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Actress Sues Amazon For Showing Her Age On IMDb
Los Angeles (Oct. 27, 2011) — An actor’s actual age is irrelevant to casting. What matters is the age range that an actor can portray. For the entire history of professional acting, this has been true but that reality has been upended by the development of IMDb as an industry standard used in casting offices across America. IMDb publishes the actual dates of birth of thousands of actors without their consent, most of them not celebrities but rank-and-file actors whose names are unknown to the general public. When their actual ages then become known to casting personnel, the 10+ year age range that many of them can portray suddenly shrinks and so do their opportunities to work. The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and Screen Actors Guild strongly believe that businesses like IMDb have a moral and legal obligation not to facilitate age discrimination in employment. Entertainment industry employers who would never directly ask a potential employee’s age routinely access that information through IMDb and its professional subscription site IMDbPro. IMDb has the power to remove the temptation for employers to engage in age discrimination by accessing this information.
We are disappointed that IMDb has rejected the efforts of AFTRA, Screen Actors Guild and other entertainment industry unions and workers to work together to reach a solution to this problem. It is time for IMDb to step up and take responsibility for the harm it has caused, and to take appropriate measures to protect entertainment industry workers, including actors, from losing jobs for the enhancement of IMDb’s financial statements.
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What a load of crap. Casting agents are unimaginative yahoos, and that’s somehow IMDb’s fault?
Couldn’t agree more. The problem is agism from the “casting personnel” and studios, not that imdb posts people’s ages. It seems like the unions are sidestepping the real problem.
How about IMDB posting a crew members previous gender? Without any regard for peoples safety they will out you.
You said it yourself, “Casting agents are unimaginative yahoos”. One quick glance at an IMDb page and an actor that was once perfect for a role, now becomes too young or too old.
Glad this is being done.
Yes I agree that it is the casting directors themselves that can sometimes be shortsighted or unfairly swayed by what is ultimately non essential information regarding an actor. The only thing anyone needs to know about an actor’s age is whether they are 18 or above or not, other than that an actors age is just not relevant. Look at them, what do you think the age range they play should be? I would say this was a non issue if it hadn’t already had a very negative impact on one of my clients. He is a 25 year old actor who has had substantial success playing a variety of lead teenage roles in a Spirit Award winning film, a multiple Emmy nominated film, cable movies and many lead guest spots. To date he has not played a character older than 19, more often around 16. Needless to say he looks quite young for his age. About a year and a half ago his birth date and age suddenly appeared on his IMDB page somehow. Several requests to have it taken down have been either ignored or refused. Since the posting of his age It has become problematic even getting him in the door for teenage roles with casting directors who are now suddenly saying he is “too old”to even come in and audition. Of course when he goes up for roles that are close to his real age or even early 20′s the feedback is routinely “he looks too young”. Consequently this very talented young actor who had worked quite consistently for over a decade has worked only once in the last year and a half! (playing a 17 year old High School student by the way.) It is an increasingly frustrating catch 22 that has only become an issue since IMDB added his age and birthday to his page. So while I agree it is not IMDB’s fault for certain casting directors lack of imagination, they are certainly creating another unnecessary hurdle for an actor to get over in an already very tough and competitive profession. IMDB should only list an actors date of birth with that actors approval, and should honor an actors request to have that information edited if posted. I applaud SAG and AFTRA’s efforts to put pressure on IMDB to abandon this problem plagued practice of theirs once and for all.
The issue is that IMDB will post actors’ – and writers’, directors’, etc. – dates of birth without their permission. I now work as a writer for television, but most of my credits are from my days as an actor. IMDB grabbed my date of birth off a wedding announcement. I did not put it up there – I asked them to take it down. They would not, and will not. There are other piece of information – personal information, including my parents’ names – that they took from the same wedding announcement, and put on my IMDB bio. How is this information pertinent? It isn’t.
It’s public knowledge that can be from a simple public records search. Sorry, but your date of birth is not a state secret.
I’ve had a similar problem. I tried to get the IMDB to take down my age (which they had wrong) and they refused.
At the same time, they thought it was important to mention that I had gone to high school with a controversial conservative newspaper columnist – as I had once mentioned in an interview that she and I were friends.
It was as if they were trying to tar me with the friendship, and say that I shared her views. As it turns out, I don’t agree with her views. But what the hell does any of this have to do with movie credits?
I had to threaten them with a lawsuit if they didn’t remove this information. They finally did. But I quite agree with everyone else who feels victimized by the IMDB — and I’d be happy to join a class action suit against them.
IMDB, purchased by Amazon in order to promote their DVD sales, often publishes wrong information and arrogantly refuses to correct it. I’ve experienced it and would be happy to join a class-action, which is long overdue. I applaud SAG for issuing this belated but important statement. IMBD seems out of control.
imdb should concern themselves with LISTS THAT INCLUDE ALL AN ACTOR’S CREDITS ….not publish ages… they can’t get the credits correctly…they’ll probably fuck up the ages
Wow that is biggest bunch of crap I have ever heard AFTRA & SAG.
known people work no matter what. and for those people that get plastic surgery so they can continue to work is messed up. let the new people have a shot. It isn’t about having it all to yourselves.
