Finding A or B actors? Hunt them down on IMBD best method? Call agencies?

[moonlitnite]

Slightly off topic....Can`t find the thread about Entertainment laywers anyone got the link?
Also do they sometimes act as go betweens connecting producer/directors to the Talent?

Sure, if you have engaged them and they're worth their salt, they can certainly refer you to others in the trade. But at $250+ per hour, it's hardly efficient to use them as a general "go between"! Have them write-up your contract and handle the negotations yourself, or hire/contract staff to do so on your behalf.

Check the internet and you'll find dozens of helpful books focusing on the business side of filmmaking.

Regards, Michael

 

[JonathanLB]

I'm with CR on that. If you have a 'name' in a major role in a horror movie, it's a safe bet he or she isn't going to be killed off -- at least not until the very end. But with unknowns, anything can happen.

I also tend to identify more with unknowns -- no matter how great an actor the 'name' might be, there's still always that knowledge in the back of my head that he/she was SO great in some other movie.

But that's just me.

Not really... in a low budget horror film it's almost more likely that the name actor will be killed early, because it's too expensive to afford the name for the whole film. That would be the case with my film most likely.

 

[slimchrisp]

Not really... in a low budget horror film it's almost more likely that the name actor will be killed early, because it's too expensive to afford the name for the whole film. That would be the case with my film most likely.

plus you can get that Oh Snap!!! factor. damn! didn't see that coming!

kind of like when sam jackson gets chomped by a shark in deep blue sea, right in the middle of his heroic speech.

 

[JonathanLB]

HAHA, I love that scene! That's so great. I really didn't see that coming. I actually like that movie, I know it's not "good" really, but I think it's fun for some reason. I like the production design and the concept. Then again I'm kind of a sucker for most of what Jackson does. I love Snakes on a Plane, I love it how everyone says it's the stupidest movie ever and has the lamest concept, well that's kind of the point, it's completely and utterly freakin' ridiculous. But that's what makes it so great. I mean look at the name, SNAKES on a PLANE?! Come on. The fact that got made is awesome. Plus nothing beats his one line, "I've had it with these mother ******* snakes on this mother ****** plane!!!" That is the greatest line in movie history, right there. Come on! You can't beat that.

Whoever I find as a B-list actor to be in my feature, they are going to die. I don't care how big they think they are, everyone dies in this movie. There, I spoiled it.

Actually I could probably get a second B-lister who doesn't die, to play the villain, because it's going to be very Jaws-like in this respect, you won't even see the villain until nearly the end of the film, you are going to see glimpses mostly and that's about it. We could easily, easily film ever single scene where you see him in full in a single day, so a B-lister who wanted $10,000 for a day wouldn't be a problem even. A drop in the bucket, really.

 

[Prodigi Pictures]

a

 

[slimchrisp]

We secured James Cromwell and Michael Wincott for our latest film.

There are no tricks...a good screenplay is the key that unlocks their doors.

nice job. if you don't mind me asking, what was your shooting budget? also, did you have funds secured when you contacted their agents?

by the way, i love that the original poster seems to have abandoned this thread.

 

[DecadenceFilms]

You won't get A or B list actors for free, barring some kind of Divine Intervention.

However there is a plan of action that nobody has mentioned on here:

It is possible (still difficult but not impossible) to do a deal with an agency. They cast the film with their people, maybe they'll put one of their big stars on it and some of their talented new guys who need the exposure and then you have a script with names attached that you can then shop around to the big Production companies for investment. (Indeed they may well help to shop the film around as well, as they have a finacial interest in it at that point).

You'll need a great script to go down this route and it's difficult without experience to get to the agent in the first place, but it's not unheard of for these things to happen.

Once the star is attached the money should be more readily forthcoming as a big name gives a reasonable guarantee on DVD sales.

This way people get paid and you get a budget for your film.

I believe that the film Cop Land was made like this.

One thing to be aware of though is that actors may be more wary of this route after that particular film as Stallone claimed that it had effectively ended his career for almost a decade as everyone thought he had moved away from action films but didn't see him as a serious actor either.

 

[JonathanLB]

I have a brilliant idea to make it in Hollywood, probably someone has already done this but we don't know about it. Everyone spends all of their time trying to think up these brilliant ideas, or make the right connections, or get the newest equipment. This approach is all wrong. It's very simple: Blackmail. All you need is to find dirt on enough people and you can make any project come together with a minimal of cash involved Imagine you have blackmail on two executives at 20th Century Fox, one agent, a few actors, and pretty soon you have a movie!

 

[DecadenceFilms]

I have a brilliant idea to make it in Hollywood, probably someone has already done this but we don't know about it. Everyone spends all of their time trying to think up these brilliant ideas, or make the right connections, or get the newest equipment. This approach is all wrong. It's very simple: Blackmail. All you need is to find dirt on enough people and you can make any project come together with a minimal of cash involved Imagine you have blackmail on two executives at 20th Century Fox, one agent, a few actors, and pretty soon you have a movie!

