Tips on finding cast and crew in your area?

Hi, I'm not really posting for cast here since the chances of finding people in my area on an international board are pretty slim (uhm, if you're reading this and you DO live in the Toronto area, and might be interested in helping out, please do let me know), so my question is, does anyone have any good tips on finding people for fan films? I posted on the FF in my area, and I did get a couple good responses of people I look forward to working with, but not enough to make the film possible. How do you find the cast and crew for a fanfilm you need? Or, how do you find ways to work with what Fan Force does have to offer, if there are no other places to look for crew?

 

I would start with the Cast and Crew Database.

 

I wouldn't. Everyone on there claims they can do anything.

Try craigslist.com and mandy.com

 

Or simply write a film based on what you HAVE got.

 

Use Craigslist.com Mandy.com and also go to local high schools and colleges and post flyers.

 

That's really a shame if it's come to that.

That certainly was not the intention of the site from the onset...

 

From experience, there are quite a few people in the Southern Ontario/Western & Central New York area on these boards. I should know. Key Pixel started with a similar situation on these boards. You should post your information here and see what you can find.

Also, colleges and universities are a big one. Look for schools with theatre and film departments, and post some info there. You will always find a few eager people that way.

 

make friends in your area, let them know about your film. You'd be surprised how many people would love to be in something, or even help out. Mentioning that it is a Star Wars film is actually a good selling point, from experience people are instantly fascinated if you mention Star Wars.

 

This is the internet. Anyone can do anything, and be well endowed while doing it.

Craigslist.com and mandy.com are just as susceptible to those evil-doers. It doesn't hurt to try all avenues. Once you have a conversation with one of the parties, you should be able to figure out if they're legitimate or not.

 

I know, man, it wasn't a personal jab. It's a really good idea. Maybe if you limited people to picking say, the top 3 things or so they are good at, it'll fix it. It could work, it just needs to be tweaked.

It is the internet, but so far on sites where I've advertised (mandy, craigslist) applicants send resumes, so I can see what their experience is.

 

Oh, it's cool. I didn't take it as a personal shot.

[image=http://www.durbnpoisn.com/images/faces/IGNHijack.gif]

I've actually been thinking it's time to make some upgrades to that site anyway. You know, now that I finally have FTP access again! (Thanks to Philip Wise for getting that worked out for me.)

I notice this much... I'm still getting submissions both for new people and new films. At least a few every week. Not only that, but traffic-wise, the CCDB gets more traffic than my entire site combined. Even more than the cloning tutorial (which is still pretty heavy).
So, I can't see that the project is a failure. It just needs a little push right about now.

I'm thinking, for starters, maybe a means of filtering a nice list of possible candidates and giving the ability to email them all at once. This, as opposed to the way it is now, where you'd have to email each person individually.
It seems to me that it would be better to hit up 50 people and get 2 responses, than hit up 10, get tired of it, and get no responses.


In the end, the resource was created to help people like the guy who started this thread. And like to see it continue in that role.

 

Yeah, that's a great idea, for starters, that email thing always bothered me a bit. Another thing, if I may make a suggestion, would be to be able to put picture's on your profile page, for filmmakers they could have screenshots, actors could have headshots, artists could have examples, etc.

 

I second that. There should also be a some sort of online Resume that they would have to fill out when they input themselves into the database. That way, you can see what they have done previously if it matters to you.

 

FanForce may be able to help out as well

 

She's already met the KP crew at Polaris SG: Hades preview.

Finding bodies is just jut plain legwork: put up fliers at university and college campuses, comic book stores, the cooler video stores. Most theatres have bulletin boards both of the cork and of the electronic varieties. A cool website can help sometimes, but a clear vision helps more. Trick with these kind of folks is that, having never met them it?s tough to gauge how reliable they are. It?s a common problem where you schedule 3 people? only two will show up. Few people will take your film as a high priority. The challenge is finding people that are reliable that you can synch up with creatively. There?s no magic formula for that.

? well? There is one kind of advice but it diverges a bit from ?how to build a crew? to ?how to keep a crew? and that?s communication. In my own case I?ll yammer on about films and film making until doomsday, but yammering isn?t enough. It?s important to get everyone involved in the production, from directors to f/x guys to water boys, talking to each other. It?s not a democracy mind you; as a producer you need to keep from creative control over your project. You should however leave yourself open to creative input and promote the same attitude because you never know when a spark of genius can arrive from a combination of otherwise random thoughts. It?s the difference between each ?department? showing off their individual talents ? an extended pitch reel ? and actually having a cohesive film that tells a deep story.

 

This is something I had considered before. But the only way I could conceivably do that would be remote linking of the pictures. Making TFN allow uploads to their servers will not fly.
I'll consider that once I go in to start making some upgrades.

Thanks!

 

In addition to the above ideas:

I believe there's a film commission in Toronto. Try there. The one in Virginia and Maryland were great at helping us find locations. They also had a hotline for actors so you could send your info in and they would post it for free for actors to find.

If you can find one crew person you can find them all. It just takes a lot of persistence and continuous calling. Ask them to recommend a person. Call this new one and say, "so and so recommended you." If that one can't do it then ask them for a recommendation, and so on. It may take awhile but eventually you'll find one. They can also probably direct you to a local board for crew which is how they find out about jobs. We had many professional crew folks work on Revelations for free because they love Star Wars. You'll make some great contacts.

Don't limit yourself to SW fans. If you have friends from other fandoms chances are they like SW as well. Post to their boards as well and see if they're interested in working on your project.

And there's always the 501st. There's an eastern garrison. Also try the New York Garrison as well as some of them may not be too far from you.

Best of luck!

 

Yeah, seconded. I too have been in contact with the MD/VA film offices to great effect, others are probably as helpful.

 

Having that option would help though. I mean, it's very easy for an individual to get a Photobucket or Flickr or Petridish (when it works) account, and they always provide web links with the uploaded photos.

Personally I'd love to add some pictures to my profile on there. And if it's from my own Photobucket account, I'm very okay with that.

There is also the Canadian Garrison. But yes, definitely check out the other Garrison in surrounding areas because 501st and Rebel Legion people have been known to travel to get involved in certain events. Don't forget the Rebel Legion, now. The good guy costumes need some lovin' too. And definitely don't underestimate the power of FanForce. Definitely post in the Fan Force boards for nearby regions, not just your own. I was recruited for my first fan film by Primrodo from YJN at the time, through the North Ridge Fan Force boards. So it does happen.

 

Yeah, costumers can be real good about travel. My Mace Windu flew halfway across the country on his own expense, so definitely look into the Rebel Legion/501st.

 

As stated, www.mandy.com is a godsent. On my last two features, 80% of the actors I've auditioned came from there. A LOT of replies. I had a hard time keeping track!

 

I haven't tried mandy.com, I tried craigslist for a non-fanfilm short film and got TONS of responses, but if I shoot a fanfilm it won't be for any money, and I'm not sure where on craigslist I should put the posting? In the jobs section? Or community? I'm still a relative newcoming to this whole e-classifieds thing.

 

I've seen copies of the same posting in multiple sections on Craigslist. I'd say as long as you mention that it would only be for volunteer work (but for example could provide meals or a copy, and obviously credit) you may be able to get it under the Jobs section. Worst they can really do is take it off if it's wrong.