You are booked when you accept an offer for work and receive details.
It’s important to write down your work information so you’re prepared when you head to set.
Be sure to read our article Casting Director Do’s and Don’ts for Submitting for tips on how to book a job.
FAQs
Call
504-684-2550. If you cancel, we ask that you give us enough notice to replace you. PLEASE NOTE: You may not cancel via text message. You must call our office.
No, there is no guarantee of work because the needs of productions change every day. Due to the nature of background work, Central Casting can never offer full-time employment to any of the talent (i.e., you) it employs.
This means casting is prepping a scene for a future date and is checking your availability. If you do confirm availability, please mark your calendar to limit conflicts. You become “first avail” (first available) for that show. Typically in these situations, casting will not be able to hire you until the show looks at your picture submission and approves the look. After that, they will usually not release any booking until late afternoon the day before the shoot.
If you are offered another booking on the same day, we ask for you to give us the courtesy of the “first right of refusal.” Just let us know so we can inform our show. They may option to offer to hire you first. You are still able to be hired elsewhere if we are unable to confirm a booking for you.
The Casting Director will give you your booking information. Be sure to write this information down. Certain shows or Casting Directors may provide additional information via email or a wardrobe blog. Please review all provided information to ensure you are ready for work when you arrive to set.
Always check your voicemail. Do not call back until you have checked your voicemail to ensure the Casting Director did not leave specific instructions. If no message was left, wait and see if you receive a call back. If you do not receive a call back, assume you are no longer needed.
Rush calls are for immediate same-day work. This is usually to replace a “no show.” When you respond to a rush call, you may be required to get to the set location within an hour or less after being booked.
SMS Texting
Casting Directors may choose to reach out to you via SMS messaging. In addition to checking availability, Casting Directors will now be able to send follow up messages, and in some cases, details through text message.
All messages from Central Casting will be personalized with your name (as it appears in our system), reference the project name, and all replies will appear in the same thread.
Central Casting is now using SMS text messages to check availability, ask questions related to the call or booking and/or provide preliminary details. The message format may look like this:
Our Casting Directors will review the responses and then reach out to any Background Actor selected to be booked. If you are not selected, you may not hear from anyone. As always, you know you are booked when you accept an offer for work and receive details.
When a Casting Director asks if you are available without time restrictions, they want to know if you are available to work the whole day, even if the location or time were to change. For example, if you know you are not available between 1-2pm, you would answer: No.
Yes, please respond as soon as you can.
Yes, you are responsible for finding work and letting Central Casting know when you are available to work. Casting Directors work independently to meet the needs of their productions, so once you are booked, you are also responsible for not becoming double booked.
Yes, please respond to each request you receive. If a Casting Director books you for a specific role, it is your responsibility to decline any other offers to ensure you’re not double booked for the same day.
When we receive your message, we send you a quick confirmation text message, like the following:
- “(Your Name), Your “YES” response has been received. Thank you. Remember, you are not booked unless you receive your details.”
- “(Your Name), Your “NO” response has been received. Thank you.”
- “(Your Name), Please respond only Yes or No.”
- “(Your Name), Thank you for your response. Unfortunately, we are no longer accepting submissions for this role.”
If you didn’t receive a confirmation response, please send your response again. Please note: the system is engineered to only accept a YES or NO response.
If you don’t hear back from a casting director with an offer for work and booking details, you are not booked. However, given the volume of roles they are booking, please be patient as it may take them some time to respond.
Yes, simply reply to the original message with either a Yes or No response. If you receive multiple messages in the course of a conversation with a Casting Director, you will only be able to change your response to the most recent message. Please note: after you have received your details and are booked, you must follow the appropriate procedure if you need to cancel. You cannot cancel via text message.
Role details may or may not be communicated via SMS text message depending on the production. If you are booked, you will be notified where you should go to learn your full booking, wardrobe, and location instructions. These instructions might include an info tape, email, and/or wardrobe blog.
