Thursday, March 25, 2010

The "Casting Couch"

We all know about the casting couch: sleep w/me & I'll make you a star. It's a huge part of the movie "Chicago" & the stories are legendary. Seems like you'd better put out to be a success, right?

How many people do you think I slept with to get where I am? Come on, guess. Two, ten, one? Give up?

ZERO. Seriously, zero. I got where I am based on being a professional, good at my job & people believing in my abilities. I'm also not the only person who can say that. Plenty of people have gotten somewhere without having to sleep with anyone.

An actress I know from the film company who's already awesome impressed me even more when she proclaimed on her Facebook that she would NEVER sleep with people to get to the top. Jace Nicole is the sort of actress that you should feel honored to be compared to: aside from being a great actress & conducting herself as a professional in all my dealings w/her, she has integrity. Integrity is important to me & I respect anyone who has it. Showing me you have it makes you go up even more notches in my book.

No one should think for a second that ALL film & TV companies have a casting couch. I don't see my film company ever doing that. If they did, I'd be the first person trying to stop it & it's my job to make sure nothing underhanded is going on. A lawyer is supposed to keep you honest.

Nor do I think the CEO would put up with it. For one thing, I doubt he & this actress would be friends if he would. Second, no one wants to work w/someone who's only talent is sexual. Knowing this man is one of the most professional people I've seen in the industry, I have no doubt he'd stop it in 2 seconds. I have always avoided even the appearance that I got something b/c of sexual favors. I make no secret of being happily married & that I don't mix business w/my personal life. Didn't even date law school classmates based on this principle.

I recently learned of a situation I had a connection to where there was indeed a casting couch. It makes me sad that any woman would think she has to do that to get ahead. For all I know, it may still be going on. That's a HUGE problem for me as a lawyer & a person with ethics. I feel concerned that anyone who did that will think that I or my company are the same way. We're NOT!

So it's not my place to judge in life & I don't mean to be judgmental when I say "I wouldn't do it." I don't live inside anyone else's head so I can't speak to their experiences, lifestyles or struggles.

What I can say, though is if you really have the talent then you don't need sex to get ahead. Just network like a fiend & if you impress the right person, they'll take notice. I know getting in is tough but it's not worth losing your self-respect or integrity to get famous, okay? The people worth working with don't play this game.

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