ATLANTA — So you're an actor and you get an opportunity to be in the next big movie. But, you are told you've got to pay to be in the film – or don't get the job.
11Alive looked more into this situation, which isn't necessarily illegal – but still wrong.
With Atlanta's billion-dollar booming film industry, you have many aspiring actors who want in – and are willing to do what they have to do. But what they may not know is, according to one longtime insider, they're being taken advantage of.
"A lot of independent films are doing it," said one local actor-director and actor who wished to remain anonymous, due to the small inner circle of the Atlanta film industry.
"Most major films that I know of – after years of being in the industry – they don't do stuff like that," he said.
That stuff: making actors pay to play to be a feature or lead in their film. The insider said he's been approached several times.
"I told them 'naw, I'm good,'" he said. "Most of the people I've encountered don't know much about the film industry, want their big break and they are willing to do anything."
Like fork out $100 per feature – up to $500 a feature. The sales pitch? Stardom.
"They give you all these promises. It's gonna be big. It's gonna be this, it's gonna be that," he listed.
The decades-long actor said usually the film fizzles – and the unsuspecting victim is out of their hard-earned cash.
"The money you spend on set, you can spend less than that to pay somebody to go to their acting class, and a lot of time they have showcases and the big wigs show up," he said. "A lot of time you can go online or Facebook to extras casting."
When 11Alive spoke to commissioner Lee Thomas with the Georgia Film, Music & Digital Entertainment office about this pay-to-play tactic, she shook her head in disbelief, saying, "no, no, no that's not right."
She advised folks who feel like they've been victimized to go to the Georgia Economic Development website where they can find information on legit films in the state, casting calls from folks like extras casting, workshops and even networking events.
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