California Labor Board Guidelines November, 2002.

1.        Workshop Providers shall not permit or allow Casting Directors to use workshops to conduct auditions or job interviews. If at any time it appears that the purpose of the workshop may be for the casting of some or all of the participants, rather than for instruction in cold reading audition techniques, the workshop operator shall immediately cancel the session and shall refund any fees paid by the participants. A session shall be presumed to be for casting rather than educational purposes, if the Casting Director at any time during the session describes character breakdowns for roles that he or she is currently casting or will cast in the immediate future.

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2.        The following disclaimer must be included by the Workshop Provider in all advertising for workshops: "This is not a job interview or audition. The presence of a Casting Director is neither a guarantee nor a promise of employment. The intent of the class is solely educational. Attending a workshop is not a way to obtain employment as an actor. Such contact as you may have with a Casting Director at a workshop rarely results in any further contact with that Casting Director or any company affiliated with that Casting Director."

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3.        An additional disclaimer must be individually signed by each member of a class and on application blanks to be kept on file by the workshop. Such disclaimer to read: "This is not a job interview or audition. I understand that the presence of a Casting Director is absolutely not a guarantee or promise of employment. I further understand that the intent of this class is solely educational."

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4.        A through discussion of the disclaimers shall take place at the beginning of each class.

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5.        Workshop Providers must provide instruction of an educational nature. The Workshop Provider shall require the instructor to provide a written curriculum for each class, which must be available to any participant upon request and kept on file for two years. At a minimum, each workshop must include substantially all of the following: A reading of the disclaimer./ Questions and answers concerning the disclaimer./General question and answer period. If a cold reading is included in the workshop, the workshop must provide individual critiques, performance adjustments and/or feedback. This critique and feedback must be more than a superficial nature. The workshop must also cover, but not be limited to, most of the following: Audition techniques. /The business of Acting. /Office etiquette. /Demystifying the audition process. /How casting procedures differ between pilots, features, episodics and the like. /Performance adjustments and feedback. /Advice on seeking representation. /Open forum Q and A./General industry trends in casting./Review of headshots and resumes. Inadvertent failure to cover most of the subjects shall not be deemed a violation of these guidelines. A Workshop Provider may, without relieving the Provider of ultimate responsibility for compliance with these guidelines, delegate the manner and means of accomplishing individual Workshops to Casting Directors.

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6.        The Workshop Providers will not invite instructors to Casting Director Workshops who do not have one or more of the following qualifications:Member in good standing of the Casting Society of America; or, Eighteen (18) months of experience as a Casting Director; or, Eighteen (18) months of experience as a Casting Associate or Assistant consisting of active participation in auditioning and presenting actors to producers and directors.  Additionally, assistants and associates must obtain written verification from a qualified Casting Director for who they have worked in the past twelve (12) months.

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7.        Workshop Providers shall list the following information about each instructor conducting a Casting Workshop whenever the instructor's name is used in any promotional material (e. g. advertisements, calendars, websites) regarding the workshop:  Name. /Professional affiliation (if allowed). /Current Title, office. /Representative past credits and current credits (if allowed). /Casting Experience (number of years and when).

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8.        If a different instructor is substituted at a regular single evening workshop, full disclosure of the qualifications of the new instructor must be given to the participants of the workshop by the Workshop Provider and each participant must be given the opportunity for a refund.

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9.        A workshop shall not consist solely of a cold reading without significant individual critique, performance adjustments and feed back.

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10.      Actors shall have the right to monitor one workshop per Workshop Provider to observe the workshop without participation or payment (as space allows).

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11.     Workshop Providers shall not permit Casting Directors to use material/sides from roles that they are currently casting (such as features, MOW's, TV pilots, episodes, and the like).

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12.     Workshop Providers shall provide instructors with the following information: Name(s) of the owners and staff of the workshop; /Representative prior instructors; /Charge to the actors for the Workshop; /A copy of these Guidelines.

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13.     Workshop Providers shall not represent in any manner, either singly or collectively, in advertising or otherwise, that their attendees have been successful in gaining auditions, interviews or employment as a result of meeting a Casting Director through a workshop, nor that certain Casting Directors have a preference for hiring or interviewing attendees at a particular workshop, nor that the workshop has an purpose other than an educational one. A simple listing of former participants, along with their credits shall not be considered a violation of this provision.

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14.     Where an individual has purchased the opportunity to attend several regular single evening workshops, the Workshop Provider will, upon reasonable request made at least 48 hours in advance of any workshop that the individual has scheduled, refund any amount attributable to future workshops that he or she has not attended. If the individual has purchased the right to attend several workshops at a discount price, and the individual requests a refund, the individual may be charged the standard rate for workshops that were attended or used.

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15.     Workshop Providers which allow individuals to enroll in workshops through the internet must use a flashpage or its equivalent to explain the relationship of workshops to the industry and the absence of a direct relationship to employment. Workshop Providers which allow individuals to enroll by mail must provide equivalent notice.

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16.     Workshop Providers will notify Casting Directors that they are not allowed to solicit actors to attend their paid workshops. Workshop Providers will notify actors that this practice is illegal and that, if it occurs, a complaint may be filed with the Office of the Labor Commissioner at one of its offices throughout the state, or the office of the City Attorney of Los Angeles, and/or the Casting Society of America.

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17.     Workshop Providers shall collect all headshots and resumes at the conclusion of the workshop session and return them to the participants.

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18.     A Workshop Provider shall post in plain view at its premises an explanation of how to find free workshops including at a minimum the name, address and contact telephone numbers for SAG's and AFTRA's programs and reference to one local periodical that provides notices of free workshop programs.

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19.     A Workshop Provider shall post these guidelines in plain view at its premises where they can be easily read by workshop participants.