The urgent need to meet – indeed to exceed – international expectations of our actors can best be understood within the context of the development of the international film industry in South Africa.
The industry in which we work has changed during the past twenty years. Ironically, when Christa and I started working together we were often casting South African actors in major roles in feature films. Only the Hero or Villain role would be played by an imported actor – usually American – while every other role would be filled by a South African.
There’s a catch, of course.
Those were action movies destined for video rental stores in the Far East and hick towns across the United States. The plots were flimsy, dialogue was minimal and shallow because the emphasis was on action, explosions and stunts. In an era where CGI was in its infancy, our production designers, special effects crew and “stunties” were challenged to produce blockbuster effects on budgets that were literally laughed at in Hollywood. As a result, South African stunt performers are now highly regarded internationally, as are our special effects crews.
Our actors, however, were not challenged to grow in the same way. They were playing comic-book American characters in thin stories intended for viewing by an audience of teenagers for whom English was a second or third language and who couldn’t distinguish between a Boston professor, a Texan cattleman – and a South African actor who was faking it. Most young men had been conscripted into military service, so coped extremely well with weapon-wielding characters they inevitably played.
As South Africa opened up after Liberation in 1994, the industry changed again with the influx of mainstream producers coming to harvest the untold South African stories. One of the first was the BBC’s production of “Rhodes”, for which we cast about 190 South Africans in speaking parts ranging from supporting roles to one-liners.
Again, “Rhodes” didn’t provide our actors with the same challenge we face today – it was essentially a South African story, so with a little period polishing up, we could portray ourselves. The lifting of the Cultural Embargo, however, meant that respected English theatre and television actors were able to play the “British” roles – the first hint of international competition for the available parts.
Soon, international producers were coming to South Africa – which soon came to mean Cape Town – to make what seemed like an endless re-hash of Apartheid horror stories. Many plots were “angled” to give the hero part to either some well-intentioned foreigner or a South African who had spent years in “exile” and therefore had an excuse for having a British or American accent, since the lead role was invariably played by a British or American actor.
Again, little challenge for our actors, who were consigned to playing a cardboard cut-out of either a hapless “victim” or a dastardly Apartheid “oppressor”.
The world moved on – 9/11, the Gulf Wars, Afghanistan, The War on Terror, and recently back to Afghanistan. By this time though, South Africa had established a toe-hold as an international movie destination, so when producers turned to much needed escapism for their domestic markets, South Africa was a good bet. The country had been politically stable, we had good crews, stunt performers, excellent scenic services crews, a variety of geography for exotic locations, and amid global economic turmoil and tightening budgets, we had a favourable exchange rate, a generous rebate system and a brand new studio complex was, at last, under construction.
Have I left something out?
Oh yes, of course! According to a BBC World News Special on South Africa early in 2014, “One of the reasons South Africa is a favourite film destination is because it has thousands of Extras who understand English.”
Extras? Ouch!
The abysmal ignorance of the BBC’s anchor about the South African international film industry is the BBC’s problem. The perception that it reveals delivers a challenge to the hundreds of South African actors working in our part of the international industry.
While producers who’ve had anything to do with South Africa know that we have more than “Extras” to offer, the international film and television being produced in South Africa is now almost entirely intended for viewing by mainstream audiences in first-language English speaking countries – specifically the USA, Canada and the UK. This means that South African actors have to pass themselves off as either American or English if they are to work at all. If they want to climb up the credit roll, they have to collectively inspire greater confidence in Producers to take that chance. A few have achieved that goal, but we have a very small pool of actors who are even in the ball-park. That is not a swipe at our actors, it is simply a statistical reality because of the amount of work compared to the size of our demographically diverse pool of actors.
To sustain overall confidence in our ability to supply credible acting talent, therefore, all our actors have to contribute to creating a positive perception. We simply have to be much better than our counterparts in the USA and the UK. If we don’t rise to the challenge, one of two things will happen: At best, Producers will simply bring more actors in, sliding our own actors back down the credit roll; at worst, they will simply take their productions elsewhere.
Another challenge to our actors has arisen from the impact of Video On Demand (VOD) from the streaming services which often make entire Series available at once, enabling “Binge Watching”, which consumes “Content” very quickly.
When I was writing television series, the script for each episode had to be approved by the broadcaster before payment was released, then the entire series was reviewed and approved before the production would be commissioned.
Streaming video has disrupted this orderly production process. To keep up with consumer demand for new product, production lead times have been shortened. Almost every Series we have cast since 2017 has started shooting with only the first episode relatively locked down, two or three more scripts marked “Draft Only” and subsequent episodes as sketchy outlines, if available to us at all.
On the one hand, this makes it very difficult to “budget” our limited talent pool across the variety of roles that may be on offer throughout a series, while on the other hand it provides actors with a golden opportunity to “grow a role” for themselves if they can manage to impress. The problem is that as shooting rolls inexorably along, scripts tend to arrive later and later, compressing the time available to write and distribute Briefs, obtain sensible, relevant submissions from Agents, and schedule auditions.
. . . . . then we had ourselves a little Pandemic. . . . .
Anybody alive and sentient during 2020 to 2022 will have noticed collateral effects of the near-worldwide “Lockdown” imposed on societies; from depressed office rental markets, to people realising they no longer need / want / have the job they had when they were last expected to go to an office to do their job.
If the last job they had was an acting job. . . they would have realised by now that an “Audition” has degenerated into something called a “Self Tape”. For most people it seems that the term “Self-Tape Audition” didn’t last very long. Which is a pity, because without that word “Audition” as a reminder, too many actors have become distracted by the mere process of using a camera while they “Do Their Lines.” Actors’ opinions of the increasing demand for self tapes vary, but the majority of Professional actors I have encountered have expressed joy to be back in the Studio, doing a real audition.
One advantage of an audition with a Casting Director or an experienced Audition Director is that they will provide some degree of immediate feedback to the actor. Depending on their style, time available and level of pressure, the feedback will vary from a near Master-class in acting for a new actor down to being unable to keep the “WTF?” look off their face for a really bad audition.
Doing your “Self Tape” with an Acting Buddy may help some, but if you are both inexperienced, and quite possibly never auditioned with a supportive Casting Director, there is a good chance that you could simply reinforce each other’s bad habits.
The acceptance of the self tape has at least enabled would-be actors living away from the main production centres to at least get a look in – provided they have and can afford the broadband internet connection.
It is not surprising that the “Self Tape” has given rise – across the world – to “Self Tape Studios” which either provide a service or exploit the desperate actors’ situation, depending on your point of view. “Your mileage may vary” as they say in car commercials – but either way, Producers have sneakily transferred part of the cost of casting their productions onto the actor.
Other businesses have had a “working from home honeymoon” and many are already finding the remote working culture severely wanting. Whether the new generation of “Content Producers” will re-think casting entirely by self-tape is debatable. How long it will take for sense to prevail is an open question. Until then. . .
Acting Team South Africa will need to find new levels of dedication and “acting fitness” to make the most of the opportunities available in this new, high-pressure environment.