Dear Agents

Help actors avoid paying to be 'seen'.

What has come to light of late is that actors bear the financial cost of being on Spotlight, the main acting directory in the UK used for casting performers. Agents and casting directors do not pay to use the service. 

Apart from the financial disparity in this system, Spotlight casting breakdowns do not have to be made available to all actors or to all agents, which makes the requirement for all performers to pay the same subscription fee, egregious. Many actors also pay to create websites and showreels, or to be listed on other casting directories - anything to increase their chances of being seen. As Equity put it recently when Spotlight proposed a now abandoned  premier service at a higher subscription rate - it's a 'tax on hope.'

Dear agents, we feel that by making it standard to publish your clients on your own websites, we can help to diversify the system of casting. Why not put search tools on your websites? Some do, but many do not.

When it is no longer a requirement for performers to hold a Spotlight subscription, perhaps the prices will come down: healthy competition vs cornering of the market.

Please note that Spotlight sub prices did not reduce when the hard copy directory stopped being published and during the pandemic, when there was little casting going on, Spotlight did not reduce subs, claiming to be a 'small family business.' 

Can we work together to make the system of casting more equitable?