All joking aside, I wouldn't try and blackmail some of the execs in Hollywood. They'll soon be fishing you out of the River, if they ever manage to find your body that is...:violent5:

 

[David W. Richardson]

Not really... in a low budget horror film it's almost more likely that the name actor will be killed early, because it's too expensive to afford the name for the whole film. That would be the case with my film most likely.

Killing off the name actor early is a bad move. First off, no name actor is going to be thrilled about being in a movie just to be slasher fodder. But second, it's much smarter to have a character in the script who is important to the story and shows up several times throughout the narrative, but is always in the same place, even wearing the same clothes. That way you can shoot the name actor's scenes in a couple of days and be done with him, but his presence is seen throughout your movie. Suits the actor better, suits the audience better, and makes everyone happy.

 

[CRProductions]

Exactly, if you're not making a big budget horror full of stars (which is usually either SAW or a Japanese remake these days)...and you're not casting Meagan Good (or Omar Epps and Jada Pinkett for all you Scream fans) ..don't expect your name actor to die..not a real "B" or "A" lister as this thread suggest...C list..maybe...although most times they see themselves as HUGE DVD stars, and they too, don't want to die in the movie....most of them have it in their contracts...if you're doing a horror film, the best way to go is a cameo...have them play the character telling the urban legend, Ala Tony Todd in Hachett..dude you don't even need a "multi thousand dollar a day" B-lister for a horror film..a C-list star will get you distribution..hell, a well put together horror film will get distribution, ask Lionsgate..(by well put together I mean, something that RESEMBLES a movie..i.e. not shot with a webcam)...I just watched Crazy Eights and it was pretty bad..yet it starred some low level C-listers..all I recognized was Traci Lords and the chick who played the detective in the first 4 SAW films. But I'm sure that's all it took to get distribution for this film..although I don't know it's budget, it couldn't have been much as everything basically took place in or around 1 central location which looked like an old hospital/mental ward.

Seriously though, if you're planning to do a horror, all you need is faces..faces that will legitimize your product. They don't have to be house hold names..Tobin Bell legitimized SAW because he had an extensive acting list, even though everyone didn't know his name...Danny Glover was also convinced of the impact the film would have and took a small role (and even died)...All you have to do in horror is not look like a dope with a camera in order to get distribution from what it seems.

Now action is different, it takes a little more skill, use of more locations (unless you're a creative writer) and atleast one common face as your MAIN or one of the MAIN characters. I believe that this is because of all the 80s action movies that were simply HORRIBLE and only cashing in on the cinemax craze..(which I think lowbudget horror is gonna suffer a similar fate soon).

All in all, know your target audience, and know your target actor..and make sure they target each other..

Killing off the name actor early is a bad move. First off, no name actor is going to be thrilled about being in a movie just to be slasher fodder. But second, it's much smarter to have a character in the script who is important to the story and shows up several times throughout the narrative, but is always in the same place, even wearing the same clothes. That way you can shoot the name actor's scenes in a couple of days and be done with him, but his presence is seen throughout your movie. Suits the actor better, suits the audience better, and makes everyone happy.

 

[JonathanLB]

Killing off the name actor early is a bad move. First off, no name actor is going to be thrilled about being in a movie just to be slasher fodder. But second, it's much smarter to have a character in the script who is important to the story and shows up several times throughout the narrative, but is always in the same place, even wearing the same clothes. That way you can shoot the name actor's scenes in a couple of days and be done with him, but his presence is seen throughout your movie. Suits the actor better, suits the audience better, and makes everyone happy.

I get your point, but it's often not possible to do what you're saying.

My film has 5 actors. That's it. A family of 4, the victims, and the villain, 1. The villain has no apparent motivations, nor do I think it's effective to give him motivations, it takes away from the scare factor and makes audiences empathize with his cause, one way or another, of which he has none. He's a crazy lunatic who is protecting his turf, that's basically his motivation. He's almost more animal than human, driven by a desire to protect this house that he calls home from intruders. If I start giving him all sorts of reasons, like ok he's actually using the house as a drug smuggler, or he's actually doing this or that, I mean... come on. It becomes lame fast. Now I could cast a name actor in that role because he won't actually see him that much in the film (it'll be like Jaws in that respect), but it might not be an easy sell because you're asking a name actor to play a role where he doesn't have much if any dialogue, and is doing just mainly physical acting. That's not exactly an easy sell...

 

[David W. Richardson]

I get your point, but it's often not possible to do what you're saying.

My film has 5 actors. That's it. A family of 4, the victims, and the villain, 1. The villain has no apparent motivations, nor do I think it's effective to give him motivations, it takes away from the scare factor and makes audiences empathize with his cause, one way or another, of which he has none. He's a crazy lunatic who is protecting his turf, that's basically his motivation. He's almost more animal than human, driven by a desire to protect this house that he calls home from intruders. If I start giving him all sorts of reasons, like ok he's actually using the house as a drug smuggler, or he's actually doing this or that, I mean... come on. It becomes lame fast. Now I could cast a name actor in that role because he won't actually see him that much in the film (it'll be like Jaws in that respect), but it might not be an easy sell because you're asking a name actor to play a role where he doesn't have much if any dialogue, and is doing just mainly physical acting. That's not exactly an easy sell...

