My attorney has made a few
phone calls to talent agents and has been subjected to less-than-polite
behavior. Rude people in
Hollywood! What a shock! Of course I'm sure the big agencies out
there are inundated with phone calls from every wanna-be filmmaker around the
globe, and that has to be a drain on anyone's good manners, but my magnanimous
attitude isn't going to get the film made. Weeks keep rolling by without much progress. I'm pretty sure this year's window of
opportunity has already been shattered in terms of shooting this spring or
summer, but since I will be most accommodating when it comes to actors'
availability, I will not rule out the possibility of shooting in early
winter. I would need to avoid the
fall - due to the changing of the leaves causing continuity problems - but
after the leaves fall, I'd be willing to shoot. So sitting at my computer, gazing out the window, tapping my
fingertips on the desktop with a combination of frustration and mild
desperation, I try to come up with a plan to move things along. I don't know if the direct approach is
going to work out - that is - having my attorney directly contact the big
talent agencies. Maybe I should
try the Casting Director approach - something I've been considering all along
(I already have money in the budget for a CD.) I Google "Casting Directors," and of course there
is a shit-load of info about CD's.
I start reading articles and forums and become convinced that a CD could
be the answer. CD's have all the
right connections. Agencies are
much more receptive to CD's. CD's
can make it happen. Why didn't I
go with a CD to begin with? Oh,
wait a minute. I don't have any
money yet. I can't pay them to
find talent, but I need talent to get the financing! Catch 22! What
the hell! All I need is a letter
of intent! Is that something they
can do without getting paid? In
exchange for a promise to employ them as the CD if I get the financing? Do they work that way? Am I being totally naive? Only one way to find out. I'll try contacting one CD to see what
kind of response I get. I start
making a list of CD's that might be interested in my project - based on similar
films and budgets. I choose one,
and then I compose an email with all of the pertinent info, and I click
"send." Stay tuned for
further developments!
