Last week I had the pleasure of attending the CSA Artios Awards ceremony as a guest of SAG. It was awesome. One of the employees of SAG with whom I shared a table (and pre-show cocktails and chitchat) was an IT expert who said when we met, “Oh good. Now finally I’m meeting someone who can tell me exactly what it is that casting directors do.” And later in the week, I had an amazing meeting with producers of the next two feature films I’m casting. One of the producers brought an investor with him, and that investor asked, “So what exactly is it that you DO, as a casting director?”

And, as usual, whenever I see a theme coming up in my daily life, I examine it to see whether it might make a good column topic and this one definitely fit the bill! What is it that a casting director does? Well, best list I can come up with includes the following: We scout, we break down a script and select sides, we filter talent, we provide choices, we facilitate actors’ best reads, we handicap the odds, we negotiate deals.

Let’s go through those in more detail. (And keep in mind, my area of expertise is strictly low-budget SAG indie films — below $5M — and pilots. I’ve cast a handful of ads and plays, but most of my experience is indie-film related, and that’s the POV from which this list was written.)

We Scout

While the word “scout” has a negative connotation (thanks to those scammy operations that send people out to malls to do commission-based “scouting” of wannabe actors and models, selling ’em classes and photos and package deals under the guise of “discovering” them for an agency), casting directors definitely do keep an eye out for new talent. We watch TV (including the commercials, y’all), see movies, attend plays, go to open mic nights, check out showcases, view demo reels, watch Internet videos, etc., all with the goal of seeing who’s up-and-coming, who’s hot, who’s moments away from being on an “it list.”

The goal is to become aware of the existing talent base AND the new additions to it before everyone else does. If we’re doing this part of our job well, we’ll have a “hot list” of our own, and hardly any of the actors on it will have IMDb StarMeter rankings breaking 10,000. Anyone can put the name “Tom Cruise” on a wishlist. A good casting director puts a name like “Tom Cruise” on a wishlist two years before he’s tapped for a tiny role in Endless Love (and a full five years before his name is on a list for something like Risky Business).

One of my favorite things to do is look at lists I made for films I cast a few years ago. Any time I have listed an actor who has gone on to book a series regular gig, I’m thrilled. It means I saw something in that person that really did “click” with the big guys at network. And for someone who at the time that list was made was casting a film with the budget of ONE EPISODE of the show that actor is now on, well, that feels pretty dang good even now.

We Break Down a Script and Select Sides

Another of the lists we make in casting is that of the characters in any given script. We list the character names, the adjectives that best describe the characters, the size of the roles, and the pages on which the characters are first introduced (these are noted parenthetically at the end of each character’s breakdown). Some CDs get help from the team of writers at Breakdown Services for this part of the process, others are DIY-kind of folks and simply submit a finished list for publication to the agents, managers, and sometimes the actors themselves (via Actors Access).

Once we know for which roles we’re going to want to hold auditions, we also select the sides (pages of the script that will be used for the purpose of auditions — short scenes or portions of scenes) that we’ll need actors to use. We supply those to Showfax so the actors (or their representatives) can download them easily once we roll out the audition appointments for the actors whose work we’ll want to see, once we get to that stage of the casting process.

We Filter Talent

The number of actors pursuing a career in show business is overwhelming. Overwhelming. And producers know that. They can’t be bothered with considering every possible actor for every possible role while also doing the rest of the work required to produce a film. Just like a producer wouldn’t go to the garment district with a wardrobe designer to look through hundreds of bolts of fabric in order to choose the best three options for one particular costume, a producer won’t look through thousands of headshots in order to determine who will audition for a role. He’ll hire a casting director to do that.

The casting director is basically a human resources manager. She will determine which actors are best qualified for the opportunity to meet with the producer for the final “job interview.” She’ll sift through thousands of submissions, hold auditions with hundreds of actors, and ultimately present the filtered-down short list to the decision-makers.

We Provide Choices

Many actors mistakenly view the casting director as either an obstacle to the role (“You stand between me and my goal of booking this part. Get out of my way, casting director!”) or an all-powerful hirer (“You hold my fate in your hands. Let me do whatever it takes to convince you I deserve this job.”) and neither is an accurate assessment of who we are or what we do.

