Excerpts

1 * The CallJANEIt began, as it usually does, with a phone callthis time, from Louisa Velis, Ron Howards longtime associate producer at Imagine Entertainment.Russell Crowes deal for A Beautiful Mind is done, so were ready to go ahead. The budget is going to be tight, but of course there are great parts, and Im sure youll come up with great actors, as always. Can you start putting a list together and meet with Ron on Friday? The wife and the roommate are especially important to him.JANETWhether its a big film, a small one, or something in between, our job always begins with the Call. Sometimes the Call comes from a director we know well Chris Columbus, Ron Howard, Wolfgang Petersen, Rob Reiner. With such long-standing relationships, the Call is almost a formality, a confirmation that its once again time for us to get to work.When the Call comes from a director weve never worked with, his first step is usually to schedule a meeting. (The director is so rarely a she that in this book, were just going to say he, with apologies to Hollywoods female filmmakers. Although there are now lots of powerful women in Hollywoodproducers, top agents, even the heads of several major studiosits still unusual for women to direct films. Weve never been able to figure out whysurely if a woman has life-or-death power over someone elses movie, she ought to be able to make her ownbut with a handful of exceptions such as Nancy Meyers, most directors are men.)At this point in our career, we dont exactly go on job interviews. But this initial meeting with the directorand, perhaps, his producerpretty much serves that function, as we all figure out whether or not we want to work together. The director already knows that Jane and I have a long string of successful movies to our creditbut so do lots of our colleagues. So should he choose us, or one of Hollywoods many other casting directors?Sometimes this decision is based on the type of film that is being planned. Perhaps the director is looking for someone to solve a particular problem finding 300-pound jugglers for his circus movie, or getting access to the Latvian community for all those folk-dance scenes hes planning. Most likely, though, hes looking for the vibe, trying to feel out what our relationship will be like for the long, arduous months that casting a movie usually takes. I once heard of a producer who described filmmaking as a long road triphe didnt want to work with anyone with whom he wouldnt enjoy traveling for eight, ten, twelve hours a day, week after week after week. This initial meeting is the directors chance to find out what sharing that journey might be like.Such meetings usually start with the director describing his vision, with maybe a few additional words about the movies overall budget. Then Jane and I toss out some ideas, almost as though we already had the job. All of us are trying to act as though we actually are working together, to see what a real relationship might be like. Excerpted from A Star Is Found: Our Adventures Casting Some of Hollywood's Biggest Movies by Jane Jenkins, Janet Hirshenson All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.