Casting 101

How I cast the teaser trailer, in order of when they were cast:*

Jacqueline Gault (Ruby) - That's me! I cast myself first, so here I am. Gonna get myself all dolled up to play the villain. So looking forward to it!

Sadie Medley (Maggie) - There would not be a "Meet Jane Doe" if there was not a Sadie Medley. Seriously. Sadie is my Mastermind buddy - we were paired up in Lana Veenker's workshop - we were both newbies and had no contacts, little experience, but piles of ambition. She's the one who encouraged me to start writing when i was pissing and moaning about the lack of good roles for women. As I was writing Meet Jane Doe, I would send Sadie the script as I wrote it and ask for feedback. I think it was maybe 6 weeks in to the writing process that she announced she wanted to be considered for the role of Maggie. I made her do a reading with me just to torture her - I had every intention of offering her the role. Since then, Sadie has made huge strides in the world of Voice Over - a talent which appears to come naturally for her. She has done national and local gigs, and I see a very bright future for her. I am lucky to have her on the MJD team.

Audrey Walker (Jane) - We are all just absolutely thrilled to have the talented Audrey Walker on our cast roster. She is becoming quite the local celebrity - I see her face and name attached to a lot of projects around town. When I originally wrote MJD, I cast myself in the role of Jane. BUT, that was back when it was just a short film, when I decided to go feature - and direct - then I knew I needed to step out of the lead role. Yes, it was a tough decision. But I had the perfect actress in mind for the role. Audrey and I met at a WIF meeting and I adored her from the get-go. And I was fortunate that she said yes. Yes, I did make her read with Sadie before officially offering her the role - but only because the two characters are the very best of friends and there needed to be some chemistry there. The role of Jane requires a great deal of range, and I have no doubt that Audrey will pull it off beautifully.

Jon Ashley Hall (Doug) - Jon had submitted to audition for MJD back in November of 2009. The eternal optimist that I am, I thought we would be filming in January of 2010... I met Jon in person at the MoHo (isn't that where everyone meets everyone in this town - there and on Facebook) on Leverage night. He seemed like a nice enough guy, and I spent some time chatting with him and he wasn't annoying or creepy or anything, like most of the actors I know (I kid, I kid...), so I thought to myself "He would actually make a good Doug." I sent him the script and asked him if he would like to audition. He was definitely the front-runner, and I found that as I was doing re-writes I would picture him in the role as I was writing. A few weeks later, while at a promo shoot with Audrey and Sadie, Audrey asked me if I had anyone in mind for Doug yet. I told her I had a couple of guys in mind, but didn't say who. Then she chimed in "What about Jon Hall?" That was all the validation I needed. I sent Jon a message that simply stated "You are Doug."

Craig Johnson (Charles Hayworth) - The first time I met Craig was at the MoHo (see, it really is where everyone meets...) and it was like at first sight. He was giving me the finger from the end of the bar. Calling me Charlie. WTF?!?! So I called him Chuck. Don't really know why or how it got started... But in all seriousness, I think the reason Craig and I hit it off from the get-go is because Craig is like a boy version of me. Goofy. Charming. Funny. Outgoing. And to top it all off he's nice - and talented! He's just one of those people you enjoy being around. The sad thing is that he is skipping town and venturing to La La Land in June. So, we have to shoot his scenes first if we want him in the feature. At the very least, I will get to torture and abuse him as my victim before he goes. Stay tuned, though, for information on the upcoming hilarity that will be "The Chuck and Charlie Show" - don't know why he gets top billing - we need to talk about that...

*Please note that this is the cast for the teaser trailer only.

Next Up: Crewing Up! Meet the players that will make this movie even AWESOMER!