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Joseph Middleton - A Day in the Life
The best way for me to explain what I do is to take you through one of my days. But before I do this, I want to give you a little background. Studios sometimes choose to send out casting work to an independent company like mine. I read their scripts and generate work for my own company. I have three people working for me: 2 assistants and an associate. We go out and meet with people on movies, and then are asked to read or do their movies. We decide if we have vision for it and/or it's something we want to work on. It could be for a studio movie (which "Stolen Summer" was) or it can be an independent film like "Cherish," a movie that's going to Sundance this year that I did with Robin Tunney, Tim Blake Nelson and director Finn Taylor.
First, I'm going to get up and feed my dog. Then I'm going to get some coffee and then more coffee. As a casting director, I drink a lot of coffee.
Now I'm in my car. I've already had two phone calls about my day. One of them is regarding an independent film to which I'm basically just attaching four names. It's going to shoot in Berlin for four weeks so it has become all about the "name game." This game involves a list of who they liked for the role plus the money people asking who is the biggest name we can get to help sell the film to the foreign distributors. They give me these names that, in most cases, are never right for the role. So, you know, you get the Chris Klein plays fireman from New Jersey and that's the kind of package the financial people would like to put together. I have to fight that and try to find someone who means something to the finance people and at the same time artistically works for the film in a believable way.
Finally, I get to the office and make a list of actors for the independent that will hopefully mean a little something to the money people. I think of someone like Mark Ruffalo but I know he will not be good enough for the finance guys because he has only been in one movie. I have to think of some other names for that role. Next, it's on to the phone calls. Usually when I get in, there are 15-20 phone calls from agents that need returning.
Agents are people who represent actors and they call me and ask, "Would you read this person for this role?" If I've read them they ask, "What did you think of them? Are they in the mix? Where are they in the mix? How can I get my client this job?" They are your best friends until you say, "You know what, we're interested in Juliette Lewis for the role." Then all of a sudden they say, "Great. Thank you very much. Just give us the offer."
Once a casting director gives an offer, it's like we suddenly turn into a lawyer or an enemy. We seem to be standing in the way of what an agent wants for their client. Here is how it really works. We have a certain amount of money to pay an actor and we have only a certain number amount of single card spaces. Let me digress for a moment to explain what I mean by card spaces. It's the billing at the front of a movie. Some people get billing by themselves and some people get billing with a shared card. This means that it has more than one actor on it. Doesn't seem like a big deal? It is! These are all things that I negotiate with an agent for their actor and it can get kind of testy. I'm going to do that today, while trying to make sure I am within the budget. The A, B, and C Producers give me a budget and a schedule and I need to make it work. I can't go over my budget. This is how the day begins.
Skip to 1500 calls later, we're trying to figure out exactly how to negotiate and bring the actors in. Think of it this way: it's like juggling 15 balls at one time. As a casting director, you're answering phone calls, auditioning, and reading those actors. The actors' agents who you called to set up the actors are now calling to find out how the actors did. At the same time you're looking at your director to make decisions and trying to set-up your next day. At the same time, you have to go home, read scripts and try to get a job so you can keep working.
Now I'm off to attend a production meeting for the movie "Old School." It's a DreamWorks movie that I've been working on for three months with which I am almost finished. A production meeting is when everybody from each department comes together and we talk about where we're at and what's happening. We start to shoot in four weeks so they are all going to look at me and say, "Where are all the actors and why haven't we signed and done the deals?" I'm going to look at the director and say, "Because he won't make up his mind."
I sat for two hours in that production meeting, which was disastrous. Now I am making a list for a meeting I have later at Goldie Hawn's house to pitch a movie to her. Let's flashback to last night for a moment. I read a script that her company sent me. She directed "Hope" (besides being Goldie Hawn) and is directing another movie that I really liked. They are going to call me today and ask me what I thought, so I'm going to have to have some ideas. How do I get my ideas? It's like reading a novel whose lead character is Carol and all of a sudden in your mind you start seeing exactly what Carol looks like. The only difference is that when I think of Carol, and what she looks like to me, she can come in very different faces. It can be Winona Ryder for one minute and then I'm off Winona Ryder. It could be Minnie Driver the next and it could be Ellen Pompeo the next. I bet you don't know who Ellen Pompeo is, but you will!
Let's break it down: You walk in. You read a script. You think of the characters, you write down the names. Then you call the agents and let them give you names. Then you call-in those actors, and they read. You try to pick an actor out of the hundreds that you read for the 52 roles in "Old School." Then, there are seven major roles in the movie that I'm pitching to Goldie tonight. And then you're trying to get a decision process started on them. Next you negotiate, which means you make the deal for them. This involves negotiating how much money, how long they work and their billing. Then you start the whole process all over again. That's my job.
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