Jennifer Lopez: “Trust me, it’s shitty business.”
An Inside Look At The Casting Process
By Ken Lazer
Many people have asked me lately, âHow does the casting process work?â Actors are always curious about what goes on behind closed doors, so here is my attempt to clarify the process for you.
First, we get the specs required from our client. Letâs take a female and male, age 20s-30s, all ethnicities, and great with copy, as an example. We take these specs and put them out on a breakdownâwhich is where you might see them on Backstage.com.
After the breakdown goes out, there are many submissions from agents and, if the breakdown is posted on a casting site like Backstage, actors as well. Then itâs decision time: who gets an audition? Here is what I do.
Miley Cyrus: “It’s also a shady business”.
To start, I schedule the actors I already know are great with copy. Then, I always like to give new talent or talent I donât know an opportunity. However, I need to see some kind of video reel of the personâs work. RĂ©sumĂ©s donât mean a thing since anyone can make up credits on a piece of paper. I want to see video footage. However, there are rare occasions that I will schedule someone I donât know based on their headshot and rĂ©sumĂ©sâit does happen.
Many people have asked me lately, âHow does the casting process work?â Actors are always curious about what goes on behind closed doors, so here is my attempt to clarify the process for you.
Joanna Krupa: “Like I care?”
First, we get the specs required from our client. Letâs take a female and male, age 20s-30s, all ethnicities, and great with copy, as an example. We take these specs and put them out on a breakdownâwhich is where you might see them on Backstage.com.
After the breakdown goes out, there are many submissions from agents and, if the breakdown is posted on a casting site like Backstage, actors as well. Then itâs decision time: who gets an audition? Here is what I do.
To start, I schedule the actors I already know are great with copy. Then, I always like to give new talent or talent I donât know an opportunity. However, I need to see some kind of video reel of the personâs work. RĂ©sumĂ©s donât mean a thing since anyone can make up credits on a piece of paper. I want to see video footage. However, there are rare occasions that I will schedule someone I donât know based on their headshot and rĂ©sumĂ©sâit does happen.
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Next comes the audition. You come in, do your best, and you leave. At the end of the day, I send the session to my clients to review. Actors have always asked, âDo you take actors off your session?â The answer is yes, sometimes. I have to. If Iâm giving someone a chance to audition for me and they give a poor performance and cannot take the direction I give, I have to take them off. My clients hire me for my knowledge and eye for the best talent for their project. For the most part, though, itâs rare that I have to take someone off my session.
After the clientsâproducers and directorâhave reviewed the session, they tell me who their selects are. If there is a callback session, I schedule their selects to come in again to audition and maybe get some additional direction from the director. Then when the callback is over, the actors leave.
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Who books the job? Who makes the decision? Here lies the biggest misconception. Casting directors do not make the booking decisions. The producers and director narrow down their selects from the call-back and choose a first and second choice to present to their client. And then, they all make the decision who finally books the job.
Amy Amick: “Tonite got casting, eh?