Actors...what are you gonna do with em'

How old are you? I'm 13, so when i tell someone i'm making a short movie they look at me like i'm just joking or i'm never gonna actually do it...

I am 34 and got those same looks...I'm currently 98% through principal photography...just do it, always know that it's real...people who are good for the production will be excited about it like you are.

Yeah...my friends are always excited when i get a new idea. in a couple of weeks we're gonna go out camping in my friend's backyard (65 acres) and make a blair witch project/texas chainsaw massacre thing overnight.

We're almost done editing out first DV feature and have had plenty of experience with flakey actors... we recast one roll 4 times with the last actress getting cast the day of (and the shoot started at 8am) We had another guy who was late call to tell us he was five minutes away but he still never showed up and never called back.

For auditions... we cast pretty much everyone who showed up... we had a lot of people express interest who were "in LA but from the area so will be able to show up" but NONE sent in demo reels... one even sent an email linking to her blog (bad idea) where she complained about not getting roles...

At the very end we werre rerecording dialogue and one of the supporting actresses refused to schedule a day... so we pretty much cut her after she already put in 90% of the effort.

Helpful audition tips:

1. Always make the announcement as well in advance of the audition date as you can, actors are VERY busy people (the ones you want anyway..)
2. Have someone sitting outside the audition room the entire time to greet actors as they arrive and help them get paperwork in order (I always provide sides the day of auditions, just prior to their scheduled time, also have each one fill out release forms at that time.. one less thing to do later if/when they are cast.)
3. Videotape every audition! Those you like in person may not be as good on camera, and vice-versa.
4. If you are torn between a couple actors, give them a callback audition, not only does it make decision making easier, it can help see the commitment level of your actors (don't abuse this solely to test commitment though...)
5. Give yourself a day after auditioning before you review the tapes, and then make your decisions/call back arrangements ASAP (don't want to miss out on the perfect actor because they're schedule gets filled while waiting to hear from you.)
6. Finally, you don't HAVE to inform everyone you are not casting, that courtesy however is typically appreciated and it SHOULD be done for anyone involved in callbacks.

Keeping actors motivated and committed to the project:

Well this is a whole other beast, but here's a few tips that should help.

1. If someone isn't genuinely interested (ie: hungry to work on it or similar) they can and likely will flake on you.
2. If you fail to provide the actors with a decent comfort level (food, breaks, rehearsal time, etc) they will probably flake out, and if they don't most likely won't want to work with you again.
3. Many actors are very self involved (don't take this personally actors.. ) Be sure that either you personally or someone on the production team does their best to meet the actors needs and handle questions and concerns quickly and professionally. Otherwise... well you'll lose them, or deal with mr./ms. disgruntled actor (never a fun time)

Hope that helps somewhat.. just remember, when it comes down to it, get the best people you can afford (that doesn't necessarily mean money!), treat them well, and get the ESSENTIAL shots. inserts and the like can always be picked up and/or cheated with someone elses hands, etc. Also put forth the very best effort to get quality DURING production. Too many times people say "ahh.. we'll fix it in post" don't rely on editing magic and ADR, get the best audio you can while on set, and get the shots.

Another thing to keep in mind is scheduling. Film scheduling is always a daunting task, as typically (especially with small or inexperienced crews) everything is notoriously behind schedule. Do the best you can to stay on schedule and try to schedule scenes so that actors don't have to sit around for too long without being on camera. Everyone is guilty of this at some point in their career, I myself didn't put enough forethought into the schedule for the last project I worked on, and ended up with an actor sitting on set bored and annoyed for about 6 hours before we shot anything with him. Thank god he wasn't union, and that we had an extensive craft services setup!

When it's all working right, filmmaking is what it should be, fun. Delegate work, that is why you have a crew, and while everything is serious and tense much of the time.. don't loose sight of the fact that making movies is above all else a really great and fun way to spend a day/week/month/year/etc...

Good Luck!



EDIT: Just thought of one other note...

It would be wise to put something in writing that contractually obligates your talent to at least one ADR session, to save headaches like the one zek mentioned. Something along these lines:

"The actor also agrees to be available after completion of principle photography, throughout the post production process, for any additional reshoot or audio session, and additional promotional photography and/or appearances."

That's off the top of my head, but something conveying that general info would be a nice addition to a performance contract.