So you attached the lead of your movie

Now what?

For loyal readers, the last few weeks have seen a nice little unfolding drama: will I be able to cast this movie I’m directing? And it looks like, now more than ever, the answer is… maybe! Two weeks ago we sent the movie out to a cool male lead. Last week we heard the male lead was into it. This week? The two of us met!

We set a time, Monday 10AM, logged onto zoom, and immediately got into it. We hit it off, both agreed that making a movie with anyone is a giant leap of faith, decided the other person seemed relatively sane, and that we’d probably like working together, and said… “Okay, let’s do this thing!”

This has to be the quickest turnaround I’ve personally ever experienced while trying to attach someone to a movie, and it’s been a nice reminder that… when people do want to do something, things can move pretty quickly, actually!

I cannot name names, and there is still a lot more to be done, but I'm feeling very excited about the prospect of working with this person (and making this movie)!

The process of making a movie is a little bit like building a train while also trying to convince everyone that the train (currently still under construction) is in fact leaving the station momentarily. It’s all a bit of flim flam, and every single extra person you can get in on the con with you is extraordinarily useful. So… we’ve added one more person to our unfolding heist / film production. What happens now?

Great question! We probably are going to try to attach ANOTHER actor. With every element you attach to a movie, the easier it becomes for potential investors to know what the movie is going to be — the scope, the budget, the international sales value (all investors care about is $$$, remember). If you manage to attach a Super VIP Movie Star™, you may be able to get away with just one, but realistically, in today’s oppressively conservative marketplace, the best working advice is to be overprepared.

So we’re on the hunt for the Best Supporting Actor/Actress roles in the film. And because we now have our #1 on the call sheet, we can also utilize that person’s network a bit in how we want to find our other actors. Are there people they know and have worked with? Or people they’ve always wanted to find a way to meet? Then, once we get our additional names, when we have an undeniable “package,” we’ll get to the “ok would any of you be willing to pay for this?” phase.

Good for you Colby but how am I supposed to do this? I know you have agents and produced credits and I do not and so it is different for me!

True… sort of. Every movie is assembled from a collection of people who will hopefully be elevating both the artistry and the value of the project. Start small. Who can help you make the thing you want to make? The key to successful packaging isn’t simply “Well this person is famous and would be valuable for us to have,” it’s “How can we approach someone who may actually want to do it.” Friends of friends are more likely to want to do it than just some random fame-o. Start with your own social network and then extend one degree of separation. Work backwards from where you want to get to. Who do I know who might know X? Can they connect us?

But remember! People don’t just want to do things out of the kindness of their hearts. They want to get something out of it! For actors, can you offer them the chance to be doing something they haven’t quite gotten to do before? A dramatic role for someone who’s mainly done comedy, for example. Or a chance to play against type? Or a chance to lead a movie when they’ve usually been in supporting roles. You can extend this line of thinking to anyone you’re trying to get on board. For producers: have they done this kind of thing before? Might it be exciting to try? Are there $$$ attached? The chance to work with someone exciting? The chance to work somewhere exciting?

Remember, you are not trying to take wild shots in the dark, even when you do have an agent/manager/important producer. Instead you should always be working with “Who do we know?” and then expanding out to “Ok and who do they know?” And the more people you manage to assemble, the wider your collective social circles, and the wider a net you can begin to cast for the rest of the pieces of the puzzle.

That is, in my experience, how you actually catch the fish.

I have to run because I’m on a shoot today but if you’d be interested in more of my thoughts on packaging / puzzling together a movie, let me know in the comments. As annoying as the process can be, I do think the strategy of how to do it is fun to get into.

Have a safe one out there this weekend Hollyweird! And if you’re into this sort of thing, maybe don’t buy anything today?