Hey! I have been working in Film for 10+ years as a writer/director also with skills as a producer, casting director, cinematographer, assistant director and editor. I have written 3 Features which have attracted the interest (and commitment to star in) of: Joe Morgan (The Vampire Diaries) Leo Fitzpatrick (Sons of Anarchy) Vincent Gallo (Buffalo 66) Elsa Mollien (Crossing Lines) Paul Anderson (Sherlock Holmes) I have written close to 10 short films which have been shown in International Film Festivals. I´d love to meet anyone in the local area....
Hello Matt, it is great to have you in the Stage 32 community! I'm interested to learn, what was your approach to get those actors attached to your scripts?
Thanks! :) I think a lot came down to timing - Joe hadn´t been cast in TVD & was living in the UK so he actually auditioned :) Elsa Mollien the same but my general approach was that I just contacted their agents with the script then when 1 was interested I would include their name to my email & so on. Also, I literally sent out 100s of emails! There was a bit of luck, Leo F loves travelling so the opportunity to film in the UK was another plus for him. The big issue was getting the first 1 or 2 people to commit as the áre you fully funded?´ question came up & you can sometimes get caught in a catch-22 situation so ocassionally I said yes before I did as I knew, being a 1st time Director, it would be extremely difficult to get finance so that was a choice I made. Though again sometimes you need a little bit of luck & good timing - Paul Anderson had only done 1 recognisable film before he auditioned & now he´s done loads! Hope that helps...not sure if it´s maybe easier to reach European actors - what experience/difficulties have you had?
What an interesting experience you've had. You certainly worked very hard with reaching out to stay in touch with hundreds of people, but you're relatively lucky considering the attachments you received. We talk all the time on Stage 32 about the catch-22 - you need funding to get actors, and you need actors to get funding. You're proof that with hard work and determination anything can happen. I hope people in my network find inspiration on your journey for the attachments. I know the packaging process can certainly be draining for some people. I'd be interested if you want to expand on this a little bit more and turn it into a blog we can run on Stage 32? I really think this is very educational and inspirational. Let me know if you are interested and we can move this to DM.
Hey Amanda, sorry I only just saw this! Yep, would be happy to...drop me a DM & we can take it from there :)
Just sent a DM!