20th Century Fox Television Goes Digital with Casting Call for New Series "Sons of Tucson"

    SANTA BARBARA, CA, July 15, 2009 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Casting Directors are currently looking for two series regulars, an 8 year old boy and a 13-15 year old boy, for a 20th Century Fox Television episodic series starting this Fall called Sons of Tucson. The show is being directed and executive produced by 3 time Primetime Emmy winner Todd Holland. But instead of relying on the age old Hollywood tradition of sorting through piles of hard copy photos and resumes submitted by talent agents and actors, the casting directors Nikki Valko and Ken Miller are taking advantage of the information highway by using Cast It Systems to assist in casting this project.

Around 2000, start-ups and database builders began looking for ways to use the Internet to connect hundreds of thousands of actors with jobs. But the casting profession was really swept by change only about two years ago, when a general step-up in bandwidth converged with the efforts of a small company called Cast It Systems.

Around then, the company, which last year was involved in casting about 250 movies, more than 100 television pilots and nearly 400 television episodes, persuaded big independent casting directors and the casting departments at most of the major studios and networks to sign onto its service. Cast It Systems has only about 10 employees and counts its revenue in the millions, not tens of millions, of dollars. The production companies -- not the actors -- pay for the service. According to Cast It Systems' founders, Eric Hayes and Chris Gantos, a breakthrough occurred when they began providing each customer with a Sanyo camera whose removable storage chip could instantly transfer a short audition video to a user's computer.

Lists and accompanying DVDs that were making their way around town by messenger only a few years ago were suddenly flying back and forth in seconds. That turned the casting process into a rolling conversation, with more, and faster, input from the companies that do the hiring. "It changed things drastically," said Gary Zuckerbrod, president of the Casting Society of America and a casting director whose recent credits include the CBS series "Without a Trace."

According to Mr. Zuckerbrod and others, as much as two days of logistical back-and-forth was wrung out of the casting work on a typical television episode. More significantly, candidates from around the world can now compete for roles in a film like Steven Spielberg's "Munich" -- one of Cast It's early users -- without geographic disadvantage: They simply record an audition abroad, upload it and level the playing field with actors in Los Angeles.

Alan Baltes, publisher of several highly popular Open Casting Calls and Auditions websites said, "technology has been way ahead of Hollywood casting for many years, and it was just a matter of time before the casting industry found an efficient and faster way to get their jobs done utilizing companies such as Cast It Systems."

Cast It Systems recently was used to help cast Twilight Saga: Eclipse, the third film in the Summit Entertainment series.

Details about the current 20th Century Fox Television casting call can be found on the following website:

Open Casting Calls

http://opencastingcalls.blogspot.com/2009/07/casting-call-for-20th-century-fox.html

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