I've recently been fooling around on my blog, writing the odd bit in preparation for launching my website (where my blog will eventually move to).
Anyway, every now and then I'm aiming to blog about certain humourous aspects encountered in being this creative industry.
For my first one I'm looking at people who exaggerate their careers, roles, agent status whatever! It can be a funny story about someone who sprouted off a list of films they had 'starred' in (only for you to find out they were non-credited extras), or it can be about twisting the truth with an agents.
This can also go further into lying as well, as many a time have I encountered actors claiming to be 'accent gurus' or director's overstating their film budgets to make it seem like they're going to challenge Michael Bay in blowing things up.
Feel free to share and if you would prefer it if I didn't lift the story to my blog just let me know ;) I'll credit you of course, unless you'd rather avoid that!
In that case you should quote Barbara Windsor who, whilst advising a television hopeful on a television 'talent show', said to everyone's astonishment 'First get some acting experience and the lie like mad on your cv. It will get you in front of people who will help you develop your career.'
Well, Barbara.....it worked for you didn't it?
Exaggerating the truth by artists is inconvenient for those who don't,(that includes me who don't BTW.)
There is this 'verification'system on this site that annoys 'the hell outta me' because it implies all artists are 'a bit shady' & need any credits verified!!
Another online Profile/casting site based off Leicester Square trust artists to list credits they have actually achieved.
BTW I'm also a film producer & in the middle of raising finance for a major feature with A listers attached.
Strange but true.
Yep! The verification system annoys the hell outta me too Pole! Especially as, as an "employer" you don't have to verify diddly squat!
I've totally ignored the verification system on CCP and suggest that everyone else does likewise...our calibre is verified in the audition room, on stage and/or on set not by some email system that simply pesters my previous employers!
On a related point! In his biography the actor Terrence Stamp refers to his completely falsified CV when he first left drama school as "The Stamp Collection"...It was quite a few years before he got himself enough genuine credits to be able to remove all the falsified ones! :-o
Every day I see an actor who's CV/IMDB/Spotlight has false/exaggerated info on it. The most common is simply to omit details, which isn't a lie but will make a credit look better.
With the internet being the way it is, I don't know why people bother, it 's SOOO easy to get found out. With Spotlight Interactive, IMDB Pro, Google, Youtube, etc, any credit on our CV's can be found pretty quickly and checked if you're good enough on the net.
Is it worth being blacklisted by a director/CD just for the online glory of saying you worked on a particular project? I guess some people think yes.
..I agree with Forbes comment on ignoring the verification system & I already do;
The problem,(which self perpetuates!) is when applying for paid jobs on the site;Any potential employer can & probably will take 'un-verified credits' into consideration when making casting decisions!
I suggest to CCP to eliminate this feature as it creates potentially less equal opportunities for honest & trustworthy artists to get paid work although ironically it was intended to 'weed out' the exaggerating few !!
It just damages goodwill & brand value all round.
If this is a member vote, I'm also in favour of banning this annoying feature. I don't react well to being assumed as dishonest or 'truth gilding' and resent former employers being harassed for this purpose. To a large extent we are the employers/clients on this site - after all we pay for it - so it does seem a little churlish to be treated in this way.
Not only that but it's a bit of a hassle digging out the details every time. I'm joining the Forbes camp on this one.
I abhore the verification thing. I absolutely wouldn't dream of giving email addresses of directors I've worked with for them to be contacted by ccp to verify that I've done a job.
And as for lying on my cv, wel I wouldn't have the nerve to do it.
I actually didn't know you could do it on IMDB, all my stuff on there has been put on by production and I didn't know that you could add stuff yourself.
I fourth it! Fifth it. . Whatever. I felt actually insulted by the verification. Anyway having already coughed up the fee for ccp ages ago why ask me for ' verification' now? I also would never lie or exaggerate, in fact i have left things off my cv as i dont they quite qualify as actors credits. Yet i see cv's on ccp with bumped up 'extra'/supporting artist credits! Hello? And you are asking me to verify fully fledged acting credits? No. I dont want past employers pestered in this way 'it will annoy them' quote a phrase, and i cant even recall certain names from 20 years ago for the purpose.
Ditto re getting this annoying verification thing taken off. Also the other annoying thing where you're asked to rate a company etc. Isn't that going against the not naming and shaming thing? I'm on IMDB but under my former name of Antoinette Sym but I didn't have anything to do with putting those films on.
Someone I toured with once claimed a role in the existential Viking flick 'Vallhalla Rising'. The reality was she was just an extra in shot whilst sitting on her rump for about five seconds.
Do I get bonus points for use of the phrase 'existential Viking flick?'
And another thing on the subject. I see a lot of employer views on my page who seem completely un verifiable. Google them and i can find nothing on them. If verification is justifiable it is in that arena. For starters an employer is someone who has paid, or will be paying for a service. If not, they are not employers, in my book. Use some other term. The verification of the actor comes at the audition.
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