Yes. Though your details may be provided to you via SMS text message, your full booking, wardrobe, and location instructions may still be available as part of an info tape, wardrobe blog, or email from the Casting Director. Please review all materials to ensure that you understand what will be expected of you when you arrive to set.
You are not booked unless you accept an offer for work and receive details.
Thank you for your response. Sending a “Yes” response tells the Casting Directors that you are interested and available to work, but does not guarantee that you will be booked. Depending on the casting volume, you may not hear back.
Please send your response again.
Central Casting will use a variety of numbers to reach you. Once you receive a message from a Casting Director about a specific project, all follow up questions and replies will appear in the same thread.
Unfortunately, our texting numbers are only formatted to send outbound text messages and receive a Yes or No response.
In order for our system to read your response and provide it to the Casting Directors, we need to limit the text to only Yes or No.
Casting Directors sometimes don’t receive call times until the last minute, so we are asking you if you are available for the full day. If you are only available for part of the day, please reply No.
Some Casting Directors and productions may provide additional instructions with a wardrobe blog or similar resource. Please review any materials provided to ensure that you will be ready for work.
If for whatever reason a URL isn’t working, write down the URL and attempt to enter it directly into a web browser.
Not all carriers and phone service providers handle SMS messages in the same way. Some carriers, like Sprint for example, may split long messages. Unfortunately, when this happens, there is no guarantee the split message will arrive in a predictable order.
No, the messages are only in English.
Yes. T-Mobile has released a feature that allows their customers to “opt-out” of business messages. In order to receive text messages from Central Casting, T-Mobile users will need to contact T-Mobile support at 1-800-866-2453 and ask for this feature to be turned off. Once the opt-out is removed, you will be able to receive messages from Central Casting. Even if you are a T-Mobile customer who has received text messages from Central Casting in the past, please check with T-Mobile to ensure you do not have the opt-out feature enabled.
We are sorry for the inconvenience. Most likely your mobile number was previously owned by someone registered with us, or provided to us inadvertently.
As an employee of Central Casting you provided your mobile number to us so that we can contact you about jobs for which you would be a potential match. However, if you no longer want us to reach out to you via text message, please call Central Casting and request that your number no longer be used for text messaging.
Once you have booked a job, you are ready to get on set!
It’s important to show up on time and camera ready. When you arrive, check in with your contact and get your voucher.
Your time on set will vary, but a typical day lasts up to 12 hours. You are an important part of the production, please be professional and have a good attitude on set.
FAQs
You must bring two of these three documents with you to set:
- A Valid Louisiana Driver’s License or State ID Card
- A current Louisiana Voter Registration Card
- A copy of last year’s Federal and/or Louisiana personal income tax return
It is critical that you write down your work information. If you lose your information or if you have any questions regarding your work information call
504-684-2550.
Call
504-684-2550. If you cancel, we ask that you give us enough notice to replace you. PLEASE NOTE: You may not cancel via text message. You must call our office.
When you get booked for your job, ask the Casting Director how to get your call time changes. It is your responsibility to get call time changes for each booking.
Roles change from set to set, but often a Background Actor’s main contact is the 2nd Assistant Director (2nd AD) and Production Assistants (PAs).
When you are not required on set, you will be taken to a holding area. You can bring items to the holding area to keep busy while you are not working.
Do not bring guests to the set with you.
If you are injured on set, you must report it to the Assistant Director and/or medic immediately.
Central Casting handles both casting and payroll services. When you register with Central Casting, we become your employer and, in most cases, are responsible for paying you.
Access your pay history, tax information, and more payroll resources for all projects paid by Entertainment Partners at my.EP.com.
Contact payroll
800.562.2718
(select option #3 when prompted)
FAQs
Checks are due to be mailed on the Thursday after the week you worked. They may be mailed out earlier depending on when the production company turns in the complete and accurate vouchers.
