How to Cast Independent Films

Video Transcript

"Hi, this is Rhett Reiger from White Caspian Studios on behalf of Expert Village. We're talking about casting. Now the director is very involved, intimately involved with the casting. Typically the director is going to cast all of the principals, his or her self. The casting director typically will cast all of the minor rolls and all of the extras. That doesn't always happen, it depends on the shoot. Every one's a little different. But in the independent feature there are times where the director will cast everybody because he can't afford somebody to do the casting. And this is very important, because in casting, as the director you're going to see the actors that are actually going to be portraying the story that you're trying to create. So it's so important, that you hire who you believe is going to make that roll come alive and do a good job. So you have to look for the obvious talent. You have to look for the looks of the person, do they fit that roll, do they not fit the roll. You have to look for availability. You have to look for many different issues, like pay scale, what do they expect to be paid, or do they not, or will they defer their payment until the end of the shoot, or until the movie makes money. All of these issues are what a director has to go through these. And ideally it works best in an isolated location, with people to control the camera so you have things on footage that you can refer to when you're sitting down in your living room, mulling through all of the actors that you looked at. And you want to make sure you get the right impression, because once you make a choice and you sign a contract, you're stuck."