And ideally testing how they will perform when in front of a camera in that role. Will they bring it to life and be able to add the right little touches to turn a character into a person? As well as hopefully bring something more to take them beyond what the script calls for?

We have spaces in San Francisco and San Jose, as well as our studio in Santa Cruz, held specifically for casting calls.  That way we don’t have to ask a potential talent to travel 50 miles to take their chances at being picked from a call. These are great facilities to have on call, and make life easier for everyone (and can also be used for meetings, but not usually production).

We cast people based on how we envisage the character developing (often we don’t have a script when we cast for corporates and small gigs).  Initially this is by scanning through actors and presenters we have worked with before.  Then adding in suggestions from our key crew people (sound recordists, in particular, tend to know the talent they have worked with intimately). Then suggestions from talent agencies and other specialists. Finally we go out to the acting community through part postings for open calls, or to other communities, such as comedy clubs, if we are looking for a particular type of  talent.

As with everything that we do, we try to work very closely with our clients at every stage of this process. Where that is either not possible or not considered desirable, then we make sure that we provide appropriate feedback before jumping to decisions.