Going to a job with your head on

The one that never fails

If they ask you for money, it is a scam. Whatever it is called: a test, a book, holding your spot, materials, training. A real job pays you, not the other way round.

There is no exception to this and no explanation worth hearing. Report it from the call and get on with your day.

Before you say yes

• Open the profile of whoever is posting: how long they have been here, what they have published, who has confirmed credits for them. A new, empty account calling people together deserves more questions.
• Check whether the place is a studio, a salon, a set or somewhere public. If it is a house or a hotel room, treat it as what it is.
• Ask the concrete things: how many hours, how many people, who brings the kit, how and when you get paid.
• If something in the answer does not add up, you do not need to be able to explain why. That is enough.

Talk in here

Insisting on moving to WhatsApp before anything is agreed is the most common sign. It does not always mean something bad, but it is what nearly every case that goes wrong has in common.

What is said inside MUATOO stays, and can be attached to a report in two taps. A WhatsApp chat you have to reconstruct yourself, by hand, after the fact.

The day you go

• Tell someone where you are, who with, and when you expect to leave. No drama needed: one message will do.
• If it is a private address, take someone with you.
• Bring your own kit if you can. Working with your own things is one more reason not to depend on anyone.
• Make sure you have a way back before you arrive, not after.

You can leave

If when you get there the place, the people or the job do not match the ad, you do not have to stay. You do not have to explain yourself, be polite, or finish what you started.

Leaving a strange place early has never cost anyone their career. Staying has.

If you are under 18

• Do not go without an adult.
• Do not take jobs involving nudity or underwear: they are not allowed here with minors, and whoever offers them is breaking the rules.
• Report it. It is not a nuisance and nothing will happen to you for doing it.

If something goes wrong

Report it from the casting call or from the conversation. If it is a conversation, the last twenty messages are attached so you do not have to tell it again.

Block the person: you stop seeing each other, on profiles, on work and on lists.

And if you think someone is at risk, contact the police too. We do not replace that, and saying so plainly is part of taking it seriously.

What we do on our side

• Whoever posts a call must have a confirmed email and a profile with a name, a photo, a city and a bio. It does not stop everything, but it forces a trail.
• Reports are reviewed in order, and the ones involving risk to people go first.
• Whoever reports is never named to the person reported.
• Conversations are encrypted in the database.