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Spotlighting the people and projects you need to know In the Room With
James and Rosie Pearson and Ian Subsara
The newly formed U.K.-U.S. operation defied a pandemic shutdown to create new opportunities for performers By Elyse Roth
Zoom thing, I think, is great so we can meet people. I think it’s a really great way to be able to see lots of people who only need a smartphone in order to audition; and most people have one of those.
RAQUEL APARICIO
ILLUSTRATION: SPENCER ALEXANDER; “STRANGER THINGS”: COURTESY NETFLIX
PEARSON CASTING WAS DOING JUST FINE AS IT WAS. RUN BY husband-and-wife team James and Rosie Pearson, both former performers-turned–casting directors, they had a long list of work to their name, especially in the London theater world, with shows like smash hit “Six” as well as live performance experiences and film and television work. Their profession took them around the globe and had them casting in the U.S. enough that they felt they needed to open an office across the pond. They ultimately connected with Ian Subsara, a New York–based casting director who they felt shared their interests and audition-room ethos. Together, the three CDs spoke with Backstage about expanding Pearson Casting and how COVID-19 affected their operation. What changed for you when COVID-19 hit? Rosie Pearson: Everything just ground to a complete halt for us. We’ve been lucky to cast some feature films through lockdown, which was done mostly by self-tape. We won a grant that we applied for, and we were able to start a free training platform for the
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industry. We managed to connect with so many incredible people across the industry that we just haven’t worked with, and we met actors we didn’t know. We all had to reprogram our brains around Zoom auditions. Singing auditions on Zoom are very tricky, with sound issues and lagging and all kinds
of stuff. It’s been a real process for everyone in theater to pivot their mindset around that. You have to adapt; you have to keep moving forward and working with what you have. Now, we can see so many more people without forcing them to travel across huge chunks of countries. Those processes will become more streamlined as we all work together to forge new ways of casting. I don’t think online [casting] is going anywhere. What changes will stick going forward? James Pearson: I think self-tapes are here for a while. In a normal audition process, we can see maybe 100 people in the first round. Now, we can have 200 people tape in their own time. The whole
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What can actors expect from auditioning for you? Ian Subsara: Performers can always expect me to be kind to them. An audition setting is a vulnerable place for an actor; and having been a performer myself, it’s essential that actors can feel safe and comfortable in order for them to be at their best and most successful. I also want to think that my audition process is extremely organized. I have learned from some of the best in the industry. My passion for casting has led me to a process that I believe is as efficient, clear, and warm as possible. JP: Unless we’re running crazy behind, we will hear the material that we send to you. We’re always very respectful of trying to give people time—not just in the room, but to prepare as well. There’s a big culture of sending material out the night before and asking people to prepare, like, 15 pages of sides. We’re trying to manage that as much as possible. Where possible, we’ll get feedback on auditions. You will always hear from us, whether we’re taking you for the project or not. That should be a standard expectation of coming into our audition room.
Want more?
Read the full interview at backstage.com/magazine
09.09.21 BACKSTAGE