Our job is to provide choices to the decision-makers. Sure, we make lots of decisions between the time that all actors submit on a role and the time that the top few are seen by producers, but the ultimate decisions are made by the same people who hired US, and we’re just trying to serve their vision by providing them with options from which they can select their best pick. Once, an EP on a pilot I was casting asked me, “Which one do you want me to cast?” when we had gotten down to our top two actors for a series regular role.

“It’s not up to me,” I replied. “I know,” he said, “but if it were up to you, who would you pick?” And I explained to him that because I did my job well, there’s not a right or wrong choice here. “Both guys are awesome,” I said. “You’ll be happy either way. But this one brings a more approachable flavor. That one is edgier. What works best for your vision of the show? What works best with the rest of the cast?”

Honestly, if I had an agenda, casting would not be a good job for me. I may have a personal preference about one actor or another, but I can’t really CARE (too much) about who gets the role, because it’s not up to me. Yes, I’ll cast a vote, but if I’ve done my job well, every choice the producer has on the table at the very end of the process is a great one. It’s just a matter of which way he wants to go.

We Facilitate Actors’ Best Reads

I’ve mentioned before that CDs are going to have more information about a role than an actor may have. You may have only seen the two-page sides while we’ve seen the entire script (and through several rewrites). We get the overall tone and feel of the project. We understand the subtext the writer intended for a character because in an earlier draft of the script, that subtext was written all through the dialogue until a script doctor tightened things up. We’ve sat through meetings in which story elements were discussed, when developing early casting wishlists. We get it. Hey, you may too! But we may have more intel than you at that “auditioning moment,” and that’s how we can facilitate your best read.

ASK us questions you may have. Ideally, ask those questions before you’re in the room, on your mark, camera rolling. Ask when your appointment is scheduled what sort of tone we’re looking for. Ask when you sign in what happened just before this scene. Make the casting team your collective ally and make strong choices based on information you’ve researched. Heck, even Googling about the project ahead of time could get you a copy of the script you didn’t know existed or land you on a filmmaker blog with the keys to the castle right there!

We want you to be amazing. We wouldn’t have called you in for an audition if we wanted you to suck. Our goal is to come off brilliant in front of the people who hired US (so they’ll hire us again) and one of the ways we do that is by showing them outstandingly talented actors who are right for the roles, total pros, and a joy to watch. If we can help you make that happen, we will. Just ask!

We Handicap the Odds

I’ve talked before about the Ulmer Scale and IMDb StarMeter rankings and how we calculate “bankability” of certain actors in our conversations with producers. Especially on indie films, the return on investment is a factor in getting a film cast to begin with. So, we spend a lot of time talking about how — talent being equal — this one actor is going to yield more money in overseas sales than that actor.

Sure, this makes it look like casting has nothing to do with creativity and look and talent and best fit to the role, but please know that this is big business (yes, even on the low-budget indies, there are millions of dollars at stake) and that means business decisions DO come into play. That said, there are many producers I’ve worked with who are also artists. They absolutely will go with the more talented, less “bankable” actor when it comes right down to it.

But you can bet there will be a trade-off for that. There will be another role on which a ton of money will be spent to get a “guaranteed opening” or distribution deal — even in a very small role — to balance out the talent-based decision made on the lead role. Because of that sort of thing, I spend a lot of time creating spreadsheets and listing actors’ sales ranks and fanbase data so that producers can quickly discern which would be “talent casting” and which would be “money casting.”

(This is the part of the job — all of the listmaking and number crunching — that no one ever really thinks about. We may be given an overall cast budget and it’s up to us how and where to spend the money, role after role. But ultimately, there’s a whole bunch of non-glamorous stuff going on in the casting process that doesn’t involve direct interaction with actors. Good CDs are able to use both “sides” of the brain in order to do both creative and business elements very well.)

We Negotiate Deals

Casting directors talk with agents and managers every day. We all know each other quite well and spend a good deal of time discussing current and upcoming projects, talent rosters and new “finds.” We dish! And we also get down to the nitty-gritty process of negotiating deals when the casting decisions have been made.

A casting director will send over the first version of the offer letter and SAG contract for the actor and the agent will come back with a counter. Maybe they need to be assured a specific kind of rental car at the location. Maybe they need to be provided companion tickets for the location shoot off days so their loved ones can visit. Maybe they need more money than originally discussed. Maybe they’ll take less money if they’re given better billing in the opening credits. Maybe they require approval of all photos taken of them on set for use in promotional materials. Maybe they need assurance that their head will be larger than everyone else’s on the poster art (I’m not kidding!) or that the font in which their name is displayed is a minimum point-size larger than the one used for other actors’ names.

