I have been hard at work casting my two-minute short for UCLA, and I thought I’d share a bit of wisdom I’ve picked up. I’ve cast short films before, but there are some things I’ve noticed that are working especially well for people.

• Try to call every person that you’re interested in. This is a much more personal way to approach people. Remember that they are working on your film for free, and in a city like Los Angeles, paying for parking for the first audition. Some people tried using the very impersonal “line-up” method on websites like Lacasting.com, nowcasting.com, and breakdownexpress.com, where you send a mass email to everyone scheduling them at random. This proved to produce a lot of no-shows. Respect actors, they have a difficult job.
• Give them clear directions.
• Don’t be fooled by headshots, especially for child-actors.
• Type-casting (looking for specific physical characteristics) will always backfire. If you are looking for a difficult age-group, say over 60, work for it. I have type-cast and regretted it. The first person who looks right for the role may or may not be. Give yourself options.
• Spend some time on your information sheet, which you have actors fill out while waiting. Ask for detailed information. Use full sentences, i.e. instead of “special skills,” put “do you any special skills?” It’s more personable. Also make sure to ask (I didn’t do this) when they are available to rehearse, as well as putting down your shoot date, NOT A SAG PROJECT (if it isn’t a SAG project, but I don’t think those people read this blog.)
• Have an assistant. Someone to call the people in, deal with the inevitable phonecalls about directions, read with the person (although an actor is more ideal for this) and deal with other general issues that are bound to arise. A friend is all that’s necessary, a friend and an actor is ideal.
• Monologues are not terribly helpful, except for breaking the ice. I haven’t learned that much from actor’s monologues.
• Improv can be helpful. But remember that not all actors are skilled improvisers, if you need improv, or use it heavily as a director, look for this.
• Videotape rehearsals, especially if you’re young. Sometimes you will see 5 people you love. It’s easy to forget people, you just see too many, so use the tape as a guide.

Casting Child Actors:

• Children are not adults. This sounds simple, but I certainly forgot. They don’t really care that much about your script. They want energy, excitement, and involvement from you.
• Have props for them to play with.
• Have suckers or stickers to reward them with after the audition. They love it, and deserve a reward for being good.
• Have things to do for them while they wait. Coloring is a good and simple activity.
• You are also casting the parent. If mom or dad seems crazy or very, very involved, take note.
• Games are good. Have the child try to convince your assistant of something. Something that worked well for me was asking them what their favorite animal was, then having them try to convince my associate that they saw that animal on the way to the audition. Unicorns were surprisingly popular. Another possibility is to have them play with a ball and try to convince your associate to play basketball with them. You’re looking for creativity and imagination.
• Interviewing them, even with a cute voice, is not effective. Children are the most honest people in the world. If you are not interesting to them, or confusing, they will not lie to you, and you will see it immediately. Actors need actions to play, and children (at least ones who aren’t shy) are born actors in this regard.
• Don’t shy away from professionalism. Some children will seem very professional. Other children might seem more natural, but you have to ask yourself; “Am I capable, patient, and experienced enough as a director to get a performance from this child?” Go with professionalism in general, it’s what we all strive to be, so we should look for it in others as well as ourselves.

It’s been an interesting experience thus far.