Dear Jack & Jason

Wow! I did not realize that I was perceived this way. I have to disagree with you on the fact that I don’t see everyone. I know I see a lot of people, my wrap sheets prove it to me! I will say that in some instances it does not make sense to see everyone, especially if I know that 20 actors are going to nail the audition for a particular role. I have never said “no”, when asked by a Producer or Director to dig deeper if they were not satisfied with what was being presented to them. I always make my own lists. It is rare that a Producer or Director hands me a list. One of the films I am currently on, “Legendary: The Shocate” the Producer did hand me a list of actors to check availabilities on, but I have to present them with more ideas. Especially ideas within our budget range!

Jason, I would like to know which film and client you are talking about? For example for ‘Polish Bar’, I saw everyone I thought was right for the roles and were within our budget. For ‘Labor Pains’ I know I saw as many actors in 4 weeks as humanly possible. For ‘After.Life’ I saw actors in LA and NYC and I often get comments from Agents and Managers about my openness in finding new talent. ‘Deadgirl’ was all about finding new talent! The fact that I saw your client and then did not see your client when you were managing them doesn’t prove anything towards your argument. I saw your client once before, maybe they weren’t right for the role the next time around?

When casting young talent I feel like I am seeing everyone who is represented! I will admit that I have an affinity to certain Agents and Managers out of relationships that I have developed over the years, but that is to be expected. I know I saw more actors in Oahu for ‘One Kine Day’ then most local casting directors in Hawaii would have, in fact I did this on purpose because I wanted to see what kind of talent was available in Hawaii. I think the count of the number of actors I saw on that film was around 300. Keep in mind that there are only 600-ish SAG actors in Hawaii!
Most of the films I cast are low budget, so I have to see as many actors as possible. I also make it a policy to return every phone call. I think there is a perception that I have a huge staff, but most of the time it is just me and if things fall through the cracks I am sorry about that, but I do my best to service everyone’s needs. I think it is the nature of this business that I can’t see everyone (I don’t have endless amounts of time to!) and by the way it goes both ways, there are numerous times where I request to see an actor and I am told they are “offer only” or they will only meet with the Director or I don’t or can’t get an Agent or Manager on the phone to answer a question.

Jason, as far as this being a vanity piece, well, this is your perception. I can see how that may come across, but if it was truly a vanity piece, I would have been more current with my weekly blogs; in fact I have been lazy about writing anything because I didn’t feel like I had anything important to say. You changed that! Truthfully, I don’t think of this blog as a vanity piece or self-promotion. If it did get me more work, that would be great for me, wouldn’t it?

When I teach a workshop, I encourage actors to read the blog in order to get to know me better – If they want to! I encourage actors to join my facebook casting page. This allows me to keep in touch with as many people as possible. The feedback I get from actors, in general, is that I am very easy to talk to, reach out to and audition for.  As far as this being a “promotional blog,” I was asked to do this blog and agreed because I wanted to show a little bit about what goes on in my world.

I have worked for casting directors before I became a CD and I like to think I have my own style and way of doing things, but I think I am as open and good-natured as possible. When I worked at a studio, it is true we saw fewer actors for a role but this was more the nature of the beast of the studio and I was more likely answering to my superiors then having a say in the way I would do things, which is probably why I don’t work for anyone and like to do things my way.

What I will say is that I have many Directors and Producers who have been very happy with me working for them and very satisfied with the talent I have brought to them. I have tried to be very open and professional when writing this blog. Jason, feel free to email me directly (lessallcasting@gmail.com) or call my office (323-965-2104) I would be happy to understand more of why you feel this way.

Jack, yes, it is true; sometimes it feels like we are glorified secretaries! I can tell you from personal experience that it is not a nice feeling when it is happening. One day you wake up and realize that you are on a film and the Director or Producer isn’t fully utilizing you the way that you think that you could best service the project. For me, I have had that happen and I hated when it was happening, but overall I have been lucky enough to be part of a team; a team that finds talent. I have stated this over and over in this blog, putting a cast together is a team effort! I think, on the films I have worked on, especially ‘Mean Creek’ and ‘Rocket Science’ I was not a glorified secretary. Those films were journeys to find those kids. More exciting then any films I have ever worked on!  I will see talent if an Agent or Manager is passionate about them. It happens all of the time! I do generals with talent several times a month and I am always asking Agents and Managers about new talent that they are representing. I look at reels, go to showcases, go to the theater, films, teach, coach, etc… I do not feel that I need to defend myself, but, I will say I am qualified to do what I do, I do think I have an eye for talent and I do need to let you know that I take what I do very seriously and I try to do the best that I can on every job that I work on.

I hope that with this blog I have been able to illuminate the challenges of independent film casting. I want the readers of this blog understand what I do and get a sense about what it is like to do the job. There are a lot of Directors who love working with a Casting Director. I have formed some good relationships with many of the Directors and Producers I have worked with. I love what I do, I hope that comes across in the blog.
Jack & Jason, as far as your opinions on Casting Director you like or do not like, I will not comment on this. I respect all of them. In fact, I admire them for having longevity in this business and being able to keep the films and television shows they work on fresh and exciting. You are allowed your opinion, I respect that, but try to put yourself in other people shoes, try to keep an open mind. We (Casting Directors) try every day to keep an open mind, we really do. Nobody is perfect…

Thank you for reading and commenting on the blog. I appreciate your criticism and look forward to your thoughts in the future.

Sincerely,

Matthew