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Backstage Reviews Summary
Backstage is generally well-regarded for its platform, which effectively connects actors and creatives to a variety of projects, enhancing career opportunities. Many users appreciate the intuitive interface and prompt customer support, highlighting positive interactions with specific representatives. However, significant concerns persist regarding customer service accessibility, with frustrations over the lack of live phone support and inconsistent response times. Additionally, some users criticize the platform for outdated features and irrelevant job listings. Overall, while Backstage offers valuable resources, improvements in customer service and platform functionality are necessary to enhance user satisfaction.
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This site is outdated and the staff doesn't know anything or care to do anything. Me and 4 other people signed up and did casting calls and what we got were people who weren't legit. They will let anyone post anything up there. So unprofessional. People with no acting experience or anything and expecting to get paid for their first time. Backstage doesn't do anything about the people who post unprofessional resumes on there! I heard they ban casting directors because other actors and actresses complain because they don't get picked. Then backstage bans them. How logical is that? This site is bad! I would not recommend it to anyone!
Update! Apparently, all the actors and actresses have to do is complain to backstage that they did not get picked and make up something, and backstage will take the side of their actors and actresses. Sad really. I heard a couple more people tell me they got banned from the site because of a false action because the actress did an audition and did not get picked. He said Backstage did not ask any questions or anything. Just banned him. Backstage is sad and will continue to be until they stand up to their privileged crybabies.
I really recommend this website, not only a great way to find gigs and opportunities within the film industry, but also their customer service is great, fair and helpful.
Thank you for your kind review, Jackeline! Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions at customers@backstage.com! :)
They respond really quickly. They give clear and helpful answers. Just generally is a top site.
I recently got my first role through it.
Thank you for your kind review! Please feel free to always reach out if you have any questions at customers@backstage.com :)
I called several times on Sunday immediately after I got your email regarding auto-renewal and again yesterday, Monday. No one answered so I left a message saying "please cancel my subscription, I do not wish to renew." I also went to your customer service page and made the same request in writing. Also there was no option on your page to stop auto renewal.
Despite all that you still took money out off my account today, Tuesday, AND AT A HIGHER PRICE THAN LAST YEAR. A price which I was not notified about.
This is NOT THE WAY TO DO BUSINESS.
Also, your voicemail claims to have "Live Chat" Mon-Fri from 10am -6pm. You do not have Live Chat which is deceitful. If you did this problem would have been resolved.
I'm asking again, please cancel my subscription and refund my money.
Ivanhoe
We're sorry to hear that you've been struggling to contact our Customer Support team over the past few days. Chat is temporarily out of service and we hope to have it back soon. We're doing our best to answer everyone's messages as quickly as possible. Please note that we sent you a reminder email a month prior to the renewal. In any case, I'm seeing that my colleague has already processed your cancellation and refund earlier this morning. You can expect your refund back in about 3-5 business days, depending on your bank's processing time. If you have any other questions/concerns, please respond to our email and we'd be happy to address them.
I signed up my 12 yes old son. I didn't get advice on how to use the website or if we had done it correctly. Never received an email or message from them. But now it's time to renew and guess what! Now finally being contacted that they need my new credit card information.
Hi Marie,
We're sorry to hear that you were unsatisfied with your subscription. Backstage is a self submission casting platform that is similar to other job sites like Indeed.com where you can look for and apply to jobs directly through the website. We are not a talent agency, so we do not personally represent the talent who join Backstage, nor do we apply to jobs on your behalf. We encourage any users who have questions or would like feedback on their profile/applications to reach out to us directly at customers@backstage.com. Please feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions!
I am a theater, film, and tv actor and have been on this website for years and have gotten some auditions here and there. But this year, it has been ruined by casting calls that I think are an insult to the more serious people in the industry.
