Post Pilot thoughts

We wrapped the Adam Carolla pilot on Friday.  It was really a fun project, from start to finish... however we did make a casting change since my last post.  The pilot was written with a very specific sidekick for Carolla.  Adam has a buddy named Oswaldo Castillo who has been his construction partner and friend for many years.  Ozzie was also in Adam's movie "The Hammer".  But when we went to cast the role, we were given the task of finding an actor with experience to play the part.  This was not an easy task - as Ozzie is a 45 year old, chubby fella from Nicaragua who speaks with a heavy accent.  We didn't want the character to feel like a cartoon - it had to be authentic.  So we cast a wonderful NY actor Victor Cruz, but replaced him because he felt too young for the role.  So, Oswaldo Castillo was called in and did a great job.  While he isn't a trained actor, he has a certain look and quality to him that is authentic and lovable.

Adam Carolla is a really funny guy.  I knew he was smart, and funny from the radio - but he has strong acting instincts as well.  A very nice group of producers on this project.  When you work with nice people, I think you work harder and better.  We'll know about a pickup sometime in May.  Fingers crossed.

Adam Carolla pilot

We finished the bulk of the casting for our NBC pilot - The Untitled Adam Carolla Project - yesterday. I'm really happy with the cast. We had a "pre- table read" the other day with most of the series regulars and it was REALLY funny. Our official table read is on Monday. We've added a couple of great people to the cast: Victor Cruz is playing the role of Rogelio. We cast Victor out of New York... he's a little younger than we originally envisioned the role, but he is really funny and will be a great sidekick for Carolla. I'm also excited about Amy Landecker. Amy may not be a familiar face yet, but she has a very memorable scene in the Coen Brother's latest film "A Serious Man" as the sexy and sultry neighbor. Amy is playing Carolla's ex-wife. One of the great things about Amy is that she is a fresh face for TV viewers. You often will see the same people playing roles over and over on television and when you get to a certain age category, it's just hard to find strong, quality actors who haven't been overexposed. Amy has been in New York and has been doing lots of stage work, so while she's done the NY TV shows, she hasn't done a lot of high visibility television in the past.

The producers on this project have been GREAT to work with. I've enjoyed this collaboration immensely. It's really nice to work with people who want to hear our opinion and who respect my experience. We laughed a lot and worked hard and have a really good result. So, we start shooting this next week. Then we wait. The networks announce their fall schedules in the 2nd week of May. Let's hope this one gets on the air!

AreUaStar has been busy Casting

It's been a great 2010 already.  The AreUaStar Casting Directors are working on a new pilot for NBC that stars Adam Carolla.  We've just cast the fabulous Megan Hilty (direct from Broadway), Ashley Williams and a young wonderful actress Shanley Caswell.

Our Lifetime movie "Pregancy Pact" was Lifetime's highest rated movie in the past 6 years.  We are all very happy with those results -and the reviews about the cast were all really stellar.

After a kind of slow 2009, we are excited to be off to a fast start.  Pilot season is in full swing and it finally feels like a real pilot season again.  It's the first one in years.  There are a ton of pilots casting right now - usually the comedies don't start until mid to late February, but this year, it seems like they are all being greenlit early.  So stay tuned for more casting news to come.

Happy Holidays! Jane Lynch gets Golden Globe nom!

Happy Holidays from the AreUaStar Team!

We are so happy and excited for AreUaStar friend Jane Lynch - who this morning was nominated for a Golden Globe award for her portrayal of the crafty and crazy character Sue Sylvester on Fox's GLEE. Her performance each week is a delight to watch.

The AreUaStar Casting Team just completed work on an upcoming Lifetime movie "The Pregnancy Pact", based on the real life story of 18 high school sophomores from Gloucester, Mass who became pregnant in the same year. The film, which should air in January, stars Thora Birch, Nancy Travis, Camryn Manheim and newcomer Madisen Beaty.

Wishing you a wonderful 2010.

The Emmys and more...

Well, the Emmy's were a lot of fun. I thought Neil Patrick Harris did a spectacular job of hosting and it was exciting to see a number of our friends win Emmys. Toni Collette's win for Best Actress in a Comedy was a surprise but she is so good in the role.

We're finishing up the casting on The Pregnancy Pact. We've added Emmy winner Camryn Manheim to the cast as well as James McCaffrey from "Rescue Me". It's a nice group and as soon as I know its air date, I will pass that along.

Reading 15 year old girls was lots of fun. Our producer really wanted girls that were actually 15, rather than casting 18 years to play younger. While this will make it much harder to film (given the limitations on using minors in film/television), it provides a sense of authenticity that will be very clear on film. While many 18 year olds look younger, they often have a sense of maturity that comes through.

Casting Updates

We've set the two leads for "The Pregnancy Pact" for Lifetime. Nancy Travis will be playing the conservative, abstinence promoting mother of a teenager and Thora Birch will play a journalist who comes to the town to investigate the pregnancy spike in the local high school. We're excited about these cast members and hopefully will have more to share soon.

The movie will be shooting in New Orleans, and Jason Wood is currently in Atlanta doing some of the location casting. We've seen some amazing young girls for the roles - and are really trying to cast real 15 year olds (not 18 to play 15) because it creates a feeling of reality... there is still a sense of innocence in these girls.

More to follow....

The Pregnancy Pact

We're working on another movie for Lifetime. It's called "The Pregnancy Pact" and is based on the real life story of 18 high school sophomores who got pregnant during the same year in Massachusetts. It was a big news story a couple of years ago, and this is a movie based on the story. Right now we're casting the two leads, but soon we'll be opening up the process to cast a bunch of 15/16 year old girls for all the roles (as well as the other parts).

The producer is Bob Sertner of VonZernick/Sertner Films - they've done a ton of Lifetime movies in the past and he is a great guy to deal with.

My film "Boutonniere" won Best Short in the LA Shorts Film Festival, so that is very exciting news.

Stay tuned for more updates... I'll try and fill you in on the casting for "Pregnancy Pact" as it moves forward.