Accountability

Before anything else, we must give credit where credit is due. Casting Collective was conceived and inspired as a result of the diligence and dignity presented in the rightful demands of We See You WAT and the Bay Area Theatre BIPOC Living Doc Action Plan. Casting Collective exists, in large part, because of these movements. We dedicate our success to the efforts put forth by our BIPOC leaders and pioneers who stepped up, spoke up, and paved the way years before our existence. 

Casting Collective is made up of working artists, teachers, mothers, special needs mothers, entrepreneurs, students, children of immigrants, BIPOC, cisgender, non-binary, married, single, partnered, bilingual,and queer people. As such, we are in service of all artists regardless of their ethnicity, race, gender identity, age, national origin, religion, special needs, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, education, marital status, or language. Casting Collective belongs to all of us. 

We are and will be held accountable to each and every one of these commitments:

• At least 50% of the casting professionals in the collective are BIPOC.

• At least 50% of the casting professionals in the collective are women, non-binary, trans women, or woman-identifying.

• We will have at least 1 BIPOC casting professional casting or consulting on all projects that necessitate matching representational requirements.

• We will not rely on nor ask artists to educate us on any identity, cultural experience, or social-change movements. We will do our own homework. 

• Should we ask for any assistance on cultural consultations, we will always pay for such education. 

• We will provide paid training for all casting professionals. 

• BIPOC casting professionals will earn the same wage as their white counterparts. 

• For every casting project that requires submitting actor lists to theatres, at least 50% of the recommended actors will be of underrepresented identities.​

• Actors will have the opportunity to provide feedback on all casting experiences, regardless of whether or not they are hired by a theatre company.

• We will drop a client, no matter their profile, that violates any anti-racist and equity practice.

​

This Accountability statement is an ongoing work in progress. We are a multitude of casting professionals with a wide variety of lived experiences, and, for that reason, this statement will be updated often and purposefully. As citizens of the world, we are constantly learning, thinking, growing, meditating, inspiring, educating, and communicating. We can only do this statement justice by highlighting the fact that, just like self-development, it is always in flux. We value and encourage any and all feedback: info@castingcollective.org

​​

*6/2023 Update: we were informed that we did not have a representational category for Jewish identity in our actor database ethnicity selection options. We truly appreciate this feedback as it is incredibly important to support a collective understanding that Jewish people are an ethnic group and not solely a religious affiliation as so many believe. We have made the change to our actor DB to correct this oversight and continue to be grateful to the community for holding us accountable. 

​

*9/2022 Update: the casting collective was given feedback regarding our language surrounding accessibility, within our actor submission form. A colleague shared with us the importance of outreach when it comes to disabled actors who are largely undervalued and often ignored entirely within the theatre community. Our form lacked a specific question about disability and focused instead on more general accommodations. They highlighted the importance of a direct inquiry into a person's disability (for those who want to share it). They explained that specificity surrounding type of disability is a crucial step in providing an equitable casting process and audition environment. Additionally, it will allow us, as casting directors, to be prepared advocates who are committed to a comprehensive understanding of and commitment to artists with disabilities.