Hi Guys,
I'm new to this forum but most likely will be in here for the long haul! I'm an independant screenwriter and producer from Oz. But enough about introductions...I'm really here to talk about my approach to independant film and how you can find out more or get involved in this film yourself by receiving the newsletter I'll be putting together every two months as a way of building up a strong network from grassroots activities.
You can sign up for the newsletter here
One example would be how we have approached the casting for the film teaser. We plan to shoot a 2.5 minute teaser to assist in further government and private financing for the film. But we needed two actors of specific requirements (one approx 17 female and one 50-60 male). No money for casting agents? No problem!
1. Draw up a professional casting brief which includes Film Synopsis, Character Breakdowns, Actor Requirements, What to bring, Casting Times and Location, Map to Venue,
2. Send this casting brief to:
- Online casting websites (In Australia this includes AT2, ecaster, daretoaudition, starnow)
- Actors agents (a full list of their emails can be obtained from the MEAA union website)
- Highschool drama teachers (there are plenty of talented actors who don't have agents - get onto the department of education website and find all the schools in your region)
- Football clubs in the region (this film is about Aussie rules footy, so getting the word out to clubs has provided us with some great talent who know about footy)
- Myspace (via marketing programs)
3. Send everyone to an online casting form. (here is the registration form I put together) Some of the upper tier agents are not used to this and would rather deal direct - this is ok too just as long as you continue to update the actors details yourself with the information they give you. Everyone who fills out the online casting form chooses their preferred timeslot, the character they are auditioning for and all their contact details - plus (for the purposes of reporting - where they found out about the audition)
4. 2 days after sign up, send everyone the audition script to practise with a special thank you letter and some tips on auditioning. This wouldn't be appropriate all the time - but because 90% of those auditioning are between 15-19 years of age, it makes sense to provide this type of guidance without seeming condescending. There are also other issues to deal with when casting is conducted - we have approximately 5% of registrations come from interstate Australia (between 1000 and 3000 miles away from the casting locations). We had to conduct inidividual follow ups with each of those applicants to ensure they were making the right decision in coming and that they understood the casting was for a teaser along - not an entire film. (it is amazing how many people DO NOT read a casting brief properly - all they see are the phrases "Feature Film" and "Paid Work" and then everything else is a blur!!!)
5. Once the day is booked out (within 15 days we had two days booked out and 150 people signed up to audition and we still have two more days to fill which are going fast) send everyone their exact timeslot with a link to a confirmation form. Many, many actors (especially young ones) really want feedback on their performance - but no open casting would ever provide such a thing. Because we needed further funds to produce the teaser, we offered a service of comprehensive notes from the producer and director for $10 and $20 if they wanted an MPEG file of their screentest. 100 people sign up for the service = $1000.
6. On the day we have an entire team with a prescribed process on how the day will run. Logistically timelines are extremely tight (5 mins per audition) so it is important the day runs very smoothly. We have the Producer and Director conducting auditions, a host who takes any emergency calls, greets everyone as they arrive, takes their digital photo, collects their CV's and sends them through for their audition and another casting associate outside conducting ball skills testing. Everyone's responsibilities are outlined and discussed before the day. Image is VERY important. Many of those auditioning are coming from top tier agencies and every report back to the agent must be a positive one to ensure the industry continues to take us seriously.
The newsletter I'm putting together will look and this and many other aspects of an indie feature film project. I live in a country where finding funding for a feature is like drawing blood from a stone - regardless of how good the idea is. I live in a country where 200 million in production was lost just because the US and UK don't happen to be shooting any major film projects at the moment. I live in a country where most of the talented directors, writers, producers and actors work outside of Australia because there is simply no regular work for them here. I live in a country where most of the film funding you get comes from the government who favours low budget films (1-2 million). Contending with this type of environment can be difficult but it also helps film makers to come up with very creative and distinctive ways of marketing and producing film. This is what the journey is all about - and it's why I'd like to share it with the rest of the world if anyone is interested enough to listen
Sign up to the Girls Can't Kick Feature Film Newsletter here
I'm new to this forum but most likely will be in here for the long haul! I'm an independant screenwriter and producer from Oz. But enough about introductions...I'm really here to talk about my approach to independant film and how you can find out more or get involved in this film yourself by receiving the newsletter I'll be putting together every two months as a way of building up a strong network from grassroots activities.
