Online Audition Platform Hit With Class Action Lawsuit Over Alleged Pay-to-Play Tactics

Winston Cho
·2 min read

Talent listing service Casting Networks is facing a proposed class action lawsuit accusing it of exploiting actors by charging them for opportunities to audition for roles.

The complaint, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday, claims the pay-for-play model violates a California law aimed at protecting performers from predatory practices in Hollywood by prohibiting the charging of fees for the submission of headshots, reels or additional audition materials. It alleges that the company illegally “commercialized, gatekept and exerted complete control of the casting process” by tying the ability to pay for auditions with casting opportunities.

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The filing of the complaint marks renewed scrutiny around pay-to-play auditions. In 2018, the Los Angeles City Attorney’s office successfully pursued criminal charges against more than two dozen offenders, mostly a mix of acting workshop owners and casting professionals, accused of staging paid auditions with aspiring actors. The industry significantly contracted after the crackdown, which was initiated following the publication of a 2016 investigation by The Hollywood Reporter.

Tuesday’s lawsuit says the industry mostly shifted online serving thousands of subscribers who pay a monthly fee to potentially connect with industry professionals. On its website, Casting Network says it’s a software service allowing top casting directors to manage submissions from talent, as well as schedule and share auditions. Performers can submit auditions for roles by subscribing.

Casting Networks violates the Fee-Related Talent Services Law, which was passed by California legislators in 2009, by charging actors for employment opportunities, requiring performers to pay a fee for creating audition materials as a condition for using the service and accepting payment for referring talent to people or companies that may charge them additional fees, the lawsuit alleges.

Under the “premium” subscription, which costs $29.99 per month, members can enter unlimited role submissions on the website’s casting billboard, connect with agents through its scouting service, and upload media of their photographs, audition tapes and other promotional material onto their profiles.

“By holding onto media, Defendant can extract higher subscription tiers as artists’ storage space is exhausted and they are forced to purchase more,” the complaint states.

The proposed class brings claims for violations of California laws regulating unfair competition, false advertising and fee-related talent services, among other claims. It seeks to represent California residents who paid for subscriptions in the past four years.

“Casting Networks is essentially offering to do for producers what they could not do themselves under the law — take money in exchange for the honor of auditioning,” said Christina Le, a lawyer at the Clarkson Law Firm representing the proposed class, in a statement. “Actors who go out and audition for roles are already giving their labor away for free. Adding a pay-to-play requirement on top runs dangerously close to blatant theft.”

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