The casting game is changing for actors

We’ve all known how fast casting has changed over the past several years. Actors Access, electronic casting, Cast It and other programs coming into existence.

They were all supposed to make things easier for casting directors to do their job.

But did anyone ever tell actors that it’s making our job harder?

From The Hollywood Reporter:

Like many of today’s top casting directors, Victoria Burrows got her start when personal computers were nonexistent, FedEx was in its infancy, faxes and videotape machines were rare, and black-and-white glossies were everywhere.

“It used to be hard-copy pictures, then sit down and meet an actor,” Burrows says with little nostalgia. “You would just read them and do call-backs.”

It might be hard to fathom for twentysomethings raised on text messaging, but even such free sites as IMDb and YouTube have brought drastic changes to the casting business, according to Marcia Ross, senior vp at Walt Disney Feature Casting.

“People say, ‘Have you heard of such and such actor?’ and I can YouTube or Google them and see their scenes in 10 seconds,” Ross says. “Or I find out about an actor in Mongolia, and within 24 hours I can scan and e-mail the sides to that actor or their representative; then, they can tape themselves in a little room and I can see their audition on my computer.”

Ross’ scenario is not an exaggerated theoretical example.

“We are expected to look at the global market,” Casting Society of America president Gary Zuckerbrod says. “Even when we start doing a television pilot, we’re expected to know the up-and-coming actors in Australia.”

But while technology streamlines the process and broadens the scope for casting directors, it also combines with shifting economic realities and audience tastes to frustrate them creatively. With a multitude of gadgets and games competing for consumers’ shrinking entertainment dollar, Hollywood is pouring more money into fewer high-profile, effects-heavy movies. Desperate to secure these huge investments, studio executives demand an increasingly deep level of cast approval and use audience research to justify their decisions.

“You’d be shocked,” casting director Mindy Marin says. “At some studios, it’s right down to the day player. They say, ‘Let’s put that person in that role because they mean something in the youth quadrant between 15 and 19.’ It’s all about covering your ass, as opposed to doing what our business used to do so well, which is make the best movie.”

Can you believe this? Executives are quibbling over day players now?