I am happy to say that the video auditions were a success.  It worked out perfectly and I highly recommend this approach to other indie filmmakers. There were definitely more pros than cons with this approach.  The only con, for me, was all the emails I had to respond to.  On most days I would spend about two hours a day on emails.  I would respond to all the email that came in over night, when I woke up in the morning and the emails that I received during that day, I would spend another hour responding to later that night.  I would get up in the morning and immediately begin to respond to emails, before I got ready for work, which usually took about an hour.  And then at night, after I got everything situated in my home life, i.e. made dinner for my daughter, went over homework and got her ready for bed, I would do about an hour of emails before I retired for the night.  I would send out some emails during the day, if they only required a short, 2-3 line reply, but most I responded to at night.  And I did that every day and night.

But there were so many pros to this process.  Because I had to pay for the audition rental space out of my own pocket, I wanted to make sure i was getting my money’s worth.  I paid and reserved the rental space for 5 hours.

For the audition I paired up most of the actors.  They were made aware of this beforehand. So, I planned to pair someone that was reading for the role of Alexandria with someone who was reading for the role of Clarissa.  And it was an awesome experience.  The characters that were invited to the second round of auditions were very talented actors and this allowed me to sit back and observe what they could really do with the character in an actually scene from the film.  And I was blown away by a few of them.  It was truly amazing to see my words brought to life, by such talented actors.

So I recommend this method of casting to small independent films.  It allows you to really reach out to a lot of talented people in your area and gives you the opportunity to meet actors that can really help bring your words and vision to life.

These are the steps I took when casting my film.  Feel free to tweak them:

1) Make a list of your characters and determine if they have any distinct features that the actor must have to portray them i.e. ethnicity, height, age range, body type, etc.

2) Make sure you have wifi in your home, so that you will be able to hold the actually auditions.  I gave the auditions the option of using FaceTime or Skype.

3) Post your casting call notice on different Facebook casting groups that are located in your area or that are at least within a reasonable driving distance.  Specify that the actors need to live within a certain distance for casting purposes. This will cut down on the number of emails you will receive from actors who live outside of your casting area.  It will decrease the number, but probably won’t eliminate it completely, because some people are so excited about wanting to be a part of your project that they won’t fully read your post.  Even though I did specify that the actors needed to live in the Chicagoland area, I still received emails from actors in Florida, Georgia, New Jersey and Kentucky.  I even received a post from a gentleman who lived in Spain and another in South America.

4) You can also post on casting websites.  I only posted on websites that allowed be to post for free.  In the posts, I included the basic information for the film.  I gave the title, the longline and the character names and short description.  I put that anyone interest should contact me via email. And I also included that they need to live in the Chicagoland area, for filming purposes.

5) Determine what days and times you want to set aside for your auditions.  For instance, I held my auditions on March 14-15, March 21-22, April 4-5 and April 11-12 12pm-5pm.  I figured each audition would take no more than about 15 minutes, so that’s how I scheduled them.

6) When I got an email from an actor, if they hadn’t included their headshot and resume I would request them.  If they had included them, I would copy and paste an email I had drafted, which told them more about me and the film.  I would also inform them that the film was not yet funded, but that I would be creating a kickstarter campaign to raise the money for the film.  I also told them about the different characters that fit their description and also characters that didn’t have any particular physical requirements.  At the end of the email, I told them that if they were still interested to just email me and we could schedule a time to do the audition.  At this stage, some people wouldn’t respond back.  I’m not sure if it was because the film wasn’t yet funded or because the movie seemed to dark.  The title of the film is a little misleading, but that’s one of the things I like about it.

7) Upon receiving the actor’s next email, I would schedule them.  I usually asked what day they preferred and then i would schedule a time for them on that day.

8) I would send them the sides for one of the characters and ask them to also prepare a monologue.

And that was basically it.  When that date rolled around, we did the auditions. And on April 13, I sent the invitation to the actors who I wanted to see in the second round of auditions.

If you are casting a film in the future, do you think you will use video auditions to cast your film?

An important element in scriptwriting is to develop your character(s) as a whole person(s).  Not just for the plot of the movie, but as a whole human being.  Your character should have a backstory and not just for the hell of it, but because everyone has a backstory.  Everyone has a past.  And for your character to be believable and for the actor to make the character three dimensional, they need a backstory.  This will give you, the director, and the actor an understanding of how the character will react to different situations.  How they will feel about certain people and certain situations.  The director and the actor will probably have better communication on set because they both have a detail understanding of the character’s personality.

