As with most partnerships, the one enjoyed by Mike Fenton and Allison Cowitt includes completing one another’s sentences and supporting their decisions. This was my first partner interview in which the pair spoke in unison several times. I suppose spending sixteen years together (casting such projects as Excess Baggage, Dante’s Peak, and Arabian Nights) will have that result. Luckily, neither half of this partnership seems to mind the collaborative input.
How the Partnership Began
“She made the mistake of interning for us,” Fenton began musing about Cowitt. Cowitt quickly clarified, “I was interning while I was in college. The week before I graduated, they offered me a job. I think they were just desperate at that point,” Cowitt joked. “They needed me to replace a girl who was leaving right away. I asked if I could have a week off after graduation.” “We said, ‘No!'” Fenton interjected. “I started the day after I graduated,” Cowitt concluded. “In sixteen years she’s had one day off,” Fenton insisted. He continued, explaining that then-pregnant Cowitt would work from home after giving birth. “She’s taking everything with her, including the fax machine.” “I’m not taking the fax machine!” Cowitt assured.
Coolest Casting Gig
Hallmark miniseries Dinatopia. What made that fun to cast? “The dinosaurs,” Fenton said, quite simply. “They really let us cast actors,” Cowitt clarified, “we didn’t have to use names, which was really great” “That took about two years to make,” Fenton noted, regarding the special effects for that project.
Key Things They Look for in an Actor
Professionalism. “It’s really important when they come in that actors be prepared. This doesn’t mean memorizing every single word on the page. They get too worried about the material that way,” Cowitt explained. “Learning the material and becoming comfortable with the material is far more important than memorizing. That way you can change when asked to make an adjustment,” Fenton commented. “Adjustments are so important. Be ready to make a change or an adjustment. If you’ve memorized the script, direction for a change can throw you,” Cowitt related.
Pet Peeves
When asked what sort of things actors do to shoot themselves in the foot, Cowitt quickly commented, “Bringing a gun with you to an audition.” Fenton agreed that props are out of place at an audition. Another big pet peeve for the pair? “Chewing gum,” Cowitt said. “I really hate that,” Fenton chimed in. “It’s too casual.”
“Actors can sublimate their nervous energy if they remember that we don’t bite. Maybe some casting directors do, but we don’t,” Fenton insisted. “Some do,” Cowitt exclaimed. “Speaking for us, we want the actor to succeed. We don’t invite an actor in hoping he’ll fail. We want the actor to score. The sooner we find an actor who scores, the better for us. Professional casting directors prefer quality to quantity,” according to Fenton.
“The actor needs to be patient. Decisions aren’t necessarily made on that same day you audition. Know that it takes eight or nine months to cast a project sometimes,” Cowitt concluded.
Advice for Actors
“Always be early,” Fenton commented about auditioning for his office. “At the very least, be on time,” he said. “Prepare for traffic. It’s better to be early. If people are early, we’ll take them in the order they show up. We’ll adjust to them,” Cowitt noted. “It does get a little hectic during pilot season when actors are seeing four other casting directors that day,” Fenton added. “But we can be flexible,” Cowitt explained.
“Study,” the pair said in unison. “Do student films to get the film experience. Student films these days are being directed by people who will be directing features a year later,” Cowitt clarified.
“Do theatre,” Fenton added.
“Get a demo reel together, but don’t go to a corner production house and have a demo tape made. You’re just throwing money away,” Fenton insisted. “If you do a stage play, it’s okay to videotape it for your own use, but don’t send it to us. Use it to critique your own work,” he concluded. “If you have to include a commercial on your demo reel, that’s better than nothing. Documentaries are fine. Industrials are okay. We need to see you on film. Your reel should be no longer than five minutes,” Cowitt insisted.
“Do soap operas. Soaps are great training grounds. That is truly an arena in which you learn, not memorize. It’s great training. You can learn professionalism on those sets,” Fenton commented. “Any on-camera experience is better than none,” Cowitt summarized.
“Rather than sitting around waiting for the phone to ring, use the time. Use Final Draft, or any of those writing programs, and write. It will guide you through the process. Writing opens you up to how the system works,” Fenton advised. “More and more actors are doing more than acting,” Cowitt observed. “Actors like working with actors because they understand. So go ahead and do more than acting. Write. Direct. Produce.”
