Does area code affect who you cast?

[Holosynthetic]

I was having a conversation with a friend and the topic of phone numbers and area codes came up. She mentioned that she had a friend who moved to New York but didn't have a NY phone number, when submitting for jobs to work at different theaters, she never got called back. The girl then changed her area code on her phone number to local NY and upon resubmitting to 15 places, she got called back for 7 this time.

Does a persons area code affect your decision to call them in for an audition?
If a person has a phone number with an area code your not familiar with, do they have a less likely chance of being called in?

 

[weltonfilment]

Absolutely. When I moved to LA from Seattle the first thing I did after I got my apartment was change my phone number to a 310 area code. Not only did I believe having an LA area code was essential for getting work in the industry, but I also felt that having a local number made LA feel like more of a home and I felt more "connected" to the town, if that makes any sense (in the end, I left after awhile, but that's a different story). The point is that I was committed to finding work and I took the necessary steps right off the bat to ensure that happened.

Basically think about applying for an audition or PA job just like you would any other job. An employer is much more likely to call someone with a local area code because that's a sign that the person is committed to being a resident of the area and that you aren't likely to just up and leave. It may be trivial, but I think it's very important. It doesn't cost anything extra and these days it's not too hard to inform people you changed your number.