"UGC" along with "seeking influencer types" for TikTok is practically spamming the website now, and there is no easy way to filter these out. I find these casting calls disgusting as it's a form of cheap labor since people film themselves for these 'roles' and only get paid $150 which is more on the low end compared to other more professional projects.
I know people who have messaged customer service complaining about these casting calls and they are not helpful at it it's like talking to a robot. In my opinion, it has ruined the website and I cannot believe there isn't an option to never receive notifications or even see these types of casting calls. I do not even think I am going to renew my membership if they don't solve this.
Hi Sam, thanks for your honest feedback.
While we understand how it may be frustrating to see casting notices for roles that you feel may be beneath your talents, please note that the majority of our users are just getting started in the business and often do not have any experience as a working actor. These types of jobs are popular at the moment and are a great way for new actors to book their first professional jobs and earn an income as they build their resumes.
If these types of roles do not interest you, you can filter out these types of jobs by removing the 'Online Commercials & Promos' tag within your saved searches and updating them. If you need assistance, please reach out to us directly at customers@backstage.com and we'd be happy to help!
I remember when Backstage was THE foreground for entertainment and casting (before actors access et-el) Every actor, director etc. I knew used it. Now It since seems more a flop ground for low budget and volunteer projects no one wants. Why pay the 6 or 12 month membership fee for that? Makes no sense. I know that I've never gotten contacted for anything local whatnot, and I have the free profile. What happened to Backstage?
Hi Nettie, thanks for your feedback.
Please note that the reason you're receiving multiple emails and alerts for notices you are not interested in is because you've created multiple saved searches, some of which do not have the filters you want selected. Without specific filters like location and production type filtered out, you'll understandably receive notifications for every notice posted on Backstage.
If you look carefully at your screenshot, that email notification was for a saved search that you created named 'eaglegrad16'. I recommend deleting all of your saved searches and creating a brand new one that encompasses everything you're looking for. You can read more about how to do this here: https://help.backstage.com/hc/en-us/articles/115000994046-How-to-Search-for-Casting-Opportunities-and-Create-Saved-Searches.
We encourage you to contact us directly for assistance with any concerns or issues like this in the future via email at customers@backstage.com!
Have renewed my subscription 02/2022 after having cancelled it at the beginning of the pandemic. As a SAG-AFTRA member I am given a discount and the staff of Backstage assisted me via their Chat option in order to apply it. They were knowledgeable, professional, efficient and pleasant to deal with. I feel these attributes are a VERY important aspect of any company I do business with. The product they offer happens to be invaluable to me as well: casting calls, production information, education, and general news of The Biz. Thank you, Clara, David L. And Backstage for continuing to provide actors a great product and great people to deal with.
They store all your info and credit card on file, then they charge you a lot of money and say that you agreed to pay for that! Be careful! And it's not app subscription and Backstage subscription! I will write police report on them! It's a fraud! Don't trust it!
Hi Alina, while we understand your frustration with being unable to receive a refund, we are not a fraudulent company. Backstage is a well respected casting platform that has been a staple of the industry for over 50 years. As we explained to you privately, we are a subscription service. By definition, your subscription auto renews until you cancel, similar to a gym membership. Since you did not cancel your subscription, your subscription renewed per schedule. We sent you a reminder email as well, reminding you of your upcoming renewal a month prior to the renewal. On top of this, we also grant customers a 14 day grace period through which we offer a full cancellation and refund for any annual and semi-annual subscriptions, even after the subscription has renewed. Unfortunately, you contacted us three months after the charge, after already disputing the charge with your bank. If you wish to continue this discussion, please email us at customers@backstage.com.
I understand this is a business, but to ask starving people for $200 monthly is heinous. Oh sorry 100$ because they give u such a gracious discount. Can't wait til we're in charge and make some damn CHANGE
Hi Joseph, the screenshot you attached shows that you were looking at an annual subscription, not a monthly subscription. Please note that our monthly subscription is $24.95/month, not $200/month. Backstage.com offers casting opportunities for actors and others in the film, television, and theater communities. In order to best support and maintain this service, users need to purchase a subscription in order to be able to apply to the casting notices posted on our site. This is not unlike other sites that offer access to castings.
