CRProductions
Active member
I think what a lot of people seem to be forgetting here is TIME. For instance, you're talking about casting a B-list movie star in a decent role in a film, for 7 days..2gs a day, that's 14gs...which, if you think about it, if you have 200k and you spend 14 on a person who will almost GUARANTEE you distribution, I'd say that's money well spent. I'll sacrifice something else to get that b-lister.
Money is money at the end of the day..if you suck as a director and your film never gets made, at the end of the day this person still has that cash. It's best to get an actor on the rise, or an actor that has recently fallen on hard times and is returning to the spotlight.
What I've noticed is that audiences are fickle people..absence makes the heart grow fonder..so when they see the face of someone that they haven't seen in a movie in years, it peaks some interest....it's like ..."hey, isn't that so and so...ohhh his must be a decent film to bring them out of retirement" (because actors retire all the time)..
I mean point blank...to say you CAN'T get someone because of your budget is crazy, it's just sometimes it seems people don't write with a budget in mind...I think if you tailor a film to a 200k budget..yet you already know..ok, 10,000 of that is going to a name actor for this medium sized part...you won't be surprised when you see the number they ask for. Now if you do a film with explosions and 15 locations..obviously your budget is gonna be drained quickly..
I can say, that I think with the film myself and one of the posters here are about to begin laying out...if we see this as a project with a small budget, but with potential to lure a name actor in..we WILL get an actor with a familiar face.
Adam said in the Corrado thread..treat this like a BUSINESS...don't write your script and say...."hey, a name actor would work for this part"....write your film saying, I want a name actor to play this medium sized role, let me make sure they are in the same location as often as possible...for as much of this movie as possible...OR make sure the part their playing is significant enough that they have some dialogue or scenes that you can use in your trailer.
To the guy doing the horror film Jonathan I believe your name is...you CAN get a name actor to play the part of a killer...look at Robin Williams in ONE HOUR PHOTO...if you write that character universally (meaning not reducing him to a certain age, but keeping his motivation to a point where it could be ANYONE..male or female playing this role)..you never know WHO would be interested in that part. There are alot of actors that don't want to be type cast, and do the regular hollywood films 2 or 3 times a year to pay the bills, and then LOOK for small indy films that challenge their skill to hone their art. Sometimes they just wnat to, play something different if you will. That's the beauty of acting..you audition for the job YOU want..who's to say what part an actor/actress will want to play.
My horror film will have a small cast of main characters...4 throughout most of the film..with 3 other characters that will probably all be filmed within a day or two. But one of those smaller roles is REALLY important, probably on screen for 5 minutes, but the words they say are important, and their scene is open ended and sets it up for them to be in any future sequels...Perfect spot to put a B/C-lister..that way if the film takes off and they want to stick with the franchise..they can. If not, they just made 2gs for a days work.
This also leaves 4 core characters which means I can afford to pay a bit more to get a slightly more familiar group of core main actors..might be able to get an up and coming actor with that type of elbow room to work with.
My point is, don't limit yourself by giving up before you try...just WRITE these characters for name actors...on YOUR budget...we can all do it, Adam and Justin did it with only 200 and 300k and they got SEVERAL names...which should let you know right there, it's POSSIBLE..
And if name actors don't work with first time directors..someone tell Danny Glover not to do the SAW movie..it could turn out bad for his career!
Money is money at the end of the day..if you suck as a director and your film never gets made, at the end of the day this person still has that cash. It's best to get an actor on the rise, or an actor that has recently fallen on hard times and is returning to the spotlight.
What I've noticed is that audiences are fickle people..absence makes the heart grow fonder..so when they see the face of someone that they haven't seen in a movie in years, it peaks some interest....it's like ..."hey, isn't that so and so...ohhh his must be a decent film to bring them out of retirement" (because actors retire all the time)..
I mean point blank...to say you CAN'T get someone because of your budget is crazy, it's just sometimes it seems people don't write with a budget in mind...I think if you tailor a film to a 200k budget..yet you already know..ok, 10,000 of that is going to a name actor for this medium sized part...you won't be surprised when you see the number they ask for. Now if you do a film with explosions and 15 locations..obviously your budget is gonna be drained quickly..
I can say, that I think with the film myself and one of the posters here are about to begin laying out...if we see this as a project with a small budget, but with potential to lure a name actor in..we WILL get an actor with a familiar face.
Adam said in the Corrado thread..treat this like a BUSINESS...don't write your script and say...."hey, a name actor would work for this part"....write your film saying, I want a name actor to play this medium sized role, let me make sure they are in the same location as often as possible...for as much of this movie as possible...OR make sure the part their playing is significant enough that they have some dialogue or scenes that you can use in your trailer.
To the guy doing the horror film Jonathan I believe your name is...you CAN get a name actor to play the part of a killer...look at Robin Williams in ONE HOUR PHOTO...if you write that character universally (meaning not reducing him to a certain age, but keeping his motivation to a point where it could be ANYONE..male or female playing this role)..you never know WHO would be interested in that part. There are alot of actors that don't want to be type cast, and do the regular hollywood films 2 or 3 times a year to pay the bills, and then LOOK for small indy films that challenge their skill to hone their art. Sometimes they just wnat to, play something different if you will. That's the beauty of acting..you audition for the job YOU want..who's to say what part an actor/actress will want to play.
My horror film will have a small cast of main characters...4 throughout most of the film..with 3 other characters that will probably all be filmed within a day or two. But one of those smaller roles is REALLY important, probably on screen for 5 minutes, but the words they say are important, and their scene is open ended and sets it up for them to be in any future sequels...Perfect spot to put a B/C-lister..that way if the film takes off and they want to stick with the franchise..they can. If not, they just made 2gs for a days work.
This also leaves 4 core characters which means I can afford to pay a bit more to get a slightly more familiar group of core main actors..might be able to get an up and coming actor with that type of elbow room to work with.
My point is, don't limit yourself by giving up before you try...just WRITE these characters for name actors...on YOUR budget...we can all do it, Adam and Justin did it with only 200 and 300k and they got SEVERAL names...which should let you know right there, it's POSSIBLE..
And if name actors don't work with first time directors..someone tell Danny Glover not to do the SAW movie..it could turn out bad for his career!
