While it may not be known outside of the industry insiders who comprise Kansas City’s independent film scene, there is a vibrant culture of actors, directors, producers, agents, casting directors and crew members who work on locally originated motion pictures, documentaries, television shows and web series, as well as those projects that are imported from Hollywood. This article is the first in a series that will cover the vibrant independent film scene as it exists in the Kansas City metro and surrounding areas. The series begins with a profile of Heather Laird, a Casting Director and principle in the partnership of Wright / Laird Casting.
There is one person whose sole job is to prevent an actor from accessing the inner sanctum of fame and fortune. This guardian, or better still, gatekeeper has a tight fist on the kingdom’s keys and will fight to the death to prevent the novice and unworthy of crossing over the moat and stealing away with the treasure. This is the person about whom the elder actors will speak in hushed tones, barely letting the whispers escape pursed lips – ghost stories and dire warnings to the younger generation of talent eager to enter the business. This feared and dreaded beast is... wait for it (say it twice), the casting director. Overly dramatic and not at all true, it is, however, what some actors and actresses, who have had bad interactions with casting directors, believe. The truth is far more benign.
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Heather Laird began her career in the entertainment business in front of the camera, or in industry terms, above-the-line. She went to Hollywood intent on becoming a working actress. With blonde locks, curves, a sharp wit, talent and bearing a passing resemblance to Annette Bening, one could have won money betting on Laird’s success as the next Hollywood “IT” girl. Fate, however, played the game with loaded dice.
The joke is, “What do you say to an actress in Hollywood?” The punchline, “I’ll have a cup of coffee with that.” It may be stereotypical, but the restaurant service industry in Hollywood is truly born on the back of would-be actors and actresses. Being a server offers flexibility, especially with time, which is critical for actors who without warning may be called to audition for any given film or television project. For the rank and file, there is no, “that time is not convenient for me, can I reschedule?” If you want the chance to be the next America’s Sweetheart, you jump to whatever height is being asked whenever it is asked.
Laird was doing her stint in the food and beverage industry when a coworker gave her the “why are you here” quiz. According to Laird, the daytime bartender at the club where she worked was himself a screenwriter, because “everyone in the restaurant business in LA is something else”. When Laird was asked what her favorite part of being a club manager was, she responded by uttering that it was booking the bands. The co-worker turned out to be “an angel who said the right thing at the right time, and he's the one who said casting director to me.” It was her “aha” moment. “I immediately went out and found an internship in casting, and went to work in casting, and within six months people started giving me money,” states Laird in a matter-of-fact manner. She had found her calling.
Before continuing, it might help to know what a casting director is and what it is exactly that a casting director does.
There is a credit that floats by in the opening title sequence of movies or televisions shows that audience members often promptly ignore. It reads, “Casting by”. These words are then followed by a name or two, and for studio or large independent pictures, the name or names usually have some initials behind them, “C.S.A.” The “C.S.A.” is not a nefarious government agency sent to enforce the Hays code. It stands for Casting Society of America – an association of professional casting directors, the people charged with finding the right actor for a given role.
In corporate terms, a casting director can be thought of as a Senior VP of Human Resources. In this scenario, a Kansas City corporation has a new product that it wants to manufacture. Executives (producers and directors) charge the HR person with the responsibility of finding the perfect employees (actors and actresses) to work on the product (film/television/theatre), because with the ideal workforce the merchandise has a much greater chance of success and profitability. So the HR person lists the job posting (breakdown services) and interviews prospective candidates (auditions) with hopes of finding the right ones. When the applicants and job matches are made, then the HR person handles the employment offers and additional paperwork (contract negotiations), arbitrates disputes and can, as occasion dictates, work as an unpaid psychologist.
At its core, the process of casting talent for entertainment fare really is no different from the above scenario, though it can be infinitely more nuanced. Laird, “You bring people in, okay, and a certain number of them, actually, can, can act.” She continues, “there's always going to be a certain group that falls out right there because they're just not really experienced enough.. and it shows.” The difficulty comes when you have excellent talent, but a limited number of parts to fill. Ultimately the hiring decision rests with the producers and directors whose project Laird is casting. “Then it's all about, okay, the director and producer are shuffling parts around; we have to have a certain number of men, a certain number of women, a certain number of minorities.” Laird describes the business side of entertainment with a foundation of wisdom and experience, not unlike a battle-hardened veteran who has seen several tours of duty, but still possesses a keen sense of optimism and enthusiasm that comes with having a strong sense of purpose.
Laird has been the casting director on several independent film projects that have been shot on both sides of the state line. She was responsible for the local casting on the Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner, “Winter's Bone”, in addition to being the casting director on the theatrical motion picture “All Roads Lead Home” starring Peter Coyote and the film “The Only Good Indian”, which starred Wes Studi.
As a casting director, Laird is an eyewitness to the “only-in-the-movies-could-that-happen” moments. In fact, these occurrences have inspired her to write, produce and direct a web series based on her experiences as a casting veteran. The web series is called “Next!” – a faux reality series about a casting director. In the first episode, a director and producer who have a low-budget horror film need an actress to play the part of a stripper who subsequently gets murdered. In the show, the director and producer want the casting director to audition real strippers. Though it may be outrageous in the telling, Laird incredulously gushes that, “I have at least four stories in my casting experience where some director wanted strippers, exotic dancers, tassel dancers.”
In order to help with the production of “Next!”, Heather Laird utilized her network of Kansas City creatives. Four writers worked on the scripts for the series. The show was shot on the RED camera and post-production was handled by T2 – a Kansas City-based production house. The series' website was designed by Liquid 9 (a KC graphic design firm).
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With the web series, Laird has proven to herself and others that she is capable of producing entertainment that could air on network or cable television. The show has been selected as a finalist at the National Association of Television Production Executives (NATPE) LATV Festival. The convention is an annual industry event where the the largest companies in television convene to orchestrate licensing, production and syndication deals, and an essential part of the trade show are meetings where independent producers pitch networks on new show ideas – but only if you are an industry insider with an invite; something that Laird is and has.
If “Next!” o'er leaps the chasm from internet series to broadcast television, then she would be pleased, but she's not waiting for that event to happen. Instead, Laird's directing ambition has driven her to begin work on a reality series, called “Global Stars”. The show is currently being pitched to networks and reality-show producers, so Laird is not able to reveal too much about it, at least not yet, though it may be coming to viewers' living rooms soon. In addition to directing the reality series, Laird will also direct a documentary that covers the same subject matter, though the documentary will focus on “telling the stories as they are, rather than trying to spin it,” Laird states.
As a director, Heather Laird is in the third season of her career, with each previous experience laying the foundation for the next. Her stint as an actress helped prepare her for a career as a casting director, and that knowledge permitted her to elevate her occupational status by moving up and into the realm of directing television, though she has no plans to leave the casting world behind. “Wright / Laird Casting has been my bread and butter for twenty years. I'm not going anywhere.” Her voice carries an emphatic tone that denotes her resolve at remaining an effective force as Kansas City's premier casting director. What it means is that Laird is a person who is quite comfortable wearing the many hats of a casting director, producer, writer and director. She has an impressive ability to define and re-define herself in an evolving entertainment landscape, and has made it clear that she is willing to conquer the challenges ahead of her – whatever they may be.
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