Auditions are over!!

Over 400 submissions. Almost 30 hours of 1st round auditions. Another 6 hours of callbacks. I think we’re all exhuasted. But we’re done. Well… almost.

We still have some video submissions to consider. But it’s all worth it to find a good cast.

Now comes the hardest part of all. Selecting our stars.

It’s always hard but today made it even harder. We did callbacks a little different from what most people may be used to. We did a mix of cold reads, prepared sides and improvs. That’s right. We did all that for our callbacks. I think the hardest part was trying to see all the different people and the chemisty they brought to the characters. That’s what got us behind schedule. And behind we were. That’s where I realized how great all the actors that came out today were.

There were times when people would be waiting an hour between times in the room, and they were fine with it. I don’t know if it was the snacks and pastries we brought in for them to munch on, but the whole scene was great. When I came out of the room and up front to where everyone was waiting, it was almost like a little party: everyone sitting around, chatting and laughing just waiting for their turn to come in. Even when I apologized, people said they didn’t mind. One person joked that it was really a test to see how they’d respond to being on set all day. Must admit I thought it wasn’t a bad idea. But ultimately everyone was just great. Then it got really amazing.

When we hit the end of our scheduled time, I brought all the callbacks into the room and thanked them for their patience. And after I gave them the time table for decisions, I mentioned that it was going to be really tough and I felt like I needed to see another round. Every person there said they would stay to read another round. So the party out front kept running for another hour. Everyone smiling the whole time.  I even had a few offer to stay even longer if we wanted to. Amazing. But at some point we just have to call it a day.

The only problem is… now I have to choose from these great people I spent all day getting to know and working with. We had some really strong auditions and I’m not sure how we’re going to make that selection.

Special thanks to some of the hardcore of the hardcore. There was the actress who had to leave callbacks early because she was flying to Mexico to get married. So many people changed their plans to stay and be a part of things today that I can’t single one person out. The people that drove 3 hours in. The people that… well I can just go on. You were all amazing. Thank you all for making a great audition.