Randall_Oelerich
Veteran
Any idea what a casting director would/could cost for an ultralow budget indie, such as an indie horror with a budget of $20k-$100k? At least for casting the main characters (8) and protagonist?
Casting Directors - co$t ?
- Thread starter Randall_Oelerich
- Start date
1. where (hollywood, minn, chicago)? 2. union or non-union. 3. how exhaustive a search are you looking for? How many days/weeks. What services are you asking for exactly? Putting notices in trades/breakdown services, receiving headshots/online submissions, scheduling auditions, booking audition space, videotape auditions, neg terms. Do you need them to be available later if actors drop out at the last minute? You may be able to pay a starving actor with some casting experience fifty bucks a day (or a flat rate) and a small part who knows the acting pool in your area and they may do a great job. Good luck.
Barry_Green
Moderator
That's a wide-open question. Sometimes casting directors will take a percentage of the budget, but sometimes "casting directors" aren't casting directors at all, but rather talent agents. Which means that they represent their actors, not you; they will likely be recommending actors for which they get large percentages, or if it's a really low-pay gig, they'll be sending you actors who don't have any work on their reel and who really need something.
In both cases, you aren't having your interests represented. You want the best possible actors for your roles, the ones who are most suited for those roles. And it largely doesn't matter what they look like; it's frequently more a case of a good casting director knowing who's available, what they've been through in life, how they might connect with the particular part... that's what a good casting director does. And they get paid solely by you, not from the actors.
Now, with that said -- on a micro-budget level, it's not all that likely that you're going to get a top casting director, you're probably going to get a talent agent who calls themselves a casting director. And that's not necessarily bad, they might be able to funnel a lot of inexpensive actors your way, etc...
But it's not what a casting director is.
Then again, it also depends on where you're shooting this. If you're in a talent-heavy town like Los Angeles, there are fantastic actors on every corner. If you're in a talent-void like Las Vegas, there's usually only about five or six good actors even available at all. So if you're relying on local talent, whether you're getting a quality casting director, or a talent agent, may not matter much -- because they may only have so much they can draw from.
In both cases, you aren't having your interests represented. You want the best possible actors for your roles, the ones who are most suited for those roles. And it largely doesn't matter what they look like; it's frequently more a case of a good casting director knowing who's available, what they've been through in life, how they might connect with the particular part... that's what a good casting director does. And they get paid solely by you, not from the actors.
Now, with that said -- on a micro-budget level, it's not all that likely that you're going to get a top casting director, you're probably going to get a talent agent who calls themselves a casting director. And that's not necessarily bad, they might be able to funnel a lot of inexpensive actors your way, etc...
But it's not what a casting director is.
Then again, it also depends on where you're shooting this. If you're in a talent-heavy town like Los Angeles, there are fantastic actors on every corner. If you're in a talent-void like Las Vegas, there's usually only about five or six good actors even available at all. So if you're relying on local talent, whether you're getting a quality casting director, or a talent agent, may not matter much -- because they may only have so much they can draw from.
Barry_Green
Moderator
And while I was typing that ridiculously-long-worded response, lambert came in and offered some excellent advice. It's totally true that you might be able to get your casting services from a talented but underworked actor; actors know actors, especially in the more talent-deprived towns. They'll know who's good, who's easy to work with, etc. If it's a micro-budget production, that could be a great way to go.
