What is a Casting Director? What can they do for you/your film?

Well, a casting director is hired by the producer to put out a breakdown of all the characters (we put a breakdown out on what’s called “break-down services”). It goes out to managers and agents. Then they will subsequently respond to the actor that they think fits best for each character description.

So the casting directors job, takes away all the pressures from the producers so they can do their producer responsibilities. Often times what happens in the low budget end is filmmakers want to do the casting themselves and they’re overwhelmed because they don’t know a lot about casting sessions.

For instance (in casting sessions), there will be little things that I’ll notice about actors. Actors sometimes have nervous ticks, they make noises and sometimes they don’t take enough direction. So as a casting director, I’ll review their tape and then I’ll say: “We asked him to take it another direction, he still didn’t do it.” and “He’s so nervous, look at this hands he’s clenching his fists!”

So little things like that are tell tale signs that maybe a filmmaker won’t see. From experience I can tell you the actor may not be right for the role and we should call him for a call back to discuss it further (or not use him at all). I know it sounds silly, those little things like nervous ticks and facial expressions, but there’s a lot of things that I’ll see that a filmmaker simply wont see.

So the reason why an independent film producer/filmmaker might want to use a casting director is because of the experience that they bring and the knowledge of the talent that's out there?

Right. The knowledge of the talent, the knowledge of the agents and also, you’ve got to be quick on your feet to think that you can throw the actor a bone… like 99% of the actors that will come in and read the role of “Jim”. They’ll all read the jokes the same way. What we’re really looking for is someone who does it so offbeat, that it’s clever and we don’t catch it until it happens and we go: “Wow that’s the one because they didn’t do it like the other 99 people…” that’s the real actor.

Most people just tend to read (the lines) and they don’t do any emotions. They don’t have any pausing or thinking. We don’t see the wheels turning in an actor and that’s why you need a casting director to help facilitate that. So, instead of the actor going through the motions, I want to know what’s behind the motions and I can pick that out whereas normally maybe a filmmaker can’t. Filmmakers are very busy and they’re used to going by what’s on paper, what’s on script. Whereas an actor needs to create, and I can see that creation I think a little bit better than they (filmmakers) can.

So how does one go about finding a Casting Director?

The screen actors guild has sagindie.org, which has a resource page for casting directors. You can also simply search the internet for ‘casting directors’. I usually use google when I’m helping others and when others ask about how to find me. I just say “google me.” The Ross Reports Digest is also good book to get.

Then the problem is getting a casting director to do your script. If they’re used to doing big budget projects… why would they want to do yours? Not all casting directors are about the money but some of them are very good at what they do and it’s a business.

I’m still somewhat new, I’ve been doing this for about 10 years and I do a lot of independent films, probably under a million dollar projects. I do a lot of television series under a million dollars for the Playboy channel believe it or not, the Disney channel, I’ve done non-union projects, union projects, so I’m constantly looking for new work to keep myself busy but something that's challenging and entertaining.

So if you don’t have a budget, the best thing for you to do is to put your notices up on craigslist or the filmlot and see who responds. You definitely need to interview them and I think it’s always important, even if you have a low budget, to offer the casting director something… I mean after all, the casting director is going to find the actors. You can have the best script in the world but if you don’t have an actor that can act or can deliver what you need to deliver, the film may not be as good as it could be.

I’ve even gone as far as bartering different things… I got a refrigerator one time from somebody doing a small film. A couple producer friends of mine are massage therapists and I got four massage sessions for simply running a (casting) session. It sounds crazy but why not, it’s low budget and we’re all striving for the same thing. You should always, definitely, try to have something for the casting director.

And try to do SAG projects if you can. Because agents and managers respond (to SAG projects) a whole lot better than they do for non-union because there’s no guarantee that if the film comes out the actors will be taken care of. The Screen Actors Guild, it is a bit of a pain in the butt I admit, but it’s really not that bad. It’s there for the actor and to protect you the producer/filmmaker.

Do Casting Directors also work with non-union talent as well?

Absolutely. Our job as casting directors is to find the best talent. For instance, I went to Hawaii and did a film called “Run Down” with the Rock and Sean William Scott. The film takes place in Brazil, so there were about 30 roles that I had to cast and these roles required people to speak Portuguese.

So I had to see all the SAG members first, who mainly in Hawaii were obviously very Hawaiian looking. Which is fine because Hawaii’s a jungle, Brazil’s a jungle, there are some similarities but then I went even further. I went out to some big party, like a 4th of July party for all the Brazilians on the island. I was very lucky. All of them spoke Portuguese! So I brought all of these people who have never acted before, that are definitely non-union and I brought them in. About half of them got speaking parts in the film.

