BY Belinda Bremner
Stop the presses! This just in! OK, so the news will be a little less breaking when you read this, but it was fun saying it. Two new films are coming to Chicago to join the ones already shooting.
Jane Alderman will be casting both Children on Their Birthdays, based on a short story by Truman Capote and directed by Mark Medoff (Children of a Lesser God fame), and the feature Joshua. Paul Pompian will produce both films. Details, such as names attached to the projects, will be forthcoming. Alderman will also continue to cast for "ER" when they come back next month.
Still at work on previously reported projects, Chicago Casting Center is still conducting searches for pilots "Small Town X," "Brewster’s Place," and the mini-series of A Wrinkle in Time as well as theatre projects.
Jennifer Rudnicke and Jaz Casting are in the groceries! She cast spots for Jewel and Webvan.
As reported earlier in these pages, Claire Simon is casting for Muhammad Ali. Recently she added Patrick New and Warner Saunders to the cast. She and her staff are casting for the Jonathon Groff pilot; a WB pilot for Debbie Guetteriz, "Spy Girl" also for the WB; "Tikiville" for 20th Century Fox; "True Love" for NBC; an untitled project for Michael Jacobs and "The Untitled Live Show" for WB/NBC with Drew Carey as producer. And she added Cedric Young from Geddes and Meg Thalkin from Stewart to the ranks of Chicago actors booking roles on "What About Joan."
Add Mark Morretini’s name to those going down The Road To Perdition cast by Tenner Paskal. They are also casting for Jelly’s Last Jam and for the pilot of "Bagtime" based on the work of Bob Green and starring Johnny Gallecki. Does anyone else remember the musical version at Wisdom Bridge a couple of lifetimes ago? They are also casting for several commercials. And for Ball In The House they cast Larry Neumann, Jr., Nathan Kiley, Eddie Bo Smith, Rick Peeples, and Stephen Rose.
As you all know, Road To Perdition, Muhammad Ali and Ball In The House are shooting in town. Now we add Children on Their Birthdays and Joshua, with a return visit from "ER." The Joan Cusack show "What About Joan" premieres this month and let us all keep our fingers crossed. A film with 'N Sync entitled On The El will be in town for a couple of days. And there is scouting for Chicago as a possible venue for both "Road Rules" and "Real World" for MTV.
And Lily’s sends word that there were national commercial bookings for David O’Connell and Chandler Kingsley. Client Milaune Jemai was booked for the television show "Fear Factor." Industrial bookings went to Kerri Helbing, Kelly Munroe, Tanya Sinclair, Sara Termini, Sonja Crockett, Prakruti Makam, Heather Hubbird, Keiley Rhode, Annette Campanella, Amanda Lee, Shannon Lersch, Claudia Casaletto, Andrea Zemaier, Mykael LeFlore, Heather Burke, Sarah Becker, Debra Cliff and Connie Cnota.
Sidebar: I’ve been asked by a number of agents to remind talent to be very, very clear as to their status with both unions and agents. It is the actor’s responsibility to keep track of his/her union status. Are you Taft Hartley? And if so, for which unions? Are you a "Must Join?" And do you have the initiation fee? And, too, in a city where talent can freelance, what is your status with the various agents? Are you, in fact, exclusive? Exclusivity requires a written contract on file with the unions (if you are union). Again, this is the actor’s job to keep all this straight. The fall-out from not being crystal clear on all this can be awful, and very damaging to relationships and careers.
Peace.