Actors may really want to direct and directors may really want
to act, but few people really want to be a casting director.
“I never started out to be a casting director,” Mike
Fenton said. “Nobody ever does.”
Yet Fenton, a UCLA film school alumnus from 1956, became a true
Hollywood success story in the field of casting. According to IMDB,
Fenton has helped cast about 200 film and television projects.
And now he wants to help aspiring actors make his job easier.
Last month, Fenton released his “Mike Fenton’s
Actor’s Workshop,” a five-and-a-half-hour video and DVD
set of one of his seminars. The workshop centers on a theme known
to actors across the country: how to make it in Hollywood.
“The videos are really geared to actors who aren’t
already in Los Angeles,” Fenton said. “They’re
designed to help the rank beginner enter the system.”
Fresh out of UCLA, Fenton faced difficulty getting hired.
Originally wanting to be a director, Fenton found studios hesitant
to hire film school graduates at the time.
“(Film schools) taught a great deal of theory, but not
much practical knowledge,” Fenton said. “In those days
(film school graduates) were a thorn in (a studio’s)
side.”
Fenton took a job in the mail room at MCA Artists, a Los Angeles
agent group. After becoming an agent himself, Paramount offered him
a job in their casting department, which he took. Eventually he
left Paramount and started an independent casting company. In 1982,
he co-founded the Casting Society of America, for which he has
served as president.
The “Actor’s Workshop” set reflects the
knowledge he’s gained in his 30-plus years in Hollywood. The
videos combine lectures, question-and-answer sessions and scene
workshops to create a comprehensive overview of the casting process
in Hollywood films and how to be a part of it. The set even
includes directions to access an online resource guide that
includes sample resumes and links to various casting-related Web
sites.
“I have learned in my many years in the business that far
too many actors simply do not know or understand the business of
the business,” said producer and agent Rowland Perkins.
This “business of the business” dominates much of
Fenton’s lecture time. He discusses at length the history and
current state of the film industry as it relates to casting. Fenton
acknowledges that acting isn’t any easier to break into at
this point. According to Fenton, an average actor spends 12 to 18
months in Los Angeles before even being considered for the smallest
of roles.
“One thing that’s changed and is really tragic is
that some actors can demand salaries from 10 to 20 million dollars,
which makes it really difficult for middle, character actors to
make a living,” Fenton said.
Despite his success, Fenton doesn’t recommend his own
field to people trying to break into the film industry, and
it’s not because he’s trying to lessen his own
competition.
“(About eight years ago) there were a lot of people who
heard that casting was an easy way to break into the
industry,” Fenton said. “Now it’s
overcrowded.”