SAG awards

It was fun to watch the SAG awards last night, and my respect for Frieda Pinto grows as she was the ONLY actor to mention the Casting Director last night! She gave a shout out to Loveleen Tandan while her group was accepting the Feature ensemble award for Slumdog Millionaire.

It would have been nice for the casts of 30 Rock or Mad Men to acknowledge the original work of the Casting Director in bringing together these talented actors. But since they didn't, I will... the talented CDs are Jennifer McNamara (30 Rock) and Laura Schiff & Carrie Audino for Mad Men.

Casting Directors really are unsung heroes. We enter a project at the very beginning, work directly with the writer and director - often before any other department head is engaged. What would a film or television show be like without a Casting Director or with a different CD? The choices that ultimately end up on screen most always start with a Casting Directors idea. It's very frustrating to compile an ensemble and then not receive the credit for it, but Casting Directors have learned to live with that. (Do I sound like a martyr?).

Anyway - it was fun to watch the actors get together and celebrate themselves... it would just be nice if they remembered who was on their side in the beginning - who pushed for them to get the job - who stopped their auditions, whispered in their ear to make a subtle change that got them the job, etc.

Just a thought: does anyone else think it's weird that Slumdog Millionaire was eligible for a SAG award, even though none of it's cast are members of SAG? I certainly have no problem with their talent deserving the award, but aren't there rules about these kinds of things?