Digby C. Young
I am an Audition Director working in the international film and television industry which provides the bulk of work available to South African actors working in Cape Town, South Africa. I work exclusively with my wife, Christa Schamberger-Young, an Emmy-Nominated Casting Director with nearly thirty years of experience.
My own history in the film and television industry stretches back over forty years, during which I have been a successful Director of Photography, Television Screenwriter, and Television Commercial Director.
As a DOP I had the best view on the set of most of the best and some of the worst actors in the history of TV and Film in South Africa – I’ve seen what works and what doesn’t work on a screen of any size.
As a Screenwriter, I’ve had to write dialogue for actors of varying degrees of experience and competence.
As a Commercial Director, I’ve directed hundreds of housewives, dozens of professional actors of varied ability, hundreds of voice-overs, way too many CEOs who fancy themselves as actors – and even the President of an African country!
Both Christa and I have always had enormous respect for actors, based on our own distant experience in Theatre, so our ethos has always been to create a supportive and enabling environment in “The Room”. After a brief and unremarkable period in the Theatre as a youth, I have also since been persuaded to appear on-screen several times. As a matter of policy, Christa and I do not compete with actors, but our pool is very limited in certain age-groups, and occasionally that problem lands me in front of the camera for a referesher course on the challenges faced by an actor.
I write and manage this web site in response to a perceived urgent need for our actors to up their game in order to make the most of the opportunities available as a result of South Africa’s popularity as a “Film Destination”. The opinions and guidance offered are largely my own, but I acknowledge the input and expertise of:
CHRISTA SCHAMBERGER – YOUNG (B.A. L.T.C.L.)
An Independent Casting Director, based in Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa. Taught Drama and Movement at primary and high school level, Technikons, Colleges and the University of Durban-Westville before running two drama and dance studios in Durban and Pietermaritzburg.
Christa joined the film industry in 1985, gaining experience in the production office as well as on set as an A.D. Established since 1987 as South Africa’s Leading freelance Casting Director for features and television drama as well as occasional “performance” Commercials.
Special projects have included: exploratory casting for “Harry Potter”, looking for the beautiful Helen of Troy for “Trojan War” as well as two of the “James Bond” features; Dialogue coaching Kathy Bates for the film of Athol Fugard’s “The Road To Mecca”; Scouring Southern Africa for the Bushman in Disney / Amblin’s “A Far Off Place”, casting the BBC’s epic “Rhodes” series, and a shared Prime Time Emmy Nomination for casting the Iraq War epic “Generation Kill”.
Digby Young, December 2015