The Casting Director -
September 26, 2011
I got a request from Mr. Wayne Olsen in Minneapolis to answer some questions about what I do. So, I thought I would share with all of you my answers:
How does someone starting out get a foothold in this business? If you could do it over from your start, what would you tell yourself then to do? What would you tell yourself not to do?
The most common way for someone to get an entry level job in casting is to be an intern (paid or unpaid, depends on if you are in college and getting credit and different states have different employment laws regarding the status of “intern.” In California, an intern must either be receiving college credit or be paid minimum wage. There are other specific laws about this and you should look them up and know them. Or, you get a job as an assistant. Here’s the catch-22, when I look for an assistant, I am looking for someone who has at least 1 year of experience in a casting office. This way, I know that they have been exposed to actors, agents, managers, they understand what “lists” are, they have experience on the phone and also know about breakdowns, castit, etc… Another great way of getting experience is to work as an assistant at a talent agency or a management company. This way you are exposed to the entire casting process and you get a good idea, very quickly, about who the busy offices are, what their personalities are like and you may even make some good connections this way.
My path to casting was not the normal path. Normally, you start out as an assistant. I kind of jumped in headfirst and said, “I am going to do this.” But saying that, I had been a professional actor for 8 years and I had a large network of experience with agents and casting directors, so I kind of knew what I was getting into. Friends of mine were producers and directors & stage managers, so it was not like I was blindly starting from zero. I did work for a few months as an assistant to a very well known casting director and I quickly knew that this was what I wanted to do. I won’t go into the details of why I am where I am, and I am sure I made some mistakes along the way, but, so be it, here I am…but to your question, I would figure out who the busiest offices are and aim to work for those casting directors. If you are good at it, you will become a commodity that is highly sought after and you will be able to gain experience quickly.
What I would tell myself not to do? To be totally honest, fear is what will strangle you in anything you do. There were times where fear got the best of me; fear that I didn’t know what I was doing, or not smart enough to do what I was doing, but I hope and think that I am not alone in this and over time you start to loose that fear, probably because over time, experience hardens you and that experience is invaluable to the work you produce.
What are the networks to tap in to?
You need to know the industry and what is happening in it. You need to read the Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Deadline Hollywood, etc… You should go to the Casting Society of America website and sign up for emails for when casting directors are looking for staff. You should be going to see every film, watch as much television as possible (without alienating your family) and go to the theatre. You need to know people in these circles so that you have a resource to reach out to when you are looking for talent.
What’s the best way to get experience in this industry?
Offer yourself out as a production assistant (PA) on a film set. Volunteer to be another hand on a low-budget film, short film, etc… see what goes on behind the scenes. This will give you an idea of what your place is in the process and may show you what you may be passionate about besides casting.
Is there a steep learning curve?
Yes. You will be expected to work hard and be allowed to make any mistake one time, but not two times, that’s the best way to not get rehired or fired!
What technical knowledge is absolutely essential (i.e., treatments, blocking, etc.)? What technical knowledge is helpful, but not required? What technical knowledge is mostly useless?
You need to be computer savvy. You need to know both PC and Apple. You must have basic word processing skills and you should understand how cameras work, how to edit video on a computer, etc… The more comfortable you are with technology, the internet, software, the better!
What film financing knowledge is helpful?
If you want to work in feature film casting, you need to have a basic understanding about how films are put together. The reason being, when you are approached to cast a film, there are specific questions I ask in order to assess how real a project is in coming to fruition.
What street smarts do you need for this industry? You need to be able to smell BS.
What SHOULDN’T you do in this industry, at all, never ever?
Never be rude, never lose your temper and never backstab a colleague you are working with.
What’s the basic etiquette rules?
This is the “Entertainment Business,” it has it’s own set of rules. You figure them out as you gain experience.
Who don’t you ever, never piss off?
I try not to piss off anyone. I try to be as formal and professional as possible. But this doesn’t always work. This is a business that is highly emotional, so you are probably going to piss off many people on your path.
What’s the primary difference between LA/NY casting and elsewhere? Middle North America (Chicago?) for example?
New York has the most theatre casting offices. It also has a high percentage of independent film casting. My clients are on both coasts so I tend to have to go back and forth a lot. LA is where the Studios are based and where a major portion of the Studio Film and Studio Television casting happens. Other markets tend to support local filmmakers, or support the films and television shows that come to it. New Mexico, Michigan, Georgia, North Carolina & Louisiana all have steady work because their incentives and infrastructure support film & television.
