Dean D'Agati (dotcom)

This past week has been my busiest yet since being back in New York. I had to do my first Studio project which consisted of being given a script for a short scene, and then recreating that scene inside of the NYU studios. We aren’t allowed to change any of the dialog, but everything else is up to the director to create. I pick the actors. I pick the way the set looks. I pick which cameras are on who and when (we shoot and edit LIVE with three cameras and an insane control room).

I think the best way to explain this week to you though is in parts… and this first post is all about casting.

The best part about going to film school in New York City is the fact that there are literally hundreds and hundreds of actors (good actors!) willing to work for free. The way it works is you go on to a casting website (like mandy.com) and submit a post for the kind of people you are looking for. I needed two female roommates in their 20’s, so I put up a listing, but unfortunately, since I procrastinate everything, I didn’t give people very much time to respond. I got a total of 12 responses, and e-mailed 7 of those 12 to come meet with me in the casting room pictured above (how sick is that!?). 4 of those 7 e-mailed me back saying they’d come, and only TWO showed up. One of them, however, forgot to bring a photo ID, and wasn’t allowed into the building. So really, I only got to audition one person. Greatttt.

I ultimately decided to cast the two people that showed up (What else could I do?). I held the casting call on Monday and needed to shoot on Wednesday at noon, so it was again, very short notice. I was satisfied with the actresses that I got though, and was ready to shoot. Then, on TUESDAY NIGHT, the night before the shoot, I get an e-mail from one of my actresses (the one that actually auditioned on Monday) saying that she got a paying gig and won’t be able to make it to my shoot. SERIOUSLY!? Who does that!? So I frantically, at the last minute, had to find another one. I held my casting call with a friend, and luckily, I was able to get in touch with one of her actresses at 6:30 on Tuesday night, who told me she’d be able to memorize the lines and make it to the shoot on Wednesday.

As it turns out, both actresses did a great job, and one of them is actually going to be on Gossip Girl this Monday! She plays an NYU nerd and even though I don’t actually watch Gossip Girl (no, seriously), I’ll definitely be checking it out this week–and you should too ;)

I’ll post the final project on the NYU Films page and write the “Part 2″ to this blog entry in a few days.

Thanks for reading!

dean Pictures, Text casting, ex2, nyc, nyu, sight and sound studio, studio, tisch