Point by point, an agent and casting director will hammer out these deals. On larger-budget projects, we’ll let the production attorney handle the back-and-forth, but on smaller ones, we’ll do the heavy lifting and then just be sure everything gets attorney approval before going over for the signatures. Back to the “handicapping” aspect, above, this is where CDs will go back to producers and discuss whether what is being asked for is “worth it” for what the actor brings to the project. So many producers want to believe casting is DONE once the decision is made, but every now and then the negotiation process is what kills a deal. The actor wants “too much” or the producer will give “too little” and everyone walks away.

And then the CD begins the process of offer-making again, after heading back to the list and going to the second-choice actor. One film I cast earlier this year saw four different actors under contract for the same role within a week. Each of the first three fell through for various reasons. (One wanted WAY too much money, one booked another role after saying yes to us and backed out of our deal, and one tried but couldn’t make our dates work and we were way too close to the shoot dates to change them.) Happily, the fourth time was the charm on this one and the dailies on this guy look terrific! So, there ya go. Three deals negotiated and finalized and ultimately put through the shredder, but we ended up with the best possible actor anyway!

This part of the process may seem really boring and not too creative, but it actually involves a whole lot of “logic puzzle”-doing, the way I see it. It’s like a game of Tetris where everything DOES fit together; we just have to figure out the best way to make it all happen.

What Casting Isn’t

Well, casting isn’t a lot of things. I was a panelist (along with casting directors Patrick Baca, Wendy O’Brien, and Paul Weber) at AFTRA last week and a great point was made, there: “We’re not your acting coaches.” Sure, some CDs do teach (and quite well) but when you’re in the room for an audition, it’s not about getting a lesson on being a better actor. Get your questions answered, yes. But your choices should already be made and your performance should already be “pro-level” before you get into the room.

Also, we may have an opinion on whether this agent or that manager or this coach or that headshot photographer is a good fit for you, but if we do offer up that opinion when you ask for it, please know that we’re doing you a favor. It’s NOT our job to give you career consultation sessions. (Again, some CDs do that, and quite well, but it’s not in the job description of the casting director, so consider being gracious and grateful when you do get advice from us.)

We’re not looking to make friends. Wendy made a great comment about this on the panel. “We have enough friends. Come in, say hello, do your audition, leave.” She went on to tell a hilarious story about actors coming in and trying to buddy up to the producers. Hilarious because we all have had this happen. Staying in the room forever, chitchatting, isn’t getting you closer to booking the role. You may actually be talking yourself out of the booking if the producers think you don’t know the difference between downtime and work time (because they’ll be thinking about how much money that sort of thing could cost them on set). Sure, some actors and CDs are friends “in real life.” I’m not talking about that. If your only encounter with a CD is in her office, make it quick, professional, and polite. We’ll go out to cocktails if we’re looking for something more than that.

In the end, this is a business but it’s also a really fun one. We wouldn’t get into this business if we didn’t love it, right? (And that goes for all of us!) So enjoy your interactions with casting directors but keep our job in perspective. We don’t have the ultimate power in getting you cast. We don’t have the ability to make you a star. We are collaborators in a creative process in which your talent is a key ingredient. We want you to succeed and we want you to thank us when you win your first Oscar. Hopefully when that happens you’ll remember what it was like to get that first big booking, to get that SAG eligibility, to get that first studio film or that first network co-star… and even if you haven’t seen that CD in years, when you’re holding the little gold guy on Oscar night, hopefully you’ll remember to thank those folks who helped you get to that point. Yes, that’s a long list of people, but that’s the best part of this business! It’s collaborative. And we ALL help one another get hired.

And for the fact that you, wonderful actors, allow me to get hired again and again by doing such good work when I bring you in, THANK YOU. Nah, I’m not holding any kind of statuette while I say that, but I mean it just the same.

Bonnie Gillespie is living her dreams by helping others figure out how to live theirs. Wanna work with Bon? Start here. Thanks!

Originally published by Actors Access at http://more.showfax.com/columns/avoice/archives/000950.html. Please support the many wonderful resources provided by the Breakdown Services family. This posting is the author’s personal archive.