When actors drop out 4 days before shoot time....

R

Robcbh

I was in contact met with an actor that seemed like a cool guy was willing to work with me then bam day after we met hes out, he has some prior engagement he had forgotten about. Does this happen all the time or did i have a shitty pitch or something. To be clear this kid saw everything before hand as far as script and such. So now 4 days before filming and im back at square one. I have put ina ton of work and the filming WILL happen, its just a moral blow.
 
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p38 said:
I had 'real' actors from major TV series wanted to work on some of my projects for no pay, because they liked the project. There are SAG rules and other problems prevented this to happen. It's not about the money, it's about the ART.
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That statement contradicts itself. Why didn't the 'real' actors perform in your film, if it's about the art? Because they're SAG, and they chose the money or the union benefits over your art.

gelder
 
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I've had actors forget to tell me they were out of town until I email them the night before to tell them the most recent schedule. I've had to cancel a few films just because of that, but I try my best not to give up on projects.

My actor for the short I'm filming tomorrow is out of town and didn't tell me until yesterday, luckily he was polite enough to give me that much time. Unfortunately, all the other actors I usually use are buys so I'll by working on my own acting skills and trying to get something worth watching out of it.

haha, if this keeps happening I might just take up an acting career.
 
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nobudgetfilmmaker said:
First day of shooting for my newest film was a disastor because less than 24 hours before the first day of filming one of the main actors dropped out of the movie-leaving me scrambling to rewrite the script.
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From my experience the phrase "If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself" is very relevant to movie making. If you need an actor that will always be there and will do what you're wanting out of their character, be that actor.
 
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nobudgetfilmmaker said:
From my experience the phrase "If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself" is very relevant to movie making. If you need an actor that will always be there and will do what you're wanting out of their character, be that actor.
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You'll learn pretty quickly that that quote isn't a very good one to follow in filmmaking after awhile. At first however, it's absolutely true.

Nobody is ever as dedicated to your project as you are. You learn slowly how to get others interested and/or give up on your ideas and help others with their ideas until you make a name for yourself.
 
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nobudgetfilmmaker said:
From my experience the phrase "If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself" is very relevant to movie making. If you need an actor that will always be there and will do what you're wanting out of their character, be that actor.
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I believe I'm on screen in 5 or 6 different roles in my feature . . . my face isn't always shown or I'm wearing a disguise. I am the most dependable actor in my feature. Of course, I have the advantage of doing take after take (or retake after retake) until I get it right. :)
 
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Couldn't agree more with everything that Gelder said. Agree 200%.

I actually haven't had people flake on me where I had to cancel a shoot. Most of the time, it's because I've worked with the actors already. I did once have one actor tell me at the last moment that he wasn't going to come because he thought that the role was too small for him. In the end, I changed my script and played that part (original part was for a white guy. another white person's brother in the script. I'm brown. The show had to go on somehow).

What I have noticed though is that if I put on my ad a payment for even $50, the quality of actors who send in their headshots go up dramatically. So I'm a believer in payment. If you want to reduce the chance of people flaking, offer payment.

The idea that people do what they do for craft and not for money is a little strange to me. They're not mutually exclusive. I could do what I do for craft AND for money. It doesn't make me less interested in craft. If I have to act in someone else's movie, AND I've already done it a hundred times, then going forward, I'm going to do it for pay. If I've never done it, I might do it for no money since I need to build a reel. But if I have a reel, then I think I'm going to be a little more discerning in how I choose projects. From the actor's perspective, he or she probably rationalizes that "if they pay, they're serious." It's probably not true in all cases, but it's probably true in many. I don't know how actors think. But that's how I would think.

Cheers
 
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p38 said:
--->All people involved in a shoot, doing this for the ART of making a movie.<---
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I sympathize with your sentiment. It would be nice if that were truly the case. But let me ask you this. Who OWNS your movie? If it is truly for the ART, then do you care about ownership? What does the contract say regarding payment if your movie is a hit?

Just curious :)
 
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trueindie said:
I sympathize with your sentiment. It would be nice if that were truly the case. But let me ask you this. Who OWNS your movie? If it is truly for the ART, then do you care about ownership? What does the contract say regarding payment if your movie is a hit?

Just curious :)
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That's why a lot of indie budgets call for partial ownership for all the crew and actors. Doing so (legally) takes their dedication to a whole new level.

I've seen it happen where a crew member might be getting a 0.6% return on future profits and left over budget, but that is enough for him to try everything he can to help the film be seen by more people, make more money, and save money when possible.

Same happens with the talent, they usually want to see what they act in succeed because it brings notoriety to them, but having the ability to get paid if it does well is all the more incentive.

If it's all about the art for you, like it is for me, and profit doesn't motivate you; you have to keep in mind that others might not think the same way. Find as many people as you can with the same mindset, and adjust for those that you need that think differently.
 
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I had the same thing happen to me recently, the lead actor dropped out 3 days before shooting. I tried to get an actor in a smaller part to take the lead role, but we weren't able to make that work. I ended up having to play the part as we couldn't find anyone. I suppose I could have asked a friend to do it, but I didn't want someone without any acting experience in the lead part. I'm not a great or even good actor, but I felt like it was the best option available. And it actually kind of worked out because we had to reshoot some stuff and we probably wouldn't have been able to get the actor back that I had originally cast.
 
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In this t.v show I am doing this one actress dropped out. There are only a few of us performers that are really serious, almost everyone else is late or rarely shows up for rehearsals. Two of us suggested we be like Mad Men and have no rehearsals. But not everyone is on that good of a level acting wise. But one of the actresses got her friend to replace her. We pushed back shooting because they weren't happy with how some the actors were doing.

You should see if the co stars have any friends that can act.
 
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Was this a case of counting your chickens before you met them? Maybe next time audition your actors, let meet them, get to know them, rehearse with them and then by the time it's start to film they will have an emotional investment in the process so will find it harder to pull out?
 
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