I recently joined a site called castinggenie. It looks legit, but I wanted to check.

You pay a $9.99/month fee, and for this fee they send a news letter to your e-mail each day. This news letter includes acting terms that one may be unfamiliar with, advice on aspects of the acting world like how to get good head shots and how to not get scammed by agencies etc, and then around 6-8 castings. I joined because these castings are all for sizable productions. No non-union jobs or student films, but things like small parts in TV shows or postings for commercials.

Now, there is a main reason why I think it's legit, and a main reason why I think it's a scam.

Reasons for being a scam: It seems like any site that has job postings for... well, almost anything that you would actually get paid to be in is a scam. Too good to be true kind of thing. I'm hoping that this is the one authentic site out there, but it seems like jobs you would get paid more than $100/day for are nonexistent on the internet.

Reasons for being legit: A lot of these postings are very specific to the job. They all include an address to mail your headshots/resume to which makes me think that it couldn't be a scam. Unless they're just making up addresses? But that seems like a very obvious hole if they want to pull off a scam. Also, the info for character roles seem like things that only someone actually working on the project would know. For instance, there was a posting for the green lantern movie and the role descriptions were of actual characters in the comic and described them accurately. This makes me think that they couldn't just be making these things up.


So... I'm inclined to believe it's legit but wanted to check in with you guys.

Thanks in advance.

SCAM! DON'T BE AN IDIOT!

Just because the breakdowns look accurate, does NOT make it legit! Explore Talent, Talent Hunter, Talent 6, and the other scam sites STEAL breakdowns from legit sources and post it as if it's their own.

The addresses of casting directors are nothing special. You can get a book that lists the major Casting Directors and the shows they're casting.

Breakdown Services/Actors Access is one of the ONLY major places major film/tv cds post on. Not some stupid sounding site called Casting Genie! The name alone should have raised a red flag.

Also, one of the tackiest sites I've seen.

Get your $10 back!

The tacky name did raise a flag, but I gave it the benefit of the doubt. I'll cancel my subscription this week. *sigh*


I have one question though, just out of curiosity. If they give you the address of the people and the shows they're casting, what happens if you send in a headshot/resume to them? Wouldn't you just be put in as a contender to audition for that project? Or are they already cast? I just don't quite understand what makes it a scam.

Thank you for the heads up.

quote:

Originally posted by TJDukeman:
The tacky name did raise a flag, but I gave it the benefit of the doubt. I'll cancel my subscription this week. *sigh*


I have one question though, just out of curiosity. If they give you the address of the people and the shows they're casting, what happens if you send in a headshot/resume to them? Wouldn't you just be put in as a contender to audition for that project? Or are they already cast? I just don't quite understand what makes it a scam.

Thank you for the heads up.

Seeing that you're in West Virginia and NOT in LA,CA, they're not going to call you in.

Major Film/TV casting directors prefer working with agents and do most if not all of their casting ONLINE. Major CDs also DON'T accept unsolicited mailings. If you mailed your stuff to them, it most likely will go into the trashcan.

Ah, the sad truth.
Thanks again.

I had the same questions about Casting Genie, thats why i decided to check this out. Acutally found this site to. I have been using their service for a week or so and I don't really see a problem with it.

I appreciate your views truthtellers59 but i don't really see how that makes it a scam..if they are giving me made up castings or misleading information then i would agree but that doesnt seem to be the case at. Also all the additional information I get in my newsletter to is pretty helpful as well. Truthtellers have you now or ever been a member of casting genie and can give me an honest informed opinion or is this all just your point of view? I don't want to waste my money but at the same time I don't want to give up a pretty good resource from what I can tell so far.

I'm pretty new to all of this myself but this just doesnt seem like a scam. I mean in some of their newsletters they have even suggested visiting the sites you mentioned as extra resources. right now its the most affordable thing i have seen plus i think all the information i get aside from the castings is pretty helpful.

Oh i have one more question..so if i don't live in la or ny should i not even bother submitting? Thats what it seems like your saying and in that case i guess it wouldnt matter where i got my info from.

The major casting sites which are used by casting directors in NY and LA are:

actorsaccess.com
LAcasting.com
nowcasting.com

Yes, if you are not in a major market, it does not help you to submit. How will you get to the major city if you need to audition the next day? What is the point? To work in major market, you need to live in a major market.

If you read Variety, Playbill.com, Backstage.com, etc. you will get all the info you need to see what's going on in the show biz world. Never heard of Casting Genie. Sites like that pop up to take advantage of uninformed actors. There is a reason the sites mentioned above are used by all the major CD's. They are legit and proven.

quote:

Originally posted by IluvtheCowboys:
I had the same questions about Casting Genie, thats why i decided to check this out. Acutally found this site to. I have been using their service for a week or so and I don't really see a problem with it.

I appreciate your views truthtellers59 but i don't really see how that makes it a scam..if they are giving me made up castings or misleading information then i would agree but that doesnt seem to be the case at. Also all the additional information I get in my newsletter to is pretty helpful as well. Truthtellers have you now or ever been a member of casting genie and can give me an honest informed opinion or is this all just your point of view? I don't want to waste my money but at the same time I don't want to give up a pretty good resource from what I can tell so far.

I'm pretty new to all of this myself but this just doesnt seem like a scam. I mean in some of their newsletters they have even suggested visiting the sites you mentioned as extra resources. right now its the most affordable thing i have seen plus i think all the information i get aside from the castings is pretty helpful.

Oh i have one more question..so if i don't live in la or ny should i not even bother submitting? Thats what it seems like your saying and in that case i guess it wouldnt matter where i got my info from.

Question, how many auditions did you get through them? Or callbacks.

Scam!

quote:

Originally posted by IluvtheCowboys:
I had the same questions about Casting Genie, thats why i decided to check this out. Acutally found this site to. I have been using their service for a week or so and I don't really see a problem with it.

I appreciate your views truthtellers59 but i don't really see how that makes it a scam..if they are giving me made up castings or misleading information then i would agree but that doesnt seem to be the case at. Also all the additional information I get in my newsletter to is pretty helpful as well. Truthtellers have you now or ever been a member of casting genie and can give me an honest informed opinion or is this all just your point of view? I don't want to waste my money but at the same time I don't want to give up a pretty good resource from what I can tell so far.

I'm pretty new to all of this myself but this just doesnt seem like a scam. I mean in some of their newsletters they have even suggested visiting the sites you mentioned as extra resources. right now its the most affordable thing i have seen plus i think all the information i get aside from the castings is pretty helpful.

Oh i have one more question..so if i don't live in la or ny should i not even bother submitting? Thats what it seems like your saying and in that case i guess it wouldnt matter where i got my info from.

The fact that you're not working in a major market shows your ignorance in this industry.

Major Casting directors ONLY post on BREAKDOWNSERVICES.COM (ActorsAccess.com for Actors)!

The tacky site reeks of scam o'rama! Informative newsletters don't mean jack. You can get informative newsletters for free.

So have you gotten any work from Castinggenie? If you haven't, then you've helped prove that it's scammy.

You have to live in the LA if you ever think about getting work there.

I live in West Virginia and I have a manager in New York. I travel to do my auditions, etc. And yes it does cost a lot of money. But that's the only way I can do it right now. I have taken sometime off to focus on school, but I go to New York often to train, etc. I'm in a unique situation, and I am very lucky and blessed to have it work out this way. Anyway best of luck to you! Before I got my manager I didn't know that much about the business, because I had only done theatre. I wasted money on websites that weren't legit, we make mistakes it's ok. Being in this business is a learning process.