That question is a hard one on which to give a standard answer. It all depends on the relationship that the CD has with the agent or manager. Those who had a great, professional relationship with the CD were more likely to have their call taken.

Sometimes I would let the CD know that Y agent was on the phone wanting feedback about X actor. She would look at her sheet, remember the session and tell me a few things to tell the agent. Mostly things like: “lovely actor, too old” or “great job, we don’t know which way we are going with that role right now.”

One thing that I heard in the office is that “a callback is your feedback.” Often as actors we want feedback as a form of validation, and the CD looks at feedback as an assessment of whether or not you’re meeting her casting needs. If you’re what she need, she’ll call you back. If you’re not, it’s not personal.

Thanks for the comments and best of luck to you and your daughter.

However, if you know the casting director and you are not submitting on a role, but just want to update a picture – great. Write that on the envelope as well. The more information that the person who is opening the mail has, the less likely it is to get thrown away.

But blind mailed submissions to CDs you don’t know – not very effective.