Dream Casting

So, here I am, all set to move forward with the romantic comedy script when life has other plans. An old friend interested me in turning one of my old plays into a very small movie. Budgets were made, schedules were blocked out, vodka companies were contacted about product placement, but then it all changed over night.

An actor I sort of knew from a long time ago, who was a major TV star in his time, got a hold of the script based on my play and liked it. He actually would be great in the lead role and no real changes would need to be made to accommodate him. He did have a few suggestion for tweaks, but these were film maker suggestions (as he had directed a feature before as well) and not those pain the ass actorly suggestion you normally get.

Although I’ll drop a name at the drop of a hat, he will remain nameless for now because no deals have been signed and I don’t want to scotch things up. Let me say this though, he’s got that certain charm that some actors have, to be able to pull off a role that may not be the most likeable character you come across. The anti-Seth Rogan as it were.

Rogan’s new movie OBSERVE AND REPORT is a text book example of why all lead characters must have some sort of redeeming quality, or the actor playing him must leak charisma out of his gills to make the part work. Rogan’s character had nothing in him to like and Rogan himself is pretty much a zero if you’re not stone, so OBSERVE AND REPORT became a painfully long experience.

So anyway, now old budgets are throw out the window, schedules scrapped and owner of vodka company suddenly knows an actress who would love a chance to audition. Now that we’re talking about kicking the budget up a few notches, but still not serious money; I feel it is time for me to step away from producing end of things and bring in a guy I’ve been trying to find a project to do with for four or five years.

Again, we’ve signed no deals, so no names will be mentioned at this point.
I was of the opinion that I could still make this pig for under $200,000 so we’d still qualify for a SAG Low Budget contract, but my producer friend thinks not only does the film need a bigger budget than that, but that he can raise the funds. I’ve already stepped away from the producer’s table, so who am I to argue.

Of course it would be nice if we could pencil into the budget some way for me to walk away from the film when it is done with a brand new Red Camera, but hey, that’s just a $17,000 suggestion.
What happens to project when a ‘name’ actor shows interest is interesting in itself. Now all the sudden you start ‘dream casting’ the other part. A Fantasy Film League, as it were. Steve Carrell would be perfect for the second lead, and he just lives down the street from me, so I send him a note.

Academy Award winner Chris Cooper would be perfect as the heavy. I performed at a couple of fund raisers for his Jessie Cooper Foundation and his wife Maryanne is really nice person, so I sent him a note.

My new producer suggested Evan Rachel Wood for the female lead. I really liked her in THE UP SIDE OF ANGER, LIFE BEFORE HER EYES and the 35 minutes of ACROSS THE UNIVERSE that I could stand to sit through, so; although she doesn’t live near me and I don’t recall ever having spoken to her before, I’ll have to try to get in touch with her too. Why not?

There is another part that would be perfect for my old friend Patty Ross. I’ve got her phone number around here somewhere, so once when have a shooting schedule, calls will be made.
See, it’s easy to cast a motion picture. Of course, I haven’t heard back from Carrell or Cooper yet, and still haven’t talked to Wood, but I found Patty’s number. That’s a start.

I did email and old friend that runs a casting agency to find out what it cost to run auditions in Boston for 10 characters. She gave me the ballpark and after I pulled my jaw back off the floor, I told her I’d pass the numbers along to my producer.

But she also told me something that depressed the hell out of me. She said it has been her experience that I’d still have to do some of the casting out of New York if I wanted the best cast I could get. I refuse to believe there isn’t enough home grown, natural talent in the Boston area to cast this movie, even if Carrell and Cooper let me down.

In fact, I vow right now to only cast ‘Boston Actors’ in this film, just to prove it can be done… With the exception of Evan Rachel Wood. She gets grandfathered in because her name was brought up before I got on my high horse… And I want my friend Jack, who lives in New York to be in it because he taught most everything I know about acting, for good or bad…. But that’s it.
Now I’m running through my mind all the actors I know from around here. This could be hard, but not impossible. In fact, I’ll put a call into Mike O’Malley right now. He’s Hollywood these days, but still a local boy at heart. He’s be great in one of the parts… Damn, voice mail. I’ll try again later.

Because I’m still trying to keep this as skin and bones on the budget as I can, it was written to be shot at two major locations. Tomorrow I’ll head out to Plymouth, MA to scout those locations.
Allegedly they are going to build some huge film studio in Plymouth in a couple of years. I’ve seen THE MUSIC MAN once too often to actually buy into that, but it has got the area thinking that they are going to become Hollywood East, and so right now they are very friendly to film makers. This will all change once they’ve been burnt once or twice by scum bag production managers, but right now it clean slate.

I’ll let you know how that turns out.