You can sign up for the newsletter here
One example would be how we have approached the casting for the film teaser. We plan to shoot a 2.5 minute teaser to assist in further government and private financing for the film. But we needed two actors of specific requirements (one approx 17 female and one 50-60 male). No money for casting agents? No problem!
1. Draw up a professional casting brief which includes Film Synopsis, Character Breakdowns, Actor Requirements, What to bring, Casting Times and Location, Map to Venue,
2. Send this casting brief to:
- Online casting websites (In Australia this includes AT2, ecaster, daretoaudition, starnow)
- Actors agents (a full list of their emails can be obtained from the MEAA union website)
- Highschool drama teachers (there are plenty of talented actors who don't have agents - get onto the department of education website and find all the schools in your region)
- Football clubs in the region (this film is about Aussie rules footy, so getting the word out to clubs has provided us with some great talent who know about footy)
- Myspace (via marketing programs)
3. Send everyone to an online casting form. (here is the registration form I put together) Some of the upper tier agents are not used to this and would rather deal direct - this is ok too just as long as you continue to update the actors details yourself with the information they give you. Everyone who fills out the online casting form chooses their preferred timeslot, the character they are auditioning for and all their contact details - plus (for the purposes of reporting - where they found out about the audition)
4. 2 days after sign up, send everyone the audition script to practise with a special thank you letter and some tips on auditioning. This wouldn't be appropriate all the time - but because 90% of those auditioning are between 15-19 years of age, it makes sense to provide this type of guidance without seeming condescending. There are also other issues to deal with when casting is conducted - we have approximately 5% of registrations come from interstate Australia (between 1000 and 3000 miles away from the casting locations). We had to conduct inidividual follow ups with each of those applicants to ensure they were making the right decision in coming and that they understood the casting was for a teaser along - not an entire film. (it is amazing how many people DO NOT read a casting brief properly - all they see are the phrases "Feature Film" and "Paid Work" and then everything else is a blur!!!)
5. Once the day is booked out (within 15 days we had two days booked out and 150 people signed up to audition and we still have two more days to fill which are going fast) send everyone their exact timeslot with a link to a confirmation form. Many, many actors (especially young ones) really want feedback on their performance - but no open casting would ever provide such a thing. Because we needed further funds to produce the teaser, we offered a service of comprehensive notes from the producer and director for $10 and $20 if they wanted an MPEG file of their screentest. 100 people sign up for the service = $1000.
6. On the day we have an entire team with a prescribed process on how the day will run. Logistically timelines are extremely tight (5 mins per audition) so it is important the day runs very smoothly. We have the Producer and Director conducting auditions, a host who takes any emergency calls, greets everyone as they arrive, takes their digital photo, collects their CV's and sends them through for their audition and another casting associate outside conducting ball skills testing. Everyone's responsibilities are outlined and discussed before the day. Image is VERY important. Many of those auditioning are coming from top tier agencies and every report back to the agent must be a positive one to ensure the industry continues to take us seriously.
The newsletter I'm putting together will look and this and many other aspects of an indie feature film project. I live in a country where finding funding for a feature is like drawing blood from a stone - regardless of how good the idea is. I live in a country where 200 million in production was lost just because the US and UK don't happen to be shooting any major film projects at the moment. I live in a country where most of the talented directors, writers, producers and actors work outside of Australia because there is simply no regular work for them here. I live in a country where most of the film funding you get comes from the government who favours low budget films (1-2 million). Contending with this type of environment can be difficult but it also helps film makers to come up with very creative and distinctive ways of marketing and producing film. This is what the journey is all about - and it's why I'd like to share it with the rest of the world if anyone is interested enough to listen
Sign up to the Girls Can't Kick Feature Film Newsletter here
