Mary Iannelli sits down with Emma Green, Head of Emma Green Casting, to discuss the role of a casting director and what up and coming actors should know about the casting process.

Credits:

Audio Engineer Gary Glor

One Heartbeat Away is provided to The Theater Project by Gail Lou and Damian DeSandies

References:

Emma Green Bio:  Emma Green is a seasoned Casting Director and Development Producer. Originally from Australia, Emma forged her way into the world of Casting and Producing from humble beginnings as an eager intern with companies such as Maura Fay/Tom McSweeney (AUST) and Cast Iron Productions (USA). She has a keen eye for talent and a relentless willingness to find the right person for every role no matter how big or small. This has helped her climb the ranks from Associate to Coordinator to Producer and Director in a relatively short amount of time. She worked for several years with Fremantle Media USA- focusing on development casting needs as well as several seasons on the hit NBC show- America's Got Talent. 

From there Emma branched out as a Development & Casting Producer for TV and was appointed Manager for US Factual Development at Temple Street Productions, the company best known for Orphan Black, Killjoys & Million Dollar Critic. Now she is at the helm of Emma Green Casting; a boutique company that provides casting services for US and International Productions, with a specialization in foreign castings and talent for TV, Film, Commercial and New Media projects. Emma has earned her reputation as a hardworking professional in the world of entertainment with keen attention to detail, a personalized and refreshing 'out of the box' approach to get every job done right!

Casting websites:

StarNow

https://www.starnow.com/

Backstage

https://www.backstage.com/

Casting Networks

https://www.castingnetworks.com/

Actor’s Access

https://actorsaccess.com/

Breakdown Services

https://breakdownservices.com/

Upcast

https://getupcast.com/

Casting Frontier

https://castingfrontier.com/

Warner Brothers Internship Opportunities

https://careers.wbd.com/global/en/internship-opportunities

Fremantle Media

https://fremantle.com/

Coogan Work Permit:  

All actors under the age of 18 in the state of California—which is to say, actors who either live here or are doing work here, even if they legally reside in another state—are required to open a Coogan Account (also known as a blocked trust account) before they are allowed to work.

This means that if you are coming to Los Angeles to audition for anything—even for a short time, like a week or two—you need to have this account set up and in place. If your audition leads to a role, depending on the type of role/production, you could be on set literally the next day, and production will expect you to have the paperwork in order. No Coogan Account, no work.

This applies not only to film and TV, but also to commercials, modeling, voiceover work, etc. New York, Louisiana, and New Mexico have similar laws. The intention of the Coogan law is that a minimum of 15% of each dollar a young actor makes goes into an account that is untouchable until they turn 18. It is named after Jackie Coogan, the child star from the 1930s whose fortune was squandered by his parents