A week or so ago, I saw a lovely tweet that inspired me: “I’ve always been a big believer in relationship over resume.” What Jason Reitman (Up in the Air) said during a Film Independent talk moderated by John August was the refrain of something he said a few weeks earlier during a directors’ roundtable including other rockstar directors like Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker), James Cameron (Avatar), Lee Daniels (Precious), and Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds).
(I encourage those of you who love to read pages and pages of conversation with directors at the top of their games to click on over here for the entire transcript by Stephen Saito, based on the talk moderated by John Horn. Awesome reading! Please especially read the section on the casting process and how most of these directors won’t cast even very famous actors without a read. And, of course, for those who love video footage of discussions like this, check out the first in the series — and then click around for more — of the Jason Reitman talk.)
Now, about the topic: Relationship Over Resume.
Love it. Love it so much, I’ll share a wee bit of the very long transcript, just to get the party started.
John Horn launched the topic with the question: “You’ve worked with some of the actors — is that something that you do because you enjoy their work, because you like to have familiar faces around? Even department heads, what is the idea of repetition in terms of who you surround yourself with — cinematographers, editors, actors?”
Jason Reitman said, “I want a family that I make movies with. I want a shorthand. I believe in relationship over resume. I think, you know, things are going to get tough, and you have to really question who you want to be standing next to when they do. The reason I enjoy working with people I know is just I know what they do. I know how to get them to do things. The faster I can get there with somebody, the better, and there’s just people I enjoy being in the company of.”
James Cameron commented along similar lines, saying, “You become a family. And you know, they respect me, I respect them, I treat them with respect, we have a lot of laughs, and everybody believes so passionately in what they were doing, and it did mean something to me that they were happy.”
John Horn, in the lovely conversation about casting in particular, acknowledged, “But you know five minutes in if somebody is in or out, even if you know somebody…” and Lee Daniels agreed, “It’s not about the audition, but it’s about do we connect. I will never begin a film again without intimately knowing and working with and knowing, having worked with my crew before… just from my mistakes, I learn.”
Let’s think about this, shall we? Here are some of the most well-known directors of our generation talking about how relationships are of higher value than resumes in which actors landed top-of-show guest star billing or happened to grab a meaty scene in a studio feature film. Sure, those things are good too, but they don’t trump relationships. In fact, neither may the actual audition, when compared to an actor’s ability to get the director’s vibe.
Awesome.
So, for every hour you put into pursuing a gig, ask yourself how much time you’re putting into becoming truly connected with people. Everyone started somewhere. And most folks in this business are loyal to those with whom they move up. Sure, aim for the big gigs and hope to meet up with folks who are doing amazing things, but remember fun stories like the one about how Harrison Ford booked Star Wars. He was doing a favor for his buddy George Lucas. The studio had already said NO, when he was suggested as an actor for that film. So, he agreed to just help out during sessions. He worked as a reader. And take after take after take, as he helped others get their camera time and do their best audition, he delivered the goods, knowing he was building a relationship.
And when producers watched the session tapes, they kept asking about this reader, who was outshining everyone else. Yes, he had the craft, the swagger, the charisma to seal the deal, but it was the relationship that got him through the door.
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/001147.html. Please support the many wonderful resources provided by the Breakdown Services family. This posting is the author’s personal archive.