So yeah, my job is to seek out the best talent possible. Union or non-union makes no difference to me, it’s very important that you have a casting director that does that. Sometimes with these independent projects you can’t just wait for submissions to be mailed in. You have to go do the work.

What are good things to look for in a Casting Director?

You should send them the script and have a couple email conversations and phone conversations, then you’ll meet to discuss particulars. You need to ask them: “Hey what do you think about this character? This is what I was thinking…” and then see if they are on the same page as you. If you don’t get a good vibe, then just don’t go with it. I think that most people go on gut feelings in this business.

You want to look for… I guess obviously their resume you know? Is their resume beefed up like an actors? Is it full of shit or is it a real resume? Search the internet. Do your research. Watch some of the films they’ve cast. Ask them for specific challenges they’ve had in films. “What was your hardest challenge in one of your more recent films? Can you tell me about that?” I would say “Yeah, I had to find all these Portuguese speaking people and none of them were actors… so I had to get them to relax and calm down and… they’ve never been in front of the camera…” So I might tell you something like that, that might strike your fancy and say “Hey this guy really does the work. I’d like to hire him.” As opposed to somebody who has a lot of stuff on paper. It’s good if you see that they’ve worked with the same people. I’ve worked with Paul Schrader three times and he continues to hire me. So that’s a nice thing to have on my resume.

Also I want to make one thing clear, imdb (imdb.com) is an excellent reference but it’s not always a true credit. I think that a lot of people look at imdb and they put their little things on imdb… We don’t really know what that person did on the film. Imdb is a great reference and I want to make that perfectly clear… It’s a reference only and you should still check people out.

When is a good time to begin working with a Casting Director?

Preproduction. Get your script and your writers together and once you’ve got your funding 100% guaranteed, then start contacting casting directors. You need to do it during preproduction because it may take six to ten weeks to find your main guy. Or you might find him right away and then you have to negotiate with an agent. Because it’s a game, so you have to negotiate with that agent for eight weeks. Things get down to the wire so you need a casting director onboard as long as possible.

What should I provide a casting director to help them get started?

You should provide an office. You should provide someone to make the phone calls. If your independent you can usually get a lot of interns. They’ll make all the phone calls once the actual casting director makes a selection. The casting director will then give those interns specific responsibilities and duties and explain to them how to do it, how to say it and what to do. So you should provide them with an office, you should provide them with phones, you should provide them with any tape stock that they need, this is all business expenses that are a part of productions requirements.

It’s difficult in this day and age to find a casting director that has their own office space that’s willing to not charge you anything for it. The jobs are very far and few between, and space is very expensive, especially out in Los Angeles. A lot of us share the same offices. I’ve actually rented a lot of the theater districts in North Hollywood. I’d rent theaters for $10 or $15 dollars an hour.

As a casting director, the last thing I want to do is be behind the camera focusing on somebody. I want to be able to interact with that actor and be off camera. So when the director views it later he’ll see that I’m working with the actor and he can listen to my direction. That’s very important, because if you have a casting director that has to sign the person in… this has happened to me believe it or not on a few low budget shows… I’ve had to sign the people in, collect their headshots, ask them questions, roll the tape and talk to them from behind the camera. It’s absolutely insane! The casting director needs to be free and clear of mind, body and soul and all props to be able to interact with that actor.

Should I provide a script break down? Casting specs?

Well the breakdown can usually come from the writer. Breakdown Services will actually read the script and break it down for you for a fee. They have writers that will take your written words and say: “Caroline is a twenty something, new age, venice-beachy chick who falls in love with so and so”. They’ll do the whole script for you, but its expensive. So the best thing to do is get a synopsis from both the director and the writer as to who the characters are.

Then we send that out to the breakdown. I’ll still call in other actors that don’t exactly fit the part because I might see it different. The producer/filmmaker is my boss, but its my job to offer other variables during casting. If I bring in a actress who’s a completely different age range, or if I bring in an actress who’s a completely different ethnicity and then a producer/director says: “Hey wait a minute that’s not what we wanted.” Well the reason I brought her in is because of this… and this is what I thought.” So you have to have a certain amount of trust with the casting director.

What are the steps involved in the casting process?

Once your breakdown goes out, you’d have a series of auditions for each character. You don’t have to see all the main characters in one day. Just see who’s available for that day. And mix it up, you want to keep it friendly, you want to keep it fun, you don’t want to see all the main characters eight hours in one day. That’s insane. You’ll want to see the co-star and then the main-star and then maybe some of the bit parts all in one day. Its just a good flow of energy. That’s your first round of auditions.

