Casting for Lowbudgetistas

April 13, 2009 at 4:47 pm · Filed under Casting, Process

We have just started casting our latest narrative feature, so this is the perfect time to discuss casting and talent. Since we are low budget, we don’t have a casting agent: we are the casting agent. We discovered on “Game Theory” that casting is one of the most important aspects of shooting a movie. You need to take it seriously. A fantastic script and beautiful lighting will not make up for a flat actor with no charisma. And, if you are lucky, as we have been, you will find talented actors whom you can cast again and again in your films.

Calling All Actors

We put a casting call on Craigslist and on Backstage. Backstage is an industry magazine with an online and print component.  The Backstage ad cost $120 bucks total for a two week run print and online. The casting call on Craigslist went under “Talent Wanted” and cost nothing. It’s a good idea to cast a wide net. Interestingly, some of our favorite actors came from Craigslist. We’re in New York City and so have a rich pool of talent to begin with.

In your casting work, always remain calm. You will meet all kinds of people, and your patience will be tested. But, you will find the right people if you persevere. Always be courteous with everybody. And remember to trust your gut and have fun! Casting is one of our favorite parts of making a movie. We try to enjoy it and to make it enjoyable for anyone who comes to the audition!

The Casting Call

Backstage wants all sorts of detailed information in their casting call. Craigslist is completely free-form. As you read other casting calls you might see very specific descriptions for roles, but the key to being low budget legends is being flexible about what you are looking for and what you find. You can know exactly what you are looking for in your head, but you also want every opportunity to find that diamond-in-the-rough. So, we try not to be too explicit about age or ethnicity, unless the plot demands otherwise. One of the luxuries of being low budgetistas is that, when you are the writer/director/casting agent, if you come across a really great or interesting actor, you can change the script and re-write to suit their quirks. Be open to people you may not have originally had in mind. The converse, of course, is to go with your gut if you really think someone fits the bill.

Mention character nudity or sex scenes in the casting call, so that the actors know exactly what they are getting into.

Thanks to the Actors
We have gratitude to everyone who sends in their resume and headshot. It’s a big deal to put yourself out there in that way. We may have thick skin – which anybody in the arts needs – but neither of us could put our faces up there for scrutiny the way most actors do. Even the ones who use photos from their camera phones. Acting is a tough job. There are few roles, and fewer GOOD roles, every aspect of your being is inspected, so we have love and respect for every last person who shows up for us.

Always be civil with and respectful of your talent, even if you know they’re not right, or even if they are ego-tripping. They showed up for you, so show them common courtesy. We don’t believe that any director ought to act light a haughty mogul. Treat others the way you’d like to be treated.

Who to Audition

In casting our latest movie, we received about 1600 resumes and head shots after running the ads for 2 weeks. The real difficulty is in winnowing down this number to about 100 candidates for the 20 roles. Bring in more people than you need, because you may need extras or you may have actors flake or freak out at the last moment. Have a deep bench. In our last movie, we had one actor cancel the day before the shoot. Because we were flexible and we had about 25 actors working on the film, we were able to replace her and the scene was even better than we had imagined!

So, for this film, we are casting about 20 roles. About 10 are regular speaking roles, some characters are in almost every scene. As we winnowed the number down to about 100, we applied a few rules of thumb which we developed during our first film. Here are those tips for actors and then for the people who cast them:

FOR THE ACTORS

Headshots

Get a professional head shot, not a camera phone photo or a photo that you took at the bar with your friends. If you are serious enough to send in your photo for an acting ad, be serious enough to spend the time and money on a good head shot. It does not have to be Richard Avedon quality, but it should demonstrate that you are committed to your craft and to any project that you apply for. This is true even if you’re acting as a part-time gig, or even on a lark. Someone is actually, seriously, making a movie. You should be serious enough to send in a real headshot.

Reels

We love reels. Not TOO long, mind you, but a little bit of video can go a long way. If you don’t have a good reel, don’t sweat it, but if you have a reel, put it online or have a web-savvy friend put it up for you, then just provide a link to it. Between YouTube and Vimeo, you can find someplace to host a three minute reel of yourself. Don’t include the reel, or any large file, in your email to the director or casting agent - it will just clog up their inbox and make them unhappy.

Follow-up

I know this sounds strange, but don’t follow up. Unlike the business world, following up or being exceedingly pushy will probably not win points in the low budget world. Maybe it does in the high budget world, but that is another story. Generally, the person casting is also the director/assistant director/screen supervisor all rolled into one. They might even have a life outside of this film, so don’t waste their time. No movie – high or low budget – likes to deal with people they perceive as too needy.

