During our project for Solent Mind we had to cast and work with actors which was a very interesting experience and, in this blogpost, I will compare the methods of casting used in the industry to our method.
So our casting method in my opinion was ideal for out particular situation. The actors got the scripts or outlines of the individual films beforehand so they knew what it was all about and then every actor went to talk to every group individually. We (the filmmakers) then had a chance to ask questions and so did the actors. It helped to get a feel for what the actors liked or didn’t like, what had to be changed or maybe even what concept they fell in love with. So, in general incredibly helpful for us to get feedback in that sense. It was a perfect introduction to the different actors so we then knew which actors could fit to which roles in the 1-minute spots.
Now I’d like to compare our method to the one mainly used in the industry. Reading a few articles on this subject and watching a video from Hollywood talent manager Wendy Wright I learned that there is a difference between TV shows and feature film castings. Obviously, it wouldn’t be efficient to cast actors the way we did and so the casting process in the TV industry is very quick. So, if the casting director knows the actor, the actor will meet the producer/s and audition to them. If not then you have a so called “preread“ with the casting director and if you get a call back you meet the producer/s. After that the network executives, producers and commercial clients decide who to pick for the role. Wendy explains that in the TV world this process has to be very quick and the actor often knows in a weeks’ time if they got the role.
In the film industry on the other hand this whole process can even take up to a year. I was very surprised by this because it’s simply a crazy long time but it seems that casting directors have to cast thousands of people and watch hundreds of sent in tapes from actors all around the world that are potential roles for the movies. So, it’s a very tough procedure and there it might even take up months to get a call back as an actor which I find very fascinating.
All in all the casting was a very ROI positive experience that will help me massively in the future and very interesting to see how the casting process works in the “real world”. Down below you can view Wendy Wrights video about the casting process. In general, she has interesting insights on her channel.
Thank you for reading and have a great day!
Image Source: http://www.thegivingdaysfoundation.org/casting/
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