How much money do you need to start? As much as possible.
What drives you to do this every day? My Toyota Prius.
What qualities are necessary to bring the energy required to do this every day? A good sense of self. A great sense of humor and the ability to let things go.
If you had someone call you and beg you to work for them, what are the top three characteristics you would look for? Honesty. Excellent interpersonal communication skills and the ability to let things go.
What’s a perfect apprentice look like/do for you? Go to http://www.facebook.com/alexthompson416 - he was great.
What’s the difference among working solo, working for a boutique casting shop, and in-house (like for Idol or X-Factor or CBS for that matter)? To be clear: I am hired by producers to cast their feature films. I do not work in reality television casting (which is a skill set I do not have and I have total respect for what they do) and “studio” casting which is a corporate position overseeing people like myself on film and television that is being produced by those entities. My “agenda” is to service the director’s vision while making everyone else happy with those choices.
What’s the future of the industry that every casting director needs to understand? In independent film, budgets are getting smaller and our role as independent film casting directors is changing as the market changes. We must figure out how to make a living in this climate and be able to do the job we love without compromising the quality of our work.
Tags: Hollywood, Film Blog, Movie Blog, Actor, Movie Theatre
The Genre Director - CINERAMA… an unique way to see a movie.
August 31, 2011
I am curious to see if anyone still tunes in here. So I am linking to my Trailers From Hell piece on Cinerama. Please comment here if you read it. Thanks.
http://trailersfromhell.com/blog/2011/08/07/week-206-cinerama-week-with-bts/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=week-206-cinerama-week-with-bts
Tags: Movie, Movie, Movie Blog, Oscars, Filmmaking
The Casting Director - My birthday blog…And VOTE FOR MY PANEL AT SXSW 2012!
August 28, 2011
I just turned 40. Thank you in advance for your birthday wishes and love, but that’s not why I am writing this. I am writing this, because I like to think that birthday’s are a great time to reflect on where we are, or, more importantly, where I am, because this is really only about me. And well, kind of about you, because what I feel, affects how I operate on a daily basis and I suppose in some way, actors, directors and producers (if they care) would like to know this stuff.
I know, if you are an actor just want to know how to “get a job” or you, if you are a producer, just want to know how you could offer me the lowest possible rate to get your film cast. I get it, and if I sound bitter, I TRULY AM NOT, I get it. Probably better then you think. Hence, why I write this blog, to “reach out” and hope that some of the people that I want to “get it,” will, well, “get it” they get what I am about and that they see that what may seem like cynicism is really just years of, for lack of a better word (my vocabulary is crap – this is a warning kids, study for those SAT tests because at some point in your life you are going to have to come up with a better word then “things”) THINGS…
As you know, I love the South By South West (SXSW) film festival. And this year, I have proposed a panel on casting for low-budget films. The panel is NOT for actors. Sorry guys, you get a lot of advice from a lot of blogs, articles and workshops. This panel is truly for low-budget/no-budget producers, writers, directors to get a sense of what they are getting themselves into when searching for a cast and why, a casting director may or sometimes may not be the right person to turn to for help. So, dear readers of my blog, my birthday wish is for all of you to go to: http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/ideas/view/8960
And vote for me! Please. I really want to do this…
I was just in NYC and I what I love about NYC is the Theatre. You really can’t beat it. Unfortunately, it is so expensive and so over priced and so uncomfortable that once you pay the outrageous ticket prices you then have to sit next to the drooler, or the old man with the dodgy head piece thing so he can hear better, or the woman who sits in front of you and has the largest hair done up in the most anti-gravity force field that you just want to set fire to her hair. I do love the theatre, I think I love it better when I can go to Mann’s Chinese and have popcorn and watch it “Live from the National Theater in London.” It’s way more relaxing and you don’t have to sit on a plane to get there and back with people who clearly have no manners or boundaries or have fostered too many children into this world. I am not anti-child, well maybe a little bit, I am anti-crappy parent.
