Wednesday, 29 May 2013

Gathering My Cast



As I previously stated I would use the “starnow” website to recruit my actors for the piece, I was nervous about getting myself out there but it was a process which I must commence with. Instead of searching on people profiles individually I decide to sign up and make an advertisement for an audition, I wanted to present myself as professionally as possible, below is the link to the advert I made for “Starnow”.

I waited a couple of weeks for a response if I was to get any at all, luckily I did. One of the responses came from a Peter Quinn who I had worked with on a previous project so I knew what to expect when it came to performance and professionalism. However I was slightly uncertain to offer him the role as the Stepdad seeing as it is a short role and I wouldn’t want him to believe I am wasting his time. But after some time to think I knew I had more to offer him if he would accept both roles, I will go over what I offered him when it comes closer to the time. 

I got two responses for young actors to play the character “Luke”, I was delighted to see the responses from them, and the boys were called Ryan & Curtis. I wasn’t too keen on the idea of using Ryan as he didn’t quite fit the criteria and the fact that he had recently been working with other members of the media group I thought it would come off as lazy to use him. Now Curtis did really appeal to me, he fit the criteria and from some of the work I had watched him in was really good. Also whilst I had a meeting with Peter Quinn he mentioned previously working with him and how he enjoyed his performance, so I decided to arrange a meeting with Curtis.

Now when I it came to recruiting for the character Tom, I was very nervous about whoever acted as him as he is the main character and is a dear one to me. This character has some quirks and similarities to friends and family of mine which makes Tom my own creation. However I may have expected too much from people when it came to playing this character as only one person responded; Phillip Stapleton.  From looking at his profile picture I wasn’t too sure about using him, but once I looked over his profile more I was encouraged to meeting with him.  

I was very nervous to meet Phillip and Curtis as they are both people I don’t know and are pitching to them my idea. I arranged to meet both of them at Costa as it was close by and it would allow all of us to feel more comfortable in a relaxing environment. I had my meeting with Phillip first which I think I rushed as I was clearly nervous but kept in a professional manner, he was very happy to be a part of the project as he said the story appealed to him. My following meeting with Curtis did go a lot smoother as I knew what I had to improve on, I did spend most of the time talking to the mother as she would be the one to arrange his current schedule. I originally planned to record at a weekend so that the child actor would more likely be available but Curtis’s weekend for the next couple weeks were pretty hectic but would be available during the week; best days are a Monday and Tuesday.

Unfortunately I didn’t get any response for an actress to play the female protagonist, this did cause some concern for me as it is quite an important character to further develop Tom & Luke. Whilst considering what to do, I thought about using my mum to play the mother but I would rather someone outside the family getting involved in acting. However I thought of a woman called Heather Ashton Rowell, who I had worked with before and know personally through her son. I asked her for a quick meeting about being involved; once we met she was more than happy to do it as long I returned the favour on a project she will be in charge of later.

Now I have got my cast I will begin rearranging the schedule again to fit everyone’s needs and will arrange to have some rehearsal time....I feel good about this now meeting all the actors/actress.

No comments:

Post a Comment