What: Backstage.com is a pay-to-play company that purports to find you acting jobs

Expected pay: none

Husl $core: $$

Commissions & fees: $12.50 per month

Where: National

Requirements: Be star-struck and gullible.

Review:

Like Explore Talent, Backstage says that it will help you find acting jobs. But to sign up, you’ve got to pay a monthly subscription fee and there is no guarantee that you’ll get work.

On the bright side, they charge less than Explore Talent — $12.50 per month or $150 per year. And that subscription rate is often discounted. When we checked recently, membership was going for as little as $8.25 per month. The site appears to offer a lot of non-union work in student productions. This would likely not be a great place to find regular work with professional productions. But, if you’re determined to pay somebody to get access to audition information, this site will cost you about the same as a Spotify membership.

However, if you’re serious about acting, a better option would be to go to Actor’s Access, which has a free sign up and profile process. That site will also try to sell you a premium subscription but its not required. (More on that on the Actors Access page.)

Our suggestion: Post your profile at Actor’s Access and search for jobs at Playbill, which operates a free job board. And hire an agent.

What their users say:

“I thought it had a lot of great auditions and submissions but never got any response back about anything. I felt like I was just a small fish in a large pond. 

“How desperate does this site have to be to post theme park auditions? I can see details and time of auditions for free if I just go to that theme parks web site? This isn’t professional at all if they’re showing us auditions that do not require their subscription fees for us to find. No one should ever have to pay to look for casting calls, it’s like looking for a job. This is just another scam talent agency trying to rob money out of those that don’t know how the acting/entertainment industry works.”

“You’ll find this to be huge waste of time, some of the listings are fake, and they will go away/be filled weeks before the date ends – actually conveniently after you apply. Don’t bother! Get a good agent, and do it the right way. NO FAMOUS PEOPLE USED THIS TO GET ANY NOTEABLE ACTING JOB!”