Best Way to Get Seen by Them
“Only through your agent,” Fenton stressed. “Don’t fall in on a casting director without an appointment. Don’t just drop in.” “Can I see him? Can I see her?” Cowitt spoke, as if she were an actor stopping by. “I see him sitting there!” “It’s a real no-no,” Fenton concluded. “A producer, a manager, these folks can get you an appointment.
We do look at headshots and resumes, postcards,” he continued. “Tell us to watch you on a show. Tell us when it’s airing. I don’t attend theatre as much as I’d like to, because I’m reading scripts,” Cowitt explained. “We have CSA meetings, union meetings, screenings, and casting sessions into the night, so we really don’t attend theatre. I’m on the foreign film committee at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences so that takes Wednesdays and Saturdays and sometimes Friday nights. There’s always something. But we do try,” Fenton added.
Their Opinion on Alternative Submission Methods
“We’re not really using a system yet. I think, when there’s one, it’s going to be great. But when there’s three…” Cowitt began. “And not all actors are on each one…” Fenton interjected. “We can’t really use them,” Cowitt summarized.
“Get into the Academy Players Directory. We use the book. Our assistant uses The Link,” Cowitt revealed. “AMPAS got smart and is only publishing twice a year,” Fenton commented.
Cowitt concluded, “As for the Internet, for expediency, it’s great. But the Internet isn’t going to take over my habit of sitting on the floor and making piles of headshots. That’s how I go through everything.”
“Now, as for technology, it’d be great if we could stream our video tests to Shanghai instead of waiting four days for the tapes to get to Shanghai. It’s coming. It’s imminent. But we haven’t seen it happen just yet,” Fenton said.
Trends They Have Observed in the Casting Process
“Obviously, younger,” Cowitt said. “Always younger,” Fenton echoed. “The unfortunate thing is that there’s a lack of work for the secondary older character right now. It’s dried up. There’s a gap. They can’t even make a living anymore until they’re playing grandparents,” Fenton added.
“Budgets killed the mid-range actor. The main actor gets $20 million and everyone else gets scale plus ten,” Fenton revealed. “So everyone else works for scale or they don’t work,” Cowitt lamented. “If the main actor would take 17 million and allow us to spread that $3 million out to those other actors, we could really do something. But no one wants to go back to that,” Fenton commented. “It’s just wrong.” “There’s no going back,” Cowitt added.
“If the studios and important producers would get together and set a limit, which of course they can’t do, then we’d have something. This could save the business. Films are either made for $3-4 or $100 million. There’s no in-between,” Fenton insisted. “But that’s not always true,” Cowitt interjected. “Independent films have name casts now. Look at The Royal Tenenbaums. Used to be, films like that wouldn’t have had those names. It would’ve had actors that you were introduced to in that film, not actors who were already movie stars.” Fenton clarified, “Well they need those established actors in order to get distribution.” Cowitt exclaimed, “Which is ridiculous! What’s the point of Sundance now? It used to be…” “Introducing directors and actors,” Fenton said. “It’s not what independent films started out to be,” Cowitt recalled with a sigh.
What They Would Change About the Casting Process
“It’s nothing that we can change, but I’d like to see producers allow the casting director to create the budget for the project and determine which roles get which amount. We used to do it that way,” Fenton recalled. “They would give us X amount of money and we could pitch to the actors,” Cowitt added. “That way, we could provide the director with the best actors, and the money be damned! It would be much better for the projects,” Fenton proposed.
Most Gratifying Part of Their Job
“Having done this for as long as we’ve been doing it, it’s fun,” Fenton said. “I agree,” Cowitt added. “Seeing our names on screen with something that works is nice,” Fenton said with a laugh. “But being involved with films that survive is really nice.” “It’s also nice to know that you have the right actors playing these parts,” Cowitt said.
Do you ever really know? “Yes.” Cowitt insisted, at the exact same moment Fenton said, “No. Not really.” Both laughed as Cowitt added, “Sometimes, you know.”
This interview was conducted on January 7, 2002, and it originally appeared in Casting Qs: A Collection of Casting Director Interviews by Bonnie Gillespie, available at Amazon.