Cover letters

You don’t need a long cover letter. You don’t need to explain that you are leaving your life as a widget salesman to become an actor. If you seem like a good fit for a role, from your looks and experience, then you will inevitably come in for an audition. Just include the basics: “I saw your ad on backstage and I would love to come in for an audition attached is my headshot and cv.”   There is really nothing that a long cover letter can add. Instead you might take a misstep, come off with the wrong tone, and inadvertently offend one of the directors or casting agents. You might spell something wrong and make a bad impression. There are too many pitfalls and, since most people don’t expect a detailed cover letter, why chance it?

Workshops

We put very little stock in workshops and acting schools. Everyone has workshop experience and, while it does signal interest and seriousness of purpose, these are traits we can easily assess in other ways. A resume with a ton of workshops and 2 webisodes does not inspire confidence. You don’t have to include *all* your workshop experience.  Workshops are good to take. They can be a great place to network, perhaps find a mentor, or to build your acting tool kit but, unlike say, medicine, formal education is not necessarily useful – leave some off. If you have too much of it and no acting jobs, it may only raise unwanted questions.

FOR THE CASTING PEOPLE

So you are casting the film. What should you look for in those 1600 headshots and resumes?

Experience

Generally, if people are responding to ads for a low-budget flick, then they don’t have tons of movie acting experience. That is okay, you will still find a bunch of talented actors in the 1600 responses. And, even though these actors might not have a ton of experience, they still have some experience. So, what kind of experience is good experience?

We love theater actors. You will probably get some theater actors who want to move into film - especially if you have an interesting/unorthodox character or script. Theater actors are used to working in a busy environment where the director has to deal with everyone from the lighting director to the set designer to the actors themselves. They can function well in a low budget atmosphere. Theater actors also are used to memorizing lines. It is amazing how many people come to the set completely unprepared, including theater actors. However, theater actors are a bit more prepared, and when they need a line they don’t completely break character.

There is a false notion among many actors that everything can be fixed and edited in post. This is NOT true. Editing is not like cutting and pasting in a text editor, it is the construction of pacing and drama. If you don’t know your lines, we can’t just splice together takes. As a director, I think it is very obvious in movies, when lines are flubbed and the director goes to the master shot. We hate to do this. So yes, theater actors can be your friends.

There are habits from theater that might be difficult for theater actors to break, though. You don’t need to project as much - your gestures don’t have to be as grand. In film, less is more. So, not every theater actor may be ready for movie acting, but theater experience, in general, is always a plus.

A Picture tells a thousand words

Cliché, but cliché for a reason. In a good head shot, you can tell if someone has a sense of humor, if they have intelligent or inquisitive eyes and, of course, if they are attractive. Unfortunately, a bad head shot can mask these traits and you can lose out for want of a good shot. If you feel that an actor might be good, but they have a bad shot, trust your gut and call them in, anyway. It’s easy to be brutal and just toss people into the trash – you have 200 more to go through tonight, right? Still, trust your gut.

The Audition

Once you have settled on who is coming in for auditions, here are a few more tips you might want to follow:

Tape doesn’t lie. Someone may look good in person, but horrible on camera. Also, after seeing 40 or 50 people, it’s very easy to forget names, faces, and talent. It is incredibly useful to go back to the tape and review your notes with the video record of the audition. When the camera starts to roll, have the actor state their name. You don’t want to be matching up names and faces at some later date. You might want to have the actors sign a release, but if you never plan on releasing the footage, don’t worry about it.

Have the actors read some actual lines from the actual script you will be using. If possible, have them interact with you or another actor. You can’t just have somebody read lines out of context and expect them to be good. If actors ask too many questions about their characters, if they try too hard to get in character, we generally don’t like them. We have nothing against method actors, but we like to see what someone can do in a cold reading with just a short explanation. If you’re interested in them, you can have them read again, and give them more details about the movie at a later time.

If you don’t think they’re going to work out, again, be courteous and tell them you’ll get back to them if you need them. Never make a decision on the spot. People we thought we loved at first, we ended up not casting, and people we did not think we wanted to cast, ended up being great in our film. Give yourself some time to think and reflect. If you decide the actor may be right for a role, have them back at least once or twice for callbacks. Talk to them about when you’re shooting and be honest with them about the low budget nature of your production. TELL THEM you may not have a makeup person. Can they do their own makeup? If not, no big deal, but you may not be able to use them. Weed out the prima donnas early on.

Humor and intelligence are very important. Humor and intelligence go a long way toward being a team player and being teachable. It’s important to have people working for you who can communicate, as well as listen. Remember, most people are on their best behavior in a casting call. If they’re not, ditch them immediately. If they can’t put their best face forward there, then they will be trouble later on down the road.