That is something I don’t believe in. Give other people a shot.
I have been discriminated against because I look to much like Johnny Depp. So what does that have to do with anything. I like him but he can only act one way. I have many acting talents that can surpass his but they won’t book me because I look like him and that is some Bull SHIT!!!
This is moronic. SAG and AFTRA should worry about getting a merger correct instead of this bullcrap.
…yeeeessssss… ALL Union activities and responsibilities should hereby be suspended until – sorry, what was your name again? – EntLaw’s agenda has been addressed to his/her satisfaction! All in favor?… Bueller? Bueller?
Exactly! The Unions should immediately suspend all their other non-merger related activities until – I’m sorry, what was your name again? – EntLaw’s issues are dealt with to his satisfaction!
Sheesh…
SAG and AFTRA can do more than one thing at a time.
This is important. Ageism is real. It means money out of the pockets of talented artists. I know plenty of actors AND writers who prey their age doesn’t get out because of the prejudice of the STUDIOS- not the CD’s. The CD’s are only doing the bidding of their bosses. They are not the problem.
And the studio prejudice is not only the propaganda that youth sells, but also that youth, in all fields, is cheaper!
IMDB knows it’s catering to the public’s voyeurism when it publishes this kind of info about people. They know ‘hits’ means cash. As usual, businesses have to be told the right thing to do. SAG has been telling them, but they don’t care.
It seems to me the majority of working actors in these guilds would prefer to have this issue addressed. Since the point of a union is collective bargaining, it’s perfectly appropriate for SAG and AFTRA to take a stand on this.
FINALLY…someone is putting IMDB to task and going after them. Actors will come out of the woodwork to support you…,especially,like myself where my age (along with alot of other information)is listed incorrectly! All efforts I made were ignored. They exist because of actors. They need us…we don’t need them. File a class action suit and watch the line grow around the corner.Thank you SAG..now take care of this
Maybe this isn’t as obvious as it seems to me… but if a casting office passes over one actor because of their age listed on IMDB, won’t they hire ANOTHER actor that is the right age? Aren’t actors who hide their ages in effect stealing jobs that should go to others?
This is a good question. Here’s what I think: Since one’s correct age is not genuinely a factor, if the actor looks and acts ‘right’ for the part, isn’t the second choice in your hypothetical just that- a second choice? I think the first choice deserves the part on merits and the second choice works a little harder next time. (Or goes to the gym. Whichever.) I don’t think it’s ‘stealing’, even metaphorically, if choice one fits the role better.
Is a blonde “stealing” a role from a brunette because she walks into an audition for brunettes with her hair dyed? As any bouncer will tell you, some thirty-year-olds look like college kids, and some high school kids look like they’re 25. If that’s the case in real life, there’s no good reason for actors to have arbitrary age restrictions.
My father was cast in a series, way back, for a 28 year old. He was nearly 40, he daftly said this, & they recast before the readthru. We never needed this information before. This is long, long overdue.
Absolutely! How dare IMDB state facts on their website. *sigh*
You don’t have a clue. Go back to the french fry station.
s
Lame…. And let me guess. IMDB will agree to just delete those listings and then weeks from now those same actors who were deleted will claim they lost gigs because they aren’t in IMDB now.
I think it’s about time IMDB helps take age off the table. No body NEEDS that information, its just for a curious public who could find it out in gossip mags anyway, but a site like IMDB that people in the industry pay a subscription for should not be hurting the careers of actors as it is. Just take it down, all seems like their idea of a power play to me, and an insulting one at that.
Finally! It’s about frikkin’ time the unions addressed this problem. I can’t believe it’s taken this long.
The industry itself helped to build this website from its infancy and then, slowly adopted it as standard. IMDb starts publishing birth dates – that can often be wrong – that they won’t let you delete, and actor’s who pay for the service end up getting shafted by it.
Make no mistake, actors lose jobs because of the difference between their real age and on-screen perceived age.
It’s a very imaginative stretch to say they have a legal obligation here. maybe if this were solely a casting resource site, one could make an argument that posting the age is fueling flames of age discrimination, but as its acronym suggests, IMDB is simply a movie data base. You work in film or television, you met the criteria. As for moral obligation, since when is there a reasonable expectation from big businesses to act morally?
All that said, sure would be nice if imdb had a better interface to allow for changes and privacy concerns. but I don’t know about a legal obligation with regards to overtly facilitating age discrimination. no more than you can fault google or wikipedia.
But what gives them the right to publish any information about me without my consent? And if I contact them requesting them to take it down and they don’t, then they are publishing my private info. against my will.
I say sue the hell out of them, and I’ll join in.
This is where most of the sites like Google and Wikipedia get there info. They use IMDB to substantiate there own claims on other sites . Its many peoples go to site and has a strange creditability in the public’s eye.
