HOW TO CAST A FILM:

OR - WHY EVERYONE IS WRONG AND I AM RIGHT.

If there is one thing I know, I know about talent. If an actor is right for a role, I know it to be true. If an actor is not right for a role, this too I know to be true. Interestingly, actors don’t always know if they know they are right for a role and part of my job can be to convince them otherwise. I wish that casting were as easy as finding the right actor for a role and having everyone involved see the brilliance of the casting director’s wisdom. Sadly, this is not the case. Casting actors is (no matter what anyone else tells you) the most difficult job in entertainment. Ok, maybe I am slightly exaggerating, but it is darn important. If the cast sucks, the film sucks – end of story.

Deciding on whom to put in front of a camera involves several steps. I must share the director’s vision. Hopefully, the director has the same vision as the producer and so on…once I know what we are looking for I make lists. (A lot of friggin lists!) Lists are ideas of who may be right for the role. In general these lists are my first choices for the role, because they are the names that pop into my head right away. I then check that actors on the lists are available and by doing the lists, I begin to form a picture of the potential cast. I also begin to figure out who is a pre-read, who is going to be seen by the director and who is “offer only,” as well as finding out which actors are not interested and not available. The lists form their own personality; by thinking about who is right for a role, you actively begin to paint a picture of what the film is going to look like.

Getting the information for the list requires a lot of phone calls. Hours of good phone to my agent and manager friends, pitching the film, getting them to read the script. Getting scripts sent to the actors I like to have read for the director. I create a buzz about the film – I try to at least. I am competing with a lot of other films and television shows (with bigger budgets) who are all trying to get the actors I want, because to be honest, the lists are similar all around town and the competition to get actors into your project is great.

Names of actors on a list will undoubtedly have similar traits and one name may lead to a random idea so out of the box that this idea is the one everyone responds to - and that is when I am at my happiest. An idea for an actor in a role that was not thought of by anybody else except for by me gives me a lot of satisfaction and creates a lot of excitement (inside my head). While it may seem like no big deal, deciding on the right actor is not as obvious as it seems. Matching up the desires of the production team and the reality of getting certain actors for a particular role is often complicated and fraught with obstacles: mainly, money.

Actors say “no.” That is what I tell producers all of the time. They may pass on a project for so many reasons that it is impossible to even think about why. I try to come up with an immediate short list of who to go out to next as if to say to production “move on,” it’s not worth pursuing a pass. However this is not always the case.

Recently, on a film I was casting, a huge Hollywood star passed on a role offered to her. The offer was for $65,000 for 3 weeks of work on a 3 million dollar budget with a 2nd time director, whose first film did no business (This actor makes over 10 million per picture). After her pass, I was instructed to see what she didn’t like about the film. Upon further investigation, it was relayed to me that her agent didn’t read the script. The pass was based on the fact that the agent’s client does not want to work on low-budget films and that if she did, it would be a film that she would produce or direct herself. At this point I found out that she did have a film she wanted to direct but the financing was still coming together. The producer I worked for is a very wealthy man, so I suggested to him that he offer to help finance the star’s movie and in return see if she would re-consider our offer. This fell on deaf ears.

Production wanted me to call a meeting between the agent and the director so that the director could convince the agent about why it was so important to have his client in his film. I tried to persuade my director and producer that this was not a good idea. The agent had already explained to me thoroughly the reality of getting his client into ANY film, not just ours. So, when I called the agent up and asked for a meeting, he did it for me because of our relationship, but I knew going into the meeting that this was a bad idea.

Our film had no distribution, no money to pay the actors (above 65k) and was being directed by a director with a questionable track record. In short we had no leverage as to why this actor should be in our film. (I tried to create leverage by suggesting my producer finance her other film.) If our film had guaranteed distribution or an A-list director or writer involved or even an executive producer with some clout, getting the named talent they wanted could have been an easier process. I had a good script, with excellent actors interested and when I say excellent actors I mean Oscar nominated and named actors who would bring a lot of attention to the film. I also attached a major international young American teen star to the picture and this was still not enough to convince the producer to green light the film.

Back to the agent meeting: We get to the agency and I could see the producer and director starting to look intimidated. I was not intimidated, I deal with this situation all of the time. Agents and managers are part of my process; I deal with them every day. These guys do not and so it was with great pomp and circumstance that the star’s agent came into the meeting and said, “With all due respect, I like your script, but my client is not interested.”

A blank look arrives on the director’s face as if he is saying, “how could this be?” I immediately try to spin the conversation into, “Well, since you like the script, who do you think would be interested?” Some names were thrown out, names that were pitched to me weeks before and with their heads hanging low we left the agency. To be honest, I suspect that they also lost some respect from the agent. This is important because when the time comes to make your next film, you want to pick up the phone with confidence and know that your pitch to an actor’s representation is being considered seriously. If they think you are a schmuck, it’s just another hurdle to climb.

The point is, I was right, they were wrong. I wanted to say, “Look guys, you hired me to guide you through this process. Please believe me when I tell you that I am doing everything in my power to get you the named talent you want but if after reading your script the actor isn’t interested, move on to the ones that are!” But in reality, this is not how it happens. A lot of time gets wasted on making offers to actors who I know will not be interested. This is because the reality of who would be attracted to the film does not match with the expectations of the production team. I am here to manage expectations. But it is really hard to manage expectations when agendas and politics are involved. Some situations are just not resolvable and ultimately in the case of this film, it did not get cast, because the reality and requirements of the producer did not match up to the type of script he was financing. It was as if the producer had never read the script and didn’t understand the obvious obstacles that were in his way from securing A-list talent to the film. Like I said, if I told you who was attached and interested, you would not believe that for a 3 million dollar budget, the film was not shoved into production.

Agents and managers want to know about the director, producer, crewmembers, budget, location, days worked, is the film financed and most importantly: HOW MUCH MONEY ARE YOU GOING TO PAY? Shocking, I know, but actors actually do like to get paid for work. Breaking this news to directors and producers is difficult. But when reality sinks in, somehow the money is there – or not.

I try to work on films I like. It makes things easier when talking to agents and managers. If I am passionate it shows, if not, I have to pretend. It’s my job. But in the end, the script is the real salesperson. The script sells the film, not the casting director. Film making involves filmmakers and filmmakers have investors and investors have needs and those needs need to be met or else there is no film. I see the big picture. I get what everyone wants. I have been doing this for a while now.

At the end of the day, one never really knows if an actor will be interested in a role, but over the years, I have a pretty good idea if they will or not. So, I make the offer, because ultimately, you never know. (Of course, saying that, I think I know!) I find that when a role resonates within me for a specific actor, a majority of the time, no matter on the offer or budget of the picture, the actor will be interested. Interested means they will consider it, not that they will do it. Of course, when I work with a producer or director who “gets it” and trusts the process of casting, guaranteed they will be my happiest customers and guaranteed, their films will turn out best.

If you would like to know more about me, please go to www.lessallcasting.com. Until next week…M