Seeking Voluntary Administrative Assistant

AUSTRALIAN CREATIVE TALENT AGENCY (ACTA) Newly established in 2006, ACTA is a talent and casting agency representing professional artists with a unique quality within their chosen field. We are currently seeking a dynamic and proactive person with excellent communication and organizational skills to assist in the day to day running of the agency. Must be able to work under pressure and within set deadlines. Must be Apple Mac proficient. This is a voluntary position, with prospects of advancement as the agency grows. We will be happy to discuss opportunities and future prospects with the right applicant. Tasks required will include (but not limited to): - Seeking auditions for artists within the entertainment industry, and - Administrative duties, including liasing between Artists, Casting Consultants, Film, TV, Advertising Agencies, Venues, ACTA is part of a multi-faceted, newly formed creative arts organisation. For further information, to express your interest in the position, please contact: Lindsay Saddington Australian Creative Talent Agency 14 Raglan Street North Melbourne VIC 3051 Ph/Fax: (03) 9326 3006 E-mail: acta@acopa.com.au Websites: http://www.acopa.com.au/acta.html and http://www.saddingtonstudios.com

You are setting yourself up as a business and you want somebody's free labour so that you can make money!! Not only that - the "volunteer" will have "prospects of advancement" (sic)? You've got to be kidding. I know there are lots of cases of actors working for free on projects just to get screen time or because they are in amateur theatre. It's a very fine line between exploitation and mutual opportunity. There is no problem with emerging actors who might perform in student films for free - they should get at least a free copy of the production (I'm still waiting for mine from a film I did back in October - on a couple of nights well into the early hours of the morning, and I'm not happy about it). But to expect people to work for nothing when a film might be entered into competitions or sold is nasty. Artists should insist on contracts that detail payment or, where they are not paid the going rates, a share of prizes, profits and royalties. When its a business like an agency: it's plain exploitation of the naive (because only someone naive would want to take something like this on without payment). Taking it on because of the prospect of possible paid work in the future likewise. Promises do not pay bills, wages do. I think the site managers should draw a line on this sort of advertising. I know some other sites do. Jim

Whoa - first of all, do you know ACOPA? I do, and I know that they are running on an oily rag. They can barely meet their costs. The reason they ask for a volunteer is because ACOPA just started a few years ago, and are now trying to diversify in order to earn some bucks. Secondly, how many local professional companies get volunteers to help out in admin tasks, FOH, etc? Every single professional company I've ever met does that. Is it unfair that they can't pay? Yes. Are they able to pay everyone? No. Not always. ... ACOPA is not run by a bunch of money-hungry people trying to take advantage of the naive. It is run by one man who has worked in the industry for a long time, and is currently supporting many local films (I don't know about their pay arrangements, but I'm sure they are fair), local theatre, trains and develops local acting talent... And is desperately trying to pay their bills. I know they would love to be able to pay everyone; but realistically, can't. Thirdly, Theatre Australia should not restrict postings from any one, nor does it ever. Grant has commented many times about this. Perhaps some research into the company should be made before making the above comments. The Prompt Copy www.thepromptcopy.com Sticky Apple Legs www.freewebs.com/stickyapplelegs Puppets in Melbourne www.freewebs.com/puppetsinmelbourne Treading the Boards www.treadingtheboards.thepromptcopy.com

All the information I needed to make a comment is in the original post: I don't need to research into the company. The salient points are there: it is a talent and casting agency; it provides services to "professional artists", etc; and it sets out the key duties that indicate that the Agency is employing someone to perform a certain set of functions. And if it is utilising someone's labour in an effort to make a profit - it is a business - it has an obligation to pay for that labour. The principle is clear. Say I decide to run a coffee shop. It costs me a bomb for the lease and to set it up. I am a one-man operation (because my wife left me years ago - not me personally, the person running this coffee shop). I am run off my feet, I really need someone to wait at the tables, but I don't have enough to pay someone wages and the on-costs involved (superannuation, health and safety insurance, etc.). Do you really think that very small businesses around the country that similarly run "on an oily rag" with very low margins and profits should be able to employee "volunteers" and not pay them? OK. That's the issue at the business level. Let's look at the bigger picture. If a whole bunch of small businesses around the country start employing "volunteers" and not paying them - let's stick with coffee shops - what effect is that going to have on the employment of wait staff? One of the primary effects will be to push down the wages for wait staff who need the employment, and it would impact on the kitchen staff, etc., and bring a whole bunch of negative effects on the hospitality industry. And, cutting off one area of work that actors rely on for income to support their spasmodic professional gigs. There are a whole bunch of small business people who are really nice people, but absolutely rotten employers who have no clue about the rights of individual workers or their responsibilities as employers, and they are a blight on their respective industries. What this person needs is not free labour, but a partner who will buy into the business and roll up their sleeves to do the work indicated. Alternatively, because, as you say, the agency is now "trying to diversify in order to earn some bucks", diversification should be put off until the business becomes more viable. What about another perspective: let's say I am a young struggling actor (I'm actually an old fart, but never mind) and I approach ACTA for representation. Let's say, too, that they charge 10% for each paid role. I am broke, and struggling. I have maxed out on all my cards. Will Mr Saddington put me on his books for nothing? Will he spend as much energy on promoting me as he does the artists who sign up on 10%? Let's say that he is really a kind soul, and signs me up for free (no commission - he can't charge a sign-up fee legally, anyway). What does he do when the next broke actor turns up? And the next? And what happens if the word gets around? He will lose credibility in the industry. He will go broke himself. If someone is prepared to work for nothing, there are a whole bunch of organisations in service areas assisting people in need that desperately need people with the skills necessary to perform the work indicated. Or, dare I say it, amateur theatre companies that run on the smell of an oily rag. Jim