September 6, 2009
By NANCY MCCAULEY BRANSTETTER
Carrie Ray has been preparing her whole life for her current role. As a casting director, she draws upon her acting and directing experience, but most importantly she says she can size up an actor’s personality instantly.
Ray auditions dozens, sometimes hundreds of actors at her Royal Oak office to find just the right person to play a film character. She says she searches for special actors who are team players and are easily directed.
“The actor must be believable in a role. They must connect to the character or camera and basically draw emotions from the director. The question is — do we believe you?” Ray said.
As a young child Ray cast her cut-out dolls into families. Later, she made movies by placing her friends in various roles and, using a chunky VHS movie camera, recorded the action. After college she went to Chicago and worked with casting director David O’Connor, where she honed her casting skills.
“I learned so much about casting for film and commercials from the best,” Ray said. “David O’Connor taught me how to quickly analyze talent and bring the best out of them. It is an art; it really is. He taught me the creative side and the business side. You need both to be successful. He runs a tight ship, and I try to do that, too.”
In the last year and a half, Ray cast actors for many movies including “Stone” with Robert DeNiro and Edward Norton, “Betty Ann Waters” starring Hillary Swank and “Up In The Air” with George Clooney. She is currently casting speaking roles for the film “Alleged,” which is shooting in Flint at Crossroads Village. Written by Michigan native Fredrick Foote, the film explores the Scopes Monkey Trial about evolutionary theory.
She works closely with the talent agencies representing local actors. Ray compiles the best auditions on a reel to show the director, who makes the final judgment. Once in a while, she has trouble finding the perfect actor for a role and casts her net outside the normal channels.
“I have a neighbor who played high school football, and I needed a football player. I asked him to audition and he got a roll in a Kim Cattrall film last year. Recently, I interviewed people who lost their jobs, and six of them were flown to L.A. to be interviewed, documentary-style, for the film ‘Up in the Air’ with George Clooney,” she said.
State film incentives enacted in the spring of 2008 are bringing filmmakers to the state, and local actors are getting a real shot at film roles.
In some cases, some California-based actors are willing to fly in even for a couple of lines. With this once in a lifetime opportunity at hand, Ray urges local actors to embrace the opportunity.
Carrie Ray has a few golden rules for new actors:
Be available — when you get a call be on time and dependable;
Be prepared — know the script and ask any relevant questions such as what do I wear, where do I go and is there a script I can study;
Be professional — work hard and do a good job. Make yourself stand out, be unique and integrate parts of yourself into the character to make it is your own;
And, finally, always have a headshot, which is your calling card. That’s an 8-by-10 picture of your head and shoulders with your resume attached. It should reflect your personality. After all, it is really all about you. (Copyright 2009 - All Rights Reserved - Na)
Monday, September 28, 2009
Saturday, September 19, 2009
College student acts in ‘The Genesis Code’
By NANCY McCAULEY BRANSTETTER Special to The Oakland Press
A group of Hollywood actors stood before a 30-foot green screen in a Grand Rapids warehouse last week, pretending to witness the birth of the universe.
The matter and such will be added later in post production, so the actors must draw on their imaginations to react to the wonders they are not really seeing.
“The Genesis Code” began its 30-day production schedule in Grand Rapids in early August and filmed the green screen magic. The film centers on two college students who struggle to reconcile creationism with their faith. A third of the cast and crew are Michigan residents, including Jil Szewski of Oxford.
Szewski graduated from Grand Valley State University in 2007 with a degree in film and video, and set her sights on becoming an assistant director — the link between the director and the cast and crew.
The film industry has exploded in Michigan since last year, when the state adopted tax credits of up to 42 percent to filmmkakers working here.
“I thought I would have to move to New York, Los Angeles or Chicago, but when the film incentives passed, opportunities popped up here at home,” Szewski said. “I’ve worked on nine films. I’ve been able to workmy way up and will have my dream job on my next film, ‘Grey Sky.’
“The assistant directors on ‘Genesis Code’ have taken me under their wing to get me ready,” she added with a huge smile.
“The Genesis Code” is a $7 million feature-length film. The cast includes Ernest Borgnine, Fred Thompson, Louis Fletcher and Rance Howard, a veteran actor and father of actor-director Ron Howard.
Twenty-five-year-old Logan Bartholomew plays a handsome college hockey player.
Mark VanderWal, spokesman for “The Genesis Code,” said the film could not have been made in Michigan if the state did not offer incentives. Instead, it would have been shot in New Mexico and Louisiana. Both states offer film incentives.
“Working in Michigan is very different than working in L.A.,” Bartholomew said. “People are very kind, and I am having a great time exploring the local shops and restaurants,” he added.
Adam Chambers, who plays a brilliant student and convincingly delivers difficult scientific lines about time and space and the origin of the universe, said he is also enjoying his Michigan experience. He even visited a state fair in Lowell.
“Everyone is so nice. I off-handedly mentioned candy would taste good after a very long day on set, and when I got back to by trailer there were Skittles waiting for me,” Chambers said, beaming.
“They are spoiling me and it is great.”
The film, from Michigan-based American Epic Entertainment, will be in theaters around the holidays.
A group of Hollywood actors stood before a 30-foot green screen in a Grand Rapids warehouse last week, pretending to witness the birth of the universe.
The matter and such will be added later in post production, so the actors must draw on their imaginations to react to the wonders they are not really seeing.
“The Genesis Code” began its 30-day production schedule in Grand Rapids in early August and filmed the green screen magic. The film centers on two college students who struggle to reconcile creationism with their faith. A third of the cast and crew are Michigan residents, including Jil Szewski of Oxford.
Szewski graduated from Grand Valley State University in 2007 with a degree in film and video, and set her sights on becoming an assistant director — the link between the director and the cast and crew.
The film industry has exploded in Michigan since last year, when the state adopted tax credits of up to 42 percent to filmmkakers working here.
“I thought I would have to move to New York, Los Angeles or Chicago, but when the film incentives passed, opportunities popped up here at home,” Szewski said. “I’ve worked on nine films. I’ve been able to workmy way up and will have my dream job on my next film, ‘Grey Sky.’
“The assistant directors on ‘Genesis Code’ have taken me under their wing to get me ready,” she added with a huge smile.
“The Genesis Code” is a $7 million feature-length film. The cast includes Ernest Borgnine, Fred Thompson, Louis Fletcher and Rance Howard, a veteran actor and father of actor-director Ron Howard.
Twenty-five-year-old Logan Bartholomew plays a handsome college hockey player.
Mark VanderWal, spokesman for “The Genesis Code,” said the film could not have been made in Michigan if the state did not offer incentives. Instead, it would have been shot in New Mexico and Louisiana. Both states offer film incentives.
“Working in Michigan is very different than working in L.A.,” Bartholomew said. “People are very kind, and I am having a great time exploring the local shops and restaurants,” he added.
Adam Chambers, who plays a brilliant student and convincingly delivers difficult scientific lines about time and space and the origin of the universe, said he is also enjoying his Michigan experience. He even visited a state fair in Lowell.
“Everyone is so nice. I off-handedly mentioned candy would taste good after a very long day on set, and when I got back to by trailer there were Skittles waiting for me,” Chambers said, beaming.
“They are spoiling me and it is great.”
The film, from Michigan-based American Epic Entertainment, will be in theaters around the holidays.
Steele performs on Broadway
By Nancy McCauley
You've probably heard these lyrics to Jet Song from Broadway's legendary musical “West Side Story” — “When you're a Jet, you're a Jet all the way.” Ryan Steele, 19, of Walled Lake became a member of the famous 1950s New York gang in July 2008, when he was cast to play the role of Baby John in the Broadway revival. Ryan's finger-snapping, high-energy moves have audiences on their feet with applause eight shows a week.
Leading the standing ovation at a recent Saturday night performance was his mother, Joan Steele, who is supervisor of food services for Huron Valley Schools. She's seen the show several times and brought three colleagues enjoy the “West Side Story” experience.
“Seeing a Broadway show is so different when you know someone in the cast” said Joan Steele. “I've told so many people at work about Ryan and his big break on Broadway, that my friends wanted to come and see him. He is just amazing.”
Ryan's cast picture is on the wall above Joan's desk at Highland Middle School and draws attention from students and staff. An aspiring young dancer attending the school tracked her down to tell her he is a huge fan of her famous son.
“It is such fun being Ryan's mom. At least a half dozen staff members have made the trip to New York to see Ryan in West Side Story. They met Ryan at the stage door after the show, and he made them feel special. He appreciates the visitors because he misses home.”
Steele began dancing at Walled Lake Dance Dynamics studio at the age of 6, attended Walled Lake Central and graduated from Clonlara School in Ann Arbor in 2008.
“I thought my career was headed toward concert dance, and was asked to join Ballet Austin (Texas), but it took an unexpected turn,” smiled the charismatic athletic blond dancer.
Ryan was in New York City in May 2008 for a dance competition. As he headed for the airport, a teacher suggested he audition for ‘West Side Story.”
“I didn't even have a song to sing for the audition,” Ryan shrugged. “I bought some sheet music for “Sixteen going on Seventeen” and took my shot.”
Within a couple of hours, he'd received a call-back and was headed toward a career in musical theater. Ryan survived several more singing and dancing auditions before receiving word last July that he would be part of the Broadway classic, pitting his razor sharp dance nightly against the Sharks' Hispanic-style moves.
The producers tested the show before audiences in Washington, D.C., before opening on Broadway March 19 of this year.
Ryan has completed more than two hundred performances, never missing a show.
Additional Factshttp://www.hometownlife.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090917/LIFE/909170469&template=printart
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