You know that line from Mean Girls, “she doesn’t even go here!”? That pretty much sums up my relationship with American Film Institute. I was a volunteer for the annual AFI Fest for several years (and it’s a great experience, I’d highly recommend it) and I’ve also been a SAG Conservatory member since I joined the union in 2012. I find myself on their beautiful campus a lot. If you’re a SAG member and you’re not a conservatory member… join! Unfortunately, the deadline for this year has passed, but put it on your August to-do list for 2016. There are a ton of free classes, workshops, and industry nights that are great to get involved with.
Probably the coolest part of the program is the system the conservatory has put into place with the fellows at the American Film Institute. First year fellows are required to cast their films with SAG Conservatory members. Some of the most professional, fun, and informative experiences of my life have been on set with these students. Not only does this build great relationships with talented people, but actors are able to get some great footage out of it. Sure, I bet having the restriction of only being allowed to cast from a specific pool of people has its challenges… but that’s actually not an atypical challenge in the “real world” either. In major productions, you’re often casting from a short list of actors that the studio or producers has approved anyway. Learning to work within a set group of options is actually probably a valuable skill.
Why am I defending this concept so much? Well, because I’m going to make a little tiny suggestion to the colleges with both great acting and film programs out there: try this setup within your school. Set a certain percentage of roles for each film that must be cast from within the university. Have a specific course that is built around directors casting students from your acting program. Encourage students in different disciplines to do more work together. Why? Because it builds great relationships, which your students should have outside of just their own field of study. But also because there isn’t really an actors version of a “thesis film,” and there should be. College is expensive, and getting a degree in acting is semi-terrifying. I feel pretty strongly that everyone should have a great opportunity to come out of their acting program with a great reel. Not just because they signed up for a specific film class, or because they went the extra mile and submitted for a student film to fit into their busy schedule, but because the school is promoting an overall sense of community.
I used to assist in casting on student films at my own college and they almost never even got submissions from actors who were attending the school. This could have been laziness, or not really knowing these opportunities were available, or just a lack of time on the actor’s part. But when you’re in school and you’re spending 15 hours a week doing repetition exercises… you should be spending at least some amount of time on building a collection of footage that shows off all those hours you’ve been putting into training. I think setting up a program that would encourage, or even require, these opportunities for collaboration between students would be incredibly valuable.
Did your school have a program like this? How much cross-over was there between the film school and acting programs? Do you think there’s value in schools putting a greater emphasis on casting from their own pool of students?