Actors Access doesn't want a pic with your name on it anyway. (And the duplications may not even be as good in quality as the original, which is what I assume you have.) If you have a digital file, you can upload it to their site. If you just have the print, you can either scan it (if you have a professional quality scanner), or have someone do it for you. Go to the Actors Access site for the specifications that they require.

Yep. They DON'T want you to upload headshots with the name at the bottom.

It's also redundant when they get a notice saying submission from so and so.

I recently signed up for Actor's Access, but I'm very sceptical about the legitimacy of some of the posts there - specifically for the "big" films... and especially since you have to pay to submitt yourself, which I've been told you should never do.

Anyone have any sucess or horror stories about using Actor's Access?

Actorsaccess is 100% legit. You have to pay to submit yourself on LAcasting as well. That's show business. We pay for everything else as actors anyway. Headshots, classes, unions,etc. Best thing is to get an agent who will submit you on the breakdowns. Then you won't have to pay to submit. Meanwhile,some of the postings on AA may not be the highest paying, as the best gigs are on the breakdowns available to agents, however all postings on AA are supposed to be checked for accuracy by the AA staff.

I've never had any problems with AA.
You are also only seeing the tip of the iceberg with what's available. 70% of the good jobs are on the breakdowns.

For $68 a year, you can submit an unlimited number of times on AA. It has paid me back 10 fold with decent paying commericals, episodics and voiceovers in NY and in LA. All posted on AA.

The fees for LEGIT sites such as ActorsAccess, CastingNetworks, NYCastings, NowCasting are actually cheaper than printing out a bunch of headshots and resumes and mailing out.

$68/year for Actors Access gives you unlimited submissions. $68 will probably pay for at most 30 submissions (assume it's around $2 something for the printing and mailing costs).

It's 100% legit. One of my good friends in real life is one of the breakdown writers AT Breakdown Services who works on Actors Access.

GOOD STUFF: I've gotten some student film work, an audition for a film, and an audition for a webisode thru Actors Access.

BAD STUFF: Just one bad experience. I had one student film audition at Loyola Marrymount, and nobody showed. I knew for a fact I had the right directions, I was at the correct location, I even tried calling the phone number I was given in a confirmation email a few times (both before and after my audition time). I was there 30 minutes early, and stayed until 30 minutes after my call time. Not a single person showed up involved in the film. No call from them either, so I never found out why they weren't there.


As amo37 says, it's best to just sign up for the Showfax service associated with Actors Access; for $68, you get to submit as much as you want, WITH as many attachments as you want. Normally just a picture is $2 a submission, and any videos you have are $5 each. That one time per year fee is amazing versus the stuff you might add up.

Otherwise, don't worry about the legitimacy of Actors Access; it, and LA Casting are "the big two" when it comes to submission sites. And both charge per permission. You can research them both all over this forum, or in countless books or online sources.

Thanks. My LA agent uses it to submit their clients in LA.

quote:

Originally posted by skeeterkitty2004:
Thanks. My LA agent uses it to submit their clients in LA.

Actually agents use BREAKDOWNSERVICES.com. The leftover 30% is posted on ActorsAccess.com which is another division of Breakdownservices.

So 'splain to me, is this another site, that needs to be explored, besides AA, BS, Castingabout.com? Does it have different jobs? Does it have the same audition stuff that AA has, cause it does have a link to that site.
Thanks
TD

CastingAbout is another site created by Breakdown Services.

It lists the casting directors, associates, their addresses, and what shows they are currently casting.

But what about Breakdownservices.com? I went to the site and there is something there. Do I add that one to the endless list of legit stuff on the east coast?

quote:

Originally posted by nonstagemom:
But what about Breakdownservices.com? I went to the site and there is something there. Do I add that one to the endless list of legit stuff on the east coast?

To the rest of the forum, correct me if I'm wrong, but no, you don't have to be concerned with the address breakdownservices.com

It's pretty much just a main portal to get you to the various services they provide; the two you should focus on being

www.actorsaccess.com
www.showfax.com

Otherwise it's just their homepage with links for each of their services.

quote:

Originally posted by nonstagemom:
But what about Breakdownservices.com? I went to the site and there is something there. Do I add that one to the endless list of legit stuff on the east coast?

Breakdown services is the main company. It's ONLY accessible to agents.

The other sites owned by Breakdown that are accessible to actors are Actorsaccess.com, showfax.com, and castingabout.com

Got it! Thanks