Casting Turnout?

McLeish

McLeish

Active member
I'm thinking of going formal with the casting process...well a little more formal at least. When you put out a casting call how many people do you tend to expect to show up for a short? Do you tend to get passionate people who are okay for working for close to nill? I guess it has something to do with how intensly you publicise it. At any rate I think I'd put a few calls on the web, maybe to universities/acting schools, but lets just say im not willing to put out a bus ad or anything.
Anyways, what have you guys found to be the best way to get the most passionate local talent turnout for a short project.
...wow that felt like i just asked how to win the lottery.
 
i can't advise you on finding talent in toronto, but instead of an "open" casting call, i would ask for headshots and resumes first. sort thru the ones you like and schedule them throughout the same day for auditions.
 
I attended an 'open casting call' for low-budget shorts in Ohio, and hardly anyone shows up. A lot of it depends on what the movie is, what's it about, pay, etc. You have to think of this through their POV - What's in it for them? If you have money to offer, say that in your call. Also, be sure to make the call announcement to local colleges, universities, acting classes, etc. You might find willing participants there.

Probably the best thing you can do is to find a local celebrity...someone in the area that might be well-known amongst the acting community. Offer them a role right off the bat. Then, whether they accept or not, ask for some advice on how to go about filling the rest of the roles. Say that you'd like to keep the cast limited to local talent.

Just somet thoughts.
 
As I'm sure you're aware, there are a number of acting/theater programs running at Toronto universities and colleges (York, UofT, George Brown, etc.).
I would imagine any of those students would love to start building their resume.

You could either post on school bulletin boards (may need school approval first?) or contact the administration about putting you in touch with a program director. They could possibly assist you in informing their students of the opportunity.

I tried the open casting call route once. Didn't know whether I'd get 2 or 300 people. As it turned out, 36 people showed up. I didn't cast any of them, but I picked up 4 people for my crew. I had naively thought people would jump at the chance to be in a "movie", but I was wrong. Ultimately, I started calling actors whom I had done theatrical productions with (I've been acting in community theater for 15+years). Funny thing was, for the open call, only one guy with acting experience showed up - the rest had never set foot on stage or in front of the lens.

As an aside, did you attend the DVXuser get together in TO? If not, you may want to participate and share resources/experience with your GTA peers.

Good luck.
 
When we did our little short film "The Book" we sent an e-mail to all the talent agencies telling them what we needed and it was a low to no pay short film. We had 63 people show up some didn't get the memo on what kind of characters we wanted but, we did cast 6 good actors. All had experience and it turned out to be a good call. Having said that- if you do a casting make sure you do a professional job. Check with a casting director for some tips on running it smoothly. It can get bottle-necked quickly and you don't want people waiting for long periods of time. Get them in and out. If you video tape the session you can study it later.

We heard back from some of the agencies (about our casting) -telling us that the actors told them the casting went well, and they didn't have to wait long. This helps for future projects, the talent agencies can be a good source.
Hope this helps
A.G.
 
If you're talking about low budget short films with no pay, usually for school (which is what I'm used to doing), or just on the side, then let me tell you that you won't get many people showing up. Unless you really advertise crazy well before the auditions.

I posted on mandy.com and craigslist and to a local acting school in montreal. People seemed attracted to the subject of the film and I treated it proffesionally. I asked for a headshot and resume. I got a pretty good response. About 30 people or so sent me their headshots. I was able to keep 15 of them interested by talking to them and such. But then only about 3-5 showed up for the auditions. Some of the scheduled ones didn't even show up. So just be ready for that.

Although I'm sure you'd get more for a big budget proffesional film, I heard lots of people don't even show up for the auditions for those films either.
 
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