Sent him another file with one take and apologized for being an idiot. Never heard a peep. Did I whine about not getting a response? Considering the number of people on his mailing list who could potentially have submitted, I wouldn’t expect anything. Anything, except the “you’ve got the job” call or email. That’s the contact I want.

Occasionally, somebody would accidentally leave the front door open, whereupon we may find a wino or panhandler make their way up the stairs. It was disruptive and annoying. We also would rather not alert the neighborhood underbelly to the many thousands of dollars of audio and video equipment we had. We soon learned that shut door, not necessarily locke, but shut was enough deterrence. An open door seemed to signify “welcome, come on in.”

At this location, we would frequently hold both on-camera and voice-over auditions. In those days, talent would go to a casting director or client’s fairly often for purposes of auditioning. When we held auditions, we would put a sign with the appropriate casting info on the door, It always said in big letters, “Please shut door behind you.” We found this was less than completely effective.

Eventually, this turned into us placing numerous sides along both walls of the staircase that said “Shut Door Behind You!” and “If You Fail To Shut The Door, You Will Not Be Allowed to Audition” It was a long staircase, and at one point, there were probably no fewer than 20 of these signs up there.

Still, it never failed to amaze me that at least a few actors failed to follow this initial, simple “direction”. Upon reaching the top of the stairs, as they were to sign in, they would be told that they couldn’t “audition”. Some would sprint down the stairs attempting to rectify their error. But the way we saw it, if you weren’t present enough to figure this one out; let alone realize that you were entering a building where the door was shut to begin with, we certainly didn’t want you getting anywhere near our clients.

Interestingly enough, this happened among vetted, represented talent. Considering the pedigree of many current online denizens, I’m surprised we have the level of civility we do. The difference here is that those who fail to understand; who fail the simple tests aren’t actually told they can’t participate, they are just ignored, scorned and shunned. An annoyance for the rest of us to have to circumnavigate, and certainly individuals we would prefer not to have refer to themselves as our “peers”.

You might say that the internet could be considered an “undesirable neighborhood” too. Perhaps we should do a little less welcoming and instead be wary of the “less than desirable” who might venture up the stairs.