The Auditions

I held auditions 4 months before we started shooting Deadly Obsessions. I had originally wanted to shoot sometime in July, but August wound up as a better month for all of us. Before that I looked through hundreds of head shots that were mailed to me after putting a casting notice in Backstage. I found a rehearsal hall in Manhattan near 23rd street, and that's where I held it. My wife, and my father-in-law Sal went with me, and that day we saw a couple of actors. Phyllis set-up a small spread of bagels, and coffee and we began casting early after 9 AM. I had emailed, and/or sent the actors sides of the script. The sides were of two scenes and I was casting for the four main characters. This scene is of Karen Stanion, and Irene Glezos reading. Karen is playing the part of Rebecca, but in the film she plays Lisa. Michelle Verhoeven eventually played Rebecca, and I'll put that audition up next. Since the scene is long I figured I break it up here. I think through this clip you'll see how GOOD the actors really are. Remember this is a cold read, and we all haven't met before. I gave some direction, but not much. More back story of the character then what their individual motivation is. I wanted to include these auditions on the DVD, but I couldn't due to the space of the DVD. If I wanted it I would have to have gone to a larger disk, and that was a lot more money. So it'll live here on-line. This is where I got my first taste of directing real actors, and I LOVED it. What a rush it was, and they brought so much to the film. Hearing the dialogue now I kind of cringe, but in the movie the actors really did refine it, and made it there own. First lesson in directing is stay true to the script, but don't be rigid in your direction. Give the actors some freedom to interpret the lines and make it their own. It'll sound better. I just wish I would have done this more. A bit more rehearsal and we could have done a better job, but time and money were against us. Next time I guess. I shot this with my Hi-8 video camera, and had a tripod, but sometimes I got bored, and wanted to get closer and more intimate with the actors, so sorry for the NYPD Blue cinematography. It did it's job, and I really studied the tapes after. Also I had another lady helping me in casting. Her name is Rebecca Lyttle, and she even auditioned for the part of Monica. I'll show her a bit later. She was a big help, and was my objective eye, and a great sounding board. Hope you enjoy it, and get something out of it.