Jenny O’Haver is the owner of O’Haver + Company, a group of three casting directors (O’Haver, Debbie Savitt-Salners, and Mimi Callard) specializing in commercials. While all three have worked on theatrical projects, their focus as a group is commercial casting. In 2002, O’Haver + Company announced the creation of a Spanish Language Division, specializing in the casting of commercials for Spanish-speaking markets. Callard heads up this division, but all three casting directors cast bilingual projects.
With a goal of doing more groundbreaking casting and session-delivery via the Internet, O’Haver + Company is on the leading edge of commercial casting. The trio finds, more and more, they are casting real people in commercials, a trend they find very satisfying.
First Casting Job
For O’Haver, that was in 1989, assisting Barbara Claman on the feature Defending Your Life. Savitt-Salners joined that project in 1990. “I was temping,” said O’Haver. “Barbara had been looking for months for a man who [director] Albert Brooks referred to as a ‘Dark Clark.’ This was basically an African-American Clark Gable. I was a little intimidated, but I told Barbara, ‘Uh, I know I guy.'” Brooks hired O’Haver’s friend Leonard O. Turner for the role. “Turns out I saved the day. Albert was so pleased. From that point on, Barbara loved me.”
Savitt-Salners had been interning with Vicki Rosenberg. “We were working on Who’s the Boss,” she recalled. Her first job with O’Haver was “Equal Justice, the 13-part Thomas Carter series. “This is the first time we’ve worked together since then,” O’Haver explained. “I was looking for something flexible,” Savitt-Salners clarified. Their existing trust level made working together an easy choice.
Callard’s first commercial casting job was for McDonald’s in 1985. “I was an agent, and I wanted to give more, so I went into casting. I began working as an assistant to Dennis Gallegos, which was wonderful. I worked with him for seven years. He taught me everything,” Callard recalled.
Coolest Casting Gig
Spots for the American Cancer Society, for which O’Haver + Company found women enduring chemotherapy. “The best part was these real women were coming in,” Callard interjected. “These cancer survivors were coming in and sharing the whole thing they’d experienced. It was amazing.” O’Haver chimed in, “These women were so giving, so open, so beautiful. The actors auditioning to play image consultants to these real women were so moved during the casting session. So were we.”
Their New Spanish Language Division
“I speak Spanish, and I had been doing some Spanish language stuff off and on. I really wanted to flex those muscles,” O’Haver began. “I had a good handle on the Spanish language market, I knew the actors.” O’Haver brought in Callard late in 2001. Callard’s extensive experience in commercial casting with Tepper-Gallegos made her an easy choice to head up the Spanish language division of O’Haver + Company. “She just worked out so brilliantly with us. We knew she’d be great to head it up. We want to make this experience as fulfilling as possible to everyone who works with us,” O’Haver insisted.
Key Things They Look for in an Actor
Savitt-Salners quickly began, “Professionalism. Preparedness for the role.”
Callard clarified, “Many times we’re very busy, each of us is doing something different. I may be running a session and also running the camera, and we need actors to come in, know where the camera is, and do their job. Don’t come in behind me, don’t bring bags and bags in with you. You only need your keys and your picture and leave those right by the door. Otherwise, you’re distracted and so are we.”
Savitt-Salners continued, “Have a quick entrance and exit.”
“Actors will want to stay as long as possible, and that’s not helping anyone,” Callard said.
“I look for actors to be professional,” O’Haver insisted. “That means, being on time, being in character, knowing your lines, and having a good attitude,” she listed.
Pet Peeves
Callard volunteered a big pet peeve, “There are ten people in front of you and you come in saying, ‘I’ve got to go. Could I go in ahead of you?’ Everyone has to go. Don’t be rude.”
Savitt-Salners dislikes the practice of dressing off base for the role. “Treat the audition like a job interview. Come in dressed well and prepared and on time,” she requested.
Another consideration, according to Savitt-Salners, is the actor’s headshot. “When actors don’t look like their picture, it is a waste of their time. They’re wondering why they’re not getting booked and it’s not because of talent, but because they don’t look like their headshot, once they come in. We’re saying, ‘We wanted this girl in the picture. Who are you?'”
Callard added, “It’s horrifying. Just look natural. The simpler the better. The client knows how to make you up. They get ideas when you’re in the room.”
“Fill out your size card,” Savitt-Salners pleaded. “Actors will come in and fill out the size card, leaving off their numbers. We need your cell, your pager, your home number, all of it,” she listed.
