Audition Round-Up

With a week to go, and more than half of our audition slots accounted for, I'm trying to get a bead on our options for next season's casting.

In the past, I had specific ideas in mind of the characters I was casting for, and I went into the audition process looking specifically for those character types. If anyone else happened to stand out but didn't fill an immediate need, I considered writing them into the show or opportunities to use them in a future sequence that hadn't been plotted in yet. In fact, one actress from last season's auditions -- Clare Fogerty, who plays Chloe -- was such a standout that I wrote her in on the spot, assigning her the role of Dierdre's little sister despite not actively expecting to include that character in this past season.

Sometimes, someone's just that good.

This season, I'm taking a different approach. I still a few roles in the back of my mind that I know I'd like to fill, but I'm not scripting anything until auditions have taken place. That way, instead of looking past the immediate talent in front of me, I'll be better equipped to evaluate the actors in front of me on their own merit and see what opportunities they provide for new plotlines in this upcoming, as-yet-unwritten Season Four.

Granted, I'm always plotting potential storylines in my head. Every person I see, every song on the radio, every conversation I overhear sparks a new idea. But if the two or three characters I'm technically "looking for" don't walk through the door next Saturday, I won't be alarmed; I'll just roll in a new direction.

Adaptibility: the key to producing a web series on no budget.