This is actually my second email disputing the practices of this company. Upon submitting hard earned money from my bank account to establish a profile for $19.99. I was shocked to see, after posting my creative information for casting, that there were additional charges in the amount of $34.95 just to post a job. An opportunity for aspiring actors. I disputed this.
Afterwards, I thought to disregard the first dispute. And post the job by forwarding my payment, drivers license, and bank information. (Because I have a deadline) Upon doing this. Backstage has decided TO NOT approve my status die to a demand for more identification. So basically, I've been screwed out of a total of $55.00. No casting posted. No feedback from the company.
I'm furious. And I promise to pursue legal actions against this company for it's fraudulent and discriminative practices against independent filmmakers. I'm requesting a full refund. I DO NOT HAVE 7 days to wait to film a production with a stiff deadline. Return my money please.
Hi Marcus, as we've notified you via email, a subscription is not required to post a job. Creators are required to pay one fee per post, rather than a subscription. While monthly subscriptions are nonrefundable, we went ahead and cancelled and refunded that subscription for you, per your request.
Our Casting Team reached out to you with our standard questionnaire and asked if you needed help with completing your background check which is required of all job posters on Backstage. However, due to your extreme reaction to this request and your repeated insistence for a refund and threats of filing grievances against our company, our Casting Team refunded your payment for the job and closed your account. We require all job posters to complete a background check and respond to all questions for a notice posted on Backstage to both ensure the safety of our users and to ensure that this is a legitimate production. They tried to reach you, but since you've opted out of emails through the platform the team sends out these emails, they are unable to respond to you.
We've refunded all charges for you. If you'd like to try using Backstage again in the future, please note that you are required to abide to our policies and protocols as all other job posters do on our platform. We wish you the best of luck with casting elsewhere.
I'VE BEEN A CLIENT FOR 8 YEARS, AND THIS IS THE ONLY SITE THAT I HAVE AN ISSUE WITH, AND IM ON AT LEAST 7 OR 8 OF THEM.
I WAS SIGNING IN TO SUBMIT TO A JOB AS I NORMALLY DO, AND THE SYSTEM WOULDN'T ALLOW ME TO GET THROUGH, STATING THAT I NEED TO SUBSCRIBE.
MY SUBSCRIPTION DOESN'T END UNTIL 2022. IT WOULDN'T EVEN ALLOW ME IN TO ENSURE THAT MY SUBSCRIPTION WAS STILL VALID, ALTHOUGH I KNEW THAT IT WAS.
I KNEW IT HAD TO BE A PROBLEM BECAUSE THEY NORMALLY LET YOU KNOW WHEN YOU'RE ABOUT TO EXPIRE, BUT I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT THE ISSUE WAS.
I THEN CREATE A SUBSCRIPTION, AND MUCH TO MY SURPRISE IT TELLS ME THAT IT'S A NEW ACCOUNT, BUT IT THEN ALLOWED ME PAST TO GET TO THE OTHER ONE, ONCE ID GONE OUT AND SIGNED BACK IN.
MIND YOU I'D BEEN TRYING TO DO THAT. I'VE EMAILED THEM AT LEAST 6 TIMES TELLING THEM THAT MY MONEY NEEDS TO GO BACK ON MY CARD, ESPECIALLY SINCE I HAVE AN ACTIVE SUBSCRIPTION.
IN OTHER WORDS NOW... I HAVE TWO SUBSCRIPTIONS, ONE OF WHICH WILL NOT BE USED, AS I WAS PROMPTED TO ADD IT, OR I COULDN'T GET INTO MY ACCOUNT.
THEY REFUSE TO RESPOND TO THE EMAIL AND I'VE LEFT MESSAGES AS WELL FOR THEM TO CONTACT ME.
