So many productions go through a re-casting, and we’re not any different. The people originally nominated for the parts were found through word-of-mouth and we thought we’d got it right, as we’d spent a while talking it through with them and the first screening felt good.
But we got it wrong. They weren’t going to carry the film at all as the script is very dialogue-heavy and complex. Things got tricky and we made the difficult decision to re-cast the male parts, as the girls (Jenni Davies & Jenny Quinn) were absolutely fine. Scary thing to do so late on, but it had to be done.
So we put out an advert on the casting website CastingCallPro.com, and within 24hrs had over 800 applications to sort through. We’d been warned that CCP would mean we’d get inundated with unqualified people and nutters (although actors have to pay to subscribe, showing they are serious), but we were pleasantly surprised.
But Alex also screwed up. Big time. Several public investors suggested covering the church hall hire with a small admin fee of 99p/£1.00, which we sent out in our first emails to all the auditionees. Little did we know what a terrible sin this is in the world of acting, even if it might be reasonable in other industries. CastingCallPro went mad – people slagging us off on their message forums and organising an audition boycott, the MD suspended our account for “unethical” behaviour that required legal action, and we had to reverse it with an email saying we wouldn’t charge the 99p or so. It seems the site is a haven for activists who are obsessed that they are being exploited. It ended up with the discussions being closed off with a letter from Mr Producer inviting anyone with an issue with the film to come and debate the whole issue of actor exploitation on camera with him at the audition itself!
On Tuesday 16th June, we did the first round of auditions for the film at Holy Trinity church in Trinity Road (Tooting) that were designed to examine people’s intuitive understanding of the characters and idea before readthroughs and roleplaying, as well as registering extras spotting others for stunt/action work . We started at 2pm and most people were finished by around 6, with a few others dragging on to 7-8ish. Over 500 people turned up in total.
(None of the people who complained turned up to debate the “exploitation” issue.)
Some of the pictures from the day are on Picasa for you to see – if you would like the details of anyone pictured, please send us your details so we can pass them on to the person you want to get in touch with.
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/mrprodteam/AuditionsRoundA16thJune
So despite doing a film that designed to *help* unknown actors and bands, we have been attacked for “exploiting” people, profiteering, being “unethical”, being “unprofessional”, doing auditions solely as a “publicity stunt”, had someone threaten to report us to the “low pay unit” at HMRC for a supposed £6000 fine, and had demands to remove pictures we took because we don’t have permission to use them.
Who said actors were melodramatic and highly strung?
Chloe x
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