Where to find Actors?

[Rosestar]

With an all-out cattle call of mostly people with litte or no acting experience, be ready to search through a lot of hay stacks before you find those precious few needles.

Absolutly right, cattle calls are a pain. This is why I like the two step proces, i.e., have the prospective actor call before setting up the auditon. With the first contact you get through the FAQs and you can weed out, to a certain extent, the crazies (you will get crazies...). Casting is a constant battle, even for big budget films ( though $$ helps a great deal) but have hope, sometimes magic can happen.

People want to be envolved with movies. Be enthusiastic and passionate about what you are doing and people will gather around you.

[jpbankesmercer]

With an all-out cattle call of mostly people with litte or no acting experience, be ready to search through a lot of hay stacks before you find those precious few needles.

True.
It's only when you audition, you find most can't cut it...

[amber]

my project needs really beautiful women/men that look like they'
d belong in a magazine ad. you may not need people this attractive, but because i live in a medium sized city, not all of them are and most people want
an actor which is at least relatively good looking anyway.
the point is, you can find out a lot about a person's personality by watching
them walk a runway. afterwards i just run behind stage, often with a friend
who helps out, and find the ones i'm looking for, if you're a male, bring a long a
girlfiend and let her wrangle them!
"hi my name is ____ and I'm an independant 'film' maker/production assistant, casting for a project, and you look as though you'd fit one of the roles, are you interested in acting at all?"
yeah, it might sound like a pain, but its
very important to invite them to a 'screen test', use a video camera. not as much a waste of
time as finding out when you're on location and shooting for real that they can't act! A lot of these
women do runway for exposure, so they're usually happy to be approached, and even
work for food/the experience. i've found two really good actresses this way. the
first just shone on the runway, great smile, turns out she had been acting since
childhood, and is easy to work with. plus my girlfriend(s) and i have a fun night
out gossiping about the models and clothes! good luck with your project.

[Rosestar]

Models do have the advantage of being comfortable in front of a camera,however, I have had bad experiences casting models. Modeling and acting are two different things. If it works for you, power to you...

[amber]

i should clairfy, these are women who sometimes do runway modeling, they're
not model-models, (though most wouldn't mind that if they had the chance)
most have
varied experiences, some have studied acting a lot, and just model for fun,
or to be seen. others have no interest in acting at all, like anyone else.
like i said before, these are little city fashion shows, not haute couture,
meaning its possible to find beautiful and regular down to earth people there.

[thisiswells]

Did a shoot over the weekend at Eastern New Mexico University and holy smokes are the college girls there pretty.. A little town of 12,000 people had the most beautiful women. Craziness.

[Rosestar]

Sounds like Chapel Hill North Carolina, UNC-CH.... same thing....

[JoeFowler]

I use a local actors group, they all want to hone their skills and are willing to "volunteer" their craft. There are effective ways of making people happy to work for free, and keep them coming back. If you can't pay them, feed them. At least have bottled water at the set (in a cooler with ice) and if you can, some light snacks. Depending on the shoot. If you can't afford food, keep your shoot short. The best technique I use is to not be greedy with the recognition. You are the director, you have final say, but if you instill a sense of ownership in your cast and crew, they will give you better performances because they feel this is their project as well. And if you are planning on sending your work to festivals and such, you should have everyone sign collaborative contracts, to protect them and yourself. Don't think this is your film and they are lucky to help you. Have the attitude that you are all making a film together and everyone will be happier. I have a pre-production meeting this week for our feature we're shooting this summer, and I hope I have made everyone involved feel like this is his or her project as well as mine. Several people involved could direct as well as I could, but if I made them feel unimportant, they wouldn't give me their all, and the project would suffer. So play nice, children! Well, until you're Lucas, then you can put Jar-Jar in your films and no one can say a thing!
Joe

[Rosestar]

Joe, you are right.
Questionman17, there are people out there that will work with you. But remember, people will not work for free!!!

This does not mean that they need $$$. What I mean is that people need consideration, respect and to feel that they are collaborating on something of worth. It also helps to have a lot of fun. The people that I have seen make successfull "guerilla" films understand this to the Nth degree. Have enthusiasm for your movie and people will gather around you. Personally, I make my living with film and video, but I will work for defered pay or points if the project is cool and, more important, if the filmmaker is someone I want to work with. BTW, Working for defered or points usually means for free, however, I am starting to get checks for a thing I did in the summer of 1999 and it seems that it will be far more than I would have made if I had charged my normal rate, you never know!!


Good luck, keep us posted as you bring this project to life...

[stationhouse]

hey
i don't know where you are in pa but i am outside of philly. the philadelphia film office is great - www.film.org. they have a hotline where you can post for actors. it is free and you will get 50-100 people normally. Be clear about who you are - a student film, what's the story, are you paying for food, copies of the film, etc.

I know in bucks county the chamber of commerce is also funded to do location scouting for local filmmakers so that is a free service here.

i cast for my film from a mix of sources. Some were from teh high school i work at. Watch people, find someone who is interesting, who is very close to the role you want, who seems comfortable in their own skin (it is tough to make a nervous person appear natural on camera). Have conversation about the subject matter if you can - mine was divorce so we talked abotu family life one day and that gave me a chance ot get a better feel. When you are somewhat confident, say - hey i am shooting a movie and am looking for actors. would you want to audition? they will ask questions and just be honest - i'm doing it myself, gonna submit to festivals, it's a learning process, etc.

Good luck.
tom

www.stationhousefilms.com/thenyp