CASTING — Filmmaking Advice

A Chapter selection from the Bridgeport Film Club Guidebook

Lance Eliot Adams
Aug 8, 2017 · 3 min read

In the previous Chapter selection, we talked about call backs for your film project.

99% of Directing is casting.

When I go to cast for a short film, a lot of time I’ll have one or two actors in mind for roles I’m trying to fill.

After you’ve gone through the process of auditions and call backs, it’s time to make some serious decisions about your film. If you have a first, second, and third pick for each role, you are in good shape. We’ve been lucky in that most of our films, our first pick accepted the role and they were available to work with us.

We offer to repay time with time. If any of the actors I’ve worked with needs a monologue, edits on their reel, or some additional footage; I am willing to provide my time to help them.

Because of the budgets involved, we offer deferred payments to cast and crew. While they are volunteering their time, deferred payments acknowledge the value of their time. And in the event that the film we make with them makes a profit, we will be able to compensate their time.

Our actors also receive footage for their reel after the film has been distributed. A lot of actors are working to build their resume and build their reel and so they are willing to work without immediate compensation.

After we’ve selected the cast, I usually call the actors we pick. If they answer the phone I tell them we’d like to cast them in the role, I explain deferred compensation, I tell them what we’re willing to provide them from a production standpoint, and I talk about the time frame we’re looking at for production. If the actor accepts, I send a follow up email detailing what we spoke about in the conversation.

If they don’t pick up I leave a voice mail and then email them the offer.

I always follow up important phone calls with an email as a way to document the conversation or voice mail, and in the event they don’t check their voice mail as often as email.

If they say yes, I send them an agreement for review. Everyone on our sets signs a release, a contract, a deal memo, or an agreement.

Once you have crewed up and cast your film, you’re halfway to production. In the next chapter we will talk about the next steps in Pre-production.


Call to Action

Thank you for reading this article. What would you like me to write about next? What questions do you have about filmmaking? Please hit me up in the comments.

Next on Deck!

We’ve realeased our web series Squarehead! Check it out at: vimeo.com/bridgeportfilmclub

Check out our short film: Pooh Bear Bong

Next week we will talk about Finding Locations.

Check out the previous chapter section: CALL BACKS — Filmmaking Advice

Bridgeport Film Club

Like our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/bridgeportfilmclub/

Lance Eliot Adams

Written by

Chicago filmmaker. 20 short films, 100 article posts, 6500 have read my work & I am grateful. For my street cred check out: http://Vimeo.com/bridgeportfilmclub

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade