Actually, it’s “Casting Director”

This is from Nikki Finke’s blog, she was discussing the Screen Actors Guild’s warning to “agents, managers, casting agents, and producers regarding restrictions on campaign contributions.” Apparently there must be some concern by SAG that new candidates are getting outside help, which is, according to them, illegal.

Any-who, not really pertaining to the actual blog, my colleague Laura Adler, who does terrific work, made a comment pertaining to the use of the term “casting agent.” She wrote: “Casting agents??? Seriously? We at the CSA have come to expect this gross misuse of terminology from the media, but coming from those within our industry? It is beyond aggravating!

Casting DIRECTORS. We are called Casting DIRECTORS. There is no such thing as a casting agent. There are agents who rep the talent and there are casting DIRECTORS who cast their clients. Period. Why is this so difficult for people to comprehend?

Please people. I don’t need the aggravation. Please try and call us by our correct title, ok? Thanks.”

There was a response to Laura’s entry from an anonymous actor (I kept it in it’s original form):

“laura, you need to get a grip. even the term “casting director” is a misnomer. In all fairness, the only thing “casting directors” direct is their assistants to get them another cup of coffee. It’s well known that casting “directors” don’t have the power to say “yes” to anything. Only the power to say “no.” It’s the director and producers who cast the film after the “casting director” has set up the appointments. You may be aggravated about “casting directors” being called “casting agents”, but most actors have been aggravated about “casting directors” being called “casting directors” for YEARS. but they set up appointments really, really well.”

Ok, well, without bitching (I promised not to bitch to a friend of mine, in my next blog) I will now refer you to an interview I gave to the “movie whore” (love the name) in his blog about what I do and what casting is all about: (http://themoviewhore.com/2008/07/matt-lessall-the-casting-director-is-in/)

I hope that the above link to my interview helps you understand that we are more then just appointment makers. Believe me if that was all I did (which, truthfully, it is a big part of the job) producers would not need our services. When I was recently hired to do “Labor Pains,” the producer had never used a casting director before. Many of the films she worked on had smaller casts. I know, at the end of the day, she was satisfied (she told me so), but also she felt that having a teammate in the trenches of casting, freed her to concentrate on other departments needs. Casting Directors have to be thought of as department heads on a film. Just like you have the 1^st AD, Locations, Wardrobe, Set Design, etc… All of these jobs are vitally important to a successful film. On “Rocket Science,” I was in the trenches, in Baltimore, in the production office and I saw clearly for the first time, how important it was to integrate and communicate between department heads. Casting informs many if not most of the decisions coming down the pipeline; it informs budget, wardrobe sizes, locations, travel time, craft services, drivers, etc… If there is no cast there is no film…period.

So to the actor (I am assuming that the person responding to Laura was an actor) who wrote that we just set up appointments, I hope you read this and think differently of what we do.

First and foremost, Casting Directors love actors. We are their advocates. But in the real world, we work for “the man” our boss; the producer, and we have to bridge the gap between the producers needs, the directors wishes and the actors’ talents. I would call that, in itself, a huge job, one that is learned and nuanced over several year of internships, becoming an assistant, an associate and finally, A CASTING DIRECTOR.