#193 Making of "The Third Room" Pt. 2

Making of the Third Room Pt. 2

Craigslist is your friend; when it wants to be...

We were confident in the attractiveness of the project, so I set out to find us an actress to make the crew complete.  Using methods that I utilized before in the making of In Case of Hope; I hit Craigslist.  Matt and I agreed that for this project we would be willing to pay the actress for their time.  Many factors being an unknown; we figured we would need them for at least two days.  Between that and what I already knew, I created an ad in the gigs section that I felt would be attractive to a potential actress.  Two days of paid work and a very short shoot; sounds like a nice prospect if I ever heard one.

Tip 3: Regardless of what you may have heard; Casting in a small town isn't that hard.
While in Chicago I had much greater prospects when I was casting for ICOH, but Chicago is much larger.  Don't be discouraged if your turn out is small.  Every town whether big or small always has someone who aspires to be seen, regardless of the size of the project; and especially if it pay$$.

Once the net was cast all I had to do was wait....

and wait..

and wait...

To my surprise the first version of the add didn't attract any attention.  I think it may have had something to do with what I left out, which were three very important things.

Tip 4: No nudity.
If you are serious about what you are doing and you are just beginning, it might be a little easier to add those two words at the bottom of your ad.  "No Nudity" has more power than you realize. While the juvenile kid in you might snicker and says "boobies" under your breath, the professional knows better and I know you are a professional.  Until you have earned the right or are shooting porn, always clarify that there is no nudity in your beginning projects.  Trust me, you will get much better results; especially if you are shooting on the small indie scale.  Of course if you actress or actor is okay with it, then by all means.

Tip 5: Pay when you have to...but only when you have to.
Don't be afraid to pay someone if you are able to.  If you have a friend who is an actor/actress and they are willing to work for no pay, even if they aren't very good, use them.  Otherwise pay for the talent, when you can.  Try set a price, and make sure that they get paid after the work is done at the end of the day.

So after making a few changes to the ad, I let it loose for another round of waiting.  I suspected that it being the end of winter and with a lot of the local college kids and aspiring actresses all busy we'd be waiting for a while.  Luckily we didn't have to wait for long.

Next time I'll go over Getting the Actress, Casting and The First Rehearsal.