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10 Steps to Creative Production

March 1, 2009 at 4:16 pm · Filed under Creativity, Process

People often ask how we have the energy or the time to make films.

We both work day jobs and have lots of individual interests. Then there are friends, family obligations and general life stuff, as well. There are never enough hours in the day, it seems, and this is before you even factor in making films. How do we do it, then? We never sat down to figure this out before, so we thought it would be nice to lay out 10 concepts – in no particular order - to help creative production.

1) Create a time, place, and space for your work.

Schedule a time and a place where you engage in your work. This can be your dining room table at Monday and Wednesdays, 9pm, after the kids have gone to bed, or at 6:30 in the morning before you go to work. Try to stick to the schedule, but don’t beat yourself up if you miss a day. Remain flexible.  Try to be open to spare moments, as well. You can get a lot done in a half hour.

It is also a good idea to have a ritual. This will help set up that sacred space for your work, if you are working in a general use area. Paul and I, for example, have a ritual of making tea and coffee and eating food. This helps us ease into our work, lets our brains switch gears and lets our subconscious percolate on possible ideas, it also helps transition us from our regular work-a-day tasks to the special task of creating a movie.

You should also have a personalized space, or a space where you have access to all the tools you need to create. For a film, this would mean a computer with the proper editing software, sound software, a video camera etc. When inspiration strikes, you want to be prepared, you don’t want to have to stop and look for the perfect sound editing software until you have an idea for a musical theme. You don’t want to disrupt the creative flow. And don’t forget to keep that space as uncluttered as possible. This might be an ongoing battle, and it’s especially tough when you’re in the heat of creative fervor, but it’s important to have a fairly clear space. This includes your computer desktop, but we’ll get into that in a future post.

2) You don’t always need to be going somewhere (Sometimes its OK to do nothing) .

In today’s society the key word is “efficiency,” but when you are working on a creative project, efficiency is often a detriment to your process. A creative endeavor takes time, and sometimes, in your allotted “creative time,” you just need to do nothing, or you need to sweat over the fine points of a plot twist and not get anywhere, or create 10 different titles for your movie. Whether it’s hammering out the fine points in an intricate plot, color correcting a feature narrative, or designing the titles for your movie, these processes take time. Sometimes, it’s necessary to go down a few dead ends before you find the right turn. And sometimes, those dead ends can help to inform your aesthetic. Not only that, but these crafts - whether they be filmmaking, editing, cinematography, or screenwriting, take time. You cannot download a module into your brain like Neo in the matrix.

You don’t have to work every day on your project.  Some days or weeks, you may not feel very productive; perhaps every version of a particular scene seems like shit. That is ok. Give yourself space and time. But try to work on a regular basis, even if it’s not every day.

3) Find a partner, community, collaborator, or fellow seeker.

It is hard to keep to your schedule, to finish a project, and to complete all the little details (like submitting your film to festivals, or applying for grants, or finding a sound editor). For Paul and me, our collaboration is in many ways the secret to our success. In additional to the creative boost - we can vet and refine our ideas - we also support each other. If one of us is having an off day, the other one can often bring us back to business. There is also a sense of responsibility, I have a responsibility to Paul to give my all and to complete our projects, since he, like I, is devoting a significant part of his life to it. In a partner, you will also often find what one person despises, the other person may enjoy. When we first started working I hated applying to film festivals, but Paul loved it and he pushed and submitted the films to festivals. We each have our own strengths.

4) Make it actionable.

I am borrowing this from Paul Allen and his “Getting Things Done” methodology, but it is very important to look at your project and outline what you need to *do*. Making a movie, even a 5 minute short, can seem very overwhelming, and it is a large undertaking. You can break it down into a list of things you can do immediately, or things that you need to do. It’s good, from a psychic standpoint, to break big projects down into small, bite-sized chunks. It is also important to frame your project, and to outline your time frame. What is the next concrete action that you have to do in order to the next step?

5) Anything worth doing is worth doing badly.

So you are writing a script and you discover that a plot point has been left dangling, or you are editing your movie and you realize that some of the acting is flat, or some shots are out of focus. That is OK. Not every piece, nor every aspect of the piece has to be a masterpiece. Find a part of your work to focus on. For example, you might say “OK, the acting is a bit flat, but I’m going to work on editing and use this project to hone my editing skills.” The important thing is that you FINISH your work and MOVE ON. You will learn more from a completed project with loose or untidy ends than from belaboring those issues and never finishing your piece.

6) Every piece has an audience.

