wow, that's pretty extreme, such a small budget film paying for airfares and accommodation for (major) actors. That would cost quite a lot quite quickly. I guess If you're careful and budget well. I would have said just hire actors there, but you can probably do a lot more (quality-wise) using actors from the UK; probably a much broader range to choose from.

Anyway, I think it might be useful to give approximate age ranges for the characters.
Also some more detail on the characters, like language (do any speak any African language?, might be useful if you get actors than can speak the local language of wherever you're shooting, although with a small budget you probably can't be too picky about minor unimportant details anyway) and accents (British? Cockney? RP?), and build (tall, lanky, etc). Any of these might be completely unimportant to your script but if not, best to list it.
I might be in the UK in 2007, and if I am, I'd definitely be interested. Not that I'm a great actor, I only have minor experience, but by then hopefully I'll have a lot more.

I'll email the above paragraph as well, in case you don't see it here.

Good Luck in all your endeavours,
-V

Hi,

I'm hoping to hire actors there for most of the smaller parts but I do want to be bringing at least a couple of British actors with me, specifically for the film. I wouldnt, however, expect anyone to work for me for nothing, let alone at the loss they would incur paying the travel and accomodation. However, as you said, it is an ultra low budget film so the travel would literally be the cheapest flights I could find and the accomodation would be comfortable but not extravagant - I'm going over there myself in a little while to scout out, among other thing, potential hotels.

I would be happy to give more information on what I am looking for. The film is set in a fictional African nation, meaning regional accents/dialects are not necessary. The shooting will mostly take place in Uganda and Zambia as they are English speaking nations. The film will be in English but African accents will be required.

There is only one major part for a white actor, it is that of a male, well educated young German. A good German accent is essential.

Only one of the major parts requires an older actor, however I imagine it would be possible to age a younger actor to look right, so pretty much any age should apply. The other parts are all for black men of around 25 years of age, though anything fro 20 to 40 would suffice.

There are no major female roles. Build is not important for any of the parts though certain builds are more likely to be given certain roles.

Allow me to summarise the major available characters:

Black journalist - young(ish) - preferably medium build, medium height.
Black people's politician - as above
Black corrupt president - older - any build would be suitable
Black wealthy politician - any age, and build, requires aristocratic accent
White German Jounalist - young - preferably tall, medium build, German accent essential.

Previous experience doesnt matter at all, infact, inexperienced actors performing naturally is often better than more experienced actors trying to act. The story does not depend on any particular physical characteristics of any character so there is alot of scope.

Hope this is helpful to any potentials.

Thanks,
Calumn

As a fellow writer/director who often does my own casting, your post brings up a question.

Both of you mention the build of an actor. Is that really important to you in the casting process?

I understand gender and age range (you don?t want a 16 year old playing a wealthy politician) and even skin color. But let?s say a really good black male actor who is 26 would like to play the journalist - but he?s short and on the heavy side. You say you want medium build and height - should that short, fat actor not even send in a picture/resume?

=============================================
The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress.
Joseph Joubert, essayist (1754-1824)

Hi,

"Build is not important for any of the parts though certain builds are more likely to be given certain roles."

"The story does not depend on any particular physical characteristics of any character so there is alot of scope."

Sorry, I should have made those statements more predominant. I would like absolutely any black actors to get in touch, I have my own mental image of the sort of person to play each role, but it really doesnt matter, though naturally I am likely to assign the parts with this image in mind, conciously or subconciously.

Certainly for a film like this one, there is abosolutely no demands with regards to the build of the actors (except for the major white roll which should really be tallish and medium/slight build), though I can see that for some projects, specific build would be required.

I did it for free, with my own money. Just for the acting exp. 718-784-9269

Kendrick D Moore

good luck for the project mate!

too bad you dont need any indian actors : )

cheers

x-x-x Sparks of brilliance veiled beneath the thick smoke of mediocrity. If you look hard enough, you'll see it. If you come close enough you'll feel it.
It's not of my making, i was born into this.
Am i fulfilling my destiny or fighting it?

Actually, there's no reason why one of the roles couldnt be played by an Indian actor, please feel free to get in touch if you are interested.

That's for the interest everyone, I've had lots of contact but have not officially cast any of the roles yet so please feel free to keep contacting.

Regards,
Calumn

Another question from a fellow writer/director:

Is it standard in the UK to start casting for a movie that you are planning to shoot in over a year?

I would think people wouldn't be able to guarantee their availability without a set start date.

Not sure exactly if it is "standard policy" but I think it is justified in this case for the following reasons:

1. This post was mainly intended to gage initial interest, allow some potential actors to get in touch with me and for me to explain the plan in a bit more depth rather than to cast every role firmly.
2. This involves shooting in another country, something not alot of people can commit to in the spur of the moment and need to be aware of well in advance so that they can plan for the possibility.
3. I'm expecting alot of the interest to come from students who are in gap years before or after university - these are often rigourosly planned and things like this need to be taken into account early.
4. I understand that this is a project which actors would undertake more for experience than for financial gain, therefore they would probably prefer the non committal approach of showing early interest then following it up closer to the date if everything was still fine.
5. I wanted to get an idea of roughly how difficult casting was going to be before any aspect of the film had been started to allow me to plan accordingly.

And, from the response I have got, the potential actors seem to be quite happy this way and I am quite happy. I will also say, if I may, that you have a way of phrasing your questions which seems quite rude to those answering them, I'm not sure if this is intentional but I would ask you be a little more polite in future.

Rudeness is in the eye and mind of the reader. I am a writer and by nature a very curious person. As a director who also cast my own, very low budget movies I am very interested in the different ways other people - especially in countries other than my own - find talent and cast their movies. I have learned a lot from the moviemakers here on the boards.

I'm saddened that you take my curiosity as rudeness. In the future I will refrain from asking you questions.

=============================================
The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress.
Joseph Joubert, essayist (1754-1824)

what's the story of your film about ?