Christa Schamberger, Casting Director

As the weather in the Western Cape of South Africa at last turns from long sunny days to the short, dark and stormy days of Winter, our actors are no doubt pondering the fact that audition calls have diminished and asking themselves whether the Pirates of New Providence Island will take on the might of the Royal Navy in Black Sails, Season 3. Will the Angels, good & bad, return to pester the citizens of Vega in Dominion Season 2?
They're probably simply asking “Will there be work for me next Season?”
It is possible that not even the Producers of the two biggest shows in town have a certain answer to the first two questions at this time.

The answer to “Will there be work...” is almost certainly “Yes, even if not necessarily on those two series.”
Immediately after Liberation in 1994 there was a flood of work into South Africa. Firstly, because it had become morally and politically possible to work here. Secondly, because we were the miracle of the era and became “flavour of the month.” Our actors could make a living, if they had the stomach for it, by playing the same dastardly Cruel White Policeman or the same cardboard Noble Freedom Fighter in movie after series, after Docu-Drama.
When the rush had passed, foreign producers also realised that filming in South Africa made economic sense – because we provided good value. Our Film Commissions and production company marketers rattled on about our scenery, our crews and even the state of the art equipment that was available.

Nobody mentioned the acting talent....

All our marketing efforts missed an important point: South Africa is one of the few places in the world outside of the US and the UK where a producer can populate a film with people of diverse ethnic appearance who understand and speak English.

Admittedly, it was difficult to sell our acting talent when they were confined to playing one-liners and day-player roles. The release of both District 9 and Invictus within the same year changed that. (2009) District 9 was the box-office sensation of the year, Invictus was a “worthy” film which has recouped a little over twice its budget at the box-office. Both pictures garnered a slew of nominations and several awards.

Both films had almost entirely South African casts, so our actors appeared far higher up the Credit roll than ever before. From a Casting Director's perspective, the effect was immediate. For the first time, feature film directors and television producers would ask for South African actors by name and with specific roles in mind. The effect is also apparently long lasting and for those actors lucky enough to find a “fit” for a role or two in quick succession, the effect has been cumulative. Of course the old adage “You're only as good as your last movie” always applies. The dangers of “Punching above your own weight” should also not be forgotten...

Having two high-profile productions such as Black Sails and Dominion in production at the same time, quite apart from several other productions, in a sense gave the film service industry a Stress Test, which it passed.

Take a look at this link and scroll down to CAST:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Sails_(TV_series)
(Should open in a separate Tab)
Two South African actors appear among the twelve “above the line” cast credits, followed by a list of thirty-one Supporting / Recurring cast from Season 1 alone. (Just over 100 roles by the end of Season 2) In a series with a notoriously high body count, many of these roles have survived into the second season because the Producers either expanded the roles or decided not to kill off the characters after appreciating what our actors brought to their roles.

Dominion is a much smaller production than Black Sails, but we're not “Budget Boasting” here, we're talking about the involvement and contribution of the often under-rated South African actors. It appears that, after making the Pilot episode, both the Producers' and the Network's perspective on the importance of certain roles shifted on the basis of the performances they saw on screen from South African actors.
At a rough estimate, we cast between forty and fifty roles on Dominion, from one-liners upwards. Dominion has not aired yet, but expect to see at least three South African actors on screen very often, with another half-dozen in smaller recurring roles.

The way Networks commission programmes is changing. Rather than mull over the merits of several Pilots then “picking up” one or two, a younger generation of executive appears to be ready to back several projects at once. They have the agility to tinker with the project on the fly either to keep it on track or to swerve around storyline, character, or casting issues.

These developments have brought our actors to the brink of increased recognition and we hope that more of them will be encouraged to do whatever it takes to up their game to International level.
Producers already feel more confident about casting our actors in bigger roles – we can do without our Government's meddling with work visa requirements and undermining twenty years of steady growth.

There is a tide in the affairs of men.
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat,
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures.

Brutus: Julius Caesar Act 4, scene 3

	Christa Schamberger-Young
+27 11 440 3477	Independent Casting Director
Cape Town & Johannesburg	(The Casting Connection cc)	South Africa