With December fast approaching, we at Reunion headquarters are looking at the last (we hope!) two weeks of our casting process. That being the case, it seemed like as good a time as any to update you all on how that process is being handled.
Because of our micro-budget status, we will be shooting Reunion on a shoestring. Which means we had to make a choice: SAG or no SAG. SAG is the Screen Actors Guild -- the union representing actors. We would have loved to been able to go the SAG route, but the minimums we would have been required to pay actors risked our entire budget. So we decided to go the non-union route and cast a wide net, hoping to discover some excellent local talent that we hope to see turn into household names. And we do very much hope to be able to offer our actors some kind of financial reward for the efforts. The work they do is very hard (and often under appreciated by the average viewer). They allow themselves to go to places emotionally that most of us actively try to avoid -- and they do it on camera! For that we owe them our utmost respect, admiration, sandwiches, cookies, and some greenbacks. How many greenbacks we're able to provide will be in large part determined by how well our current efforts to raise funds go. I can promise lots of sandwiches and cookies though!
ABOUT OUR PROCESS
Our goal entering the casting phase of our pre-production was to see a lot of people. We have a relatively small cast (eight speaking parts, of which three should be considered co-leads). So, our feeling was that by seeing as much talent as possible we should be able to fill our relatively small cast with some great local (Seattle) talent. Most of our casting search has been conducted through Theatre Puget Sound (great site!).
At this point our operation is still small (and spread out -- Seattle, LA, and points in-between) so for our initial audition listing we have asked actors to submit videos for our consideration. These could fall into one of two categories:
1) Submit a video reading sides (script pages provided by us).
2) Submit a link to their reel (a short video featuring representative clips of an actor's onscreen work).
We are asking for videos so we can achieve our goal of seeing a lot of people, without becoming overwhelmed by hordes of hungry actors at in-person auditions. The last day we will accept video submissions is Friday, November 26th. Over the following weekend we will make our final assessments of the received submissions and on Monday (Nov. 29) or Tuesday (Nov. 30) we will contact those actors we'd like to see in person to schedule audition times for Saturday, December 4th. All actors reading that day will be reading for the leads. On Saturday, December 11th we will have callbacks. At that time actors may be asked to read for supporting roles.
It is our hope that we'll be able to begin announcing some casting decisions shortly thereafter. If things go really well (and we've already had A LOT of really talented people contact us) we may even be able to announce our whole cast. That said, if we feel we haven't found the right fit for a part, we will at that time extend our search until we have the right person in every role.
If you, or someone you know, is interested in auditioning, visit our Theatre Puget Sound listing for complete details:
I'll reiterate what was stated above: it is our goal is to finish casting after callbacks on December 11th. However, if we do not find the right match for a character, we are prepared to extend the casting process as needed.
This is your chance to star in a movie. Email us at: reunionproducer@gmail.com to send us a link to your reel or to request sides so you can make an original submission. And remember -- all submissions must be returned to us by the end of the day on Friday, November 26th.
Be seeing you...