So that is just one thing to think about when writing your script.  Give your character(s) a past and a present and the future will play out on the screen.

Thanks for checking out my blog.  Check the archive for past blog posts. Be sure to “Like” and “Share”.

As usual, I have been very busy. And for the most part, things are moving in a very positive direction. One major drawback is that the more hats I put on, i.e. writer, director, producer, location scout, casting director, etc, the less time I seem to have in my day. With a full time job the task isn’t easy. I’ve gotten a few subscribers on my youtube page, which is great. I’ve found a great illustrator to draw up pictures for the new website. I finally figured out how to effectively use Adobe Illustrator and I was able to design the logo image for the website, poster and t-shirt. The image isn’t fully ready for the poster, because I’m going to be adding background detail, but that’s just an additional step. I had been fiddling with that software and that logo for weeks and at times it became very frustrating, but I didn’t give up, and everything ended up working out. And I decided to go ahead and start holding auditions for the film…via video audition.

The thought behind it was that I want to get as much as possible done before the campaign launch. And the actors who are cast can also help to get the word out about the upcoming campaign. I also know that its very frustrating to drive all the way out to a location, just to find out that you aren’t the right fit for a character. And from an indie producer standpoint, it just seems like a more cost effective solution. I do the first round audition via video call from the comfort of my own home and it costs me nothing but time. I can decide if the character has the potential and look to play the character. If I feel that they can bring something to the character, I will be inviting them to the physical location in downtown Chicago, to really show what they can bring. I also plan to partner them up. So someone who is auditioning for Alexandria, will be paired up with someone who is auditioning for Derek, and so on and so forth. This will allow me to see how the actors work with others and their ability to really become the character, in the particular situation of the scene. I am not the first person to do video audition, but I don’t know why more people aren’t doing them, at least for the first round. It just seems more cost effective, from every angle.

And I am also working on the website, which is going to take a few weeks to get up because the illustrator has to do the pictures and I am also creating a landing page. I have so much to do, but honestly I am enjoying every second of it because I am working towards a goal and each step gets me closer to completing it, which is very exciting.

Thanks for checking out my blog and don’t forget to “LIKE” and “SHARE”.

If you read my last blog, Disappointing Website Issue, then you remember the very frustrating ordeal I had with the whole website stuff.  I just walked away from it. I didn’t allow myself to think about it or dwell on my failure, instead I focused my attention on the other work at hand. On Sunday I decided to just use the build a website tool to create a site to help promote my upcoming campaign and film.  The website will focus on the two main characters. I feel like it will be a great opportunity to allow the audience a glimpse into the mind’s of Alexandria and Derek.  Maybe a glimpse into the psyche of the characters will intrigue the audience enough to want to learn more about the them.  As I was developing these characters, it felt like for every step I wrote about their future, a step into their past developed in my mind.  It felt like as I was writing, I was also learning more about the characters and how and why they became who they are. Alexandria and Derek are very complex characters.

I am hoping to have the site up in about a week or two and I will definitely be getting the word out when it launches.  Be sure to stop by my youtube channel.  There you will find links to some of my other social media sites. You can follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.

Until the next blog…

~Rita~

I hit my first obstacle with my website.

I decided a few weeks ago that a website would be a great addition to getting the word out about my film. I decided that I wanted to give it a try and I came across a web designing program called Adobe Edge Animate. I had never actually made anything using software before, but I wanted to give it a try. I downloaded the software and after just a day and a half I had got the hang of the basics. I did several different mock-ups, because I was getting new ideas, but didn’t want to change the ones I had already created. I work 40 hours a week at my day job, but on my breaks I would find a place to be alone and I would work on the site. And I would work on it at home, whenever I needed a break from breaking down my script and doing my storyboards. So it took me about two weeks to get everything together and be completely satisfied with the site. I had also started using Adobe Photoshop. I must say, that Adobe software is awesome to use. I am also using Illustrator for creating storyboards for the film. And no, I don’t have any affiliation to Adobe. I am paying the $50 a month, just like everyone else.

