Trusted person

A trusted person is someone you choose yourself and who can appear in two separate functions: as a companion at the casting, and as a contact outside the industry who knows where you are. Those are different roles, and you do not need the same person for both.

The companion at the casting

To our castings you may bring a companion, without registering them in advance and without explaining why. Anyone who ties the appointment to a registration or fends it off with the remark that this is unusual among professionals has understood the purpose of the rule and rejected it.

At the casting the companion comes into the rooms, can wait or watch, and is available if you need a break. They do not negotiate for you, sign nothing and answer no questions in your place. What else applies at the casting — studio or booked location instead of a private flat, at least three people present, no sexual acts — is under process.

On the shoot day other rules apply

On the shoot itself the position is different, and you should know that beforehand instead of learning it on set. Most productions let nobody into the room during an intimate scene who is not needed for the recording. That is not harassment; it also protects you and your scene partner from an audience.

The usual and mostly enforceable middle path is this: the companion waits in the holding area, is reachable in breaks and travels home with you. Clarify that at the booking, not on the morning of the shoot. Also expect that they will have to sign a confidentiality declaration.

The person outside the industry

The second function is the more important and is forgotten more often. It means a person who has nothing to do with the production and who, before every appointment, receives three facts: where you are going, who you are dealing with there, and when you will check in again.

This person does not have to know exactly what you are shooting. It is enough if they have place, time frame and a contact and know what to do if your check-in does not come. For many, exactly that split is why the arrangement works at all: they do not have to explain themselves to anyone.

If you work under a stage name and do not want to involve anyone from your surroundings, a colleague from the industry can fill that role. Only they should then not be booked on the same production.

What they can do and what they cannot

A trusted person replaces neither the agency nor a lawyer nor the police. They do not assess a contract and do not negotiate a fee. Their value is that someone outside the situation knows your whereabouts and is available if you need a reading.

Agree beforehand what happens in an emergency: from when they get in touch, whom they call, which number you have left. An arrangement invented only in the emergency does not help. And do not treat your right to stop as something you first have to justify.