Dear Production Team: Stop Using Actor’s Audition Submissions to Boost Your Social Media Following

• Niki Hatzidis

Dear Production Team,

Working actor here. I have seen your casting notice, seen that I have the appropriate skills and experience, and have sent you a detailed email as to why I am the person for the job you need to be completed, as well as my headshot and resume. I am writing because you have sent me an unnerving response. Instead of sending me an audition slot, or sides, or instructions for a self-tape, you have requested that I follow all your social media accounts before any of the above can even be discussed.

Since you seem to lack the knowledge and expertise as to why this is reprehensible, I have taken it upon myself to educate you.

I am a professional actor. If you had taken a moment to look at my resume, which evidently was never your intent or interest, you would have noticed that it does not contain high school drama club credits. I am in fact not a person who woke up one morning and said, “Hey, you know what? I’d like to take a crack at acting. It seems like it would be a tickle.” I am a professional actor, meaning, I would like this profession to be the way I make my living. Because I was serious about it, I got the training and education.

I went to an accredited institution where I had to lay myself bare and scan every aspect of myself down to the way I breathe. I had every attribute and flaw broken down in order to build myself back up so I can emerge a trained actor; one with the skills in speech, classical text and a deep understanding of my body and it’s movement capabilities. I have spent thousands of dollars in said institution, years in workshops, and hours in networking and building up relationships. I have also spent money and careful consideration on the photographer who took the headshot I sent you, on the coaches to teach me the accents you require, and the editors to create the acting reel you did not sit to watch. That resume took a lot of time to craft too because there is no user-friendly format on Word to create it properly.

I am not only trained. I have experience. You would have been able to tell by the credits on that resume in your inbox. I have worked as an actor. I have clocked many hours on stage and in front of the camera. Guess what? People pay me to bring their artistic vision to life. They trust me and collaborate with me. All of the time.

This all brings me back to us. Let’s go back to the moment I took time out of my busy day obtaining work, learning lines, going to rehearsals, and yes, still training, to find your casting notice amongst many others, read through it, consider if I’m right for the part, available for the shoot, and write to you and send you all my materials. All this with every intention and commitment to meet you, perform your carefully selected sides and show how I am the answer to your casting conundrum. And you, noticing my interest, asked me to “follow” you instead.

Now, I understand that social media has changed the game of the industry. I have experienced producers asking myself and colleagues how many followers we have during the audition process, and if I had space here to articulate how despicable it’s to overlook talent for a potential audience, I would. But actually, what you’re doing is even worse.

Actors understand a little something about PR, primarily because we have to be in charge of our own brand. We have picked tips along the way. Admittedly, I don’t have thousands of followers, but I’m very proud of the work I have put in to get the ones I do have. And since it seems you are having trouble acquiring some of your own, I will let you in on a few tricks I’ve picked up. I talk to people. I network and find collaborators, I put out creative and funny content, and I have worked very hard to build up my credentials so that my bio is interesting enough that people want to follow what I do and see what I have to say.

I know that marketing is expensive and that not many production budgets allow for a proper strategy, but what I can deduce from your request is simply that, either you are too lazy to put in the work to get your own followers, or your content is, at best, merely average and not engaging enough. So you have resorted to exploiting those needing a job to bump up your numbers and subscribers on Youtube.

Perhaps I’m losing out on a good job. Perhaps your intentions are not so sinister. But let’s say you hire five people from this round of auditions to be in your project. Presumably, you will get hundreds of submissions from eager actors. Are those of us not cast just stuck with the clutter of your average content all up and down our feeds? No, thank you. And you want to know something pretty obvious? If I auditioned for you, liked the copy and was curious about your work, I would have followed you. Even If I didn’t get the part.

This industry is hard enough for us dedicated enough to pursue it. We are inundated with scams like yours, taken advantage of by those asking us to use our talent for free, and on top of it all, we get endless rejection. I don’t think, with my years of experience and expertise, it’s too much to ask for some proper decorum. It is not too much to ask that you treat me with respect and that you want to go through the proper process of hiring me. It’s not too much to ask that you act as professional as I pride myself to be.

I will not allow you to use me, my talent and experience to bulk up your standing on social media platforms. You will not use my friends, family, colleagues, and collaborators to gain more recognition, especially since you don’t know me and you haven’t given me the courtesy of allowing me to get to know you and your work. I am someone who knows my worth and I will not allow you, after all the work I have put into my career, to use me for something as superficial as gaining more likes on Facebook.

I suggest you do more research into self-promotion, into the way professional companies in this industry operate, and I adamantly request that you look really hard into how you’re exploiting those you wish to forge professional relationships with, and how purely disgusting and inappropriate this behavior truly is.

Sincerely,

An actor that will not be following you on Instagram.

Niki Hatzidis is an actor and award-nominated playwright based in New York City.