Rude Casting Director

[pg]

Oh how I agree with you Jeanie!

I have never met an unpleasant director in TV or Film, though I've certainly met some very uncommunicative ones. I have met a few directors who have had hissy fits in theatre: those that I have met like this have definitely been on the bottom rungs. I would have to be paid very well to consider working with them again, though I suspect they don't get employed much.

I don't agree with you paulears - though there's no machine gun involved! Your experiences and opinions clearly differ from mine. If I were in charge in a theatre and heard a choreographer yelling at children and upsetting them by blaming them for something they had no control over, I wouldn't tolerate "get me another dancer", I'd be saying "get me another choreographer". It is different when they are children. It simply is! The choreographer should be able to change his or her approach. It is perfectly possible to have excellent discipline and mutual respect without having a tantrum. The children are generally volunteers, they haven't had the sort of training that professional dancers have had. I also think you can find out how tough a child is likely to be without making those who are not very tough burst into tears! There may occasionally be those who cry through nerves without being yelled at of course but then the job of the person doing the casting is to be sympathetic. They're unlikely to be cast of course, but why make the ordeal worse for them by being unkind?

I've worked with large casts of children on a number of occasions and I have observed directors with wildly differing styles. The ones who get the best out of the cast are those who show the children respect and those who challenge and encourage them to excel - this is by far the most productive way to get respect and cooperation in return. The same is generally true of adults.

[francescasmum]

I'm a primary school teacher and I know of very few children who are bullied in to working harder, better or quicker. I find it much more productive if I coax them through kindness and making lessons fun. Children who like their teacher are more likely to excel and surpass their targets - because they want to please thier teacher. All teachers have targets and deadlines, whether in a classroom or on stage. It is so easy to put a child off something they have previously loved or been naturally good at by unkind, thoughless words or actions and once that love has gone it is very hard to get back.

[islandofsodor]

I totally agree pg.

I try and prepare my students by telling them of some of the things that may happen but ultimately yelling at children for something that is not their fault at an open audition that specifically asked for ballet trained children is not acceptable.

My students have worked with an opera company and one day the big boss was there. She was renowned for being a bit temperamental and I did witness a bit of a rant at one of the leading sopranos, however the children were very well treated, they had a difficult complicated job to do and they got the best out of them.

Young children, even ones who are in full time vocational school are not yet professional and this is where I think that chaperones should sometimes step in. They are still children and don't have the emotional maturity of adults.

You can tell withtou the tantrums who can hack it and if you can't then you need to be in a different job.

There is absolutely no excuse for treating children like this.

[nextinline]

What a shame that casting children in a project is so fraught with difficulties. In my experience I have found that the children I have met on film sets or stage have understood that their imput has to be a professional as it can be (as far as a young child can be expected to understand). There shouldn't be any excuses for bullying behaviour towards either adults or children. As adults we would not tolerate it in a job. When you take the time to bring up your dds and dss to respect others it is very disappointing to see adults letting themselves down behaving so badly infront of them. Thankfully I have only had the pleasure of working with dedicated professionals who give any criticisms or pointers in a constructive manner. Most kids want and respect this type of criticism and are not in anyway damaged or reduced to tears by it. Perhaps my ds and dd have been fortunate. I hope this is not the case and that all directors privileged enough to get children to perform in their works treat those children with the respect they deserve. It might be seen as a risk to work with children (who might not be able to deliver scripts in the way the director wants them delivered) but then all creative work is a risk. On no account is a film project worth damaging any human being regardless of age and I would hope that rather than the director pulling the plug on the child the parent or chaperone would step in on behalf of their charge. After all it is never good in any situation for those wielding the power in that situation to use that power against others.

[sophiesocks]

I just thought after our discussion about rude cd's I would share this experience with you. Ds was set for a casting yesterday which was cancelled the day before, we received an email saying that the film school was busy and asking him to go to Ealing for 7pm either Tuesday or Wednesday of next week, or, if that was inconvenient the cd could come and visit ds at home! I am still in a state of shock, a cd that realises that getting a small child to London in the rush hour, and getting home late at night might not be ideal and offers to make the effort to travel to you instead restores your faith that not everyone is the same as the more difficult cd some of us have met.