Filmmaking- Cassidy and Evan Casting

The final two characters to cast for the commercial are Evan and Cassidy age 25-30. Before casting the children and the teenagers for the younger roles, it was difficult starting to look for actors for this role as we had no idea what they needed to look like. We are now in a better position to start casting these roles and must do so quickly to keep in plan with our shooting schedule. Me and my producers Simon and Dan have started looking for these actors, Dan has put out a casting call on the website Star Now and Simon has placed a post on the Four Bridges Facebook page to see if any local talent is interested.

A few days passed by and we began to receive a couple of responses on Star Now but the actors who responded were not exactly fitting to the specification we put out. The actors we heard from didn't suit the role or fit in with the actors we had already cast so I began to start searching Star Now for any local actors and actresses that look similar and well suited to the role. Instantly I found a few actresses who would be great for the role of Cassidy age 25-30.

                                      Lauren Scott- Actor, Model and Dancer from Newcastle                                     

Photo of Lauren Scott- Star Now Profile Picture-
Credit to Kathryn Gribben Photography 

Hayley McKay- Actor and Musician from Newcastle

Photo of Hayley McKay- Star Now Profile Picture
Credit to Hayley McKay

Jacqueline Davis- Actor and Model from Newcastle

Photo of Jacqueline Davis - Star Now Profile Picture
Self Portrait, Credit to Jacqueline Davis

These were the top three actresses for the role of Cassidy so I messaged each one to see if they would be interested in playing the role in the commercial and if they would be available for the shoot. I got responses back from all of them quite quickly and Lauren and Hayley both should interest in the role but were unable to make the shoot date as they were already busy and due to our short notice. Jacqueline was both interested and available to shoot so we sent over her the script and some documents and organised the shoot with her participation. 

As for casting the role of Evan age 25-30 I had very little look when it came to searching on Star Now for male actors local to our shoot. We were able to find one actor who looked similar and a little appropriate for the role but when we contacted him by phone he was already busy on the day we were shooting but was interested and asked to contact him if we have any of roles suitable for him. Due to leaving the casting process for these two characters too late, we decided to use our fellow student and runner for our shoot, Drew Brockbank to play the role of Evan age 25-30. We understand it will be a challenge to get an audience to believe he is a continuation of Conor and Lewis's portrayal of Evan but hopefully we can get away with hiding Drew's long hair and having people take into account how much change people can go through. Because he will be playing a more mature and aged Evan and due to the commercial been only 30 seconds, we're hoping people will buy the portrayal. This is a serious lesson in time management and allowing yourself enough time to cast your actors before the shoot.