Casting directors decide who is called back for a commercial, right?
Nope, that’s a pretty common misconception. In actuality, commercial callbacks are determined by two parties: the director and the ad agency.
The casting director, based on their own understanding of the script and generally a brief conversation with the director, decides the pool of talent from which those two groups will independently choose their favorites. The casting director coordinates the auditions and then the director and agency create their respective lists of actors they would like to see at the callbacks.
If both the agency and the director are feeling good about the options, the CD schedules callbacks from those lists of selects. If either the director or agency feels like more options are needed or a casting specification is changed in light of something discovered in the first round of auditions (e.g. age, ethnicity, height, a new perfromance need), more casting sessions may be neede or addional actors may be brought directly to the commercial callback. Usually, it’s the latter option as bringing a few new actors to the callback is not as expensive as adding another full audition session.
And for actors, that’s really good info to know in case you find yourself at a commercial callback yet auditioning for the first time: you’re there because the CD believes, in light of more specific feedback, that you might be a more ideal answer to the problem. For a CD, receiving those lists of actors is always the more accurate insight into how closely aligned the director and the ad agency truly are in their visions for the project, and, subsequently, how smoothly the callback session will go. This is the moment where the proverbial rubber meets the road as the faces of the story being created come into literal focus. Ideally, there are lots of overlapping names on those lists – it’s a great sign when all the decision makers are responding to the same people.
But many times there is not much overlap on those lists. Personal taste is an inherently subjective thing, after all. For instance, I have been a part of many commercial callbacks in my casting days where the agency calls back actors who have a specific look that matches the universe they want to create for the product, and the director calls back actors who were able to execute a desired performance quality. And if there is not some overlyap between those lists, some real compromise will be involved, and there is a good chance the casting director will miss dinner that night trying to wrangle some decisions. As an actor though, it’s exceedingly rare that you would ever know if you were called back by the agency or the director or both. What matters most is that someone with decision making power believes you can do the job and wants to see you again. That’s the truth that should empower you as you head into callbacks!
Matt Miller is a recovering casting director,
current commercial director, and
occasional ASC instructor. Check out Matt’s website
to view some of his work!