If it's a challenging, interesting role -- and you're paying him -- any good actor should be interested. Tom Hanks had minimal dialogue in 'Cast Away'. There was extremely little dialogue in '2001: A Space Odyssey'. Many actors might very well warm to the idea of such a challenge. Can't hurt, eh?

 

[David W. Richardson]

You won't get A or B list actors for free, barring some kind of Divine Intervention.

However there is a plan of action that nobody has mentioned on here:

It is possible (still difficult but not impossible) to do a deal with an agency. They cast the film with their people, maybe they'll put one of their big stars on it and some of their talented new guys who need the exposure and then you have a script with names attached that you can then shop around to the big Production companies for investment. (Indeed they may well help to shop the film around as well, as they have a finacial interest in it at that point).

You'll need a great script to go down this route and it's difficult without experience to get to the agent in the first place, but it's not unheard of for these things to happen.

Once the star is attached the money should be more readily forthcoming as a big name gives a reasonable guarantee on DVD sales.

This way people get paid and you get a budget for your film.

I believe that the film Cop Land was made like this.

One thing to be aware of though is that actors may be more wary of this route after that particular film as Stallone claimed that it had effectively ended his career for almost a decade as everyone thought he had moved away from action films but didn't see him as a serious actor either.

Good thinking!

I audited a screenwriting class once where the instructor had an interesting approach that had helped her sell several scripts to Hollywood. When writing her main characters, she tried to base them on 'name' actors. But she did some research first. Found out which agencies represented which actors. Then she tried to tailor her characters so they fit several actors all of whom were repped by the same agency. She would then float the script by the agency. They smelled multiple commissions for a single production, and were quite often all too eager to help her shop the script.

I call that smart!

 

[Phil Maker]

Big actors will NOT work with first time directors. Ever. Under any circumstances. You can get a B movie actor with a solid script and about 2 grand per day. All you have to do is contact is manager or agent, tell them you have financing and want to make an offer to their client. They will have you send the script and an offer in writing. When you send the offer make sure it has an expiration date and states that they must respond to your offer IN WRITING. That way they can't say they made a verbal counter offer and you accepted (even if you didn't).

 

[slimchrisp]

Big actors will NOT work with first time directors. Ever. Under any circumstances. You can get a B movie actor with a solid script and about 2 grand per day. All you have to do is contact is manager or agent, tell them you have financing and want to make an offer to their client. They will have you send the script and an offer in writing. When you send the offer make sure it has an expiration date and states that they must respond to your offer IN WRITING. That way they can't say they made a verbal counter offer and you accepted (even if you didn't).

i'd call tom sizemore a big actor. sure, he's had some problems, but the guy is pretty bigtime. and he did adam's film, which was his first. you can argue whether or not he's a big actor i guess. but point being, when you start saying you can't do this and you can't do that, you've limited yourself.

 

[rogue_09]

Big actors will NOT work with first time directors. Ever. Under any circumstances.

George Clooney did Michael Clayton. So did Sydney Pollack for that matter.

 

[David W. Richardson]

i'd call tom sizemore a big actor. sure, he's had some problems, but the guy is pretty bigtime. and he did adam's film, which was his first. you can argue whether or not he's a big actor i guess. but point being, when you start saying you can't do this and you can't do that, you've limited yourself.

I have to agree. Getting a 'big' actor may be a long shot, but TRY. Your reach should always exceed your grasp.

Too many people think they need to limit themselves to just the actors (or crew) in their town or general area because they have no money in the budget for travel and accommodations. I can tell you from experience, this just isn't so.

When we were casting for 'Afterlife' here in Gastonia, NC (near Charlotte), I had a LOT of actors who drove up from Atlanta (4 hours) and one who came from Virginia (8 hours) just to audition! We wound up casting 4 of the Atlanta actors and the Virginia actress, who proceeded to make those treks on weekends for the shoot. They came at their own expense, for the most part, and worked for deferred pay. The Virginia actress made that 8-hour drive at least 7 or 8 times. And they were all awesome!

And I won't tell again the story about casting 'Tangled Web' and how many actors from L.A. and NYC submitted for it.

Don't decide something can't be done. Try it and see.

 

[imageonepictures]

Doubtful. Actors won't work for free on a student film or ultra-low. Deferred payment equates to, free. No one ever gets payed on a deferred payment. Ever.

Not true!

 

[JonathanLB]

haha, I love it when people say EVER.

You mean to tell me that if I have $100 million, and I'm a real estate tycoon, and I decide that I want to direct a feature film after learning my trade at some shorts, perhaps I've done a few music videos, and I know my stuff, then I couldn't get an A-list actor to be on my film for $20 million? Riiiiiight. There aren't like 4 or 5 A-listers. There are like 200. It's not that hard. Money talks.

Getting an A-lister for very cheap or way below their normal rate, for a first time director? Ok, that may be nearly impossible. But don't say something is impossible when it isn't. You're just wrong and make yourself look silly.