I saw “Follies,” which I loved and before all you bitter queens who saw the original production comment about it (the NYT already did it for you as a matter of fact), one must say that Sondheim is a genius and even if Bernadette Peters isn’t really 49 years old, a line that made me guffaw in my seat, the show was a who’s who of Broadway’s Dames and I appreciated what it was about and how mind-blowing it must have been to see it in it’s original form. Although, according to the NYT article, when Galt McDermott saw the origional production, he didn’t really see the point of it. Which to me is so ironic, because “Follies” and “Hair” probably have more in common then you think in terms of tone: unfulfilled dreams, longing, passion for a unrequited love in the past or in the future, etc…
I absolutely LOVED “Jerusalem.” And although towards the end of the play I was like,
“if that fairy girl comes out and sings one more time I may swat her!” the acting was flawless and one more bit of proof that Mark Rylance is the Laurence Olivier of our generation. The casting was genius!
This summer was busy for me. I finished up casting “Saving Lincoln” and because contractually I can’t talk about it in a blog, I won’t, I’ll just say this…actors really love to do period pieces. I was genuinely happy and surprised with the quality and level of actor that was drawn to doing this low-budget feature film. My director & producer were happy and that’s what matters to me. I am also about to finish casting “The Healer.” I am off to North Carolina on Tuesday to cast the remaining day-player roles. I love going to a location, because getting to meet local talent is always exciting.
So, now that I am 40, you may ask do I have any wise words to share? But of course I do!
Just do your best, go easy on yourself, don’t be sad if your make-out idol is Adam Levine and you know that you will never ever get to make-out with him. Be thankful for what you do have and try not to be bitter. It’s hard, I know, but (a) there is Xanex & (b) there is Xanex. And of course Yoga, Pilates, spin class, blah blah blah…..to help with the anxiety. Be thankful for your friends, your family (even if they drive you crazy and I bet we can all relate to that) and remember, your DOG is GOD. And I am sure if you have kids you are really happy that you have them too…just please, please teach them not to kick the seat in front of them when they travel. And I promise, no one will question your parenting skills if you give the screaming baby in row 22 a few drops of red wine to make him go to sleep.
If you are an actor: BE PREPARED – for everything. If you are a producer: BE PREPARED – for the rejection, the ups & downs of casting, the emotional wreck that you will become over the next few months and try not to take it out on your Casting Director. If you are a director: LISTEN TO YOUR CASTING DIRECTOR.
Most importantly, maintain a sense of humor, smile & dream bigger and when you ask for stuff from the Universe…be specific.
All of the above were themes of a Sondheim show. Wow, I am that gay.
40 is great…I think I am going to like it here (not meant to be a reference to “Annie”).
Tags: Director, Film Industry, Television, Movie, Film
The Manager - My interview at ConnectedComedy.com
August 9, 2011
Josh Spector at ConnectedComedy.com interviewed me about how writers can build a comedy career. He asked me some great questions and you can check out the answers here. Enjoy!
Tags: Filmmaking, Movie Theatre, Movie Bloggers, Movie Blog, Movie
The Standby Painter - Waiting for the Wrap
August 8, 2011
Whooo! Long time no write, I know. My apologies, and things should be changing here very soon, as I will wrap my television series in a couple of weeks, after which I will take some well-earned time off, and begin writing this blog in a regular fashion once more. It …
Tags: Filmmaker, Film Industry, Movie Blog, Oscars, Film
The Manager - Comic Con 2011: It’s All About the Fans
July 26, 2011
Many years ago Comic Con was a small festival to which few in Hollywood really paid attention. Now it’s grown to a huge behemoth attracting over 120,000 people over four days to San Diego.
And as much as Hollywood people say they are going down to scope out hot projects — this is not true. No one is scoping out projects because all the good projects have already been optioned.
Hollywood people are going to mingle and go to some parties. But really, secretly, they are going to see the fans.
It is all too easy to work in Hollywood and get caught up into the business so much that you can forget the fans. You can forget what it is like to just go to the movies and get swept up into a fantasy, leaving all the annoying work behind.
But Comic Con is all about the fans. It’s about the people that love something so much they will dress up in costumes of their favorite characters or camp out for days to hear their favorite person speak on a panel.
It’s about the joy of watching their favorite books or ideas or graphic novels come to life. It’s about being invested in a story so much that you want to live and breathe it — no matter if you have to take time off from work or spend your savings to book a hotel room.
