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January 2, 2007

It's Quiet... Too Quiet

And I know why. (Click any image to enlarge.)

Within a few hours, agents and managers will hit their offices and start in on follow-up calls for the auditions 250 of their clients had with us before this town shut down at close-of-business on the 15th of December. (Yes, I too am shocked that people weren't working on the 18th, 19th, and 20th... but now I'm prepared that I *may* be wrong about today being busy, as I GET that the industry will take downtime whenever it can... and that could mean that today's Federal Day of Mourning could become an extra holiday for the industry. BUT!! I am prepared, either way.)

If today is light on phones, that gives me time to do some deeply-required organizing (as it looks like I may be taking on another $500K feature film casting gig this month) so that I can really focus as efficiently as possible.

Now... here's the part where I get brave. I think it may be time for me to have another intern. Yes, I already have THE MOST AMAZING INTERN ON THE PLANET, Julie Inmon. She is a rockstar and I will cry, cry, cry when she becomes too busy to help me out one day a week. BUT, 'til then, I will absolutely continue to rely on her for her amazingly happy disposition, joy of learning more about the industry, interest in the "silly little stuff" that has to get done in a casting office, tolerance for my geeky husband and nudgy kitties, and willingness to be here every week in exchange for a bite to eat and a lot of 90210 on in the background.

So... IF I ask a second intern to come onboard, I think it would be best to start out with that person coming on the same day that Julie comes--at first--so that we can get into a groove that everyone is comfortable with, certain that we are all on the same page as to what needs to be done (Casting Wiki updates, filing headshots, purging old files, fielding show invitations, organizing audition sides, categorizing postcards, archiving completed projects, etc.). Yeah... this is the really unglamorous part of it all. It's the part of casting that is NOT reading with actors at auditions, running camera at auditions, signing actors in at auditions, etc. (although I use interns for that stuff too).

BUT--as Julie can tell you--you pretty much get me, providing Self-Management for Actors seminar-like advice to you upon demand while you're here, between phone calls with agents, managers, producers, and directors. (I'll let Julie tell you whether that's worth the trade. I'm sure she's sometimes annoyed with my career advice, after nearly a year of it. Heh heh!)

Okay, so lemme hear from y'all. I'll be "taking applications" for a one-day-a-week (about six hours at a time) internship in Santa Monica starting now (let's say... apply by January 19th). Your application is basically this:

- Name, Contact Info, Whether We've Met Before and Where/When/Through Whom.
- Why you'd like to participate in a casting internship like this at this time.
- What you'd hope to gain from the experience/What you'd hope to provide me with, in terms of organizational brilliance, computer savvy (we're a Mac shop), sense of humor, etc.
- Anything else you think I should know!

Yeah, that's a lot more than Julie had to do to get the gig, but she came first and she rules, so you have a pretty high bar set for you already. ;)

If nothing else, please know that we have a lot of fun. We're very casual, we talk shop and talk trash, and every day is different. I have no requirement as to your GOALS (if you're an actor who just wants to see more of the indie film casting day-to-day stuff, that's fine. If you think you might be an aspiring casting director, that's cool too). I'm totally flexible, schedule-wise, as long as I know you've needed to make a change (for auditions, class, etc.), and I know you're working in exchange for the experience, so I'll always try to make it the best experience possible.

Heck, Julie, if you want to tell people what to expect, that'd be great! I know that one of my goals for the next few weeks is to get everything REALLY well organized (office supplies; non-casting files--like for writing books, columns, etc.; demo tapes--maybe get some of those back to their owners; etc.), so a candidate with a LOVE of shows like neat. would be extra-special, IMO.

Okay, it's getting time to call New York! Happy New Year, everyone!

Posted by bonnie at January 2, 2007 6:53 AM

Comments

Posted by: drc at January 2, 2007 8:40 AM

Posted by: Julie at January 2, 2007 10:59 AM

Posted by: Helen at January 2, 2007 11:03 AM

Posted by: Mary Carlisle at January 2, 2007 5:03 PM

Posted by: Cole Matson at January 4, 2007 3:14 PM

Posted by: Dawn at January 4, 2007 7:05 PM

Posted by: Mary Carlisle at January 5, 2007 8:24 AM