The Casting Director - A Busy Week…

I am not in Chicago…yet. This week, the Producers & Directors are there. I am now casting two films that are shooting in Chicago: “Polish Bar” and “Audrey.” This happened because the production company of P-Bar decided to stay in Chicago and add on another SAG Modified Low-Budget film (“Audrey”) to their slate. Illinois has a very attractive tax incentive package and is very friendly to filmmakers, which is great, so while I am there I will be looking for actors for both films.

In the meantime, I am also trying to attach an actor to an Australian horror comedy (with Film Industry Blogger’s very own Brian Trenchard-Smith as Executive Producer). The film is very “loosely” financed – and will be looking for private equity investors so a recognizable name is key. We are out to Juliette Lewis, and I am hopeful, I think the role is right for her, but it is hard for actors to commit in these sorts of situations. If not her, I am already preparing for her to pass (“because, Actors pass”) and thinking about actors who may be interested in this script and willing to attach themselves without hard cash. The script is very good, so I am crossing my fingers on this one.

Last week I had to do additional casting for a film that shot last year in the Bahamas, “Way of the Dolphin.” The film had some additional scenes to shoot and they are doing it this week in Santa Clarita. I needed to find three actors. I did, they are all great, but there was a momentary drama with one of them. The costume designer sent an email to one of the actors introducing herself and asking the actor to bring some clothes with him. The actor responded in a harsh tone and explained that he didn’t have everything on her list and was nervous about what he was getting into and then suggested that the costume designer go shopping for the clothes.

Well, as you can imagine, drama then ensued. The costume designer forwarded the email to the Producer and Director saying that the actor was rude. I then got an email discussing the fact that maybe we should replace the actor. Now, I admit that the email was rude, but the actor is a good actor and it was only for one day, so I told everyone to calm down and that I would talk to the actor directly. When I did, he was as nice as could be and had no idea that his email would have pissed anyone off. So, I told everyone on the Production not to worry and all would be fine.

Well, I am glad to say, all was fine. In fact I received an email last night from the Producer thanking me for an excellent cast on such short notice.

It is nice when things work out.

Tags: Film, , Movie, Filmmaker, Filmmaking