Some of you may have seen the Deadline article(s) that cropped up over the last 2 weeks about a Casting Controversy that started here in my hometown of Atlanta.
The "click bait" TL;DR is that a local Casting office joked about only watching 4 seconds of actor self-tapes. Now, there was more nuance and context to the conversation, but the optics were bad. Really bad.
I put out a video on my YT channel last week about the topic that got some great feedback. A clip from the video was highlighted in a Deadline article last week. Here's the full video I made:
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Side note: anyone know why the thumbnail images are displaying so "squished"? I see it on all the recent posts below. Makes it look less professional...
I'm on a desktop browser.
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Thank you @matthew for the breakdown. It is so true, on social media we see this all the time, especially when it comes to politics. Soimeone will post a 10 second clip of the opposing politician supposedly saying something radical to get headlines. Then the clip blows up and people don't watch the entire interview and the politician has to defend themselves. I get in discussions all the time, and I'm like, "Did you read the actual article or just the headline?" "Did you watch the interview the article is quoting?" And I have also heard Casting Directors talk about this very thing. There is a podcast I listen to called The EB Co. Off Book done by casting director Elizabeth Boykewich who btw has held an AMA on this platform. She interviews other casting directors.And they all say exactly what you said. "make us want to keep watching." "We want to cast you." And sometimes, not getting the part has nothing to do with your acting, Specs change, studio politics, etc. But if they like you they will bring you back for something they think you are right for. And yes, it's their job to cast the part, so why would they not? To touch on what you said in the beginning about actors believing casting is against them, well if someone really believes that , they're right. "whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right." I think it's easier for actors to believe that than to exam what they need to work on. But if you go into an audition believing casting hates you that is the surest way not to get the part. ever. Thank you once again for sharing.
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Suzanne Bronson thanks for that additional insight! And it's worth repeating... regardless of the optics of the video, it really exposed how contentious many actors' views of casting are. We so often feel "cheated", or like there is injustice. While this can be true, a lot of it is a matter of perspective, or a simple lack of knowledge on how things work. Mindset is so important.