INTERCONTINENTAL CONNECTION

INTERCONTINENTAL CONNECTION

European Chapter Board of Governors' New President Cassandra Han sat down with Board Member and European Chapter Liaison, Wendy Kurtzman to discuss her journey into casting and her experience working in the European market.

Wendy: Why don’t we start with you just telling us a little bit about yourself?

Cassandra: I grew up in California, the daughter of a Chinese immigrant father and a mother from a coalmining town in the Appalachian Mountains My mom was 22 years older than my dad, and mixed marriages were even illegal in her hometown back then – so I ended up learning how to bridge cultural differences and variants in generational thinking at quite a young age I lived in Japan right out of high school, and then in New York for a very long time Now I’ve been living in Europe for almost 20 years In my immediate nuclear family, we have native speakers of English, German, Italian and Dutch So that “multiculti” thing is clearly continuing into the next generation

W: Tell me about your journey into casting and what kind of projects you predominantly work on.

C: I sort of fell into casting back in the early 90s, when I worked for a Broadway producer on a show that had a number of national tours going After that, I did background on a feature film that Sheila Jaffe and Georgianne Walken were casting and they sort of took me under their wing I eventually started doing my own projects, and then it was off to the races – until I moved to Europe in 2003 It took me about a decade to figure out that I could also cast in Europe, and now I actually work much more than I did in New York I found a really interesting niche, which is all about crossing markets A lot of American producers, for example, have a hard time navigating the European landscape–

C cont'd: and European producers also find it difficult to work smoothly with American or British agents. My main markets are Italy and Germany – due to my language skills, family history, physical location and knowledge of the talent pool

W: Do you notice big differences between the US and Europe when it comes to casting?

C: Of course the actual process of auditioning is quite similar. But beyond that, I feel like there are more differences than similarities First and foremost, the European mechanism of public funding removes commercial pressure to a large extent, especially in cinema. Most of the time, nobody expects to make any money at all in box office receipts, which can of course give more artistic freedom For certain auteurs, world sales doesn’t even need any bankable names to get a project off the ground But then, at the same time, the funding bodies almost always want some territorial effect and/or names that please broadcasters, so sometimes you end up with cast marching orders like: We need one Austrian who lives in Vienna, two Bavarians, an Italian star, a French-speaking Belgian, and the rest of the cast has to live in Berlin I’m exaggerating (sort of) but you get the point It can make the casting process feel a bit like painting by numbers Secondly, standards and practices can be wildly different, even between European countries. I spend a lot of my time explaining those variations to all parties involved, sometimes dealing with very startled, confused or angry people It is a bit of a minefield when we assume that everyone works like we do – which is unfortunately very often the case, actually.

W: What would you say is the biggest challenge European casting faces right now?

C: One thing that we discuss a lot over here is how terrible it is that the practice of agenting and casting simultaneously is so insidiously rampant in some markets The producers don’t want to pay for casting directors so they have agents do it, only paying them if “their” actors are cast. I’ve had producers really attack me, saying that the whole idea of casting is just made up, a way to cheat filmmakers out of money Above and beyond the practically criminal conflict of interest that this dual function obviously creates, it also completely blocks off actors who are not on the rosters of those particular agent-CDs from working I was shocked when I found out how prevalent that practice is, and how difficult it is to stop it from happening. Even a lot of CDs who seem to be above-board have quiet practices going on… so I always warn people to be really attentive and ask around among the actors

W: What about your biggest challenge?

C: I am feeling the effects of Brexit very strongly at the moment American actors can’t do most European projects anyway because the majority of producers over here get so intimidated by the idea of signing a SAG-AFTRA GR1 contract

C cont'd: (Actually, I can’t tell you how many times a European producer has told me that they have this or that American actor attached to their project When I say, “Oh, so you’re going SAG/AFTRA?” they look at me, perplexed –not a clue what I am talking about) Anyway, due to the lengthy process of getting work visas for UK actors, I am now very often limited to native English-speaking actors living in Europe, which is not a huge pool, as you can imagine That’s new, of course, and very challenging

W: Is it hard working in another culture… or, rather, several other cultures simultaneously?

C: It was really difficult at first I had to do so much research at the beginning, not to mention catching up on so much content! I was a bit obsessed, always with IMDb open on my phone when I was watching a series or film. My husband would say, “Can you just watch this one episode without looking up actors?” But now I hardly have to look anyone up anymore It was also a long process developing good relationships with all the agents – and that’s where the etiquette and methods can be drastically different –but I feel really accepted now, with mutual understanding and respect for each others’ philosophies The only thing I have to be careful about is accents: I won’t necessarily hear a very subtle regional twang in German, or say an accent from Verona I can hear strong ones like Berlin or Rome or Naples But I always run tapes by a native speaker to be 100% sure

W: We have BFA and MFA programs in the US. Where do actors get their training in Germany and Central Europe?

C: There are a number of very high level conservatories in Europe, and the training is very similar to a BFA or MFA program One difference in most European countries is that you have to pass a state exam to graduate, which is kind of like possessing a “license to act” if you will Of course we can still cast actors who don’t have that formal state approval, but having it is a big deal.

W: Where do you see yourself a few years down the road?

C: Is it cheesy to say that I’m really happy doing what I’m doing? Of course, like anyone, I’d love for the projects that come my way to be always bigger and more exciting And I have to admit that it’s super fun when I get to cast in English – which isn’t so often, actually. But I love the industry over here in Europe, and feel really good about continuing to bridge cultures like I’m doing now