O'Connor Casting Internship Overview
In July I finished my internship at O'Connor Casting Company. It was SUCH a good experience, and I really enjoyed my time there. I worked three days a week for two months in the West Loop of Chicago, right across from Harpo Studios.
The staff at O'Connor, while incredibly nice and helpful, did not have time to spoon feed information and directions. In my first ten minutes on my first day, a veteran intern taught me how the front desk is run, checking in actors, calling agents, organizing and stapling headshots, etc. After she explained, I was expected to run the front desk on my own, while there were two auditions going on: one a print ad for Babybel cheese, and another commercial for Sprint.
After spending a couple days at the front desk, the casting associates felt I was ready go sit in an audition session. While in session, it was my responsibility to collect actors headshots, number and organize them, and document their photos that were taken during their slate. I also had to let the directors know of any possibly conflicts that the actors had that would cause them to not get the gig.
Another interesting aspect of my internship was researching locations and demographics for "real people casting." One of the shows I worked on will be premiering on ABC in the fall. Ashton Kutcher is producing Opportunity Knocks, a family game show. I had to research over 100 locations in the Chicagoland area that were family friendly, so that we could submit flyers to get families to audition for the show. I also assisted in a "real person casting" call for DeVry and Lipitor.
One of the best parts of working at O'Connor was the networking opportunities I had with talent agents from the best agencies in Chicago. Getting to know them and talk with them on a first name basis was an awesome opportunity to learn more about what different agencies had to offer and for me to get my name out there as a performer. I also got to see and befriend hundreds of actors every day, many of whom were featured in The Dark Knight!
All in all, I had an excellent summer at O'Connor. It was a very intense internship, but I now know I am much more capable of multi-tasking and problem-solving than I ever thought!
The staff at O'Connor, while incredibly nice and helpful, did not have time to spoon feed information and directions. In my first ten minutes on my first day, a veteran intern taught me how the front desk is run, checking in actors, calling agents, organizing and stapling headshots, etc. After she explained, I was expected to run the front desk on my own, while there were two auditions going on: one a print ad for Babybel cheese, and another commercial for Sprint.
After spending a couple days at the front desk, the casting associates felt I was ready go sit in an audition session. While in session, it was my responsibility to collect actors headshots, number and organize them, and document their photos that were taken during their slate. I also had to let the directors know of any possibly conflicts that the actors had that would cause them to not get the gig.
Another interesting aspect of my internship was researching locations and demographics for "real people casting." One of the shows I worked on will be premiering on ABC in the fall. Ashton Kutcher is producing Opportunity Knocks, a family game show. I had to research over 100 locations in the Chicagoland area that were family friendly, so that we could submit flyers to get families to audition for the show. I also assisted in a "real person casting" call for DeVry and Lipitor.
One of the best parts of working at O'Connor was the networking opportunities I had with talent agents from the best agencies in Chicago. Getting to know them and talk with them on a first name basis was an awesome opportunity to learn more about what different agencies had to offer and for me to get my name out there as a performer. I also got to see and befriend hundreds of actors every day, many of whom were featured in The Dark Knight!
All in all, I had an excellent summer at O'Connor. It was a very intense internship, but I now know I am much more capable of multi-tasking and problem-solving than I ever thought!
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