Casting in Athens: What Am I Missing?

Hello everyone! I’ve been living in Athens for three years now, and I’m interested in working in the film/commercial industry here. I’m registered with three advertising agencies — with one of them for about a year and a half, and with the others for a shorter time — and during all this time I’ve received zero job offers.

In my hometown, I had experience filming for various projects, so I thought that in Athens at least occasional opportunities would come up, but it feels like the agencies have simply forgotten about me. I even wrote to the first agency once, asking something like, “Hey, you haven’t forgotten about me, right?” They just replied that if something suitable came up, they would contact me.

But honestly, I don’t understand how this works. How do these agencies operate then? Why did they sign me up and add me to their database if they have never offered me anything? I thought maybe it was because I don’t speak Greek, but there are projects where language isn’t required, and in the worst case, you can always learn the lines.

Please share your experience.