The Casting Society of America is taking action after Criminal Minds casting director Scott David was fired in the aftermath of an article accusing him of holding workshops that were essentially utilized for “pay-to-play” casting and Vampire Diaries Greg Orson canceled several workshops of his own after similar accusations. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the CSA is forming a committee to investigate the practice of casting workshops serving as fronts for paid auditions.
CSA President Richard Hicks told The Hollywood Reporter, “We have been in communication with the city attorney’s office as things come up. At the end of the day, it’s up to them to enforce.” In the meantime, the city attorney has received a petition with over 11,000 signatures asking for the office to investigate the predatory practice.
Hicks will be joined on the committee by Amanda Lenker Doyle (Black-ish) and Marci Liroff (Mean Girls) among others. One of the purposes of the committee will be to “seek to preserve and enhance the educational value of casting workshops” as opposed to casting directors using them as an additional moneymaking opportunity. However, other casting directors have criticized the selection of committee members, and The Hollywood Reporter even points out that Doyle has hosted paid workshops as recently as March 28 (however, the magazine does not accuse Doyle of wrongdoing with her workshops — just pointing out that she hosts paid workshops).
One possible solution that the CSA is considering are “officially sanctioned CSA programs” that would allow the organization to uphold “the highest standards of integrity and professionalism.” However, it is unknown if the CSA will discourage its membership from holding paid workshops altogether.
