Staying Safe: Casting Calls That Ask for Money

Never pay to audition. A genuine casting call does not ask for a registration fee, a portfolio charge or a deposit, and Castkro never asks anyone for money to audition. If someone does, stop, keep the conversation on Castkro, and use Report so a person on our team can look at it.

Red flags

One of these is a reason to slow down. Two together is a reason to walk away.

• A fee before you are cast. A registration fee, "form charges", a portfolio or photoshoot you have to buy, a paid workshop, or a refundable deposit.
• Paying a person directly. UPI to a personal number, a bank transfer, or a "coordinator" collecting money on a producer's behalf.
• Moving you to WhatsApp straight away. Especially before you have seen the production's name, the role or an audition time.
• Asking for your ID or bank details. Aadhaar, PAN, card or bank account numbers, or photos of any of them.
• Pressure. "Only two slots left", "decide today", or a promise of a guaranteed role, fame or income. No casting call can guarantee any of those.
• An audition somewhere private. A hotel room or someone's home, rather than a studio, an office or a production house.
• Requests that have nothing to do with the role. Personal favours, private "chemistry" sessions, or photos you are not comfortable sending.

What Castkro does

• Every new casting call is checked before it goes live. An automated check reads it against our rules first, and a person looks at anything it is unsure about. A call that asks performers for a fee is declined, however professional the rest of it reads. A live call that is edited is checked again, and taken down if it fails.
• Contact details are removed from every casting call. Phone numbers, email addresses, social handles and outside links are replaced with •••••, so the first contact happens on Castkro where we can see it if something goes wrong.
• Some profiles carry an Identity verified badge. It means the person holding that account completed a government ID check through DigiLocker. Not every profile has one, and a badge is not a guarantee about a particular role or a particular person.
• A person reads every report. Our team can take a listing down and restrict or suspend the account behind it.

How to report a casting call, a profile or a conversation

You need to be signed in. Your report goes to Castkro's team, not to the person you are reporting.

1. A casting call: open the listing. In the Important Notice box beside the apply panel, select Report this listing.
2. A profile: open the casting director's or performer's profile and select Report, next to Share.
3. A conversation: open it in your messages and tap the report icon at the top of the thread. To point us at particular messages, select Report specific messages, tap each message, then select Report.

Each one opens the Report a concern form. Under What happened?, pick the closest reason, answer the short question that appears, add anything else under Anything else? (optional), and select Submit report.

If you want the person to stop contacting you as well, leave Also block this person ticked when you submit the report, or block them from their profile or your conversation. Neither of you can message, invite or contact the other after that.

If you cannot sign in, or the problem happened somewhere without a Report button, use the contact form, choose Report a user or fake casting call as the reason, and include a link to the profile or casting call.

FAQ

Is a paid Castkro plan the same as paying for an audition?

No. Castkro sells optional plans that add features to your own account, and you only buy them inside your Castkro account, never by paying a person. Applying to casting calls works on the free plan too. Nobody casting through Castkro should ever ask you to pay them.

Does Castkro verify every casting director?

No. Every new casting call is checked before it goes live, but not every account has completed an ID check. Look for the Identity verified badge, and use the red flags whether or not you see it.

A casting director wants to move to WhatsApp. Should I?

Keep talking on Castkro until you know who they are and what the role is. If you are pushed off Castkro before any of that, report it with Pushed me to continue off Castkro immediately. Messages sent on Castkro are what we can look at when you report something.

I have not heard back after applying. Should I report it?

Not hearing back is normal: casting directors often review dozens of applications and contact only a shortlist. It is not against our rules, so a report about it will be read but not acted on.

What if the performer involved is under 18?

Choose Concern about a child's safety when you report. Casting calls that seek performers under 18 without a parent or guardian involved are declined, and a casting director who unlocks a child performer's contact details gets their guardian's, never the child's. Castkro's policy for performers under 18 explains the rest.