9/21/2011 at 5:31 PM
GotCastAdmin
Posts: 206
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Susan Johnston is a top Hollywood Casting Director and the founder and director of the New Media Film Festival.
1)Please tell us a little about yourself!
My Dad would take me to work with him which involved being on the set of the Great Gatsby as a kid,doing a light show for an Elvis impersonator when I was 13, singing backup and playing tambourine in a country band when I was 11. Mom would take me to see musical performances at an outdoor in-the-round theatre in the summer and vacations to cool Americana places like Cape Cod and Niagra Falls and the grand opening of Disney Florida. I was a Theatre major and dance minor at Rhode Island College with a 3rd in guitar (its why I chose this school, they had all3 of my interests). But, I had to eventually drop out because I was taking too much time off to actually work in films School Ties, Housesitter, Against The Law, The Crucible, Amistad, True Lies, all of these fantastic films shot in RI. After that run, I went to NYU extension Hollywood Film School with Dov Siemens as Professor . . . this inspired me to run out and make a film, Room 32, which won awards and received distribution.
2) When did you realize "this is the business/career for me"?
There was a life altering tragedy that happened when I was 16 that has had a rippling effect. Survival choices made after that time took me out of the Industry for many years. There was a pivotal point in my life when I felt I would experience a similar tragedy experienced when I was 16 and felt if I was going to die, I wanted to at least have tried making a living doing what I thought I was meant to do, participating in the-Entertainment Industry. To me, the Entertainment Industry was Hollywood, CA.
3) Has the audition landscape changed in the recent years?
Oh my, YES. I started out when you received headshots and resumes in envelopes.I would open them, sort them in Non and Union piles, then into above 30 and below 30 and then into the role. Sometimes my entire living room floor (casting at night) or every surface space was taken by a role. My first feature cast had80 roles in it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Then pics went on online and they are about an inch by inch. Challenge is, people don't update their photos. Even if they do,sometimes they don't take old ones out and we don’t get a real idea of what they will look like. The great news is now, with GotCast, I’m seeing them in a video, so I can tell how they "read" on camera.
4) How do you think the audition landscape will change in the future?
Funny, its going to go to the search bar, almost like building your own avatar, yet they will be human. There are many layers to this, and I'd be happy to share in a think tank.
5) What are the best ways to get noticed by a Casting Director?
PROFESSIONALISM. I said that loud  . How you respond, interact, email, contact, engage says a lot about how you will be on set. If you deal with whatever issues come up in your life and continue to expand skills, thoughts, experiences, you become a vast resource of sense memory, understanding, awareness and energy to share.
6) What impresses a casting team about an audition?
Who they are as a person, what they bring to the table.
7) How much do looks come into the casting process, and how often is your mind made up when talent walks through the door?
Looks depend on the story, what is it about. There are times when you can have any ethnicity and there are times when it must be the nationality look of the role for story purposes.
8) What do you think is the best way someone can promote themselves in the entertainment industry?
I’m focusing on actors for this answer. Be Real, have interests other than acting, network, send postcards quarterly, offer to be a reader, offer to check people in. These last two will give you such a great glimpse on how things really work on our side.
9) Do Casting Directors visit personal web-sites of the actors they are auditioning?
Sometimes. It depends. I received 4000 submissions in ONE hour when I was casting a Pepsi Commercial, then there isn't time. I've seen as many as 800 people in one day.
10) What are the most common mistakes made at auditions?
Self Criticism/Sabotage. Example, a woman came in and read for a role, she was great, the second she was done, she said:“I don't know why you brought me in to read, this role is for someone older than me.” The role was for a vampire, why couldn't a vampire be her age?
11) What steps can be taken to make a casting directors job as easy as possible?
Book the audition only if you really plan on going. Do not reschedule. Bring a headshot and resume (stapled). Be prepared, make choices (its an actors job), be nice, go to the mark (not shake everyone's hands), be the role, as if we are filming to send to the lab to go to the big screen. Why not? You have nothing to lose and you moved here to act.
12) On any given casting, about how many people will you audition?
I've seen up to 800, average is 100.
13) When casting, do you normally take"the best available" or do you always find "the one"?
For Dreams Awake-out soon, when the director had his top3 female choices, I asked him if I could have one more week, pro bono, to recast my net as I wasn’t as thrilled as he was with the female choices. He took me up on my offer and we landed the most perfect actress for the role, Erin Gray (Buck Rogers and the 25th Century, SilverSpoons mom).
14) Any last minute tips or reminders for the GotCast community?
You are in the digital age, you must learn what looks good on you and doesn't on camera. Have your video be just enough length, we really don't watch more than what we need to see. So, if it's engaging and/or what we need, we continue, if not, we stop. For hosts, be polished and camera ready, and be you. It’s who we will want to see time and time again. May all your dreams come true.
PS I'm excited that I voted on the Daytime Emmy's this year for casting! Woo Hoo!
Susan's GotCast profile:http://www.gotcast.com/SusanJohnston
For More Information:
http://www.newmediafilmfestival.com/
http://www.susanjohnstoncasting.com/
edited by GotCastAdmin on 9/21/2011
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