The audition process for INDEFINITE was the most unplanned activity in the production. We hustled and improvised throughout.
Step 1 – A Half-Backed Promo
Round one of promotion was a slapped together gritty piece of paper taped to the halls of UWM. The targets were the theatre and film departments—ground zero for hungry talent.
I put out the call for actors to hit me up for auditions. Total waste of time—dead silence.
P.S. The phone # and old email address are blacked out for this post.
P.S.S. I hit up classmates to be crew members.
Step 2 – A Moderately Better Promo
For round two of promotions we hit the campus harder with better posters. These were plastered all over the campus, even in local coffee shops.
This time, we locked down a time and place for auditions.
There was no official audition space. We took over a basement hallway in Mitchell Hall at UWM. The passage had doors to lock down a corner. We made our own gritty stage.
P.S. The phone # and old website are blacked out for this post.
Audition Prep
We had an upgraded plan for the auditions.
I hammered out a Production Information sheet for the actors. It laid everything on the line so there were no surprises.
P.S. The Production Info sheet is loaded with dead weight for an audition.
A no-nonsense checklist of supplies was written.
Step 3 – Auditions
Co-director Christopher Kuiper and I got a real kick out of those auditions. Watching actors live was pure adrenaline. This was the first time I felt like “I was making a movie”.
Every actor stormed the room with a fake gun or knife in hand. They were directed to own the space like a boss.
Next they prowled the shadows–the sides of the hallway. They hunted the “assassin” character. (Later he became “The Man in the Mask.”) There was no space to hide. We wanted to see the actors’ raw instinct and energy.
After each performance Chris and I debated how we would build Otto’s crew.
Who had the look?
Who had the physicality?
How can we use each crew member in action sequences?
The Character List
The character list was meant for the actors, not a rulebook.
We never cast for the role of Samantha. Her character only appears in the comic books.
The character backstories were not well formulated at the time of the audition. The script was still rough. Most of these details only surfaced in the comic book versions.
P.S. The character list was pointless for live auditions. If I had a website up, the actors would benefit from seeing the lineup of available roles.
The Lead Characters
Otto’s character was the most fleshed-out badass in the whole script. Mid-40s to 50s. Christopher cooked up Otto’s edge long before anyone stepped into that audition room.
We hit the jackpot with R. Michael Gull. Otto was practically tailor-made for him. The character was a burning gas can waiting to explode.
Michael walked into the audition Otto roared to life. We could have built an entire film around his take on Otto.
Jonas, our second lead character, was still taking shape. He was written as a skilled martial artist. We needed a solid physical actor who could sell the role.
We scored big with our Jonas duo. Joe Fransee brought the attitude of owning every scene as the face of Jonas. When it was time to throw down, Joseph Janswig stepped in. He was the mayhem for the combat scenes.
Joe Fransee was no stranger to the spotlight. He headlined countless stage productions. He was a natural lead performer.
Joseph Janswig brought years of martial arts training to the table. As the “Man in the Mask,” he led the action both as performer and choreographer.
The final lead role was for the character Amber. We had a very thin character outline drafted for the role. We were willing to go with whomever was a strong performing actor.
Amber needed to grab the attention of the audience as the final lead character. Her character was barely a sketch on the page. We sought to cast an actor with firepower for the role.
We cast Emily Heitzer for the role of Amber.
I saw Emily take the stage in a major production at UWM Main Stage. (The title escapes me now.) She was incredible. I was stoked when she auditioned for our film.
Miscast Character
Jessica Marking’s audition blew me away. She went all in—no holding back. Jessica commanded the space with pure intensity.
Jessica’s role should have been switched in the kitchen scene. Her character took a bullet to the knee. This left her on the sidelines while the real chase went down.
Jessica should have been Otto’s #1 street thug. She would have been a resilient hand-to-hand combat rival to “The Man in the Mask”.
Jessica had the grit to be the main adversary for back-alley brawls, chasing down “The Man in the Mask”.
Reevaluating The Characters (Pre-Audition)
We should have fleshed out the characters. We needed a defined vision of the roles we wanted to cast.
My biggest regret is the weak script. There was miniscule crappy dialogue. The actors could not truly embody their characters.
(foggy memory) Emily and at least two other actors requested “sides.” I did not understand their significance. We had no sides. The script was still in flux.
P.S. The production was pressed for time. The film had a deadline to be submitted for graduation at UW-Milwaukee. Moving forward was the only plan.