I've been wanting to discuss this topic for a while, as through recent years, I see more and more of a trend here. Let me explain. AEA has pretty clear rules in every contract, so that Producers notify the cast, in advance, of when photos will taken, whether they be rehearsal shots or set-up shots, whether for media/website/social media purposes or archival purposes.
But, more and more, I'm seeing actors and directors taking photos during the rehearsal process, both in the rehearsal space and onstage, and then posting these shots to social media. These actors and directors do not "notify" anyone that they are shooting, and certainly do not ask "permission" to post these photos online. (Yes, I do concur that some directors / designers /actors do take photos along with the "official" photographer when a photo shoot has been posted. But that's not what I'm talking about.)
So, does anyone else see a problem here? An official photo call notification, implies the producer's right to "use" the photos, and implies the actors' permission for them to be "used." Actors prepare for photos by dressing or making-up in a certain manner, when they get "official notification," particularly for rehearsal shots. But when photos are being taken of them with no notification, they cannot control how they appear in the photo, nor whether that shot will appear somewhere online, and be downloaded or reposted over and over again.
Not to mention the fact, that if you are an actor taking photos in a rehearsal, you may very well be doing that at the expense of the job you were hired to do, especially those actors who carry phones/cameras onstage during tech. etc., and pull them out and start clicking away whenever they are asked to "hold."
I feel that actors/directors should not be taking photos during rehearsals, except, maybe, during official photo calls, and then only when it does not hold up the process. I am also dead set against social media posting of photos, where the subject/actor was not even aware that the photos have been taken. And yes, I've had actors come to me, asking me to tell their fellow actor to take a photo down off the internet.
Should actors/directors be subject to the same rules as producers?
Should photo taking, while on call (not on break) be banned altogether?
Or should we lighten up about all of this and allow producers to shoot whenever they like, too?
Any discussion?