Broadly, I think PCR is a more useful tool for the jobbing actor with little in the way of broader industry contacts, who is not respresented by an agent or who gets very little work via the agency etc. If you have a fairly high profile within the industry (even if the work only comes in sporadically) then I don't feel that 99% of the time PCR will be offering you any options which will prove rewarding to pursue. Which is not to say that you can't generate work by means of it - I have had a large number of auditions, and been cast two or three times on the basis of casting breakdowns which came by way of PCR.
But, essentially, the material that appears in PCR breaks down into three categories:
1. Low budget/fringe work, which is genuinely current, but will not, by any means, appeal to all actors, and which *is* generally to be found advertised elsewhere. There is no mystery in this: the directors/producers of such work are generally all too painfully aware that they cannot offer their casts anything much more than goodwill, enthusiasm and a small profit cut, perhaps, and yet without a cast, their project will never materialise - so they try to bombard as many outlets with advertisements as possible, in the hope of finding performers. Naturally, there are many promising projects that emerge from the fringe, but all the problems that apply to working for lo/no pay projects are also perpetuated by PCR's encouragement of this type of work.
2. Higher profile work in provincial rep theatre and West End, often quite specialised (e.g.musical theatre), and almost invariably based on outdated information. It is not so much that the original breakdown was not correct when PCR picked it up, just that it takes so long for them to process this material that, by the time it is printed, you can rest assured that large numbers of applicants represented by proactive agents will already have bombarded the casting panel with applications. The chances of your getting seriously considered for these roles through a PCR based application are low thanks to the delay, although not totally impossible - if, for example, there has proven to be difficulty filling the part, and you seem to suit it well, you might be considered even at a late stage in the casting process.
3. Virtually all feature film based material is given into PCR's hands by 'stringers' and offers no option to become involved with the project. Although some actors appear to assume that, if PCR have mentioned an upcoming project and the casting director attached to it has been revealed, this somehow inaugurates 'open season' on that casting director's time, the truth is, again, that the chances of being picked out from an unsolicited application are the lowest of the low. This is not least because most casting directors on high profile projects are *not* releasing the information to PCR (only the projects which specifically give contact details are doing so). PCR is simply printing the info without their agreement. This helps PCR to justify its costs to you, as they can always maintain that reproducing the information offers you a 'service', but, at the same time, they try and distance themselves from any commitment by stating that 'contact with casting directors should be held off, unless otherwise offered'. They know full well that most casting directors find unsolicited material sent to them when they are in the midst of casting a high profile project to be a tremendous annoyance. It's all just printed for show.
Personally, I purchase it sometimes when I can afford it. It is a better job provider than an organ like The Stage, in my humble opinion, but this is probably not saying much in 2008!!
