Husband and I are in the midst of trying to cast our puppet show in LA.
We have cast from remote multiple times for runs in NYC. This is how we did it: We sent out an email to our contacts that we have there (people we went to school with that are in the biz, etc) and requested that they forward it on to other interested parties. From the email responses we received, we conducted phone interviews. Based on our phone conversations, we made our determinations.
This method worked well for us. We got talented, professional people who worked well together and were excited about doing the show. It was a heck of a lot easier and cheaper than trying to go out there to do a live round of auditions or asking people to send us tape.
Between the two of us, we know even MORE people in LA so we were imagining casting to be a piece of cake. We sent out a feeler email several weeks ago before we had specifics and……. (crickets, crickets)
Hrmmm.
Since we got the specifics and sent out another round of emails we’ve been getting a little trickle of response but nowhere near the amount of replies we got in NYC. I think we’ll manage but I was curious as to why there is such a huge difference in the response. Both markets are thick with barely-working actors/performers. Many theories have abounded:
NYC has huge live theatre scene, actors are used to working live (likewise, representation will come to live performances, etc.)
LA peeps want to get tape for their reel, not much benefit to live performance
(likewise) LA peeps want to be SEEN so a puppet show doesn’t appeal
Oddly enough, we have been referred to more people with puppeteering experience in LA, it would be interesting to see how the show benefits from people who know what they’re doing in that respect…..
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3 comments:
Interesting. I know a guy in theater in LA. I wonder if he's interested in this kind of show. He does dance and such. Hmmmm, let me know if you want me to have him contact you.
A number of professionals in my LA networking group are theater sideline people and they have told me that getting people to live theater in LA is much more difficult than in NYC. Maybe this carries over to the performing side as well.
Also, I have people including my partner Frank (who was on the BoD of an edgy theater company) who are interested in seeing the show so be sure to get me the promotional material.
oh goodness. I saw the title and thought you were talking about the US subprime mortgage. This is much cooler, but as I know just about no actors, I am of little use here.
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