what does a casting director do?

A casting director finds the actors for a film, TV show or commercial and gets them booked. In practice, that means working out who each character is with the director, writer and producers, sending the roles to agents and managers, watching every audition, and negotiating the deals once the creative team has chosen.

Here’s a practical list of day-to-day tasks for a casting director and their casting team:

  • breaking down the script and pulling from project materials to draft character breakdowns

  • collaborating with the writer, director and producers to edit and finalize character breakdowns

  • distributing character breakdowns to agencies and management companies

  • discussing ideas and pitches with agents and managers

  • going through thousands of submissions for every role

  • selecting and setting up actors to audition via self-tape, Zoom, or in person

  • watching all self-tapes and auditions

  • choosing actors for callbacks

  • reading with and adjusting actors during pre-reads with casting

  • scheduling and running callbacks, producer sessions, and chemistry reads

  • running lists of name actors for offer ideas and checking availability

  • negotiating offers with actors and their agents and managers on behalf of production

  • building an international network of agents and managers

  • doing outreach to relevant organizations or communities for roles requiring specific skills or traits

  • drafting deal memos

  • clearing actors with SAG-AFTRA

  • building cast lists and master lists

But the real work is taste.

Chloë Curran is a Los Angeles casting director and the founder of Chaos Casting. Her credits include Station 19 and The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth.