David Hakim (moderator), Casting Director Nancy Hayes, DGA Director-members Jeffrey D. Brown, Stefen Fangmeier, and Robert Dalva. - photo by Robert Mohr - click images for larger view.

Bay area directors and actors recreate a casting session.

DGA Director-members Jeffrey D. Brown leads the seminar in warm-up exercises.

DGA Director-members Stefen Fangmeier, and Robert Dalva give their insights on casting.

A panel was convened of local DGA Director-members Robert Dalva, Stefen Fangmeier, Jeffrey D. Brown, and Bay Area Casting Director Nancy Hayes. SFCC Treasurer David Hakim served as the moderator. The seminar also featured nine actors who participated in a simulated casting session using samples from a script by Education Subcommittee Chair Gino Caputi. The actors were placed in teams of three, with each team assigned to a director. Later, the panelists reviewed and analyzed various points in the auditions.

Brown, winner of the 1986 Best Live Action Short Film Academy Award for Molly’s Pilgrim, told the attendees that both the actors and the directors must overcome fear when it comes to casting and revealed how he gets the best out of his actors in that situation. In a demonstration of ice-breaking techniques, he had the attendees rise and perform vocal and physical warm-ups. Fangmeier offered his insights into the choices and pressures one must deal with when casting a high-profile studio film like his recent mega-budget fantasy Eragon. Dalva, director of the feature The Black Stallion Returns, enlivened the proceedings by painting a frank and educating picture of the demands of all types of casting, with several experiences relating to casting for commercials.

The casting seminar compliments previous seminars that included Breakdown and Scheduling along with Production Design. Future seminars plan to delve into such topics as Camera work and Hi-Def technology.