Why the new Best Casting Oscar is a win for unsung heroes across the workforce |
Why the new Best Casting Oscar is a win for unsung heroes across the workforce
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences added its first new award in two decades for this Sunday’s telecast—what that means for Hollywood, and for unrecognized workers in other industries.
[Photo: Emma McIntyre/WireImage/Getty Images]
Think of your favorite movie. Maybe you love it for the plot, or the nostalgia you get from watching it again and again. Now think of that same movie, but all the actors have been shuffled: An American who can’t quite master a British accent, a 35-year-old playing a high schooler, a dramatic actor whose jokes fall flat.
The people who make sure that doesn’t happen often go unrecognized, but now the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has something to say about it. The inaugural Best Casting Oscar will be awarded at the 98th Academy Awards on March 15.
It’s the first new Oscars category in more than two decades. (In 2002, Shrek was the first to win the then-recently debuted Best Animated Feature award.) And it’s a long time coming; there has been a casting branch of the Academy since 2013.
But even with the introduction of an Oscar to recognize achievement at (arguably) the highest level of the film industry, those outside the industry might not understand what casting directors do or what good casting looks like.
Fast Company talked to a few industry professionals to break down what happens behind closed doors in the casting process—and why this new award is a win for unsung heroes across industries in the workforce.
Think of a film like its own little company that exists for the length of production: The director is at the head, but the casting director is one of the first people brought on to a project after that—making them vital to the film, even if they rarely make it to set.
“Casting is really an integral part of the filmmaking process,” Meredith Shea, the Academy’s chief membership, impact, and industry officer, says. “Casting directors collaborate with the directors and producers right after they receive the script from a writer, so they really set the tone for the start of a film.”
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