I'VE BEEN ON THIS SITE NOW FOR 8 YEARS, AND IF THIS IS HOW THEY TREAT PEOPLE... THEN, IT'S SO NOT THE ONE FOR ME.
THIS WILL BE MY LAST YEAR FOR SURE.
I WILL BE REPORTING THEM TO ANY AND EVERY AGENCY THAT APPLIES, INCLUDING THE BBB.
Hi Barin! Thank you for your feedback. We're sorry that you feel this way. I can see that you reached our Customer Support and the issue you experienced was solved.
Backstage has lots of information on acting and voice acting, making it a great resource for learning and starting a career in the field! The feedback is quick and valuable as well!
Clara was able to resolved my question about memberships and cancellations. She was very helpful in getting my question answered. Thank You. David
Backstage was good because it made casting easy.
I was able to work with actors and find the perfect team.
But, I had to wait for my project to be reviewed which takes forever.
Then, I had to pay a 10.00 fee to message actors.
I can't keep spending money this way,
So I think Backstage is money-sucking even though it's good.
Hi Tony, we require all creators to go through a background check and full verification for the safety of our users. We're sorry to hear that it was an unpleasant experience for you, but it is important that we do not rush these processes, especially since the majority of our users are new to the industry and can be privy to scams. We appreciate your feedback and hope you find success casting talent for your next project on Backstage.
Very much appreciated Nestor's help answering my questions about yearly subscription. Pleased with how helpfully informative he/she was.
I needed some unique help and used the chat option for customer service. The agent went above and beyond to help me. Highly recommend this site!
I encountered problems downloading documents to aid me in getting acting work. I contacted the team at Backstage and explained the problems I was having. They responded by email very quickly and told me how to resolve the problems. Being a newcomer to Backstage I welcome this positive feedback from the team it is an indication of excellent service.
Please take this with a grain of salt. Backstage.com is a truly legit and reliable company. The only major downside from what I've seen is the shooting locations. You might as well save your money or kiss your chances goodbye if you don't live in or near a major city. Things are pretty lackluster on the voice acting side in terms of recording remotely. Like I said, most of the best opportunities are onsite locations, yet they'll never be anywhere near your own city or state. In terms of acting in general, the locations you can choose from are very limited. Not every city or state is selectable.
In fact, I had to Google films being shot in my own state due to my location not being a major city. That part saddens me. I basically spent money to look at opportunities that will never be relevant or obtainable to me. Things might be different for any of you though.
Thank you for your feedback! Please note that you can also type in a personalized city instead of selecting the pre-populated cities via the Location filter: backstage.com/casting. If you have further questions, please email us at customers@backstage.com!
They solved my issue quickly and updated me with the information. They where also very proper and copied me with the information
From the business
Find and apply to over 4,000 casting calls and auditions on Backstage, the most trusted platform for actors and performers. Get cast today.
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Hi Tricey, we're sorry to hear that you're dissatisfied with our website and feel that it is outdated. I have to say we're slightly surprised by this feedback, as compared to other platforms, Backstage is considered relatively modern since our product team actively implements new features and updates the design regularly. If you'd like to share what exactly you feel is outdated, please email us at customers@backstage.com.
Please note that we are not a talent agency, so we can't vouch for the level of experience or talent of a user who signs up for Backstage. However, it's not unusual to have to pay a talent that you hire on the platform. If you do not have the means to pay talent, you can list your project as unpaid, but keep in mind that the majority of experienced and skilled talent are likely not going to apply to unpaid jobs.
It is absolutely not true that casting directors are banned from Backstage because talent are upset that they are not chosen. If that were the case, that would mean there would be no casting directors on the site, since it's simply not feasible for a casting director to cast every talent that applies to their project. We encourage you to reach out to our Customer Support Team directly if you have any other questions or concerns about our platform.