Even more so to hell with that! Imdb needs to stop the practice of allowing every single background actor.. nonunion included… accepting b s credits such as..” guy who stares at bradley cooper walking away from hot dog cart” really? Imdb has become a joke. It’s very simple …no credits no sag card or aftra card no imdb page… there you go.
No costume no candy!
Wow, bitter much? Look, anyone who’s anyone looks at those BS “Uncredited” entries as what they are – background. Sure it’s nice for the person to be able to show it to family back home but really, who gives a crap? (Apparently, you do.) Those listings stay at the behest of the producer, not IMDb, and may be an earned favor for helping out the producer or production. No harm there.
IMDb can post whatever pertinent info they want, except when a person asks them not to. Personal info is not pertinent to the films’ details. Too bad the unions have to get into it to make them do the right thing.
I play 10 years younger than I am and always have. I worked consistantly all my young adult life. Now that my age got posted I get NO work!!! Please. Let it be an option at least!!!!
The next thing that will happen is actors will say remove their place of birth, because they are losing jobs because they are from Texas and the role is for someone from Vermont.
I don’t care who you are or what you do. A website should not be posting anyone’s birthdate. Period. They should be sued for posting personal information without the consent of the person.
Um, just for the record. No. Unfortunately being an actor means being a “public figure” – it’s par for the course and that means you give up certain privacy rights afforded to others – even if birthday was considered private information (it’s not) by Gov’t.
Terrific, go after IMDB. Then go after wikipedia because it, too, lists gobs of information about all manner of people. I’m sure some of it isn’t true, just as some of the IMDB stuff isn’t true.
And guess what? IMDB quite often puts information up about people based on what all sorts of miscellaneous people tell them about. They sometimes require a source for it, but not always.
Let’s face it, there are many sources of information online now, not just IMDB. And if the casting people don’t get it at IMDB, they’ll probably find it elsewhere.
Well, the difference is that Wikipedia is actually editable by the public. IMDB is not. There are a million things you can change about a person’s IMDB page, but for some reason the age is not one of them. It’s bizarre.
‘Well, the difference is that Wikipedia is actually editable by the public. IMDB is not. There are a million things you can change about a person’s IMDB page, but for some reason the age is not one of them. It’s bizarre.”
Except, you are absolutely wrong. First of all, IMDb does not list age, it lists date of birth. If you open the editing page and go to biographical in formation, there it is: Date of Birth.
long overdue, IMDB needs to get on this. and they need to hire some people in customer service. they’re brutal.
why don’t people just use their science to stop aging
Guys! Wikipedia has all the same info… You take it off IMDb and they’ll find it somewhere else. Duh! Wow there are a lot of morons out there.
On IMDB Pro you can change the settings in resume to not show your age, BUT if you have ever input that info (or someone has for you ) it will show up on a advanced search which is a tool some CD’s use. The main page wont show your age, but a search on IMDB pro will. Correct me if I am wrong ? are not CD’s bound by some law to not ask about age or race?? but they can get this info off IMDB ? Not fair in my books. Casting in my opinion should be based on the ability to Portray the character and that only.
right on..why in every news story do we have to say mary jones, 55. why not list her address and soc sec and credit card info and weight…ageism is such a big problem and nothing to joke about…no one needs to know someones age, unless someone wants you to know.
Wow, I guess actors really aren’t vain after all — how dare IMDb publish publicly-available facts that reveal an actor’s true age!
Also, the federal age discrimination laws only protect those age 40 and older. If you’re in your 40′s and you didn’t get hired to play a character in his mid/late 30′s, it’s probably because of you, not your age. If you’re in your 40′s and you’re upset you got passed over to play someone in his 20′s, you need a reality check.
Besides, “age” is probably considered a “bona fide occupational qualification” of a job to play an age-specific character.
It’s not like a qualified 45-year old mechanic losing a job to a less-qualified 25-year old; what we’re crying about is 45-year old actors losing gigs to play 25-year olds to, well, 25-year old actors.
Seriously, actors, get over yourselves.
Age discrimination is rampant almost everywhere and especially in Hollywood. Was there not a TV writers lawsuit settled just last year? Until age discrimination is no longer an issue I side with anyone trying to hide their age. No brainer.
Effect of hiding age: casting loses a little time considering a few actors who looked good on paper but aren’t right for the part when seen in person
Effect of age discrimination: careers ended
I hope that actor wins her lawsuit against IMDB big time.
Um, if it is illegal to ask a prospective employee their age in any other business, which it IS, then both casting directors AND imdb are at fault for conspiring to circumvent employment law. And beyond that, it just isn’t RELEVANT!
Cool. I await a hospital going after WebMD because it led to them giving ill-advised treatments.
Another problem is when they get the info WRONG, as they often do. IMDB is not prompt to fix it. So, wrongly listing an actors age as older than the really are, then taking their time to correct it (or remove it), can very much hurt the actor. How any of us are cast because of what age we ‘play’….it hurts a lot of members and adds to the agism issue of this business. Minimally it should be a persons right to allow the information or not, not IMDB’s choice but ours.