The Cast and Crew Read-through
by Patricia Locke

When a DVX100 movie - or any no budget production for that matter - makes it to the point of securing actors, it’s cause for celebration! Since most independent movies are on a do it yourself budget where most of the time no one gets paid during the production of the movie, we all know it’s tough to find good a good, much less committed cast and crew. But as you know by now – if you’ve gotten this far, you’re no stranger to finding ways around production traps and you realize that your cast is just one of many moviemaking obstacles to overcome on a production that stems from favors, borrowed time and borrowed money, if any. Congratulations, nonetheless.

Okay. Now that you’ve gotten your cast together, you’ll need to make sure that they’re collectively in sync with the direction of your film and that everybody understands the goals of the movie as well as the characters. A good way to do this is for any movie, film or commercial production is with a “read through”. A read through, basically, is an informal meeting with the whole cast where everyone sits in a room and reads their parts of the script out loud. The read through is a very powerful exercise for everyone involved in the film since this will be the first time that you hear the words in your script come to life right before your eyes.

We’ll cover more of the importance of a read through in just a bit. But for now, I’d like to go over a few things in regards to preparation for the read through.

Secure a space for the cast to meet.

Usually, a good sized living room or garage will do. Make sure it’s large enough to accommodate the entire cast. Chances are that someone in the cast or crew will have access to a large enough space, so be sure to ask your colleagues. If worse comes to worse and you can’t find a room large enough for the cast, then make sure that you find a public spot where there is minimal disturbance coming from your read through and from your surroundings.

Set some time aside for the read through.

Anywhere from 2 to 4 hours would be a good amount of time to set aside for the read through.

Try to get every single person to show up.

I know – easier said than done. But just give it a try anyway. I know when dealing with an unpaid cast and crew, it can be expected that not everyone will be able to make it at the same time ‘cause of their work schedule, etc. So be sure to schedule the read through at the most convenient time possible without conflicting with your actors’ schedules. If not everyone can make it, then try your best to schedule the principle actors and department heads (director, DP, camera ops, sound mixer, assistants, etc.) first and foremost. These are the people that you’ll be spending most of your production time with, so you have to develop a common understanding of your script and direction.

Continued on next page - Cast and Crew Readthrough