But anyways, back to my issue. I completed the website. I was so happy and excited to get it onto the internet for the world to see. So the next morning, I woke up and started the process of making that happen. I went to goDaddy and purchased a domain name. I also got a hosting package, but when I tried to upload my site, that I had created, it wouldn’t work. And I tried for a while. I got so frustrated that I stopped to take a nap. I am one of those people that if I get overly frustrated, I can’t think as clearly and I have to give my mind a break. So when I came back to work on it…same issue. I finally called goDaddy and the representative told me that that package only included using their templates to create a site. To use my own web design I would have to pay for the $47 package. The price to use their website builder was the $12 for 1 year package, which is a great price, but I didn’t want to use their templates, even if it was free. I had worked so hard on my site, I wanted to use it. So I told her to cancel it.

Early in the day, I had initially went to ipage.com and started the process of purchasing a domain name. But I stopped before I actually purchased it because I wanted to see if i could find another site that offered a lower cost, which I did find at goDaddy, for the domain name anyway. Well…while I was on goDaddy, struggling to get my website up, ipage sent me an email that would give me 3 months for $3 and then i would pay the normal cost of $45. So while I was talking with the representative at goDaddy, I decided to go with ipage because they were gonna be $2 cheaper for the same type of hosting package plus I wouldn’t have to pay that $45 for 3 months.

Then my next issue occurred because, come to find out, I need to use FTP, which stands for File Transfer Protocol, to transfer my website from Adobe Dreamweaver, which is a program that turns your website into HTML and CSS codes, so you can transfer it. I’m not gonna to even attempt to explain it because I obviously don’t know how it truly works, because that is where I hit a wall. I just couldn’t get it to work. So because I have so many other things to do in regards to getting this film made and I had already wasted time on it, I just chocked it up as a lesson learned. I doesn’t actually hurt me or the pre-production process in any way, so I’m ok with it.

I will note that when I called goDaddy to cancel, I got a representative on the line in less than 2 minutes. When I called ipage, I hung up after being on hold for 20 minutes. It was a Saturday night, so maybe a lot of their representatives called off to go celebrate Valentine’s Day, who knows? And maybe I can get the site up, once we are closer to production or while we are in production.

So that’s the problem I had. Don’t forget to stop by my youtube channel, Once We Leave the Garden. There you will find links to all my social media sites.

Thanks for stopping by!

~Rita~

First off, I want to truly thank you for taking the time to stop by and check out my blog.  i have recently completed my first screenplay.  The writing process is not the most glamorous part of creating a film, but it was emotionally gratifying for me.  It allowed me to delve into parts of my psyche that I’d always felt others would judge me on, negatively.  It allowed me to think outside of the box, without judgement.  Now, I know when people see the movie, there will be judgement. But in the secluded environment of writing, it was just me and my thoughts and i truly enjoyed the experience.

It was such an organic experience.  I never forced myself to write.  If I felt like too many days had passed since I worked on the script, i would sit down with my laptop, close my eyes and just release from the world.  But there were times when i tried to release, but I couldn’t, so I’d just close my laptop and go about my day.  But when I was able to release, the words would just flow out of me so naturally, that I was able to complete the script, from concept to “THE END”, in 3 months.  Honestly, I don’t know if that time frame is slow, average, or quick, but when I started I thought it was gonna take a long time.

Now that the script is completed, I am starting the process of getting it funded and directing it.  I will be starting a crowd funding campaign in a few months.  Currently, I am working on different aspects of pre-production.  I am breaking down the script and creating the storyboards simultaneously, expanding my presence via social media, learning about tax credits and permits, shooting options, filmmaker’s insurance…and a large list of other things. There are so many aspects that go into getting a film made, from writing the script all the way to distribution, that if you aren’t mentally ready, you might find yourself in a corner, in the fetal position, sucking your thumb and asking for your mommy.  But I saw everything, my heart skipped a few beats, and now I’ve conjured up the determination of a Spartan soldier.  I am ready for battle.

I will be blogging about my experience during this process.  I will be giving advice and suggestions on things that I think might be useful to another budding writer/producer/director.  And highlighting obstacles that I encounter, so that maybe you, the reader, can leave advice or suggestion in the comments.

So be sure to stop my weekly, for updates on how the process is joining.

~Rita~