Cast Talent Episode Summary

In this weeks episode of Film School Friday, Corey and Bill are talking about how you can cast talent for your next project.

Cast Talent Episode Notes

Cast Talent Transcript

Corey Allen  0:08  

Welcome to film school Friday. I’m Corey, I’m Bill and together

Bill Cornelius  0:13  

we formed the greatest podcast you’ve ever heard in your life as a big she has to

Corey Allen  0:19  

also known as the infocus. podcast. Yes, film school Friday is our special weekly episode where I get to quiz bill see how much knowledge he’s retained from film school? And so far, it’s been quite a lot. That’s,

Bill Cornelius  0:31  

that’s great. They my money’s worth went into it, I guess. I guess.

Corey Allen  0:36  

So. Speaking of film, school and film projects, we are working on pre production right now for a an upcoming short, darken bliss. Yes, I know you’re very excited about that is your project, by the way. But part of that project is we’re gonna have to find some talent. That’s right. And I’m curious, how do you do that? Like, how do you go about casting how you go about finding the right talent? What’s, what’s the best approach there?

Bill Cornelius  1:02  

So there, there are a few different avenues to approach with casting. You know, when I was first starting out, it was kind of the the run and gun indie way which I’ve talked about it in my episode, when I was growing up, I cast my friends and my family and stuff, and which was basically, hi, you’re going to be in this, they didn’t have a choice. When you get into the indie world. When I first started it was which actors do I know that I’ve met at a mixer or, you know, some other event, some other event?

Yeah, and or seen on social media or whatever it might be. And that’s, that’s an approach you can take if there’s an actor, you have a great relationship with already, someone you’ve worked with onset someone you’ve met in a kind of a mixer situation, cast them, you know, if they fit, if you think there’ll be right for the bar, do it, that but you know, traditionally the biggest thing to do is hold auditions. And that’s something you can do independently, you can do a casting call, you can announce that on social media, come here, read a few lines, etc, etc. Or you can hire a casting director.

And as your budgets get a little bigger, you can afford a casting director. And the casting director will will handle those things, such as the casting call, corralling talent based on what it is the director has a vision for when it comes to the characters. You know, it does take the load off the director and the producer a little more to have somebody in that role, or that’s specifically what they’re doing. Presumably a casting director would have relationships with maybe local talent agencies salutely have to throw back to a reference from odd a Rolodex,

Corey Allen  2:52  

yes, a Rolodex, a Rolodex of maybe talent that they already would have in mind for a particular project. Definitely a ton of value add there.

Bill Cornelius  3:00  

Oh, yeah. And I’ve worked. I’ve not hired a casting director yet. But I’ve worked kind of off and on with a few in town. And just kind of thrown out ideas for characters I’m looking for and the in the quickness of casting directors to shoot you headshots and resumes. I mean, immediately, yeah, in my email, like, within an hour, you know, so some of these folks, because because you’re right, they have those relationships with agencies, and a lot of talent around town.

And their job is to be kind of like, keen on what a director is looking for, and zero in on that. But again, like auditions are a big part of that. There are some directors that are like, I think this person looks great on paper, we don’t have time to do auditions, hire him. That happens a lot, especially when things are faster paced. In the commercial or music video world, maybe it’s not even a speaking part. So the stakes aren’t as high. The stakes are a little higher, if there’s some speaking parts involved.

If you’ve got a little more time to deal with auditions are great casting director or producer, whoever it might be gets talented together. And you have those folks come in and read for you. And that’s great. Because you get to see him in person, you get to see how they interact, you get to see, you know, you get to you get to direct them. It’s kind of I don’t want to say try it before you buy it because that sounds a little bit Yeah. Like the the cattle call or whatever. You know what I mean? Yeah. So it’s, you know, I think stuff like that’s very valuable because that’s something that might look great on paper, but to actually see that person perform.

Plus, you know, you have times where the headshot that they you’ve been sent is 25 years old, and then that person surprises you and they show up on set. Oh, yes. I haven’t had time to update that. Yeah, I just lost My hair and gained a lot of weight. That’s extreme. Yeah.

Corey Allen  5:03  

So are you thinking, thinking we’re gonna have a casting director for your short?

Bill Cornelius  5:09  

I’d love to. Because I think you know, that’s an opportunity to work with a professional in that field that can give us the talent we’re looking for.

Corey Allen  5:17  

So if you’re if you’re a casting director in the Nashville area, hit us up, go ahead and add bill,

Bill Cornelius  5:23  

you can add me and all the ways you can add someone on social media and do all the things.

Corey Allen  5:29  

Yes. Awesome. All right. Great. Bill, as always, excellent job. casting director. Definitely something to look into. But as far as sourcing talent, auditions, work, the network, work, the social media, all those things. Oh, yeah, absolutely. Awesome. All right. And then for our listeners, make sure you check us out on Instagram at infocus pod or online at infocus. podcast calm. if you like what you heard today, go ahead and subscribe. And if you’re on Apple podcast, please leave us a rating. It would help us out a ton. And until next time,

Bill Cornelius  6:06  

feed your crew, please do but don’t feed them pizza until the end of the shoot because they’ll fall asleep if you give it to him for lunch and grease on your camera. That to train wreck.