My daughter is actually doing these open calls in NYC right now. Those 2 AM unofficial lists that may or may not be accepted and all the rest are real. But here is the trick to bring this back to something less insane. Actors need to do their homework and learn how to self-edit. They should ONLY show up for things they are right for and stop just shooting at anything that moves. It creates chaos and an overly long process for everyone. It doesn’t matter if you decide to audition after queuing up at 2 AM if you are waiting for a role that you will NEVER get cast in. But it might matter a lot to the person who shows up at 9 AM who really is right for the part but will never get seen because the line is just too long and they will never get to him/her. If as a group all actors could just wise up to this, it would make things better for everyone and the process less insane.
My daughter is doing her part. She is self-editing. She has realized that shooting at anything that moves is a huge time suck which also takes away from earning money in survival jobs, sleep, social life and all of the rest. It sort of makes me think of what I ponder whenever I’m stuck in traffic on a highway with no reasonable explanation for the congestion. “Hey people why don’t we all just decide to go faster together right now as a group so we can all get where we are going sooner?” Sigh.