And for the people that work in Hollywood, that’s what we go to see. We go to remind ourselves why we work in this business and why we do it day after day even when we have bad days and shitty weeks. It’s for the fans.
If you are a writer, write something that you like and that you want to see and that you can’t wait to be swept away by — because that is the joy of being a writer. It’s the joy of creating something for the fans.
Tags: Movie, Hollywood, Film Industry, Television, Filmmaker
The Casting Director - The worldwide-weby-thing-y-tweety-facebooky-casting-thing
July 8, 2011
I am now on twitter and facebook. On Twitter you will find tweets from me pertaining to auditions coming up where I may need something out of the ordinary, or maybe a great film or play I saw. Not sure how I will use it, but I know I won’t be Tweeting during an audition! I feel it will be an organic process.
Same thing with my facebook account. I have a personal facebook account and I do keep that private for friends and work-friends and in general, if you are an actor you should sign-up to the “Matthew Lessall Casting” Facebook page (see below). When I am auditioning actors for upcoming films, I send a breakdown out to agents & managers via breakdown services, because it is the service I am most comfortable with and like to use. There are a few exceptions: If I am casting a commercial (which happens every now and then) I use LA Casting to send out a breakdown to agents & managers. I do this for various reasons, but mainly because, the casting studio I use for commercials (I don’t cast commercials out of my ghetto office) is tied into LA Casting and it makes the casting process easier for me. Something else I am exploring to use is LETITCAST, which is a worldwide casting service and it allows actors to upload their own auditions to a site set up for a project. I am going to use this system soon on an experimental/arty film I am casting that shoots in (of all places), Indonesia, and for various reasons, LETITCAST feels like the perfect fit for this specific project.
I don’t always make breakdowns available to actors, but if I do they will be on Actors Access, my FB page and there will be a Tweet about it.
Most of the time, I send a breakdown out only to agents & managers. It’s not because I don’t want to let actors have the breakdown, but mostly it’s because I need to control the incoming calls, emails, etc… and it can cause the workload to become overwhelming to let everyone in the world know what is going on. I try to create lists first of who I want to have come in or offer roles to and work that way, then call the agent or manager for avails and interest. This can be a looong process. I release the breakdown because I am having to search deeper, or my brain is fried and I want to make sure I am not missing anything. It’s a good way to communicate what I need to the representatives as well. If I had a huge staff (or evan a singular staff), I could maybe be more selective about how I go about things, but usually, it’s just me, so I need to be as efficient as possible and sometimes a solution to streamlining this process and casting the widest net is to release the breakdown.
I encourage you (actors) to look at all of these sites and be familiar with them (most of you are, I know) but it in case you aren’t…now you are!
TWITTER: @lessallcasting
FACEBOOK: Matthew Lessall Casting …. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Matthew-Lessall-Casting/44041770524
BREAKDOWN SERVICES/ACTORS ACCESS: www.breakdownexpress.com
LA CASTING: www.lacasting.com
LET IT CAST: https://letitcast.com/en/
Tags: Movie Theatre, Filmmaking, Film Industry, Hollywood, Television
The Casting Director - It’s the weekend! “Woop-Woop!!”
June 11, 2011
Casting - I love it, I love the discovery, the putting together the pieces of the puzzle, the magic of seeing a cast come together, it’s all an amazing thing to see and watch conjure up in front of you. I could live without the following:
1) Actor is cast, deal is closed. Actor forgets that he needs a passport to travel to Canada but still thinks that the check-in agent at Air Canada will simply “let him on the plane because OF COURSE they know who he is” …
2) Actor is cast, deal is closed. Actor gets another offer for more money and decides not to do my film. Not fair, not nice, it happens. What are we supposed to do? Sue him? Take him to court? When casting a film that is already functioning on spit and glue, you just recast. Hopefully the producer doesn’t have a heart attack (probably won’t because he is 20 years old anyway) and just go with the flow, because they have been beaten down to a pulp on other “issues” with the production.
