9
LAWRENCE JOURNAL-WORLD
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
AUGUST 1996 35F
Agency casts for movies,TV
- Persistence pays off for casting directors.
BY JL WATSON
JOURNAL-WORLD WRITER
Hand your picture to Heather Laird and you're likely to hear something positive.
"You look great," she told 12-year-old twins, taping their photos to the inside of information folders. "You've got great expression."
Laird was recently in the midst of the ordered chaos that is part of her normal routine. Laird and her business partner, Kansas University theater professor Jack Wright, own and operate Wright/Laird Casting in Kansas City, Mo.
"It gives them a chance to audition for professional gigs, and I enjoy the opportunity to learn about film."
Jack Wright
"We cast for feature films, made-for television movies, cable films, TV series, national and regional television commercials and print commercials," Laird said. "Just about anything. If it needs actors or models, I will cast it."
The late June casting session at Vedros Studio called for several children's parts and one teacher role for a national print campaign. More than 80 youths auditioned for approximately eight roles.
"I always try to bring in new clients because Kansas City is such a small market," she said. "I know a lot of these kids because I've cast them for other things. That's one thing about young people as opposed to adults. They change substantially over the course of a year."
People-watching skills
Laird said she looks for unique facial expressions and actors and models who work well with a camera. She sharpened her peoplewatching skills while attending Kansas University in the 1970s and after she graduated and headed west to Los Angeles.
"I was still planning to be an actress then," she said. "I studied acting out there and went through about three agents, but I didn't do much out there so I got out
of the business for several years."
She was still living in LA when she decided to get back into the entertainment field — this time on the other side of the camera.
"I did an internship with a production company and my first job on an action short was nominated for an Academy Award the next year," she said. "That was an auspicious start."
Ironically, it was her mother-turned-actress who brought Laird back to the Midwest.
"Jack (Wright) was doing the casting for 'Sarah Plain and Tall,'" Laird said, "and he cast my mother in the role of Mrs. Parkley. When they did the sequel a couple of years later they called from New York and asked her to reprise the role."
Laird wanted nothing more than to come home and work with her mother.
"That was my whole motivation," she said.
Persistence pays off
Her persistence paid off and Laird was hired to work on the film crew. She came
back to Kansas City and while she was working on the set, three more films began production in Kansas City.
"I came for three weeks and six months later I was still here," she said. "After 10 years I was tired of LA and ready to go. It was the best move I could've made."
Laird approached her good friend and former professor Jack Wright with the idea of pairing up as casting directors.
"I was working on two movies," he said. "I knew it was too much and when Heather helped out, we hit it off great."
Wright saw the combination of teaching and casting as a great opportunity.
"It's a nice adjunct opportunity for my students," he said. "It gives them a chance to audition for professional gigs, and I enjoy the opportunity to learn about film."
Wright said that as rewarding as casting is, his first obligation is to his students at the university.
"I have the best of both worlds," he said. "I benefit from working in the professional world and I love what I do at the university."
EARL RICHARDSON/JOURNAL-WORLD PHOTO
Jack Wright, a Kansas University theater and film professor, also works as a casting director for his company, Wright/Laird Casting in Kansas City, Mo.
MUSEUM GIFT SHOP Museum of Anthropology Univ. of Kansas
Mon.-Sat. Sun.
9 a.m.-5 p.m. 1 p.m.-5 p.m.
One stop for "Round the World" shopping
If you're headed for college, Central National Bank wants a word with you: Free.
That's right. FREE checking for one full year when you open a STUDENT ACCOUNT at Central National Bank. Just deposit $50 to open your account and then relax.The only deductions to this account will be the ones you make.
You're a neighbor, not a number. MEMBER FDIC