What Paul and I have found is that every piece, no matter how idiosyncratic or out-of-the-mainstream, has an audience. Your work will speak to someone out there. That is very important to remember. While you’re creating your work for personal expression, you also are, at some level, creating it to be appreciated by others. Nietchze said that something done only once is the same as if it was never done at all (or he said something like this) Take this to heart when you are struggling to complete your film, or your screenplay, or your novel, or your iPhone application. SOMEONE out there will appreciate it. And keep this in mind as you are rejected from festivals or agents, or if you get lukewarm reviews. Just keep putting your work out there so that it can reach your audience.

If you want your work to reach a wider audience, or a difference audience, then consider this when you start your NEXT project. However, it is always important (however trite this may sound) to stay true to your own vision and voice. This does not mean that you should be self-indulgent or non-critical. But accept your work for what it is. You have a unique and interesting thing to say. Someone, somewhere, will appreciate that.

7) A body of work

Remember that you are on a journey. Every movie you produce or score that you compose will help you refine your craft. You are building up a body of work over a lifetime and every piece is another brick in the edifice. Also remember - John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote every day after school and threw out tons of songs before they started minting hits. You need to create your dogs too, but have faith that you will also create some pearls. Trust that every project you complete, and a few that you abandon, will be stepping stones across that pond.

8. Sacrifice

Nothing is free. While it’s important, even necessary, to have a life outside your work, it’s also necessary to sometimes give some of it up for your work. We’ll be talking a lot in this blog about priorities. As you get busier and busier with your projects, you’ll be forced to make choices. Sometimes, you’ll have to give up days that did not want to give up. Sometimes, you’ll have to explain to friends and family that you’re working late. You may have to explain to them that you’re not neglecting THEM so much as nurturing something really meaningful and important to YOU.

Sacrifice can also mean having another cup of coffee and saying “let’s just finish this thing now” when all you want to do is take the rest of the day off. It can mean grumbling all day as you drive five hours to some remote, dusty town to get a five minute piece of video that you decided, in saner moments, you absolutely needed. Sacrifice is a noble-sounding word, but it usually just means working hard when you really don’t want to. It can also apply to money, though. Sometimes, you cannot have it all, and you’ll have to forgo some things in order to buy others. Which brings us to

9. Discipline

It’s important to remain flexible about your schedule. This assumes that you have a schedule to begin with, though. With one person, that’s often easier to do, and the more people you have, the more difficult it can be to coordinate schedules. It’s absolutely necessary, though, to know ahead of time when you’re going to work. The ideal is to know that certain days and/or nights will always be blocked out. They are sacred, so to speak. You can change them, but it’s the change that needs to be discussed and, ideally, you’ll discuss substituting another day or night for them if you must change the schedule. If times are turbulent, though, and you are both busy, the next best thing is to do it on a weekly basis.

If things get really crazy, then you can always just set the next date at the end of every current work session. Actually, it’s a good idea, from a logistical and a psychic standpoint, to always reinforce when you’ll next work together at some point in each session. “We’re on for tomorrow, right?” becomes more than just a reminder to each other; it is an affirmation. Affirmations may be a cheesey-sounding concept, but they work, and we’ll talk more about them in the future. “Discipline” need not be a scary idea, it’s really about commitment to yourself and your project, and it goes hand-in-hand with “sacrifice.” Which brings us, finally, to

10. HAVE FUN

You’re doing this work because you love it, hopefully. If you’re in it for the money alone, go back to school: get a degree in computer science, start a restaurant, become a plumber. Do something else.

There’s nothing wrong with making money, and one would like to hope that hard work gets rewarded, but the arts can be a difficult place to make a living, even after years of discipline and sacrifice. This is why you need a little faith and a thick skin, but that subject is also for a future post. Now we’re talking about having fun.

So if there is no immediate money, why do it? Because it’s something you love to do. If you love to do it, it’s always fun, right? It should be, but it’s often easy to get so wrapped up in the daily punch list that it can seem like a chore. This is when it’s good to take a moment to reflect on what you’re doing. If you work alone, this can mean sitting back and thinking about your goals and dreams – another future post. If you work with others, it can and should involve talking with your partners about what you’re up to. It means letting yourself dream and dream big about your future. It means reflecting on where you started. Sometimes, it means saying “to hell with the discipline today, I’m going to take a walk and get some fresh air.” Lots of fun, right? Fun may be a hard thing to quantify, but you’ll know it when you see it. Sometimes, it just means pinching yourself while you’re in the middle of something and saying “wow, I’m really doing it.” It is not necessarily running out and surfing a 20 foot wave.

When we traveled to the first film festival that we were ever selected for, we went to get our badges and the person at the desk said to us “You’re the filmmakers, right?” We both looked at each other and grinned. After all the discipline and hard work, after all the punch lists and dead ends, after all the sacrifice, THAT was fun.

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