Phoenix Casting/Bringing a production to Arizona
Out-of-state productions · Arizona
Bringing a production to Arizona.
You do not have to know anyone here. You need one local you can trust, a room the talent already knows, and a session you can sit in from wherever you are.
Why a local
Most of the people who hire us are from somewhere else.
Producers arrive from Los Angeles, New York, Dallas and Denver with a shoot date and no address book for Arizona. That is the normal case, and this page is written for it.
Phoenix Casting is a casting director, so the talent comes to you through us. We have deep relationships with every agency in town and a statewide database of our own, and we know which actor has fifty spots behind them and which one is on a set for the first time. Casting sits inside Dearing Acting Studio, which has trained actors in Phoenix for nearly twenty years, so the room fills with people who know how a session works.
Sit in from anywhere
The session runs here. You watch it live.
In the suite, you sit beside Matthew while he directs. From out of state, you and the director watch on a live link and give notes as they occur to you. Callbacks run the same way, and self tape is always there for a role that needs a wider net.
Selects arrive the same day as organized links, with sizes, availability and honest notes on who can carry the role.
Arizona, in numbers
What the state gives a production.
- A refundable tax credit. The Arizona Motion Picture Production Program returns 15% to 20% of qualified production costs, with 2.5% bumps for Arizona resident labor and for using a qualified Arizona production facility. Administered by the Arizona Commerce Authority.
- Right to work. Arizona is a right-to-work state. Union and non-union productions both cast here, in the same room, with the same process.
- A metro of five million. Phoenix is the fifth largest city in the country, and the talent pool reaches Tucson, Flagstaff, Prescott and Sedona.
- The light. About 300 days of sunshine a year, and winters made for exteriors.
How to start
Send the breakdown from wherever you are.
Roles, dates, union status and budget are enough to begin. Dana picks it up the same day, Matthew calls when there is a production behind it, and the breakdown goes out to the agencies the day the roles are agreed.
Straight answers
What out-of-state producers ask.
Do we have to fly in for the session?
Plenty of our clients never do. You watch the session on a live link, give notes as it happens, and get selects the same day. When you want the room, it is here, with a chair beside the director’s.
Can you cast statewide?
Yes. Sessions run in Phoenix, and the database reaches Tucson, Flagstaff, Prescott and Sedona. For a role that lives in one town, self tape gets it to you without anyone driving.
What do you need to start?
The roles and how many, shoot dates and location, union status and a talent budget. Half of that is enough to get Dana on the phone the same day.
Union, turnaround, what you get back?
All answered on the homepage, in the producer FAQ. Read it →