Doc Film Sheds Some Light on Casting Directors

Here’s an interesting fact revealed in Tom Donahue’s documentary “Casting By”: casting directors are the only opening single card credit that does not receive its own Academy Award nomination. It’s an interesting fact, but also sort of a depressing one, as this film reveals not just how integral casting directors are to the creative process of filmmaking, but really how important they have been in shaping the history of American cinema. This film seeks to highlight the publicly under-appreciated casting directors and to pay tribute to the one woman who evolved the position of the casting director, its role in the filmmaking process, and in doing so, had a dramatic effect on some of the most important and influential films of the 20^th century. 

Marion Dougherty had dreams of being an actress in college before she moved to New York and found work assisting a friend casting the televised theater show “Kraft,” in the early days of television, in the late 1940s. Marion had an eye not just for talent but for a person’s energy, sitting down and talking with them and keeping detailed notes about them on 3x5 cards, and going to bat for those actors she really believed in (a fellow by the name of James Dean).  

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To learn more about casting calls please visit the International Truffles Casting Fair