“We’ll get headshots with no resumes attached,” Callard added. “Or if there’s a resume, there will be no contact information on it. At least put your phone number on the back of your photo. In fact, print your resume on your photo. It can’t get lost that way, and it saves trees,” Callard concluded.
Advice for Actors
“Treat your career like a business,” O’Haver advised. “You, the actor, are the product. Your abilities need to be honed and kept fresh. Your headshots are your promotional material and should be kept up to date,” she said. O’Haver further advised that actors have their most updated contact information on their resumes. “Make yourself easy to reach with a cell phone that is charged, a pager, a message center you check often,” O’Haver continued.
“Try to find out as much information before the audition as you can. If you can get your hands on a script, or at least the sides, do so early. Ask questions of your agent or the casting director,” Savitt-Salners said.
Callard suggested total honesty. “Especially with our Spanish projects, the clients are in the room at callbacks. If you say you speak Spanish and you only took it in high school, we’ve got a problem. That’s of no use to us. It’s gotten to the point where I’ll explain the session needs in Spanish to see if the actors know what I’m saying.”
Many times the problem is that the agent has submitted the actor because the actor’s last name is Hispanic. “Agents will say, ‘Yeah, Hernandez, she speaks Spanish,’ and throw the headshot in the mix. It goes the other way too,” Callard continued. “If your name is very Anglo and you’re bilingual, you may be missing out on roles in Spanish. Make sure we know you’re bilingual.”
Specific to commercial casting is the need to consider the product you are trying to sell. “Don’t come in depressed. That’s not the way to sell anything,” Savitt-Salners advised. “You’re trying to tell everyone how wonderful this product is, or how happy you are to use this. Don’t come in hungover or with no sleep,” she added.
Callard agreed, “We want someone who can sell a product, and that requires that you are in top form. Be healthy-looking if you’re selling something healthy.”
O’Haver + Company recommends commercial classes. “It’s important to know the basics for commercials. Get into a good cold read class,” Callard recommended.
“We’ll cast things using all improvised sessions,” Savitt-Salners added. “Improv is pretty important because some commercials have no dialogue.
Callard concurred, “You need to be able to respond immediately. We had a director ask an actor about herself and that actor just stammered and lost focus. The director said, ‘Well… next.’ That was her chance! Be ready for that,” she insisted. “Be ready to play along.”
Best Way to Get Seen by Them
Send your headshot and resume. “Make it a simple, nice picture that looks like you,” Callard insisted. “If you have something interesting or unique about you, put that in your cover letter.
We’re looking for real people with skills,” Savitt-Salners added.
The trio insisted that they see every submission. “Postcards are a great way for us to discover new faces,” Callard admitted.
Along with your contact information, make sure you note your language skills on your submission. “We had a project where I was desperately looking for a Vietnamese actor who spoke Spanish,” Callard recalled.
“We’ll look for actors who speak Spanish even without an agent or union affiliation,” Savitt-Salners added.
O’Haver + Company generally does not attend theatre or workshops unless they are casting something theatrical, and they do not accept unsolicited demo reels whatsoever. “We don’t have the time to look at them,” Savitt-Salners said.
Their Opinion on Alternative Submission Methods
“We’re very technically advanced,” Savitt-Salners said.
“Our sessions are very high tech,” Callard agreed.
“I’d like to see more agents submitting online,” O’Haver said. “Being able to prep from a computer gives us more freedom to work from anywhere and it’s much less garbage to add to the environment. We do accept online submissions,” she insisted. “I’d like to get into the habit of incorporating online submissions into our normal routine even more than we already do. Going through stacks of pictures is a hard habit to break,” O’Haver admitted.
“There have always been companies trying to revolutionize the casting process,” Savitt-Salners said. “It’s not going to happen. Even though we love electronic submissions and we can see an actor’s picture and credits on a computer screen, we like the physical element of headshots.”
“They’re just fast to flip through,” Callard concluded.
Most Gratifying Part of Their Job
“I love people. All people. Actors are so wonderful. I love to spend that extra five minutes helping them be better in a scene and then have them get that job,” Callard said.
“Providing employment for real people, knowing we’re helping with that mound of bills, that’s gratifying,” Savitt-Salners explained.
O’Haver added, “Booking talent is my favorite part of the job. Isn’t it everybody’s? It’s also fun to see our work on the air.”
This interview was conducted on May 9, 2002, and it originally appeared in Casting Qs: A Collection of Casting Director Interviews by Bonnie Gillespie, available at Amazon.