3) Actor is given an offer. I call, and call, and call (JUST PUT ME OUT OF MY MISERY ALREADY) and call, etc…to get an answer, a peep, and a “thanks Matt but it’s not happening, something, PLEASE GOD, to say to my producer. But, alas, nothing. AND PS – why is it whenever I need something from an agent, it’s like pulling teeth, but as soon as that same agent needs me to see their client, they are begging me, pleading with me to have them meet or read? (I am sure agents feel the same way-in reverse)
4) Director wants to see if Gerard Depardieu will work on his 400,000-dollar budget movie in Nova Scotia (it’s close to France, right?) for $5,000 dollars. Really? Deep breaths….REALLY? Seriously, shoot me now. How can this even come up in conversation? Aside from the fact that 5k is 1/100th the price of the jet fuel it would take to fly him to Nova Scotia on a G5, because, yes, that’s what it would take… and when you said you needed a French speaking actor and were shooting in Canada, whatever happened to the dozen or so amazing ideas of FRENCH CANADIAN SPEAKING KNOWN WORKING ACTORS that could do your movie? But no, you want Gerard Depardieu and it’s my fault that he doesn’t want to do it? REALLY?
5) My assistant has shown up to work today in a bright yellow 1970’s inspired tank top and short shorts and looks like an “angel” from CHARLIE’S ANGELS….he is a boy.
6) The Internet can’t handle the uploading. The Internet is down. The Internet is up, nope it’s down, nope it’s back on…
7) Breakdowns is down. Gmail is down…Why do I think the world is ending when Gmail goes down?
My assistant’s computer won’t connect to the printer…AGAIN…for the 40 millionth time.
9) Auditions! Actor just got the sides. Actor has had the appointment for FIVE days. Actor has the wrong sides. Actor went to the OTHER 5225 Wilshire Blvd and is running late. Actor just flew in from Texas for the pre-read with his mother, father, twin baby brothers, half sister, three cousins, an aunt and their dog, Spike. They are all staying in one bedroom for the night at a hotel near the Ontario airport, because it was cheaper to fly there and take 4 busses and the metro into LA to get to me. This audition is the biggest thing that has ever happened to him. He could have self-taped.
10) All of the light bulbs in the office are not working. Call the building manager. He tells me they are raising my rent.
Thank God it is the weekend.
Tags: Film, Film Industry, Movie Blog, Oscars, Movie
The Manager - TSE at the Great American PitchFest!
June 3, 2011
TSE will be at the Great American PitchFest on Sunday, June 5th! Writers meet with industry executives and thousands of pitch meetings happen over the course of a weekend. Each meeting is five minutes in length, and a chance for industry executives to hear a large number of pitches and ideas in a short period of time. Come by our table!
www.pitchfest.com
Tags: Movie Bloggers, Film Blog, Movie Blog, Movie, Filmmaker
The Manager - TV Staffing Season Meets the Cold Call
May 10, 2011
We are right in the middle of TV staffing season, which is when all agents and managers are trying to get their clients staffed on network and cable shows.
The only problem with this is that there are thousands of writers who would kill to be staffed on a show (a steady paycheck and all the free meals in the world). And there are very few shows getting picked up, which means very few writer slots.
And to make matters worse, because there are so few shows getting picked up, higher-level writers are taking lower-level positions so then there are basically no slots for an emerging writer.
What’s a manager or a writer to do?
First, if you are a manager/agent or a writer, read all the pilot scripts.
If you are a writer, there will be some you connect to more than others, and these will be the ones you want to focus on.
If you are a manager or an agent, then you also need to read all the pilots because, when you are calling the executive covering the show, you can say “I have read this pilot script and here is the reason I think my writer would be great for the show.”
Big agencies send hordes of writer candidates to executives, and this overload of candidates can be very daunting. If you can send one or two perfectly targeted writer candidates, executives will be so much happier.
In television, there are a lot of players who all need to be covered. There are the studio, the network, the producer and the showrunner. If you want your writer to have a chance of being staffed, than you have to cover everyone.
Of course it’s impossible to know every producer, studio, network and showrunner involved in every show each year. This is where the art of the cold call or email comes in. You must cold call people if you want your client to have a chance at being staffed!
And the art of cold-calling is all about matching the right project to the right person or connecting the right two people together.
It’s about knowing exactly what you have and, at the same time, knowing exactly what someone else needs. This way that when you connect it’s mutually beneficially to both parties.
This is the trick to cold calling or emailing anyone. The best and most productive networking relationships happen when you can demonstrate that what you have is not a waste of people’s time but in actuality is something that they need (whether they know it yet).
Tags: Film, Actor, Filmmaking, Film Blog, Oscars
