The Casting Director - More casting in Hawaii…

Happy 5th of July…I ate and drank and slept a lot yesterday, which I needed because being on location can be exhausting. All you do is wake up, go to the office, work late, because you don’t have anything else to do, and go home and go to sleep and repeat the next day. I have not been to a gym in a month. I look like Jabba the Hut, except that I think he is probably more handsome then me at this moment.

The film I am working on in Kailua, HI (“One Kine Day”) is supposed to start shooting on July 13. I promised to stay the first week to help with the actors who have never been actors before, work on their acting. On top of my casting duties, over the past few weeks I have been conducting acting workshops with the newbies. The director wrote the film for them and it is my job to get them to a level where they understand what it will take to have their personalitites register on screen. I keep reminding them that there is more to it then just reading lines. Actually we have gotten very far in a very short amount of time. I love teaching acting and opening up their world to what I think makes a good actor. Also, this experience reminds me what I am looking for and that there are key points that I make over and over again when talking about acting. I am teaching them to listen to each other, listen hard and feel the moments in-between their lines. I don’t want them to say a line just because it is there on the script. There has to be a reason, a motivation for them to be in the scene. I keep reminding them that the audience is not forgiving and that bad acting, not listening, not being present in any moment no matter how small that moment may seem, will disengage the audience. The Director worked with the actors on Friday and he was happy with how they have improved. I stay away from character development. I think in this situation this is the Director’s job, for me it is about truth, not losing the audience while you are on-screen.

I have seen about 200 actors over the last week and a half. I am also helping with the background/extras and have been trying to find real pregnant young women who can pass for 16 and babies. In Hawaii you can work as an adult at 16. There is a website where permits are issued and this usually takes no more then one day to get permission. Fun fact: within the last ten years Hawaii changed it’s age of consent law from 14 to 16 years old.

Production may push one week. This would only effect me in that I have another film to start as soon as I get back to L.A, they want me to start on the 13th but have agreed to wait a week. If the film doesn’t shoot the week of the 13th then there is little reason for me to be here that week as we will be 95% cast and any odd casting touch-ups can be done by my very able casting assistant. Either way it doesn’t really matter, I am happy that I have another gig lined up in L.A, and of course that film has it’s own issues already! I will tell you more soon.

There is another film in pre-production nearby and I am meeting with one of the producers this week to see if they need a CD. I don’t expect to get a job out of the meeting but it is always good to meet new people and try to create more doors to open.

And that is all I’ve got. Hawaii is beautiful and I wish I could see more of it! Aloha…

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