#PitchChris Episode: 031 Casting Advice, Getting Rights to Your Script, Info for Producers

#PitchChris Episode: 031

🎬What do you need to know before you head into a casting office?

🤔How do you get the rights to your first script?

👍What is the #1 thing a producer needs to know?

Today on the new, and improved, PitchChris, we’re gonna be talking about, what are some of the things you need to know before you step foot in that casting office? Did you write your first script? How do you obtain all the rights to it? And, if you’re producing, what is the number one thing you need to know? All that, and more, on PitchChris. Hi, and welcome to episode 31 of PitchChris. Where you guys ask me questions about the entertainment business, and I’m gonna answer ’em for you. To ask me a question, find me on social media. @ChrisDeblasio #PitchChris And, I’ll be happy to answer all the questions you guys have. Let’s get started.

How do I best prepare for an audition?

Being prepared for an audition is extremely important. Especially if you’re going out for that big role. So, the couple of things that you wanna know, first, aesthetically, when you’re going into an audition, don’t wear clothes with like, heavy patterns, or crazy designs, or anything. A lot of times they are gonna be recording your auditions. So, don’t do anything that’s gonna take away from your performance. So, that’s, technically, you don’t wanna wear anything that’s gonna take away. The next thing is, please, if you get your script in advance, memorize your lines as much as you possibly can. Because, the casting director is gonna expect you to know. There is an exception to the rule, is, if you’re getting the sides that day, it might be a little bit difficult, but do as best of a job you can to memorize all those lines, inside that casting room, before you actually step, step foot in front of the casting director. And then also, when you enter the room, or whatever, don’t feel like you have to introduce yourself, and shake everybody’s hand. Don’t do that. Go in there, hit your mark, and then deliver your performance. Now, it is okay to ask the casting director if they give you another take, to ask the casting director if there was anything else, you know, that they were looking for. Something like that. If there’s something that, you know, if there’s a word or something that you don’t necessarily know how to pronounce. It’s okay to ask them those types of things before you get on and audition. But, try to be as best prepared before you walk into that casting room. Because, at the end of the day, that could be your big break.

How do I obtain full rights to a script I wrote?

So, there’s a couple of ways that you can obtain full rights to a script that you wrote. One of ’em, and it’s a very basic form, is, you actually mail the script to yourself. So, you put it in a package, and mail it to yourself, and don’t open it. That’s one way. The other way, is registering it with the Writers Guild of America, or the WGA. The beautiful thing about the WGA, is you don’t necessarily have to be a member in order to register your script. But, you definitely wanna register your script, and get that number with the WGA, because that’s very, very important. To get it locked in. You can go as far as going to the copyright office, but doing those things, specifically with the WGA, getting that ready will get your script ready to present and pitch to a producer.

What’s the first thing I should know when I’m producing my first film?

So, there are a lot of things that go into producing. But, the number one thing, is how are you gonna make your money back? You really need to ask yourself that question. Specifically if people are giving you money to make your project, you need to know, how are you gonna make their money back? Now, it’s different if it’s a passion project, and you’re just doing it yourself, but if there’s money involved, and there’s other people, investors, or people that are giving you money, you need to have a strategy on how you’re gonna make that money back. And, if you don’t, you’re gonna wind up hurting an investor, and what that does is just a trickle down effect, right? So, you have an investor that have given you the money, they’ve entrusted you with their money, and you didn’t have a plan for them, and then you burn them, and then what happens is that investor is very hesitant on investing in the film business. Which hurts everybody, right? So, you wanna make sure that you have a very clear plan on how you’re gonna make your investors money back. And, that’s what I would recommend, above all else. When somebody’s giving you money, make sure you can get ’em a return. Well, that’s all for today’s episode. Thank you, so much, for all your questions. To ask me a question on social media. Find me at @ChristDeblasio #PitchChris. And, I’ll be happy to answer all of the questions you guys have. Til next time.