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Central Casting was established on December 4, 1925 as the Central Casting Bureau by Will H. Hays and the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA) in an effort to regulate the thousands who sought employment as extras in the film industry.

Hays had four main goals for Central Casting: to do away with the high fees extras were charged by private employment agencies, to ensure extras were paid legally, to discourage the influx of people flocking to Hollywood to seek employment as extras, and to provide steady employment to qualified extras.

To carry out his vision, Hays hired Fred Beetson as president and on January 25, 1926, Central Casting officially opened its office in the Hollywood & Western Building in Hollywood.

For the estimated 30,000 aspiring extras in Hollywood, Central Casting became the only source of extra work. In the first six months of operation, the agency registered more than 18,000 extras and made 113,873 placements. Many Hollywood legends started their careers with Central Casting, including Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, and Gary Cooper.

In 1944, the agency introduced a second phone line, GArfield 3621 for men and GArfield 3711 for women. Though registration decreased due to World War II, the switchboard often received up to 4,000 calls an hour from extras looking for work.

In 1976, the MPPDA sold Central Casting to Production Payment, Inc., a subsidiary of Talent & Residuals, making the agency privately owned for the first time.

When the agency’s parent company International Digitronics Corp. merged with Draney Information Services Corporation in 1991, Central Casting merged with Richmar Casting to become part of the newly formed Entertainment Partners. During this process, Central Casting overhauled their digital casting system, making it easier for casting directors to search through their 15,000 registered extras. Around this time, extras begin to refer to themselves as background actors.

Central Casting New York
In April 2006, Central Casting New York opened in Manhattan, the first Central Casting office to open outside of Los Angeles. Central Casting New York is currently located on 101 W 31st Street near Greeley Square.

Some early projects cast by the New York office included Law & Order, The Sopranos, and Spider-Man 3.

Central Casting Louisiana
After casting thousands of background actors for Jurassic World, Central Casting Louisiana opened an office in Benson Tower in New Orleans on September 23, 2014.

The office's first television casting project was The Astronauts Wives Club.

Central Casting Georgia
In 2016, Central Casting Georgia opened in Atlanta after the on-location background casting for American Made.