The Casting Director - Actors I love to cast, would love to cast, who are going to be “Big! big, I tell ya, BIG!”

The Standby Painter - Fire Marshal Philosophy and Coffee to Go

The Casting Director - Casting Is Global

I have bad news for actors based in L.A: Casting is global. The days are gone where a Casting Director thinks locally. When I get a script, I am looking at all of my options. It doesn’t even matter about the budget of the film. Actors want to work and if the material is great, the budget is going to be only a portion of the decision-making that goes into whether or not a Producer is going to fly an actor in for a shoot.

 

With a majority of the work I am working on NOT shooting in Los Angeles, the reality is that films looking for actors no longer have to think that Los Angeles is the only place to source actors. For example, on BAIT (shooting in Australia), the film I am currently casting, we looked at (and cast) actors from China, Singapore and of course Australia. The interesting thing is, in addition to the production hiring a Casting Director in Australia, I must have seen sixty Australian actors either based in L.A or traveling through at the time. I was also responsible for sourcing and setting up our lead actors, all of whom had Australian agents, American agents, American managers and American lawyers. Needless to say, it can get very complicated, very quickly when trying to figure out whom to deal with.

 

But even on a small film, like the film I just cast that shot in Portland, we saw actors from the U.K. I was waking up at 6AM in order to figure out if we could do a deal with the actor from London. Ultimately it didn’t work out, because the Producer didn’t want to pay for the actor’s Visa. Sometime, the actor will pay for their legal fees and Visa costs and airline travel, because in the long run this supports their case for a green card from the U.S when they apply for it in full. I have written a lot of recommendation letters to the U.S Government in support of foreign actors working in the United States. I love when it work out, because the actors are so grateful and a relationship is strengthened between myself and that actor, which could come in handy down the road when I really want them for another film I am working on.

 

A Casting Director must be aware of what is happening globally. I pay attention to actors coming up at drama schools in the U.S, but I am also paying attention to who is coming out of the U.K, France, Spain, Mexico, etc…. Honestly, I find Asia to be a hard one for me to be all knowing about as there are so many actors there, but that is where the relationship with agents comes in and I know who my go to peeps are if I need to figure out who is up and coming in certain markets.

 

All you have to do is look at U.S television casts and see the enormous amount of non-

U.S actors in the casts and understand that what any CD is looking for is the right actor for the role. With the Internet and all of its resources, websites, etc… casting globally can be done on a budget, from my little office on Wilshire Blvd…

Tags: Director, , Filmmaking, Film, Movie

The Standby Painter - Haunted by Extreme Makeover

To digress this week from my ongoing series about that first job in film, I would like to describe an interesting new experience I’ve had over the past few days.  A friend of a friend called me early in the week and asked if I would like to volunteer my …

Tags: Director, Filmmaking, Television, Movie Theatre, Film Industry

The Hollywood Career Coach - WHAT’S YOUR CAREER OBJECTIVE?

WHAT’S YOUR CAREER OBJECTIVE?

Wow, have I seen a lot of resumes in the past two years! Not as many as people who’re actually hiring but I see a lot as I work with clients looking for new jobs or opportunities.

Now more than ever, it’s important to be clear and specific about what sort of gig you’re looking for.  The main reason is because it helps you find the right company or project for you. In addition it helps other friendly people help you by knowing who to send you to.

LET ME SEE YOUR RESUME

It’s essential to begin your resume with a clear objective of what kind of job you’re looking for. By doing so you help any person who is reading your resume figure out what do with you. Maybe you’re wrong for the current position but because you’re specific about where you are and what you’re interested in it can inspire a person to forward your resume on to someone who can help you.

BE REALLY SPECIFIC

What sort of company do you want to work for? What sort of position? Where do you see that company going? How can you help?

You have some expertise although it may not be apparent to you.

The old/passive way of looking at career objectives and job hunting is to create a resume like a generic list of stuff you showed up for.

ALREADY BE ON THEIR TEAM

The pro-active way of looking at your career objective and job hunt is to take a bigger look at your life experiences and career experiences and think about how they fit into the local and global economy in the world today (i.e. right now.)

What industries are dead and dying?  What industries are growing and thriving? What are new companies specializing in? What are established companies changing to keep up? What sort of people are they looking for right now to help them transition and reinvent their business model?

DO SOME RESEARCH

From that perspective, take a look at your skills and background.

Do some research into cutting-edge companies.  Read a copy of Wired or Fast Company. Find companies that are doing something interesting and do some research on them.

Then search on Linkedin for employees of those companies and see how those people describe their current jobs and their past jobs.

OBJECTIVE EXAMPLES

Here are some examples of specific resume objectives:

OBJECTIVE: Seeking an Entry Level Sales Position in a New Media Company focused on Green Technology and Alternative Energy Solutions.

OBJECTIVE: Senior Management Position in Television or Radio Industries leveraging my success in Transforming other Traditional Media into the Social Media Age.

MAKING THE CASE

Then, once you have a clear objective, organize your experience (past jobs or other relevant background.)

Your past jobs should do the best job to possible to support your objective. You might want to describe your past jobs differently or add some unique experiences that wouldn’t normally go on a resume but help your resume stand out as unique, memorable or funny.

Your objective at this point, is to get them to call you in for a meeting. I once suggested that a client add to her resume her experience selling Rice-A-Roni in supermarkets because it was relevant to the sales type jobs she was interested in. Another client who wanted to work at a Music-Related TV network added his past experience as a drummer to his resume. These are not the make or break issues to getting hired but they help a company understand more about you than just a list of jobs you had.

WHAT’S YOUR CAREER OBJECTIVE?

What’s the funniest thing you add to your resume?

How can you make the case really clear by some simple editing or rearranging your past experiences?

http://www.hollywoodcoaching.com

Tags: Director, Movie Theatre, Film Industry, Movie, Hollywood

The Manager - Applicable Skills: What Hollywood Can Teach You

I used to think that I had no skills outside the entertainment industry and, if I wanted to switch careers, I would have nothing going for me since I’ve worked in Hollywood my whole life, including going to film school and getting a BFA.

However, I have recently realized that I do have skills that are unique, different and ones that not every Wharton or Harvard MBA has.

These skills are:

• Thinking outside of the box:  Being in Hollywood, you quickly learn that you have to think outside the box to get anything done in this town.
• Leaving no stone unturned:  Literally. Trying to set up a tv or movie or any project makes you reach out to every single person you know and those you don’t in an effort to get a project set up.
• Not taking no for an answer:  To me, a no is just the start of a negotiation.
• Being creative: If you are stumped on something, get creative and work around it.
• Not giving up:  It just takes one person to say yes.
• Practicing the art of delegating: This is very important, and many big and small companies fail because their CEOs micromanage too much.
• Bringing the experts in: It’s okay to ask for help because there is no way you can know everything. Part of succeeding in this town is not being afraid to say, hey, can I get some advice?
• Having an opinion: This can not be overstated. I don’t care what your opinion is, having one is a HUGE asset and most people are too scared to have one.
• Being decisive: The best leaders are the ones who are unafraid to make a decision.  I have seen companies fold because their leader couldn’t make a decision.

So if you think you don’t have any portable skills portable, think again, and be thankful for all the skills that Hollywood taught you!

Tags: Hollywood, Movie, Movie, Actor, Television