Then you’ll have callbacks. Callbacks is when the actor will come back and you give them even more copy because you like what they did. You may even want to throw in some improv.

Then you might do something called final callbacks. Which would be with the writer and the director. At that point the director will start interacting with the actor and maybe even ask them a lot of personal questions about who they are, why are they an actor and what they’ve studied and things like that. That’s important that the director gets involved and the writers get involved and the producers get involved. It’s important to have some feeling as to who these actors are as people.

After you have your final callbacks, you’ll do negotiations with the producers. “Ok this person wants a hundred dollars more. What do we have? Tell them no…” Then you’ll play the waiting game with the actors and the agents. And then: “Ok, we can’t give them money upfront. Can we give them something on the back end?” Then you’ve got to wait a day or so to think about that. So the filmmakers really need to have their stuff together, as well as the casting director as to what the actual offer is. That’s part of the process. If you want that actor you’ve got to pay for them sometimes! Sometimes you can get them free or sometimes you get them really cheap if it’s a good deal.

So you’ll do your contracts and they’ll sign the deal. Then you’d turn it over to the assistant directors who will then take care of any paper work that's necessary for the screen actors guild. At that point my job will be pretty much done and I’m just on-call.

What things should one keep in mind while viewing auditions?

I think when a director is doing auditions, it should not always be about a look as much as what they (the actor) can do with next to nothing. What are their eyes expressing? What are they saying? What is their physicality like? Did it work with this other actor?

Directors constantly have a vision about who would be perfect. They’ll say: “Oh god, I need a guy like the Rock… but I can’t afford the Rock… so go find a guy like the Rock.” Then you go out and find a “mini-Rock” and is that really going to do your film any good? What about if you find a guy that’s completely different but has some qualities as the Rock?

So as a director you have to be open to different types of interpretation of the script and different (types of) actors coming in. I think the best thing is to sit there with your producer and your casting director and make a lot of notes about who you like, who you don’t like and why you like them or don’t like them. The person that you originally thought you might have for the lead, may now be down graded to a day player because the casting director made some great find or perhaps we’ve actually changed your mind about something. So I think it’s important that a director has an open line of communication.

I recently worked on a film with a first-time director where I hired an academy award nominated actor for the main role. And my director thought that wasn’t good enough because we found him on the second day. I said: “Listen, this is your guy. He’s your guy!” I had to argue with him for a day an a half and still see other people. Finally he relented and hired this guy and he did the work for free! And this guy (the director) is as far as a communicator, he’s not a good communicator at all and that was a big problem for me. He was rude, he was arrogant, he didn’t know what he was doing. He learned more from that academy award nominated actor then he could ever learn from someone else.

So I think for directors, the main thing is to have a lot of communication and to have trust. If you don’t trust someone, then don’t work with them. There’s no sense in having it, just say: “Thank you this didn’t work. I’m moving forward.” It’s all about business and it should never be personal, although we all take it personally sometimes. Because we all want to be liked and we all want to do a good job but it’s real important that directors communicate with actors, and the communicate with the casting director and producers. Because if we don’t know what you want, we can’t find it.

Any final thoughts about working with a casting director?

It’s just like any other job. You’re all a team. There’s no reason to think that somebody is besting you if somebody comes up with a better idea. Listen to it and think about why it’s a good point or why it’s not a good point.

I think the best thing to do is just listen, think and respond. As opposed to just responding to something that’s just (been) said. So listen, think, and respond is always my rule. If you don’t know how to make a movie and you hire me, I have more experience then you so listen to what I say, do what I ask, and it might make your film easier. If you have any questions or concerns, let’s discuss that before we get started so it’s not embarrassing. I think that’s my main point, it’s all about communication and understanding everything that’s going to be done, what’s included in the deal, and what time frame you have.

I don’t even do films that are low budget unless they can prove to me that they have the money in the bank. Because if I go through all the work of going to the agents, and going to the managers, and going to the actors and then somebody goes… “Yeah you know what, I’m sorry but, uh I don’t have that money anymore.” Then what’s the point? I just made an ass out of myself. And I can’t do that… it’s happened to me several times and I refuse to do that. So I actually ask them (filmmakers) to show me their bond insurance before I get started. And that’s one of the reasons why I like the screen actors guild is because all I have to do is call up SAG and say “Yeah they’re bonded and they’ve agreed to the contract and they’re ready to go”. So that’s all I need from there to make my job so much easier.