When you see a job listed and the breakdown contains some of the most atrocious spelling you've ever seen, does it make you more likely to ignore the job or do you give it a go?
Sometimes I think, they can't be all that professional if they can't spell professional!
I hate it with a passion. One company I saw recently was looking for 'Male actors in there 20's'. I wonder how good a script can be from a writer who doesn't know the difference between Their and There.
Ha ha, a real bugbear of mine! I would avoid at all costs as I agree with the previous posts - if they cannot manage to post a casting without spelling mistakes what hope is there for a decent script?
Oh I couldn't agree more with you. It is the single most irritating thing for me, and I not only judge jobs but all relationships too! Maybe rather extreme, but can I spend my life with someone who has no syntax?
While to be a great director, does not necessarily mean good grammar - it helps ....
As I think you might suspect, I am pretty meticulous about spelling, and even grimace when I read back posts and realise that something was mis-spelt because I wrote it at speed.
It has to be said I know a great many screenwriters who are bad spellers (it doesn't necessarily mean that they are poor in delivering on visual imagery and dialogue, which are the essence of film, and so I think they can be forgiven, as when the film transfers to stock, one frequently has no idea what impression the original script made - though I do think they could take the time to proof read a little better!). Being a writer of stage material and not being able to spell is a different issue, in my opinion, because a playwright's raison d'etre should be textual awareness above all else - and a playwright who cannot spell (or be bothered to spell check) seems to have got his/her priorities all wrong to me. However, I find it quite rare for a good playwright to fail to be gramatically and syntactically correct, even if their actual dramatic structuring of a piece doesn't work.
Where I have a major greivance with those who don't spell well in their breakdowns is that I feel there is no excuse for this - in essence, the breakdown is there to suggest to the actor that the company are worth working with, and to give an impression of the needs required for the job being offered, and fail to bother even to proof read/ employ the company's most erudite member to pen the breakdown/ rough the breakdown out before committing it to press etc., shows I think an amateurishness, even a certain contempt for one's own product. Yes, the odd typo or mistake often creeps in to otherwise well written stuff. I am not talking about that - I am similarly baffled by people who have gone to the expense or effort of crafting magnificent promotional flash websites (which I would not have the first idea how to craft myself, and always impress me tremendously), but who then proceed to display accompanying text that is completely mis-spelt, grammatically incorrect, or consists of sentences that actually don't mean anything! It ruins those websites for me.
Drives me bonkers and if a post is badly spelled (rather than it looking like a typo) then it really puts me off. Mind you, it can be funny as well. A few years back there was a posting which stated as a requisite for applicants: 'no pre-Madonnas'. I did write to ask them if that meant they didn't want anyone who was born before Madonna the singer to apply or if they meant Prima Donna, meaning first lady. I didn't get a reply :-))
"The three (letters) you wrote me after I had broken off the engagement are so beautiful, and so badly spelled, that even now I can hardly read them without crying a little".
You're probably right at the end of the day, Colin - no-one who seriously saw a job opportunity coming their way that was advertised by a badly spelled breakdown would choose to ignore it. This doesn't change the fact that a) this basic disregard shown by many casters *does* get on the nerves of many actors and b) it is almost always true that the higher quality the production team, the better written and lucid their initial breakdown will be.
Spelling is not the only issue here; I am personally even more distressed when I click on an interesting sounding part to investigate the details, and am presented with a description that is unintelligible. This is the cardinal error in my book - because if the production team themselves cannot put into words effectively their vision for the project, then there is no project worth being involved in. That is my bottom line. I agree that an otherwise intriguing and detailed proposal that had the odd word mis-spelled wouldn't put me off applying, and I have applied for a few in my career.
Yes Colin, I am being perfectly serious! A poorly spelled casting call indicates a less than professional production with a serious lack of attention to detail.
It works both ways at every level. If you applied for a job in the real world and your CV was littered with spelling mistakes you wouldn't even get a interview.
It also has to be said that the normal place to find these spelling mistakes is in the Student/LB/Indie market and therefore there is usually minimal if any payment on offer anyway so no loss!
Yes Colin I have passed on jobs in the past and would definitely forgo future potential opportunities for this reason. A lack of respect in making sure a posting is presented to the actors (who are professionals after all) in a professional way is surely going to be echoed throughout the realisation of the project - from casting, shoot, post production and, exactly as Forbes pointed out, to misspelling your name on your cheque and most likely your credit.
Well I suppose to all the actors out there that are over looking castings based on bad spellings there are another 100 actors that are applying for the job so sit back and chill at your peril !!!.
Come on guys let me put to you all again.......
A FILM COPANY WANTS AN ACTOR FOR A COMMERCIAL £5000 + buy out travel paid.
Are you still really not going to apply for it, it is was your casting??.
Guys times are hard for us as it is our job is to get seen as much as poss in this fickle industry...
Spelling mistakes or not if it sound good and pays well I URGE YOU dont over look it .
As Annie said even SPOTLIGHT puts up break downs with spelling mistakes.
Its anoying possible but that would be the least that would put me off.
Well I suppose to all the actors out there that are over looking castings based on bad spellings there are another 100 actors that are applying for the job so sit back and chill at your peril !!!.
Come on guys let me put to you all again.......
A FILM COPANY WANTS AN ACTOR FOR A COMMERCIAL £5000 + buy out travel paid.
Are you still really not going to apply for it, it is was your casting??.
Guys times are hard for us as it is our job is to get seen as much as poss in this fickle industry...
Spelling mistakes or not if it sound good and pays well I URGE YOU dont over look it .
As Annie said even SPOTLIGHT puts up break downs with spelling mistakes.
Its anoying possible but that would be the least that would put me off.
No offence meant Colin but I think you've missed the point a little. We are talking about bad spelling here, not small typographical errors. Therein lies a world of difference.
I can't stand poor spelling, grammar and/or punctuation anyway, let alone in professional documentation. How would casting directors react if you sent them a poorly written letter or email? (That's a rhetorical question, by the way!)
So, no, I don't apply for jobs that are looking for a "mail in there 20-30s that would of had an a fair", for example!
Also, anyone who uses abbreviations, like they're writing a text message, really infuriates me! (Lukin 4 gr8 actor 2 play bf"!)
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