No. At this time, we do not have the resources for checks to be picked up. Paychecks are handled in a security area with 24-hour surveillance and delivered by our bonded driver to the post office directly. Paymasters do not have access to your paychecks.
The checks are sent first class mail. While you will receive most checks within 2-3 business days after they are mailed, there are times when it could take longer through the federal mail system, particularly during holiday periods.
Checks are not mailed out in order of work date. Before we can cut a check, the production reviews and completes the voucher, and production companies vary on how often they process and send in the vouchers.
We often process vouchers for more than one work date at the same time. The system will calculate all paychecks processed on any given day with the same number of exemptions from the voucher that was last input into the system. If you vary the number of exemptions you are claiming daily, we cannot guarantee that any particular voucher will match your paychecks. The box for number of dependents should reflect the amount of exemptions you are able to claim.
Yes, there are many people we payroll with the same or similar names. You will need to put your Social Security number on each voucher so we can correctly identify who we should pay. Your voucher will either be delayed or not processed if we are unable to identify who worked.
For payroll inquiries, please call
800.562.2718 and select option #3 when prompted. Representatives are available Monday-Friday, 8am-5pm PT.
You may change it on your voucher when you work or you can fill out our
address change form. You must update your address with both payroll and casting, as we store information separately.
You can either fax or mail us your
stop payment request. You will need to specify in writing that you are requesting a stop payment and include your name, Social Security number, address and signature, along with the work date and show name for the check you are missing. If the net of the check is over $150, you will need to sign a bank form supplied by our department and have your signature notarized before we can place a stop payment.
Five business days for current year checks, longer if the check was cut in a prior year. We are unable to reissue a check that has been stop paid until after we have received confirmation from the bank that the stop payment was successful.
Call
818.955.6313 or send your request in writing to our payroll department either by fax or through the mail. Be sure to include your name, Social Security number, address, and the year(s) you worked. You will also need to state whether the request is for your own personal records or to enable you to join SAG-AFTRA. SAG-AFTRA will only accept faxes sent directly from our payroll department certified by our manager.
For employment verification, call
818.955.6313. This is an Entertainment Partners line; they will be able to provide employment verification.
(for registered talent only)
You can come in during Re-Registration and Updates to add photos and make profile updates. It’s important to keep your file current so Casting Directors know your look and details. You must re-register every three years to be able to work on our productions. Here’s what you need to know about Re-Registration and Updates.
If you are not sure if you’ve registered with us before, please call the office at 504.684.2550. Need to register? Visit our Register page to begin the online registration process.
We are temporarily suspending all Re-Registration and Updates sessions in an abundance of caution due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19). Please check our notices for updates.
Need to update your photos or sizes?
Submit Here
FAQs
A digital photo of you can be taken in our office when you come to update your profile. If you would like additional photos added to your profile, bring the photos to an update session. Only hard copies of photos will be accepted. We cannot accept discs, CDs, or memory sticks. Photos submitted will not be returned.
- Photos of you in wardrobe representing completely different looks that are commonly booked. (business, formal, bathing suit, etc.)
- Unique or rare vehicles or motorcycles that you own.
- Pets that you are willing to work with (Pet photos must be submitted; we cannot take any photos of pets at our office.)
- Photos of you in commonly booked costumes that you own. (clown, Santa Claus, etc.)
You can change your status during the update times. You must present your identification along with your current SAG-AFTRA card or receipt issued by SAG-AFTRA and fill out a data change form.
If you would like to update or change any information you can do so during the update times.
If you have previously registered in person at another Central Casting location, but would now like to work in Louisiana, you will need to make a reservation to attend a Re-Registration and Updates session. You can make a reservation by clicking the “Reserve Now” button above.
If you have registered online, but have not attended a New Registration Onboarding session and had your photo taken at one of our offices, you must log in to the online registration process and make a reservation for a New Registration Onboarding session. Re-Registration and Updates are only for those who have previously registered in person at Central Casting.
