Speaker 1: This week's webinar is brought to you by PremiumBeat.com, providing high-quality stock music for all of your video and film projects. We're having a conversation on craft, and today we're talking about casting with LJ Stevens, who is a casting director. We've already discovered what's in the casting session. What I want to do now is focus on what a producer and a director can do to maximize their success in a casting session. So you're now, you've got the script, you've got everybody is starting to gather into the room. What does a producer director need to know to make this thing work? They

Speaker 2: need to have a clear vision of what those little paint pieces are that they're going to need to paint the picture, and they need to be specific in those needs and communicative in those needs. And then, honestly, let me do my job. Which is? Which is bring the talent in, allow the talent to have the opportunity, redirect them, and then I'm going to turn to them and say, is there anything else

Speaker 1: you would like to see? So in other words, what I'm hearing is the director is not running the casting session, you're running the casting session, and the director is, at least in the beginning of each actor's presentation, is an observer.

Speaker 2: Correct. They do have the opportunity before the actor leaves to become much more of an active participant. Some of them may have already made up their mind, and that making up their mind could be either way. But there are directors that I have worked with that do like to put a twist on it, make sure they have a direct interaction, because again, they're the ones that are going to be on the set with this person once the final decision is made. More of the discussion in their participation happens once the actor leaves the room, because there's usually one or two minutes that the door will be closed after the person leaves. And then they'll be, well, okay, I liked what I saw, can you tell me this about them? That's when I need to know their resume, I need to know what else they have done, and how they are like, how that actor is on stage, or at the studio, or at the location when they are working together, and I'm no longer here as a buffer.

Speaker 1: What can a director do that derails the whole process? In other words, what should they avoid doing?

Speaker 2: A director is a director because they like to direct. However, a casting session is not an acting class, and it's not the appropriate time to get so deep into a character that you end up spending half an hour with an actor when you've got twenty other actors waiting to come in. A small exchange is terrific. Getting up and doing it for them, and then asking them to just repeat what you just did, that smacks of somebody who wanted to be a performer and not necessarily a director. So keeping the timing realistic, keeping the performance realistic, understanding that these are not final performances, that getting whatever little bit further you want to get will happen once the roles are cast, and the director will have plenty of opportunity to mold their actor once they've made their choice. You don't want to scare the actor either. I know that sounds funny, but you start becoming overwhelming in the audition session. Even with the best and the seasoned actors, you may create more of an adversarial relationship before you've even begun. So it's a matter of balance and trusting that once you've hired me, I'm going to bring you what you need with the opportunity to continue on on a set. We're bringing in four to six

Speaker 1: actors an hour for four, five, six hours at a time. What do directors need to keep in mind as they're watching these auditions? You know, when you go into

Speaker 2: those auditions, you do have a set idea of what you're looking for out of that character. What works wonderfully and beautifully is when you can also keep an open mind. My job is to bring the people who are paying me what they asked for, but my job also includes the idea of perhaps bringing in something they didn't quite see within the character. Because by the time I read the script, they've read the script over and over and over again, so they've got some set ideas. With the trust and the relationship that we're building, if you allow me the freedom to bring in a couple of people who maybe aren't exactly what you thought you wanted, I have seen some wonderful actors get cast in productions that that was not what they asked me for at all. But that's how people like Rachel McAdams gets discovered. What do you do if you, if

Speaker 1: there's an actor that's that's close but isn't quite right, do you invite them back or do you just, I mean, how close do they have to match your ideal during the

Speaker 2: casting session? Hmm, it's a good question and I would say it depends. It depends on who I'm working for. Again, if we've got a collaborative thing going on and it's close but there's something else, wasn't quite what they were looking for, I might develop it. I always tell actors never get insulted if you're asked to come in for a pre-read because that's my opportunity to coach you a little closer to what I think they are asking me to bring them. And so, you know, again, part of the reason for hiring me is because I can actor speak and get them to a place where it would be appropriate to bring them in for this type of character. We are not the adversaries, we are on your team and we want you to be the best that you can be. And so I love those opportunities of working with an actor who I know they're so close, they're so close. There are times where you just have to be it when you walk in the room and honestly those are times when it's actually a smaller role because the director is not going to have a lot of time to work with you on a set. They need you to come in, they need you to be serviceable, do the three, four, five lines and be done. And so, you know, the smaller roles are sometimes harder even to cast because there's no coaching, there's no finessing a role that's even available to you with timing.

Speaker 1: Well, you're looking at all these different actors, how do you keep everybody in the casting session fresh and not get jaded after about four or

Speaker 2: five people? When you say how do you keep them fresh you mean... From a fresh perspective and... The actors or the producer and director? The producer and director, we're still focusing on them. Okay, so producer, director. Again, in those closed doors, one to two minutes in between each actor. It's also an opportunity for me to speak to them, the people I'm working for, about what's unique about this person. Oh, by the way, just so you know, I saw them do this or they just finished working on that where the character was a little more... And that's my job, to know what they've done, to know, to speak to their experience and to speak to... Oh, by the way, they worked with such and such a director and you know that they like to do a lot of play on set and from what I understand, they were able to keep right up. That's part of what I, my research and what I do. What should the criteria be to invite somebody back to a second audition? Criteria being beyond I felt they fit the position. They need to be easy to work with. I need to know that when I trust them in a production that's going to shoot for 11 days to 11 months, that they are going to be professional always, show up on time. And that's part of the process when you bring them into an audition. Is this person always late when I set them up for an audition? Because that's going to tell me they're always going to be late on the set. And there are some directors that will not have that. And so again, matching the criteria of who they're going to be working with and the environment of the set with where I feel they fit into. Every time that door closes and a director or producer are really interested in that actor, the very first question each and every time, how were they to work with? And again, that's my job to know. And so you got a way out. If they're difficult to work with, but they are just a whiz-bang talent, then you got to tell them that, well, you know, I understand that this and this, but you're going to get it in two takes because they are just... Be easy to work with, be easy to find, are the two areas that are most important to bring into the room with you along with your acting talent.

Speaker 1: This has been an excerpt of a recent Power-Up webinar taking a look at the process of casting and the role of the casting director. For the complete presentation, please visit our store at larryjordan.com slash store and look for webinar 168. By the way, if you need to stretch your training dollars, a membership to our video training library saves you money and time. You can access all of our videos for a low monthly price of only $19.99. That's more than 1,200 movies, hundreds of hours of training, all in-depth and all up-to-date. Plus, members can attend any of our Power-Up webinars for free. Our training covers Apple and Adobe software. We update it every week and for more information visit larryjordan.com slash membership and thanks.