From an Actor's Perspective
How the film business process works from an actor’s perspective
To understand how a film works from an actor’s perspective we need to examine the process from the script to screen and the actor’s contribution to the entire process. Here is how the process starts: A potential film script is approved by a production company, but it is by no means finalized at this time. This stage may undergo many alterations and changes. Scripts are constantly being rewritten up to and including the day an actor arrives on set. (much to his/her dismay at times). A Director is then hired by the Producers. It is the producers that arrange financing for the film at this point but in some cases the financing may already be in place. The next step in the process is to hire a casting director to find suitable actors for the roles.
The Casting Director role is to create a breakdown document. The breakdown document is a list of all the characters needed in the film and a short description of each one according to age, gender and type of character. (e.g. “Joe Smith, a forty-year-old male who has seen better days. Principal actor) This simple one line description tells an agent exactly what the producers /director requires to complete the film. The Casting director then sends the Breakdown to Agents who go through their roster (client list) and find suitable actors for each role. The Casting director will then decide who he/she would like to see audition and an invitation to audition will be sent to the actor’s Agent. However, to complicate matters at times these descriptions are not written in stone. Sometimes a director will like an actor’s audition and if the actor does not suit the role, the script will be rewritten to suit the actor. This is a just glimpse what actors experience in the process of making a film. My next week’s column will focus on “You got the part, now what?
Bio
Jim Calarco, a member of ACTRA has most recently appeared in A Masked Saint,Orah, The Captive and the TV series Hard Rock Medical. Formerly a Drama consultant with the Near North Board of Education he retired in 2000 and began working exclusively in film and TV. In 2008 he established North Star Talent with producer Brigitte Kingsley in order to represent Northern Ontario Actors . In the same year he started Real to Reel BG Agency. In 2010 he started Cast North , a film and television casting and audition agency .He is winner of the Quonta Best Actor Award and a Best Actor in a Short Film Award(Belgium) and in 2008 he was inducted into the Northern Entertainers Hall of Recognition .His two most recent shot films that he wrote and directed have won 23 awards internationally. Jim continues to works as both an Actor/Director and Northern Film Consultant.
