who are the gatekeepers of show business?

there are probably those of you who are reading this who can answer that question, lickety split...then there are those who don't have a clue what that means...
believe me, i had no clue at one point either...

casting directors, whether you like it or not, hold the key to you and/or your child's future in this biz...they are the gatekeepers...now of course, there are those of you that know producers or directors and they will give you a role...but those opportunities are few and far between...

and yes, casting directors are real people...in fact, a few of them are friends of mine...wow, can they really be friends to someone? LOL...i know that many feel that way...and i can understand that...

you or your child walk into a room and there he/she/they sit...ready to decide your future...but honestly, they DON'T decide you or your child's future...the only one that decides that is the actor themselves...

and again, believe it or not, casting people are on YOUR side...they really WANT you to be amazing...okay, enough of that...so what do they actually do?

after being hired for a project, they receive a script so that they can break it down into roles and determine the types of actors that they will need...out of this information, they put out a breakdown (announcement of actors needed)...

they audition actors...sometimes not so many...but sometimes hundreds...

then they choose several potential actors for each role and those are the ones that get "called back" to perform the sides in front of the producers, directors, etc...

even though most of the breakdowns do come out on casting services such as breakdown services... (www.breakdownservices.com) many times, they will call various agents and managers first to see what actors they have for the particular roles...

auditioning for a commercial may only take one day...for a feature film, from several days to several weeks or even more...

remember...casting directors are your child's friend! so are associate casting directors or the office assistants! they are the casting director's of the future! in this field, people tend to have long memories...treat everyone with respect...you never know who will end up giving your child their next job!

have a great day...send a thank you card to some nice casting director~
hugs and out~