Product Description

A striking piece of work, (The Boston Globe) Casting About is a lyrical documentary that explores the captivating experience of casting actors. Shot from the point of view of indie director Barry J. Hershey, the film organizes audition footage of many actresses trying out for three roles in a dramatic film. By weaving together interviews, monologues, and scene work, Hershey has created an impressionistic collage of the casting experience that exposes the bizarre mating ritual between actor and filmmaker (LA Weekly) while celebrating the unique spirit of the young performers who go through it. In late 2000, Hershey set out to cast actresses for a fiction film that he had co-written and intended to direct. The plan was to incorporate some of the casting footage into the dramatic film. After reviewing more than 70 hours of audition tapes, which captured actresses from Berlin, Boston, Chicago, London, and Los Angeles, a decision was made to shape this rich material into a film of its own. Creating a film about casting fulfilled an idea arising from Hershey s first experience with auditioning at film school more than 20 years earlier. The result is a fascinating and remarkable (Los Angeles Times) documentary that puts the viewer in the filmmaker s seat, where we see the actors at work and learn about their lives, vulnerabilities, and fears. Above all, Casting About moves beyond concepts about the value and power of good acting so essential to the filmmaker s art into universal questions about surface beauty, inner depth, and the double-edged sword of following a dream. (LA Weekly).

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #93638 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-01-08
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 86 minutes

Review
FASCINATING... Leaves us with a keen understanding of how exhilarating a process performing must be. --Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

Review
ELOQUENT... It reveals the mystery, the vulnerability and the power of acting. --The Boston Phoenix

Customer Reviews

Wonderful, Lyrical Documentary about the Art of Auditioning
All Actors should see this as a primer for auditioning on camera.

Dozens of women in multiple cities and countries audition for a film that the director originally intends may include their audition clips, so he films them in DV with better lighting and more time than your typical audition. While the original film is never made, the auditions themselves are so moving and informative that the director and producer decide to release a documentary "starring" the auditioners.

There are some arty moments, including a lovely (but somewhat distracting) "hand ballet," but the bulk of the film is women talking and acting, sometimes very well, other times not so much. The director, producer and editor clearly have favorites, and they get much more screen time than others, but, for the most part, their choices are right on, and the chosen women are riveting to watch on screen.

This will never be a commercial hit, but it can be an invaluable tool for people in the business. I saw it at the Sedona Film Festival in March, 2005, and one of the Actors -- one of the "favorites" -- was there viewing herself for the first time. As educational for her as for the rest of us. There are a couple of recognizable names -- Madchen Amick among them -- but most are unknown and hard-working Actors around the world, striving for their first, or next, gig.